A bouquet of flowers and dinner?

Yes, it’s true.

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Late yesterday afternoon, I was presented with this bouquet of flowers as my new friends and fellow bloggers arrived for an overnight stay at the refuge.

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Paul and Marti Dahl, of R Sanity RV Adventures fame, took me up on an invitation to stop over on their way to Florida.  We have been following each other’s blogs for quite some time.  Many of you know how cool it is to put real faces to cyber friends.  After the flowers, Paul said they would take me out for dinner since they knew I was a ‘cheap date’.  Winking smile  Well, we had a marvelous dining experience at Tiki’s in Gautier, MS, and jabbered the evening away. 

This morning, Diana and I took them on a back roads tour of the refuge, and were able to spot 23 cranes! 

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At one point along the way, I asked Diana to stop the vehicle because I had spotted the first new pitcher plant of the year.  In my experience, the pitcher plants send up their blooms first before the actual pitchers form, but there was this green pitcher standing up amongst the dried out remnants from last year.  That’s about a month earlier than last year.

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The tour was a success, and we all had a great time getting to know each other better.  Good times, good laughs, and only one little glitch.  You see, after Paul retired and they were waiting for their house to sell, he wiled away some of his time by washing and waxing his rig.  He mentioned that he enjoyed doing this, and I immediately told him that I’d be happy to offer up my rig for him to wash and wax so he could be happy.  He responded that if our paths ever crossed, he would be happy to make my rig all spiffy.  Well, guess what?  Our paths crossed, and my rig is still dirty!  Something about the impending birth of another grandchild, yadda, yadda, yadda… Open-mouthed smile  Guess I’ll have to catch up with them again at a more opportune time!  Thanks for the flowers, dinner, and memories Marti and Paul.

Thanks for stopping by… talk to you later,  Judy

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