Lake City to Fairhope, AL - When I crossed the state line between FL and AL, I felt such mixed emotions. The traffic cleared up a lot, and I mean a drastic difference.  Green all around me in AL as we drove toward Fairhope.  Stopped plenty of times to stretch legs and get coffee or water. Fairhope is like Highlands, so many similarities. My brother Tom's home is full of love and laughter and we wish we could stay longer. Sis in law Christine - thoughtful and sweet hostess. Nephew Wyatt, age 10, full of fun, games, music and creativity. Peyton, 15, lovely, graceful and sweet. Tom and John are on a vacation trip to China. Thank you, John, for our room! Our seafood gumbo was delicious and card games after dinner such fun. Tomorrow we head for New Orleans.

First day of our new life. Left Palm Beach county at 10:30 a.m. Arrived in Lake City about 6 p.m.  Tons of traffic on the turnpike.  Stuck there about an hour due to an accident.  Curt driving his Elantra and me in the SUV Santa Fe.  Great weather though. Our cars are very full - I hope we shed some of this stuff soon to lighten up. We have decided to eat protein, veggies and fruit to stay alert.  No carbs til the end of the day.  I already broke the rules.  At 3 p.m. I had a hot fudge cookie sundae at DQ.  Best thing they have ever created. But the carbs in the cookie definitely made my system sleepy.  Stopped at rest stop and we were ok.  I love my travel apps - the Road Ahead, iExit, and Waze.  All of these are so helpful.  Tonight we are in a brand new hotel in Lake City - Home2 by Hilton.  Super, clean, roomy , just fantastic and a good rate.  Found it on TripAdvisor.  My daughter in law Andrea turned me onto TripAdvisor awhile ago.  Some friends asked me to blog about our travels so I will.  Tonight I'm too tired to write well but I will do better in the coming week.  We are grateful to all of you who have wished us well and sent us off with prayers - we feel them. Sunday June 26