Non-Technical News: Greetings From Central Florida

After battling a failed laptop and Tropical Storm Fay, I'm back up and running at our new digs in Central Florida. I thought some of you might be interested in some pictures of where we've landed.

The entrance to our place sits at the junction of of two County Roads (let's call them "4" and "4A", to protect the innocent), just off of a U.S. highway, about 3.8 miles north of town proper (“town proper” may be an oxymoron, but that’s more pictures and a different post). Here’s the entire length of "CR 4":

We walk up our driveway (picture imminent) and down this road to catch the school bus at the highway; here’s the view from the bus stop back up to the end of the road:

Here’s a look down "4A" from the head of our driveway (the same spot where the first picture was taken); you’re looking at about two-thirds of "4A" (it also ends at the highway, about half a mile north of "4"), which ends at our neighbor’s place:

Here’s our sign, mailbox, and driveway (at the junction of "4" and "4A")

If you come down our drive..

.. you’ll see lots of old-growth live oak..

 

.. before you come into our front turnaround and see our place, which was built in 1912.

Thanks to its new residents, part of the house's roofline resembles Mission Control (see if you can find all three satellite dishes):

Spread around our four acres are a number of outbuildings with a Western theme. Here’s “the cottage”; Crystal lives on the first floor while Zach occupies the “Hobbit Suite” upstairs; the ceilings peak at about an inch below his height:

The back of the cottage has a two-car carport (yes, this is confirmation I was able to get the MG down that road and over two cattle grates)..

We have a full workshop with a concrete floor..

We also have the original outhouse (non-functional) and a two stall horse barn..

.. and a corral (chicken coop at right)..

There’s even a covered parking spot for an RV! (we can hook up three total)

.. an outdoor stage and a “Pa’s Pad” (“when Ma’s Mad”):

.. an entertainment pavilion and an outdoor kitchen..

Vegetable stand and stage on left, entertainment pavilion on right, back of main house in center:

There’s even a cowboy shower with full bath (left) and a second outhouse (right; newer than the other and also non-functional)..

There’s a signpost in the middle of the place that tells you where everything is..

.. and considerable expanses where there’s nothing but nature’s beauty.

All this, twelve minutes from the Interstate, less than two hours from the MS Tampa sales office, in a town with a Walmart and a Winn-Dixie!

Redmond is a lovely place, and I'll still get to spend a lot of time there, but this is paradise. Our entire family -- even the dogs -- is thrilled with the change!

More soon..

-wp

Comments

• Anonymous
  January 01, 2003
  ..while we were preparing for our move.. The company chose my 48th birthday (two days before the movers

• Anonymous
  January 01, 2003
  We are 32 days in Florida as of today, and so far it's been a marvelous experience. All three boys are

• Anonymous
  January 01, 2003
  In the second of my annual indulgences , I’m “treating” you to a summary of my commuting life this year.

• Anonymous
  January 01, 2003
  If it's December 4th, it must be my Dad's birthday .. After our move to Florida this past August, I'm