Florida Vacation - Part 2 - The Suwanee River, of Which We're Way Down Upon

I did no live-blogging of the Suwanee River portion of our vacation - you'll find some tweets of buried here of a few pictures I fired off into the ether on the mornings we were there but they're untagged and may be hard to find. Scroll down to the tweets posted around July 2nd if you insist but I'll use this post for the pictures I took while we were there at the river house.

(Background on the riverhouse? Got it right here.)

This year's trip wasn't too terribly different than last year's. A slightly different cast of characters but, essentially, it was the same. Only different. Which is how we like things 'round here, thank you very much.

First thing first. Arrival day means catching up with Aunt Toni. We'd just seen her for Rachel's graduation not a six weeks prior but it was still grand to see her.



Aunt Vicki was there, of course, to our never-ending delight but a new player was her charming daughter, Laine.



We'd seen her only briefly last year but my cousin Marie was there, too. The number of years since I'd seen her last and spent any amount of time with her? To many to count. She made a perfect puzzle completing companion for Rachel.



Grandpop Pete and Nana make ready the black beans and rice:



Evening entertainment at the riverhouse is decidedly high tech:



Morning. Learning to prepare breakfast the Grandpop Pete way:



But first, some time for contemplation. Which fashion accessory is appropriate for a day in the the Florida wilds?



We floated the Itchetuknee river as we did last year and got no pictures at all. None whatsoever. So take my word that it was a marvelous time. Afterward we trekked into nearby Lake City to score some 4th of July fireworks but by the time we got back, I was stricken by a some kind of stomach bug that knocked me out for the rest of the afternoon. I rallied, though, and arose in the evening to more visitors had arrived.

That's my cousin, Bubby, on the far left. Last seen? When Emily was only a few months old. Towards the rear is his daughter, Amanda, and her husband Brandon. Recent newlyweds and the first time we met them. Wonderful. Look forward to spending some more time with them in the future. To the far right, in black shorts, and possibly cut off due to formatting of this blog, still another cousin, Jean, Bubby's sister. We'd seen her last year at this very spot and we were very happy to see her and visit with her again. Someone's telling a raucous story.



When the insects get too be too much on a wild Florida evening, we move thing inside. Some of us have heard these stories thousands of times but not everyone has so they're worth re-telling for their sake. Heck, they're worth re-telling for the sake of those of us who've heard them a thousand times:



Next day, it's activities as usual. Emily pilots the boat with a keen and cautious eye. Don't let the wake fool you. She'll soon have it up to maximum speed:



The Suwanee and some of its mysterious shoreline:



Rachel and Laine's fiance, Jose, take to the river in the tube:



In Florida, there's no escaping the afternoon rains. Things shut down for a while. Time to float along until it clears.



Not quite dark yet. Time to set off the fireworks procured the day before that don't require darkness: smoke bombs!



Sparklers!



Marie's son had provided fireworks that exploded and whistled and set off showers of sparks. Too bad I didn't get any pictures of that but you know the type.

The morning after the day before. On the porch of the riverhouse:



A sure sign of summer at a place near water: beach towels and bathing suits draped everywhere to dry:



Morning on the river. Always beautiful. Always.



Today's activity: four-wheelin'! I'll drive, Dad. Well, okay:



Always time for style:



So that's this year's entry. A wonderful time with wonderful people of whom we too infrequently see far too little.

Next year? Who knows? But this one is one for the memory book.