I’m scheduled for surgery in a couple weeks to correct a very sore arthritic thumb. The recovery and therapy is about 3 - 4 months long during which time I basically can’t use my left hand. This presents a plethora of complications and limitations which we need not review at present - you can use your imagination.
In anticipation of all that downtime, I rashly decided we needed to enjoy one last short camping excursion beforehand.
I looked at a number of event listings - things to do within a couple hours of home.
Being that my wife loves plants and gardening I was particularly interested in anything that might encompass these elements for her enjoyment.
I came across the Caladium Festival in Lake Placid Florida. Wow! I thought! What a perfect occasion! (As an added bonus I noticed a steam train excursion during the festivities, but of course that was purely secondary to my desire to find something pleasing for my wife to enjoy.)
We planned our adventure meticulously. We would leave Friday morning, take in the festivities all afternoon Friday, go out for a nice dinner, relax for the evening then return the next morning and continue perusing the displays etc. Mid afternoon Saturday we would deviate and take a short train ride, then return to the festival for the remainder of the day. We would have a casual dinner and evening out then head home on Sunday.
Perfect plan.
So last week after having made all the arrangements, purchased tickets, paid campgrounds, we discovered we were already committed to a prior event on Saturday evening.
Oops -
That’s what calendars are for but I neglected to write that one down. Several emails later I was able to reschedule the train trip to an earlier time slot. We decided that since we were able to rearrange the train ride to the morning, we would pack up and head home early Saturday afternoon in time to make our prior evening engagement.
No problem.
Friday comes. Travel went as planned. We got to the event on schedule. All seemed well until we started walking around the festival in approximately 350 degree heat.
Occasionally we would get a few moments of relief due to the intermittent cloud cover, during which time the temperature would drop - about a tenth of a degree or so.
After about two hours of profuse sweating and pretending we were enjoying ourselves we purchased a few plants and headed to the truck.
We regrouped and decided to run back to the camper, freshen up a bit and relax until dinner time.
Fine.
Found a pleasant local bar and grill nearby. The place offered indoor or outdoor seating. Considering the earlier circumstances, indoor seemed the wiser choice.
The sign read seat yourself.
We went in and selected one of the few open tables.
*Here’s a tip - when you go into a busy restaurant with few remaining tables you might take a moment to evaluate why they’re available. (You can thank me later.)
We chose a nice open high top by the window. Also (as we soon discovered) directly in line with the primary air conditioner for the entire establishment. Temperature was approximately 20 to 30 degrees below zero with a wind chill of an additional negative 20.
At least the waitress was pleasant and the food was good.
Went back to the truck turned the heat on high and drove around looking at the area and thawing out for about 45 minutes or so.
As we were heading back to the campground, our route took us by the railroad station. To my surprise - there sat the steam engine and train. All shined up awaiting the next day’s excursions.
After a day that didn’t quite live up to my expectations, it was admittedly an exciting sight!
I’m sitting here early Saturday morning writing this.
With each new day, there’s fresh hope!
