Well, I'm at a Mom and Pop in Sebring. I tried to find a motel on line and they were all $100 or else they had very bad reviews. I finally found one south of Lake Placid for 75, but the lady didn't want to reserve it because she had plenty available, so I was going to just go there in the afternoon yesterday. When I came through Sebring, I decided to drive through and look a little bit. I went past this one that looked very clean and all the vehicles were nice looking and not junkers. I decided to stop and inquire. It was $40 so I asked to see the room. It is better than a lot of major chains! So I stayed last night and will be here tonight and Saturday nights.

Lynne lives about 5 miles outside of Sebing, so I drove past her house. I was amazed! From here to there I drove through orange groves on both sides of the road and they were really close to the road. I went past a u-pick place for strawberries and oranges, so I may go there later today. There is also a farmer's market here. All the way from Bradenton to here yesterday I drove through a very rural area and saw citrus as well as about a mile of strawberry fields. I'd like to see Melinda eat most of what she picked there! Dad would just die, if he hadn't already, if he'd see the beef cattle here. They are Longhorns and mixed breeds that are of very poor quality. I can't even think of any as poor as these in Iowa. It occurred to me yesterday that I was in an area that had orange groves like Iowa has corn fields. That's how prominent they are.

I went to a concert last night in Lake Placid and tonight I'm going to one in Avon Park. Tomorrow I'm going to meet Lynne at Bob Evans for lunch and then go to her house for the rest of the day.

Last night I talked to a man who told me a little about the citrus and strawberries. First off, if you see oranges that have fallen and are lying on the ground, there's a $50 fine for picking up ONE! The whole oranges that we get in Iowa are hand picked and put into crates on semis to go to a place to be packed for shipment. For processing they shake the trees and then hire people to pick them up off the ground. They put them in big baskets and then into end loaders and then onto semis that have mesh sides. I've seen a lot of those semis loaded. They have enough processed orange juice to last 7 months and are just trying to replenish their supply of that now, so the weather shouldn't have a price affect. I would guess it might affect the price of fresh oranges though.

I don't remember if I mentioned this before or not, but the cold weather and even the ice on the oranges actually makes them sweeter. It also keeps the trees from blooming too soon. A lot of the groves have something on the ground that is white. The man last night said he thought it was calcium or a mix of something including calcium. It looks like lime. He said when he moved here he had a tree, but it died because he didn't have any way to water it enough.

Have a nice day! I'm wondering if any one is reading this. I don't get many comments.

Linda