Cracker Barrel, Pensacola, Florida
On
Thursday, Nov. 7th I was awake and up at 6 am after a good sleep. I
vaguely remember them but dreams filled my slumber. I hopped in the
shower right away and when I finished Bill took my place. With those taken care
of, we had our tea, coffee, toast, muffin and yogourt. I made our sandwiches
for today and set yogourt and drinks out for the cooler. Bill packs that for me as the
cooler remains in Black Beauty.
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| A foggy start |
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| It is pretty white ahead of us but we were just fine |
I emptied
the dishwasher from supper dishes, closed cupboards up, and did breakfast
dishes from this morning. You’d think we were attached physically to J & B
as we saw Bob out packing things up outside just as we were. We had mentioned ‘around
8’ for our morning departure but nothing was in stone. It was very damp
outside, as if it had rained, but it hadn’t. The thick fog had to be the early
culprit but it didn’t deter us.
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| And it soon cleared |
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| Lake Blackshear |
We hopped
on I-75S for 21 miles before taking Exit 99 for GA-300 towards Florida. Driving
on a 2-lane highway is a whole different perspective. Of course, since we were
in Georgia, I was looking for plantations. The one really nice one that I saw
was set back from the road and I couldn’t get a decent picture but at least saw
it. Lovely house, entrance gate and acres c/w trees on the property. Besides less traffic and less stress
from nutsy drivers, there are no large fuel stations or rest areas. You just have to be prepared for that.
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| I tried real hard to get the moss hanging from the trees but it just doesn't show up well |
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| Now, I love water towers but took this picture because of the birds flocking around it |
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| Memorials like this always touch my heart |
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| This looks like a 2-lane but I it was the interstate |
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| In case you think I'm fooling about the warm temperatures check this out |
The
temperature reached 81F and then dropped to 77f when a few teeny drops of rain
hit the windshield. I called Cracker Barrel on Lavelle Way in Pensacola to get
approval for overnight parking. Yes, he said, so we’ll aim for that lot and see
what it is like early afternoon on a Thursday. There are always surprises and
it would be nice if the surprise was favourable. By the time we were close, we'd had more rain and we were down to 72F. Oh, poor us! It sure warmed up again though!
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| At a Rest Area where we didn't need to stop |
So, it
was around 2:30 Central time, we gained an hour at noon somewhere in Florida,
that we took Exit 7 towards our Cracker Barrel. No surprise, the place was full
for the lunch hour traffic but we were smarter today and were able to park
along the quiet street until a couple of spots opened up. By 3:30, we were parked
and after sitting in the shade outside our unit to plan tomorrow’s destination,
we agreed to meet at 4:30 for supper. It would be 5:30 at home after all which
explains why we were hungry.
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| Rain dampened our spirits only briefly It had stopped by the time we set up |
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| Florida views, I don't even remember where this was but close to our stopping point |
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| Had to look this up but it is us crossing Escambia Bay |
Bob was
happy, he finally got his order of fried chicken fulfilled (after previous nights being told they were 'out'), Jo-Anne had the fried
turkey dinner, Bill had a cheeseburger (and cold fries ☹) and I had fried shrimp, a few hush puppies with sweet potato
casserole, fresh fruit and green beans. Yum. No shortage of food here. Mine was
delicious and yet I wasn’t overstuffed. I left a couple of shrimp on my plate
but ate everything else. No dessert necessary.
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| A nice overpass showing the Blue Angels |
When we
walked out around 5:30, Bill told Bob that the space closer to us was completely
void of cars so they pulled in the slides and moved over. This will put them a
bit further from the Interstate traffic even though it is still noisy. These
C.B.’s always seem to be right along the freeways. We said goodnight and moved
inside for the evening. Bob pointed out how dark it was now at 5:30 with the
time change on top of changing to standard time.
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| This is when we were parked along the street, waiting for spots to open up This is a Southern Magnolia tree with pretty shiny leaves |
The sky
would light up periodically with sheet lightning so maybe we would get a
thunderstorm overnight after all. Bill and I are amazed at how humid it is here
after what we experience in Arizona.
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| Sitting in the coolest spot we could find We weren't actually in sunshine and were getting a beautiful breeze |
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| Bob and Jo-Anne were parked over there - temporarily |
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| And we are here for the night |
We just can’t understand why Florida is so
appealing to some. There have been ants, we were invaded from Southern Trails
park, flies and bugs around us. Jo and I both have bites from something. Jo-Anne
opened our fridge door last night after supper and I should have taken a
picture of the teeny ants that were between the freezer drawer and upper doors.
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| After Bob moved, we were right close together No snoring! I said |
Bill had some ant killer that we wiped on and this morning it had worked. I still need to
do a thorough cleaning when we stop for a period of time as something must have
spilled and created stickiness. Bill and I settled in for the evening and I
finished this post. The cool down arrives tomorrow so that is what the storms are all
about, I guess. We’ve had a great travel day and an even shorter one tomorrow
to New Orleans area. I hope you aren’t snowed in and if you are, I hope that you like
that kind of weather.
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| Going in for supper Jo-Anne is getting used to my camera |
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| My wonderful meal Good night everyone from Pensacola! |
Thank you
for popping by! I truly appreciate my readers/Blurkers and if you’d like and
are able to leave a comment, I thank you for that too.
