Spending the Day with Highschool Friends

Friends, Cliff and Carlene Freeman have not been down this way since about 2012.  It was a few years before that, when Rich and I were RV'ing and we were staying at the Thousand Trails RV Park in Wauchula, FL, that we were surprised to run into them.  We always had wooden sign in the front of our RV site that with our names and where we were from.  One day while we were inside, we heard this voice of someone walking by say " Rich Donald?  I know Rich Donald!

Rich (inside) immediately says " That sounds like Carlene Freeman!"    And that was the first time I was introduced to Cliff and Carlene Freeman.  Rich knew Cliff, and had gone to school at South Side High School in Elmira, NY with Carlene.  They had not seen each other since highschool.  For the next couple of years we'd see them at least once.  And then they had some pretty serious medical issues that kept them from their travels.  This is their first year back in Florda - and we were so surprised when we got the phone call that they wanted to visit.

They arrived early afternnon with their beautiful canine companion, Buster.
Carlene is almost as bad as me when it comes to taking pictures!  And we spent a good part of the day, when not talking, either taking pictures, or coming very very close to finishing off the bottle of Moscato!

Rich and Cliff had "dog duty".    Buster liked spending time in the yard and down by the water with Cliff.  Inside he and Rich became best buddies. Rich was glad to get his "dog fix"!   Only 14 months old, Buster is still growing - but he is definitely very well behaved for his age.  Cliff and Carlene were a little hesitant to bring him along - but we insisted.  And we're glad they did.   Only thing I had to do the next day, was remove a few nose prints from the sliders!

Rich cooked up some burgers on the grill, with dill pickles and all the fixins, red potato salad and coleslaw, we enjoyed a great meal.    After dinner Miss Carlene took over my kitchen and in whipped up a cake.  Baked it in the microwave oven for seven minutes, let it sit for 2 more, and then we let it cool for about 15 minutes or so.  Really cool, how she puts the icing for the cake in the very center of the batter before cooking.  After removing the cake from the oven, she covers the top of the cake with a platter and flips the cake onto the platter. And when she pulls off the cake pan, the icing drizzles down all side. Slice the cake while it's still warm. plate it with a some whipped cream and you have one great dessert!

We were having such a great time - I don't think anyone wanted the day to end. But it 7:00 or after by the time they left.  Hopefully they will be home in NC and we can make a stop to visit with them on our way to or from NY this summer.   If no - we hope to see here in FL again next year.    Thank you Cliff and Carlene for a wonderful day, God bless you and keep you safe and in good health.