part #9 Florida...heading North

Heading to North to DeLand...

I left Venice about 8:30AM Saturday 10/26/19...heading up I-75 and some back roads in the central part of the state,  towards the DeLand area and a stop at my old Buckeye Buddy, Tom Friedly's place near DeLand, Florida, along the St. Johns River...Tom works with Trotter and Pacer racing horses there, and now lives in Florida full time.  I wanted to leave early and get there in time for the Ohio State vs Wisconsin game...I arrived about half way through the 1st quarter...the game ended up being a Buckeye blowout so not a problem with the late arrival...

Have known Tom for 35 or so years, since my early days in the Health Department at Celina...he has a nice rental place on the River with his landlord living next door...after the game we toured the landlord's {who is 74 and divorced} garage collection, which includes a cherry red 1963 Corvette in prime condition, after that we headed to a local bar, grabbed a bite to eat and returned to watch more football and a bit of the World Series between Houston and Washington.

It was good visit, I stayed in the guest room, and slept well after the beers and giant burger at the bar...

Up Sunday early, took a drive down a muddy road and checked out some of the ponies that Tom works with...said our good~byes and I worked my way back to the main road and headed west back to I-75, home to Ohio, after nearly 3 weeks in the Sunshine State, but there was one more "Glitch" on the Jeep I would have to deal with...the trip home coming up in the final part of my story.

back later>>>

Photos-a couple of views off the Dock at Tom's place at Sunset...a bit of rain had moved into the St. Johns River, but managed a couple of decent shots...