This is an older one from when we were at Ft. Desoto Park near Tampa. I snapped this one with the digital camera. It was a beautiful night...

After our gig at The Independent, we headed to our friend Brenda's place near St. George, Ga. She is a yoga instructor whom Nikki had met through working and playing at Magnolia Fest over the years. We spent most of the evening touring her property and hanging out in the yurt that she had built in May of 2011. Later that night, she made us some quinoa with sauted vegetables and toasted pumpkin seeds. It was nice to get a look inside an actual yurt as me and Nikki are thinking about building one on the mountain property someday if we can ever squirl enough money away.

The next morning she gave us a free yoga instruction. This was my first time ever doing any kind of structured routine. Let's just say it's not as easy as it looks, and I'll probably be sore for a few days. 

Our friend Brenda's VW tent

We pulled into Tampa yesterday afternoon for the gig at The Independent. After playing, the owner, Veronica, let us stay over at her house, so there was no sleeping in the van last night.

We woke up this morning after sleeping in the Morgan Creek Grill parking lot and decided to head on down to Jacksonville for the European Street Cafe show. We were heading out from the Charleston, SC area so we took I-95 South the whole way down. It just so happened that a strong cold front was sweeping through the area and was firing off some pretty nasty thunderstorms, some of which had tornadoes embedded. Given what happened the prior day with the same system, we decided to hunker down for a bit at a nearby rest area. I do have a background in meteorology and I get excited over such things, but I've never been one to seek out imminent danger. 

We made it to the venue intact and did the usual: eat a quick dinner, set up, play, breakdown and head to wherever we're sleeping (not the van tonight). Magnolia Fest folks came out and were as enthusiastic as usual. 

We spent a couple of nights at Ft. DeSoto Park in Tierra Verde, Fl, and I can honestly say that this is one of the nicest parks I've ever been to. We ended up getting a waterfront campsite that looks out on the Gulf Intercoastal Waterway. We got in around 11am on Monday and tooled around the area little bit, taking in the awesome views and eventually making some dinner. 

By nightfall a slightly Hitchcock-esque experience unfolded as raccoons began to have the run of the place. These guys were not afraid of humans, and were perfectly happy to almost take food right off of your plate. We actually caught one stealing cheese out of our cooler. I kneeled down by the edge of the woods to wash some dishes after dinner and I swear one hissed at me from the brush. I looked up with my headlamp on and I could see it's little beady, glowing eyes. We'd walk to the bathroom and they would, literally, be criss-crossing the path ahead of us. 

Before we turned in for the night, we decided to put any leftovers in the van rather than cooler. We awoke the next morning to see paw prints on the side of the van. The little bastards were trying to claw their way in. 

I see now why the park's wildlife museum had some of the displays that it did.