Blogging friends are the best!

Wednesday was a day I was really looking forward to. Terri had set up a lunch date with several mutual blog friends. We had a 2 hour drive to get to the Cracker Barrel in Ocala where we were meeting. Terri took the back roads instead of the highway which was nice because we avoided crazy traffic, but it also gave us a chance to see the real Florida.  I was surprised by all the cows we saw. When I think of Florida, I think of oceans and beaches, but Florida is one of the top producers of beef. I grew up on a farm, and always appreciate seeing cows and farms!

Here's a few photos from our drive.

I was once again in awe of the beauty of the Live Oak trees.

We ran into a little construction and laughed because these barrels all say Bob's barricades.  My Bob said he got no money for the use of his name.

When we got close to Ocala, we started seeing horse farms.

Ocala is horse country and these places were beautiful!

Here's our happy group! We've all been mutual friends on blogger for some time and we're so thankful to Terri for setting this up.  Bob and I greatly appreciated Terri making the 2 hour drive with us.

From left to right:
Bob and I,
Terri from Your Friend from Florida
Barbara and husband Gary from Journal Memories and in the back - 
Pamela and husband John from Closed Doors, Open Windows

We had a such a nice time talking in person. I've met several blog friends in person and always find that they are exactly as I know them from their blogs, and these friends were no exception.  The husbands laughed at Gary's talk of the men being "blog fodder". We missed Linda of Just Linda, who lives in Ocala but was unable to come this time. It was a delightful afternoon and soon time to begin the drive home.

Pamela brought a gift for us that she ordered from her son Benton who is a talented woodworker.  It's something I'll display with pride and good memories!

It's this Easter display of the tomb with the cross behind it. On the bottom, the stone is in it's place and on the top photo, I've shown how it will look at Easter when the stone is rolled away.  Thank you Pamela - this is a treasure.

We got back to Terri's and had pizza for supper.  I told her I needed a photo of this spot where we shared such lovely meals and times together.

I have to share this photo of one of Terri's cats.  This is Casper. She also has Vinnie, who wasn't hanging around for a photo op.  We enjoyed them and Bob tried unsuccessfully to get them to sit with him!

We had to get to bed on time this night, because we were heading home the next morning and had to be up early to get to the airport. It had been another wonderful day!