day 4: Monticello to Marrianna, FL

Do not withhold good from those who deserve it, when it is in your power to act.

Proverbs 3:27

95.51 miles – 3,389 ft climb

Today was pretty uneventful, which was a good thing. Bruce left around 8:15 and I followed around 10:00. The drive was pretty with tall trees on both sides, when we weren’t going through small towns. Since the park we were originally planning to stay at was still closed due to flooding, we stayed in Marrianna, FL (20 miles further – sorry honey–you can do it!) at Florida Caverns RV Resort. I have not seen any caverns and forgot to ask. Hopefully we are not missing an amazing natural wonder. This park is kinda pretty, next to a pond/lake. There is an alligator in said pond as of right now. Apparently he was “displaced during the storm”. I’m not totally sure what that means, but somehow it brings to my mind the picture of gators surfing the storm surges from their local swamps to various RV park ponds. A ranger has been called to capture the gator and return him back home. I’m not sure how they know where “home” is, so I guess they just take him to the closest alligator infested swamp.

I talked to a man out walking his dog, and the subject of the hurricane came up. He said that they got 11 inches of rain here. When I commented that I was surprised that there is not more flooding and standing water, he told me that the land is on limestone “like swiss cheese” and although they may get flash flooding, once the rain stops it doesn’t take long for all the water to soak into the ground. Interesting. I am learning so much from the locals!

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For lunch today we ate at a little BBQ joint along Hwy 90 between Tallahassee and Chatahoochee. Recently opened by father & son, Steve & Nathon. By the time I got there lunch was on the table ready to go. And Bruce was out back helping the driver of a huge beer truck that was stuck in the mud. Always the good samaritan.

I love that as my husband is rolling along, he calls me and says, “hey babe, there’s a little BBQ place at the side of the road and the guy’s out smoking meat. Want to stop?” Or yesterday he called and said, “hey, there’s a peanut factory on the left. Maybe you can stop and see if they have any fresh peanuts.” (which I did. That’s a whole nother story. OK, OK I’ll tell it. I stopped and went in and it was NOT a store front to sell peanuts, but only a peanut warehouse. The guy said he supposed that he could give me some peanuts. We rode out on a golf cart to this big warehouse. When he opened the giant sliding door, it looked pitch black and empty in there and I started wondering if this was really a good idea. So we walked back to the back corner and there was a giant pile, maybe 15 feet tall by 20 feet wide of something. He walked up and scooped up a bunch and low and behold it was peanuts. So fresh that they still had stems on them.)

I called the RV parks in both DeFuniak Springs and Pensacola and both are open and unflooded. We will check the roads with FL Dept of Trans. If everything looks good, we will be able to follow our original schedule. Thank you all so much for the prayers. It is amazing to see how God is working everything out.