McDill AFB
Tampa, FL

This morning dawned bright and sunny; however it was so cold I could not feel my face any more. This is getting old. After a perfectly dreadful night of sleeplessness due to the darn cold, nasty hip pain, fretting about what to do about our dear Oscar, and sadness that our stay here would end soon, I got up to meet the day. The beautiful day we had yesterday was going to repeat itself, this time with warmer temps. After a breakfast of coffee and raisin toast, we are off to pick up the Kerr's for our planned trip to John's Pass. This attraction in the St Petersburg area is a tourist mecca where one can rent any type of watercraft imaginable, visit seafood restaurant after seafood restaurant, and spend mucho dinero in trendy little shops that are really very charming. We had a great lunch of shrimp, clams, scallops and (ick, not me) oysters. Elizabeth was the only one in the group that stayed the healthy choice path and had her platter broiled. The rest of us chowed down on fried everything. It was delicious. After dining, we strolled along the boardwalk. I was surprised to learn that it is impossible to maintain my balance looking down at my feet when there is space between the boards. The water whooshing below throws me completely off kilter. Good grief couldn't wait to get off the boardwalk. Elizabeth and I had a great time checking out the little shops and boutiques. I gave in and bought a few things. Paulie was not happy, but then when does my shopping ever make him happy? Elizabeth bought a beautiful purple dress embroidered with black thread imported from India. She will be a true standout at our next Cenois Red Hat get together in May. It needs to be altered a bit but it has a short cropped jacket over a sun dress that is really beautiful. She told me that she would always remember our day here when she wears this dress. I will remember it also when I see her in it. After buying some fudge (oh my) and a shirt for Zack, we headed back to the car. We went to St Petersburg Beach and walked along the water, looking for shells. I had gathered some on Naples beach and wanted to have enough to put into a canning jar lamp that I now have filled with potpourri. Both Elizabeth and I have balance problems and it is amazing neither one of us fell into the gulf waters. It was the end of a perfect day. New pictues have been posted at Yahoo Photos, Rocketmom1985's albums.

Tomorrow morning we will pack up the rig and head north. I think we all have had a great time here in Florida. I'll continue to post our adventures along the way home. You never know just who and what we will encounter.

Later

dennise