Florida

After waiting through many load offers in Iowa a good paying one finally came up. It was to Florida and we had heard that it is hard to get a load back from there but it was kind of hard getting a load from Iowa at the minute and any good paying load was looking good. So we accepted it, besides, Florida is a new state for us so another one to color in.
Our pick up was only a few miles from where we were and we don't deliver until Monday morning so we didn't need to be in any rush.
We got to our pick up and there was no one there. We made a phone call and within 20 minutes someone showed up and we were out of there.
I was driving first and got us through Illinois and into Kentucky before we switched off. While Pops drove I slept. When I woke up we were near Chattanooga, TN. I sat up and talked with Pops for a while and then I drove.
When we got to Atlanta we stopped for a shower and a rest, but the area where we stopped had no water. They were having a water main issue so we drove on to the other end of Atlanta and stopped again. This time all was good and we got something to eat and a shower and sat a rested a bit.
We were going to stay in the Atlanta area (it was Saturday) and attend church in Winder, GA, but we decided to move further south. You never know when you might have something go wrong with the truck so it is always best to get as close to your destination as soon as you can.
We stopped again for a rest just inside the Florida line. It was a really nice Welcome center and we lingered there for a little while and then moved on.
We got to Bartow, Florida around 2am Sunday morning. We parked at a Walmart and I fell asleep within minutes. We woke up just in time to get to church.
We were attending Community Christian Church in Bartow, Florida. I had called the day before and got info from the minister.
He called us this morning before church to see if we had made it in to town. It reminded me of when Pops' mother used to call us on Sunday morning to make sure we were coming to church.
It was a small church in a little residential area. The streets were lined with trees laden with spanish moss. It was pretty. The congregation was small too but very friendly. I enjoyed meeting all of them so much especially Margaret and Rhonda and of course, Granny.
The minister, Jim Stith, is a very nice man. He was very hospitable to us and made us extremely comfortable. We felt very much a part of this congregation.
The order of service was a lot like our home church. We sang hymns and then praise songs. We had communion and then the offering and then we heard a good message about the core values of the church, keeping in mind that WE are the church. So what should our values be and what is the big picture for us in the church and our church in the community?
We learned a lot about a nearby place called, Gatorland. I would love to visit there. It sounded like so much fun.
After church Pops and I went to Golden Corral to eat. Oh my, it was so good. I definately ate way to much and so did he.
Then we went back to Walmart to take a nap. This Walmart is in a nice neighborhood. It is landscaped real nice. It has big trees all dripping with spanish moss and flowering shrubs all around the area. The place where we parked had a big grassy yard next to us so it was perfect to play with the dogs.
We did nap. Almost too much nap. We woke up at 5:30 and evening Biblestudy was at 6:00. I hurried and got ready and we drove over, good thing it is only 3.5 miles away.
They were studying the Isrealites journey into the promised land and comparing that to today's problems in the church. It was a very good study.
We were impressed by the number of teens attending there this evening. It was so good to see them participate in the service and see so many of them there.
There was one boy in particular, Tim Coe. He is really smart and very charismatic. You can't help but like him. He is going to be going to into the military and we wish him the best.
We were told that we were welcome to stay parked there if we wanted to because it is really close to our delivery location so we decided to do that.
After everyone left I got busy cooking up some spaghetti sauce to get a head start on food for the week. I had just finished cooking that and cleaning up and taking out the garbage when we saw blue and red flashing lights right beside us. It was a cop. He told us that we had to leave the area because of a "town ordinance" and the neighbors complaining of us being there.
So we got stuff put away and drove back to Walmart. So here we sit waiting for morning so we can go back over there to deliver.
Florida has been interesting, but I liked it. The worst part is meeting people that you know you could like really well and realizing that you might never see them again this side of Heaven. But you never know.