We’re Istachatta bound

Thursday
The drive to Istachatta (isn’t that a great name) should have been short and uneventful. However I managed to drive off Jim and Connie’s cornet pad with the tongue jack still down, bending the post in the process, so the jack would not come up or go down. So I had to remove it until I could get it fixed. That small problem surmounted we arrived at our friend Marilee’s house in time to say ‘hi’ to her and her sister Tina and to set up and run – to visit Marilees’s Pickin Group friends for supper and a pick. This was a beautiful meal. Marlyn and Bill have a lovely house on the banks of the Withlacoochee River. They had organised a lovely meal. Jan and Larry brought an excellent Lasagna, which we are still eating as it was huge (what was left was divided amongst us to go home with). We met Lois and Ed for the first time, they are a lovely couple with lots of stories. Marlyn had baked a lovely cheesecake, so we were very full by the time we started playing. I as usual had to fight to remember words and music, but it was a brilliant evening and they are very patient. Marilee lent Sally her Dobro (a guitar which is played flat on your knees and played using a metal slide instead of fingers on the fret board. It is difficult to master to start with, but Sally did really well.
This was an evening we will remember for a long time. It reflected all that is good and great in sharing and hospitality.
Friday.
Next morning we were due to leave for Sertoma, for the Soggy Bottom Bluegrass Bunch weekend. I spent some time trying fix the tongue jack, with little effect. Tina prepared a huge breakfast of bacon, sausage, egg, hash brownies and fried onions and peppers,-delicious.
Then Marilee and Tina introduced us to their latest friend – their new Jamboree Camper Van (well new to them). It was made in 1985 and had been standing for a few years when they purchased it. They had already done a lot of work on the inside to make it cosy for the weekend at Sertoma. I left the tongue jack for Jim to have a look at and we left for Sertoma, with a max speed of 45 m.p.h. while Tina got used to driving the camper.