Feasters on Easter

Our real reason for going to Pensacola had nothing to do with attending the ceremony for Paul's fighter squadron. No. We came to Pensacola for free food. Lots of it.

Speaking of free food, Daisy found this roadkill under the back wheel of the trailer. Actually, it's a furry little flying squirrel that our friends Willie and Gail brought her. They never bring us anything but the damn dog scores every time.

Oh, what do think this is (small photo below on right)?

A) Jayne Mansfield's head after the accident? (Paul forced me to write this. Sorry.)

B) Daisy's butt following a poop scoot on a freshly tarred road?

Well, after we cleaned up Daisy her Aunt Gail and Uncle Willie arrived to freeload and eat what little food we had left.

And here we are inside the all new for 2010 2285 Lance travel trailer and yes, we are sitting in the side-slider dinette. Willie and Gail are getting ready to scarf up what's left of our dwindling supplies.

So why am I smiling?

A couple of days after the Willie and Gail debacle Easter rolled around. And the free dinner bell was about to ring--for us. Here you see Ernest Borgnine and Hermione Gingold, fellow RVers, waiting for their handout.

More RVers ready to chow down. Look out.

This was an Easter dinner hosted by the owners of the Pensacola RV Park. Wendell and Lane Williams. Lane (in the pink blouse) is offering a prayer before the free food is served.

What a meal it was. Wendell is slicing the turkey. That was only the beginning. Also served: ham, beef brisket...

...dinner rolls, casseroles, vegetables, deviled eggs, black-eyed peas...

The RVers were only asked to bring a side dish or a dessert. The women in the park baked wonderful, homemade pies and cakes. What did we bring? Cheap cookies from WalMart.

Here Wendell and Lane are telling me never to come back. WalMart cookies don't cut it on Easter.

We did our best to bow out gracefully and snapped up our cookies on the way out. But all in all, it was a great meal and for super-moochers like we are it was much appreciated. Wendell and Lane host four events like this every year--Christmas, Easter, Fourth of July and Thanksgiving.

If you're ever rv-ing through northwest Florida, check out Pensacola RV Park. It's tucked away in a quiet, semi-rural neighborhood and is built around the Williams's nursery business. Potted trees, flowers and plants surround the campsites. You can drop your pole into the fishing pond or sit a spell on an old-fashioned swing under a huge old oak tree. And maybe get some free food if you're lucky.

But enough about them. Moving on. Following free dinner #1...

we had yet another Easter feast to attend in the city of Niceville about seventy miles east. Passed this single car accident on the way. Thought you'd like to see it. (No one was hurt.)

Shortly after the accident we pulled into our friends' Whacky Shack.

These are our friends' two lovely daughters--Ashley and Martha, Jr.

And these are their parents, Dan and Martha, Sr. . We've known Dan and Martha going on ten years, meeting up with them in California, Florida and even the Mediterranean.

I didn't think the RV park Easter brunch could have been out-done but Martha and her daughters did it.

The South is a bad place for a diet.

I find these foods irresistible:

scalloped potatoes, mac 'n cheese, beans. Oh...Lord have mercy...

Paul is not a dessert eater but Martha had made from scratch something she called "Death by Chocolate", along with pecan pie and cheesecake. We asked if she had ever enjoyed a WalMart cookie. We just happened to have some.

The dog is named "Sally", a sweet young Golden Retriever who Daisy terrorized.

And wouldn't you know, Dan and Martha one-upped us on RVs, having just purchased this beautiful 2010 Winnebago motorhome.

Damn thing has three sliders.

This is Sally's bed.

Something this fancy is not for trailer trash such as we. Couldn't even get Daisy to pee on the floor. She was completely overwhelmed.

Where'd this guy come from? Actually, this is Dan and Martha's son-in-law John, his daughter (D and M's granddaughter) and her friend on vacation from Tennessee.

Here they were all trying to coax Daisy into the pool.

I told you it was a nice place in Niceville, complete with screened-in pool. A beautiful property.

Small world: Dan and Martha's other son-in-law, David, helps manage Ponderosa/Bonanza steakhouses. Remember "Bonanza"? The steakhouse chain? Big in California when I was a kid. My brothers and sister worked at one in San Diego. I did, too, but only lasted three days.

We may never be invited back to the Whacky Shack as Daisy managed to destroy all of Sally's fluffy little balls.

Finally, Dan telling us in the strictest confidence about his recent stay in a sex rehab program but don't you tell anybody. Dan wants to keep it a secret. I've been trying to get Paul into the same program because I'm just worn to a frazzle. (Just kidding.)

Well, that was our Easter. How was yours?

See you down the road in "Old Florida".