February 3rd, We arrived at Hawthorne in Leesburg

Woke up this morning to chilly temps in the forties. Fortunately I didn't have to use the snow shovel. We broke camp this morning and left St George Island bound for Leesburg and the Goodfallows. On the way across the sound we saw numerous fishermen on their boats and guessed that they must be collecting clams, oysters or shrimp. All along the gulf through Eastpointe and beyond there was activity with the local fishermen launching boats or bringing in their catch. This was a cold morning for these guys to be on the water making a living.

We drove east along the gulf on US98 and were surprised by the lack of development along this coast of Florida. There were vast tracts of woods and swamp land and the woods were hardwoods, pines and palm trees. Further along, 98 merged with US27 and took us to Ocala and I-75. Before we got to Ocala we saw huge horse farms that stretched for quite a few miles. These were old established farms that were surrounded by wooden fences. This was a very pretty area. Once on I-75 it was back to the races.

We arrived at Hawthorne at about 3:30 and they let us park the trailer in a lot for the next few days. Grandma and Grandpa greeted us and they both were very excited to see us. It's been only two weeks since we all left Michigan, but each traveled our own way south. With all of the camping and moving we've been doing they were in Hawthorne for the past ten days.

Temps here in this part of the state are a little warmer and it's back in the mid sixties now. Looking forward to visiting for the next four days.