Paynes Prairie

The husband surprised me on the other Sunday morning by saying why don't we go for a bike ride. We went out to Paynes Prairie near Gainesville in Micanopy, FL. We keep saying we will go and don't get there.

Paynes Prairie is a state park and preserve.

http://www.floridastateparks.org/paynesprairie/

Florida´s first state preserve in 1971. It had tons of animals, trails for hiking, biking and horses. They have camp sites, a lake and you may get lucky and see a buffalo. I was hoping to see a buffalo since I am a huge fan. They are elusive. We did see a bunch of deer. 

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It was a huge place and well taken care of. We biked down a trail. We walked up the observation tower. We walked through a trail. We checked out the lake boat ramp and the campground. 

Old honeymoon house

Oh deer

cool roots

From the observation deck

The observation deck

Afterwards we were hungry. We ended up checking out Blue Highway. It's a pizzaria down the road from Paynes Prairie. The husband said a coworker said they were good. Thank goodness we got there not long after they opened. After we got a table the place was full. People were waiting for tables. 

The Sicilian pizza was good. The husband loved it. He said it was the best in that area. He is very picky about pizza since he is from New York. I would go there again. 

Also while we were out we saw that Mcintosh, FL is having a 1890s festival next month. I have never been to that festival and it sounds fun. I put it on the calendar. 

http://friendsofmcintosh.org/

From the website: Each year the 1890's Festival raises money to fund additional projects in the community.  The most noteworthy of these is the creation of an a scholarship fund to assist local and area young people pursue their scholastic careers.  Others have included a front-porch addition to the Community Center; the installation of playground equipment for the children; the Victorian-style lamp posts in the main park in the center of town, Van Ness Park; the clock in the Mini-Park; and the purchase of the old Carriage House adjacent to the depot. The Friends of McIntosh also support various organizations through donations, to organizations such as the American Heart Association, the local Emergency Assistance Fund, the Salvation Army and the Cub, Boy and Girl Scouts."

13 in 13: September Update

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1. Sell 150 items: 
47 items sold in 2013. Ugh.

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2. Weekly Blog Posts: 
Missed posts this month due to limited internet.

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3. Read a Book Per Month: 

I read several: Amazing & Unusual USA, Weird Pennsylvania, Roadside America and Florida Curiosities. In preparation for vacation. Research can be fun!

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4. Track my Food to Lose Weight: 
No changes.

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5. Monthly Adventures: 
Paines Prairie. Post coming next.


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6. Get serious about starting a family: 
No change in this one.

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7. Save Money: 
I had over $1000 in saving. So far tires for the in-laws and next vacation will deplete it.

      

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8. Watch More Movies:

The Girl Can't Help It (1956)
Splender in the Grass (1961)
To Paris with Love
Iron Man 3




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9. Improve at Work: 
Well I caught up on filing and kept it under control. I also made sure everyone was seen without tearing out my hair.

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10. Take a Real Vacation: 
Coming October!

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11. Try Something New: 
New group I'm doing at work: Resentment and Forgiveness.

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12. Reduce, Reuse, Recycle: 
Still recycling like a fiend. I freaked out a coworker when an umbrella went inside out I stuffed it in my car rather than let him leave it in the parking lot.


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13. More home improvement: 
Nothing new this month. I am sure I mentioned a new kitchen to the husband at least 25 times.

My kittens are Evil

These sweet little kittens are now 4 months older. They are also evil. They are hell bent on destroying the house. Their fun moments are going into the kitchen, knocking everything off of the counters and from the cabinets and watching it shatter on the floor. They like to wake me in the middle of the night this way. 

They think they are very cute and adorable. I think their middle names are now Damien. The husband has been defending them by saying "They are being kittens." Lately he agrees that they need to go outside with the other two cats. The kittens must agree since they run for the back door every time Especially the little girl kitty. She has gone as far as the ground at the bottom of the back deck. 

I have had a lot of cats over the years. Usually I have an older cat in the house when I get a kitten (or two). This is the first time an older cat is not around to help the little ones learn the dos and donts. Or perhaps I finally got some dud kittens. I am trying my best to remain calm. We live in a small house and there are no doors on the cabinets or on the second bedroom. I cleared the counters. I have gotten the little boogers toys. We spend time cuddling and playing with them. I am hoping they grow out of the evil. Or else they are going outside. The other cats love it. When it gets freezing cold we have to hunt and trap them to get them in the house. 

