Arriving in Homosassa

Anticipating our early departure from CVG, we awoke at 3:45 and left for airport at 4 am. Once we were nearly at the airport, we realized that we forgot our breakfast sandwiches at home.

We parked at Covington Hilton at 5 am and caught shuttle immediately using our reservation with onestoparking.com. The driver dropped us and our bags at the airport, and we went through security with no problems. We were happy that we checked in online last night and had our Global Entry cards to expedite security.

We had a brief wait at the gate, so we ate our granola bars and responded to a few emails. We boarded on time and noticed that the flight wasn’t full. We had a bit of a wait while the aircraft was de-iced since the morning was very cold.

We mostly read for the duration of the flight, nodding off a little. The flight was smooth, and we arrived at PIE around 9:45. Our bag was the second bag to come on the carousal at baggage claim, which never happens for us.

The Whittingtons picked us up in Mark’s new 3/4-ton Dodge Ram, which is well equipped and had plenty of power. In addition, it has a surprisingly smooth and comfortable ride. We really enjoyed listening to the Sirius Radio, especially the Willie’s Roadhouse station playing vintage Country & Western music.

We went to Metro Diner near Tampa for brunch. Cindy and I had eggs Benedict, Mark had biscuits and gravy, and Mary had scrambled eggs and hash brown potatoes. I was pleased that the eggs were cooked to order; the whites of my eggs Benedict were firm, and the yolks were a bit runny.

We drove to Whittingtons' new place and had a tour of their house. Afterwards, Mark and I started installing a new screen door on the back porch that has a large dog door. We had to run out to the Ace Hardware store for caulking and spray paint. We took a break while the paint dried and took a walk with the dogs their neighborhood. We worked on the door after the walk until about 6 pm when the no-see-ums were biting.

Jade had eaten seeds from Sabal palm in the backyard. According to what they read; dogs that eat these seed typically die. However, Jade only had digestive issues for a few days then seemed to be fine. Nevertheless, Mark and Cindy attempted to keep the yard clear of Sabal Palm seeds.

Mary and Cindy made fresh caught sea trout with rice and asparagus for dinner along with a white wine. Everything was very good.

After dinner, we all took the dogs out for a walk then Mary and Cindy played cribbage, Mark watched college basketball, and I read.

We were all tired and turned in early.