Winter in the U.P. has been pretty mild, so we just can’t complain! However, Scott and I had already planned to “jet off” somewhere warm for a couple of weeks and Florida seemed like the perfect place this year. We could return to Sebring after four years, then head over to the Gulf to see my mom and step-dad, and enjoy some nice walks in the sunshine. Early on Saturday, February 20th, we plotted our course (with fuel stops in Indiana, and Georgia), packed up the plane with a few changes of clothing, our camera, hats, sunglasses and sunscreen, and left the 5º icy cold behind.
Total flying time was 7.5 hours before we landed for the night just east of Gainesville, FL to rest and make plans for where to stay. I’m normally a “planner” and this fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants stuff makes me uncomfortable, but I figured I’d do it Scott’s way this time. He likes a bit of adventure, I suppose! He contacted the FBO at Keystone Heights, FL when we had landed for gas in Georgia. We found out they had a courtesy car for us, but all the hotels in the tiny town were full. Fortunately, there was a hotel in a neighboring village and that’s where our first night was spent. It was in that little hotel that I searched VRBO for a rental house (no hotels available again!) in Sebring and found a duplex on Magnolia Boulevard for the next 8 days. Lucky us!
The next morning, off we went, flying around restricted areas and below designated airspace before finally landing in Avon Park (KAVO). Wild Thing would be hangared there for the duration. And, luckily, the lady we were renting from was able to give us a ride to our rental, since Enterprise wasn’t open until Monday morning. Ugh–have I mentioned last minute planning is not my comfort zone?
We kept ourselves busy by taking walks in various nature preserves in the cool of the morning. Some of our favorite trails were Curvy Run, Picnic Loop, and Gator Loop. But the one we enjoyed most was just walking down the maintenance road to our secret pond where we would sit on a bench and try to spot an alligator. No luck. We did see lots of Florida birds, though. Egrets, storks, herons, moorhens, cranes and (yes) snakes & gators were some of the wildlife we saw on our walks.
After our week in Sebring, we headed to Ruskin for three days–the main purpose was to visit my folks and to see that they were happy and healthy. Indeed they were and it was such a joy to spend several hours each day together, eating strawberries at Gibson’s farm, hanging together in their lovely apartment, and then sitting on our balcony looking out over the Gulf. It was such a blessing to know all is well and that they still consider their living complex “a cruise ship that never leaves the port.” Nice!
Prior to leaving Sebring to visit the folks, we had stumbled upon Harder Hall Resort. Since we were unable to return to our duplex rental, we needed to hunt for some other place. The Lord provided . . . and it was amazing! We felt super blessed to have our last 10 days in the Sunshine State be in this little condo. Actually, it’s a timeshare, but I think because of the Covid pandemic (hmmmm, is it still called that???), the Canadians who owned them were not able to use them. So, voilà! We were able to enjoy this peaceful place on Little Jackson Lake. There was shuffleboard, a pool, boats and bicycles for us to use. And the lanai was a great place to sit and have our morning coffee. I guess if I had insisted on planning ahead for this trip, we would have missed out on this place. Okay, Scott’s way of doing things has its advantages!
“If you have time to spare, go by air.” That’s a saying all GA pilots have and that was sort of in the back of our minds. We were hoping to get home before the weather turned nasty in the middle of the country–we were watching closely and making our plan to either stay a few more days (or weeks!) in Sebring or to start heading north. Saturday, March 13th, looked like there was an opening so we made arrangements with our rentals (car, hangar, condo) to end things on that day. Just as the sun was rising, we took off and flew a different route north and a bit east to avoid rain over Kentucky and Tennessee. With a bit of a headwind, we flew into South Carolina, then North Carolina before we thought it would be okay to head over the Great Smoky Mountains.
Well, all I can say is that God heard the prayers of those who were praying for us to travel safely back home. As we entered the foothills of the mountains, the weather began deteriorating and the clouds got lower. And then there was nothing but clouds all around. Scott is an excellent pilot and we had our glass screen with topographical details, but I never ever want to do that again. The peaks were somewhere ahead of us at over 6,400 feet. At 4,500 we just kept climbing into the clouds. Then we were at 6,000 feet, 6,500 feet, 7,000 feet, 7,500 feet. It was getting brighter and the clouds were getting thinner. Suddenly, at 9,000 feet, we popped above the clouds. Whew! An experience I never care to repeat! I’m such a fair-weather flyer. Nothin’ but blue skies from now on, as the song goes!
Our instruments did not fail us and when we had flown 2.5 hours, we landed for fuel in Indiana in the sunshine. Next stop for fuel would be in Wisconsin and then onward to Iron Mountain, where winds were 17 gusting 30 but it was straight down the runway. Scott had a fine landing at 4 p.m. and we were glad to be “safe and sound and on the ground” back home! Our winter escape to Florida was history and we count our blessings to have been there and back in once piece and a slight tan to prove it!
Heart to Heart 
It feels like a vacation just reading your story.
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Looks like you two wanderlusts had quite an adventure! Glad you were able to enjoy time with your family, as well as see the sights! Loved your photos, just need ‘more’ next time, haha! We missed you, happy you’re back safe and sound!
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Loved Florida–but “there’s no place like home!” Glad to be back and looking forward to seeing youz guys!
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