Trippin' with Susan Straley

 Greetings from Alafia River State Park,  This trip is almost over and I haven't had a chance to write to you.  First I was soaking up Sanibel.  After that we were in the Everglades at Midway Campground.  We didn't have cell or WiFi service.  We were out in the boonies! What I will tell you is the island is full of no-see-ums.  The Everglades has fire ants and mosquitos.  So spending time outside sitting especially at dawn or dusk is asking for lots of tiny bites.  I got tons on my ankles, feet, legs, and arms.   I have used a lemon-grass oil and Off for keeping them from biting.  After being bitten I have used after-bite, Benedryl cream, and cortisone cream to keep me from scratching all the skin off my extremities.  I think the natives in the old times must have coated themselves with swamp mud to keep the bugs from driving them insane. Sanibel Last I wrote you I was in Periwinkle Campground on Sanibel Island, Florida.   The folks I met up with (from Polk City, FL near the Va

 For those of you who have hooked up trailers to pull, you know that there are two satisfying sounds.   The first is when the cup receiver on the trailer slides down onto the ball of the hitch on your towing vehicle.  At first it was a scary sound for me, but after a few times the sound was cause for a mini-celebration, a pat on the back.   The second sound is when one pushes the latch into place.  There is a latch that slides under the ball to prevent the trailer cup from bouncing off the ball.  Sometimes I have gotten the first sound (the receiver engaged with the ball) but I couldn't get the latch to move into place. That has required me to wind the trailer back up off the ball in order to free the latch and try again. I am telling you all this technical stuff because this morning I thought I heard both good sounds.  I thought I saw that the ball and receiver were engaged.  I guess I was relying a bit more on the sounds because it was still dark out at 6:30 this morning when I w