DAY AT THE BEACH
We found a small community beach and spent the morning swimming in the Gulf of Mexico and taking in the Florida sunshine.  The water was wonderful.  It truly felt like we were on vacation!

El & George relaxing

Boardwalk leading to a fishing pier.  Tropical, isn't it?

It was so nice to go to the beach.  As you can tell, everyone was practicing social distancing.  Ahhh!  Life is good.  

PHASE 1: OPENING UP
Florida is beginning to open up, so restrictions are gradually being lifted.  Last week, restaurants opened with 25% capacity.  This week, restaurants can accommodate 50% of their capacity, state parks are being opened for day use (no campgrounds open yet), and groups of 50 are now allowed.  People are still to practice social distancing and masks are recommended when going out in public.  These are the masks that George and I wear; these were made by our friend, Mary Lynne.  She sent them to us all the way from Bartlett.  Thank you, Mary Lynne!

Eleanor and I took the opportunity to visit one of the parks in Homosassa that recently opened, the Yulee Sugar Mill Ruins Historic State Park.  David Yulee was a prominent businessman in the first half of the 19th century.  He built railroads and had a massive 5,100 acre plantation where sugar cane was processed in a mill to make syrup, molasses, and rum.  The plantation was burned down by Union soldiers during the Civil War, because it was being used to stockpile Confederate supplies.  Today this park contains the remnants of the mill: a 40 foot limestone masonry chimney, iron gears, and cane press. 

Although the restaurants are beginning to open, we are opting to still cook and eat at home.  Believe me, we are eating well!  Here's a sample of one of our recent dinners:

Crab-stuffed salmon on spicy pasta, with a glass of wine

Chocolate-cherry poke cake

OK, I never heard of poke cake before, but Eleanor turned us on to this delicacy.  You bake a cake in a 9 x 13 inch pan.  Let it cool slightly, then poke holes in the cake using the handle of a wooden spoon, about 1 inch apart.  Then you make pudding or jello (we used chocolate fudge pudding for this one) and pour it over the top of the cake so that it soaks into the holes.  Place that in the refrigerator for at least an hour to let the pudding or jello set.  Then you frost it.  We frosted this one with cool whip and topped it with cherry pie filling.  I think I exceeded my daily weight-watcher points eating this one, but it sure was good!

I also recently updated our "travel map" that we have on the side of our RV.  We place a state sticker on any state where we travel in our RV.  Today I added Florida to our map.  It's about time I did that since we have been here since March!  If things had gone as planned, we would have also added Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina to the map by now, but the coronavirus halted those plans.  Oh well, maybe next year we'll be able to add those states.

That's it for now.  Stay safe and stay well everyone!

LET'S TRY THIS AGAIN
For some reason the videos that I tried posting in yesterday's blog did not come through (it's a mystery to me why that is 😕).  So I'm now going to try to just post photos of the dog park.  I'm keeping my fingers crossed that these will post correctly.

Shady path around the perimeter of the park

 Licorice:  Can I really go running off leash?

Taffy:  Absolutely!

 Aerated pond for cooling off (and drinking)

Greeting a new friend

A true dog lover's perspective

FUN AT THE DOG PARK
As you know, we found a nice dog park for Licorice and Taffy.  The dogs aren't the only ones enjoying the park.  George, Eleanor, and I also appreciate walking around the grounds, and relaxing by the "pond" as the doggies romp around.  Thought you might like to see some snippets of the park:

Today there were only 3 other dogs in the park!  It's amazing how much Licorice and Taffy enjoy greeting the other dogs and running around with them.  They also enjoy the freedom to chase squirrels up the trees.  Let me tell you, they really sleep well when we return to the RV! 

FISHING AND APPRECIATING NATURE
We're still enjoying our safe haven in Homosassa with Eleanor.  We've been enjoying the outdoors; most days have been sunny in the 80s, but we do have an occasional day of rain.  We found a nice dog park for Licorice and Taffy.  It's 10 acres fully fenced and has mature oak trees that provide cooling shade for all of us.  It even has a cement pond with fresh water for the dogs to cool off in.  There's a minimal monthly fee for access to the park, but it's well worth it.  There are not many people there, so it is easy to practice social distancing.  We walk the perimeter of the park a few times, so we get our steps in and the dogs run off a lot of energy.  On the way home, we saw a Sandhill crane strolling around one of the neighborhoods.  It's amazing how tall these birds are!

  

George tried his luck fishing off Eleanor's deck and caught a fish.  I'm not exactly sure of the species.  It looked like a bluegill, but it had teeth.  This was a "catch and release" fishing experience. 

We continue to be awed by the flowers and creatures of Florida.  Below is a gorgeous bloom and the largest grasshopper I have ever seen:

We will be staying in Florida until mid-June, and then we'll be making the 930 mile trip back to our property in Arkansas.  We wanted to wait to see how the "re-opening" of facilities goes, to make sure it's safe before we venture out again.  We will be required to self-quarantine in Arkansas for 14 days once we get there, because we are traveling from Florida, which is considered a coronavirus "hot spot" as compared to the Arkansas area.  I investigated the prevalence of coronavirus in Arkansas.  To date, Marion county (where our property is) only has 1 case of coronavirus and 0 deaths; Baxter country (where we do our shopping) has only 1 case and 0 deaths.  We are currently in Citrus county, Florida, and to date there are 95 cases of coronavirus and 11 deaths here.  Overall, Florida has 35,463 cases with 1,364 deaths.  So, when the rheumatologist in Springfield, Missouri (whom I was scheduled to see June 2) found out I was coming from Florida, they refused to see me.  Thus I will be staying here to get my infusion for my RA June 11th.  I have to say that the BayCare health system in Florida is way more accommodating than Mercy Health System in Missouri.  

Hope everyone stays safe as we begin to re-open our states and our lives!  💗💗