More reunions with old friends
I have begun to greatly appreciate the time I spend in a single location enjoying some R&R – especially when I am hosted by wonderful friends like Steve and Pam. As previously mentioned, Steve and I spend a few years together at the beginning of our careers and have kept in touch and seen each other occasionally since the mid-eighties. However, it has been many years since I last saw Pam so I was very happy that a visit worked out with both of them. Steve and I did a bit of wandering about Naples Florida and I can see why they live there. The weather, the beaches, the restaurants and the lifestyle are all highly desirable. I thoroughly enjoyed my time with them and have been offered a standing invitation to visit anytime. Well that’s the way I interpreted it anyway. :)
After a leisurely wake-up, I departed Naples on Saturday morning and headed north on various interstates until past Tampa where I reverted to the secondary roads. The flat terrain I encountered in the south gave way to gently rolling hills with mixed pine and deciduous forests, interspersed with cow pastures and horse paddocks. It was quite a welcome and beautiful change. My destination was O’Leno State Park near High Springs Florida for another night of camping in the warm humid air. All of my camping in Florida has been a tad warm for this thick-blooded Canadian and any night-time breeze has been graciously welcomed; in the thick woods, there was no breeze on this particular night. At around 4:00 a.m., I was awoken by what sounded like a large animal crashing through the forest just across the road. By the time I became coherent, I determined that it was heading away from me and after about a minute the sound stopped. I quickly realized that I had left my bear spray in the Outback but I was reluctant to leave the ‘safety’ of my tent and retrieve it. Shortly afterwards, some much quieter rustling in the woods immediately behind my tent kept my senses sharp but I attributed this noise to a racoon or a possum. Not a threat.
Sunday morning turned out to be a very beautiful time to enjoy a relaxing cup of camp coffee and to read a bit in the morning sunshine. My drive took me away from the mixed forests and back toward the white sand beaches of the Gulf of Mexico. I enjoyed the leisurely drive on the backroads and the along the coast, eventually making it to Panama City, Florida. I was hosted for dinner by another of my friends from early in my military. Along with Steve, Trent and I were on the Navigator course and we had great fun reminiscing about those crazy days, telling more lies, embellishing the stories, and thankful that we actually survived the unbelievable antics we initiated. As the unofficial photographer back then, I still have hundreds of slides that would never make it past today’s censors, especially one of Trent’s Halloween costume! You’ll have to ask him about that or come visit me to get one of my old school slide shows. As Steve always told our friends, if you’ve got insomnia, ask Pete for a slide show! Trent, Shelley and their son Ben put on an amazing meal and I am very grateful to have been able to receive their generous hospitality.
To see two of my old coursemates back-to-back was a real treat for me as I was reminded of how much these long-term friendships mean to me. I can’t say it enough – it’s all about relationships and I am one lucky person to have friends like this. After a brief diversion, I will continue my journey west and then begin to head north to the homeland. Panama City was the last place I had friends to visit before I make it to Ohio and with no set schedule, I may be making last-minute decisions on where to go and what to see. For the Seger fans, “I could go east, I could go west, it was all up to me to decide.”
