Suwannee and friends

Hi all,
Wendy says our weather is like a roller coaster, getting warm and nice for a couple days and then cool and rainy then warm again. Friday was a cabin day as we got four inches of rain throughout the day. That will make the old Suwannee river rise. It still hadn't receded to normal levels from previous rains, but it at least is not flood level and the launch is open for river runners.
 The Suwannee is a amazing river originating in the swamps of the Okefenokee in Georgia. It is also one of the few large rivers that holds no dams along its 246 mile route to the gulf. There are many river camps along for the adventurous runners to do all or sections of the river.
 We did have a nice 72 degree day on Thursday, we finished work early then hopped in the truck to head to a beach. Well to explore where a beach is anyhow. We headed the nearest direction to the gulf but only found a busy little fishing village. There was a beach listed 17 miles north, so off we went. We did find a nice little beach called Keaton Beach. It was maybe 150 yards of sand and a fishing pier. The breeze off the gulf was cool and dropped the temp into the 60's. A little cool but we can say we were at a beach. It turned out to be a nice drive and a chance to see more of the area.

 We also had a nice change of pace a couple (Bill and Marilyn) from our Excel camping club in Wisconsin were passing through and stopped in for a few days. Excel is the company that our fifth wheel campers are made at. It is a small company located in Smith Center, Kansas. Not a mass producer of rvs they only produce with an order in hand. With that we don't see many and when we do we get all excited- oh look an Excel!!( yeah, weird aren't we).

 So the past few days we have played tour guide taking them to a few of the springs in the area and a visit to Stephan Foster State Folk Culture Center. We had been to the park earlier for a hike but this time we got to visit the museum and check out the carillon (bell) tower. The tower built in 1958 hold one of the largest musical instruments in the Western Hemisphere and the largest number of tubular bells. The 97 bells play some of Foster's 200 compositions and also toll bits quarterly on the hour.