Next step... spay and neuter. 

Pizza Pizza

Honestly I do not know what to write about this week. We spent most of the weekend at home. I didn't accomplish a lot. We did a huge grocery shopping trip to stock up for the next 3 weeks. Yeah, exciting stuff. I watched far too much television.


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We tried another pizza place. Brooklyn Boys. There are several locations in this general area. I had never tried their pizza. The nephew said it was good and that the garlic knots were good. Oh my, those garlic knots were like crack. I am thinking of hocking some personal belongings to get more.

The pizza wasn't bad. New York style pizza, which we like. The husband got a white pizza. It needed more garlic. I had a pepperoni pizza. The pepperoni was very spicy. Overall it was good for small town pizza. The price was okay.

We tend to drive 30 to 45 minutes to get to our favorite pizza place on occasion. If only they would open a location closer to us.


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Military Mania

I thought this past weekend would be a stay home deal since the husband wasn't feeling great and I was sick last week. My sister in-law came to town. I didn't expect to see her since she hasn't talked to her brother in a year. We were invited to a family dinner on Friday. We all stuffed ourselves on great pasta and meats. 

Saturday they were going to the Camp Blanding Museum, so we tagged along. I have never been to the museum, even though it is not far from us. 

http://www.campblanding-museum.org/

Hours of Operation: 

Open EverydayNoon - 4pmClosed on Thanksgiving & ChristmasClosed on Thanksgiving & Christmas


Behind-the-scenes tours of the historic space artifact collection are available by appointment. Call to schedule: (352) 256-8037 or (352) 219-2285. 


Admission is free. Donations are appreciated.

Camp Blanding was established in 1939 as a training facility for World War II. It is currently a Joint Training Site for the National Guard and other Reserve Components and some Active Component training. 

The museum is inside what used to be barracks. It is filled with Camp Blanding and war items. The admission is free, but donations are welcome. They even have a small gift shop. We wandered around outside and looked at the vehicles and planes. Here are some of my favorites. 

I love amphibious vehicles. If I could I would own one. 

Tanks are always cool and they had a variety. 

This looks like fun to drive. We wondered what they were watering from the bowl underneath. 

I think I need a plane. 

A model of Camp Blanding in 1939.

Beyond the museum is the actual entrance. 

More tanks!

The big guns. 

Jeeps are even cooler when they come with an axe. 

Cool and old.

After the museum we went to Green Cove Springs in search of the thruster tank from the space shuttle. Months ago my father in-law saw on the news that the tank was coming to a space museum going into the Keystone Airport. We were like, oh my, a big time thing coming to little ole Keystone. 

http://www.wingsofdreams.org/

Fri–Sun, 12 – 4 p. m.; Mon-Tues, closed; Wed-Thurs, by appt.

The father in-law and sister in-law had gone to the airport's space museum the day before. Although it is not set up they said they had a personal tour by a volunteer who knew about everything. He explained that the tanker was not at the museum because there was still red tape to deal with to get it there. The tanker had come down the St Johns River by barge and was sitting in Green Cove. 

We went to the location and were able to get a close up look at what got the space shuttle into space. 

This is HUGE!

The pointy top cracked me up. 

The father in-law told some people who drove by about the tanker and the museum. Yes, he is their PR person. Then we went down the road to the Military Museum. Yet another place I have seen but never been to. 

http://www.militarymuseumofnorthflorida.com/

Museum hours: 10:00 am - 3:00 pm

Thursday thru Saturday and

I didn't take any pictures inside. The museum is inside a Quonset hut. It has all sorts of things. The volunteers were helpful and friendly. It also had a small gift shop. 

I love the big trucks. 

They had all sorts of vehicles outside. 

Huge aquatic vehicle. 

A close up of the side. 

Huge tires. 

I wanted to walk the ramp, but I behaved. 

The mural on the building. 

Even though I was still coughing from my sickness and it was hot, it was an educational and interesting adventure. Plus we didn't have to travel far to find all of these museums.

I found the military museums more interesting since I have found out recently that I have multiple relatives who have served in the military - World War I and II, as well as the Revolutionary War. I found that my father's side of the family has been in the United States since the 1700s. Also they have lived in Pennsylvania in the same county up until my father. I will continue to do research and find out more about that side of the family. My husband is also researching his grandfather who was in World War II.