The Florida Botanical Gardens in Largo is twenty miles from our place and has free admission. There are over a hundred acres to explore – art installations, Florida-flavored water, paintings for sale, and bird watching.
Heritage Village is under half a mile between parking lots and separated by a creek. This living history museum offers 28 structures on 21 acres. There’s a log cabin from Clearwater built in the 1850s, the 1924 Gandy Tower from the first bridge to connect St. Pete to Tampa, and a 1930s sponge warehouse from Tarpon Springs among their collection of temporal and geographical representations of Pinellas County.
The Safety Harbor Church is simple, exactly what the builders had in mind, and early members have left their names in the community. The church was built in 1905, repositioned via hurricane in 1921, and relocated here in 1977. During its 97 years of service, there were 41 pastors and only five organists.
We walk around from the back door to the front, on the porch, before we are invited in, on the other side, for a docent-led tour of the House of Seven Gables, built in 1907 in Queen Anne Style with 13 rooms consisting of heart pine panelling. This part of the tree requires 30 years of growth, so it’s more likely to be found in reclaimed wood than in fresh sawn. The house was given to the park in 1976.
We are joined by a couple and a family, and the tour begins. The dining room is my favorite, with built-in cabinets and bookshelves. There is elegance and detail in every room – the wood, textiles, and porcelain. There are a few musical instruments, hung paintings, a candlestick phone, and a Hoosier cabinet with a grain mill. I’m ready to move in as the docent ensures our departure.
There’s a bright orange caboose (from the Seaboard Coast Line), an idea in the 1840s to house the engineer, fireman, conductor, and two brakemen who would manually stop each car as the train slowed to a stop. In the 1870s, those men would use flags to signal the engineer. Bright painted steel replaced the weaker and more flammable wooden crummy in the 1920s. With the invention of radios and computers, the way cars are becoming extinct.
The H.C. Smith Store was run from 1915 to 1955 under various names and sold groceries and clothing, with part of the building being used as a butcher shop, bakery, and sometimes as a home for the employees. The store struggled to compete with air-conditioned malls. Today, it still sells soda, and the side of the building houses a barbershop and post office. The space in the back has been turned into a mechanic’s bay with two 1925 Ford Model T’s and a 1928 Model A on display.
1. Watching Zeus, a golden doodle, for the holiday week 2. Finding a half-done cross-stitch tree for me to finish 3. Remembering to do my Q&A books since we forgot last year 4. Dad calling to reminisce about a trip we took and turned into a book 5. Hot tub conversations with Fallon 6. A hot stone and cupping Thai massage 7. A walk to the beach with Fallon and Ryan 8. Being the strange ones getting baklava 9. Quiet holiday morning walks 10. Sharing a meal and a laugh with friends and Jared
Caleb, Sparky, and Jess over 15 years ago
11. Finding worms, slugs, and a newt under my plant pot and watching them grow 12. Trying shishito peppers at home 13. Going through old pictures and sharing them with the people in them 14. A hot salt bath on a rainy morning 15. A free cookie at the grocery store 16. Wearing padded bike shorts on a 20+ mile ride 17. Caleb reading aloud to me about a couple traveling in Alaska 18. Using the Theragun on each other 19. Baking peanut butter chocolate chip cookies with Caleb 20. Finding winter-inspired tea flavors
21. Enjoying colorful cloudy sunsets 22. A bike ride with Caleb and Fallon 23. “Kids, love the hats! Ain’t that some shit right there!” – a guy on a bike, to us 24. Watching the Saggy Baggy Elephant video with Caleb in bed, a memory from his grandma, from the Lil Golden Book series 25. Sitting in a Colorado glider chair with Addison 26. Finding free furniture to replace Caleb’s nightstand and a new kitchen work table 27. Playing with toddlers with balloons, Chayla’s kids 28. Daisies in the wind that remind me of kind neighbors, Dan 29. Reading and cookies on the couch in the afternoon with Caleb and Addison 30. Being serenaded in Columbia, the oldest restaurant in Florida and the largest Spanish one, for our 16th anniversary
Sagle, Idaho
31. Watching man vs. chair for the anthem at a concert on Sunset Beach 32. Seeing a bald eaglet in its nest at Honeymoon Park 33. Driving behind a “just married” car with an entourage 34. Seeing a fairy-tale home in real life 35. Earning a shirt for benching half my body weight five times 36. Addison giving up her hair tie for me at the gym 37. Trying cryotherapy for the first time and second time with Caleb, Fallon, and the girls 38. Having Dad remember my memories 39. Getting a free muffin to balance our pastry box from Sunnyboy Biscuit Co. 40. Staring into an infant’s black eyes and smiling face while waiting for pizza
41. Getting a free chic-o-stic with a drink purchase 42. The town named Luling in TX as we pass through 43. Remembering the time I bought a stranger breakfast in London on his birthday 44. Walking barefoot in the grass by the canal 45. Buying things that make me smile – shower curtain and welcome mat 46. Laughing about mosquitoes with Dad and Caroline 47. Finding a good hair conditioner in a humid state 48. Watching a gator climb out of the water at A.L. Anderson Park 49. Getting an energizing massage from Strong Hands in Tarpon Springs 50. Watching animals at John Chestnut Sr. Park
51. Hiking with Brandi at Hillsborough River State Park 52. Sitting in the cockpit at the start of our Ireland trip 53. Staying the night in a chapel in Dublin 54. Walking in an Irish forest 55. Listening to bagpipes by Blarney Castle 56. Seeing sheep on the roadside on a lovely drive to a national park 57. Dessert for lunch with robins at a cafe at Brigit’s Garden 58. Collecting white roses while standup paddleboarding at Sunset Beach with Caleb 59. Seeing an old-fashioned bank in Washington with bars on the teller windows and a box phone on the wall 60. Drinking hot cocoa in Montana on a road trip with Caleb and Uncle Ed
Cheryl with kitten
61. Seeing a chair with an ottoman and a winter/summer fan switch in a North Dakota hotel room 62. Being in the geographical center of North America 63. Finding another totem face by Toth 64. Playing barefoot baseball in Michigan with Caleb and the nephews Tristan and Jordan 65. Visiting Niagara Falls with Uncle Ed, his friend Mark, and Caleb 66. Jukebox bingo in Connecticut at dinner with Caleb 67. Taking Zeus to see gators at A.L. Anderson Park 68. Sipping coffee in the hot tub with a storm nearby 69. Kayaking the Anclote River with Mitchell 70. Paddling in Brooker Creek and seeing a gator
71. Making new friends – Al, Terri and Karley, Cheryl 72. Hanging out in Lowe’s garden center with Fallon and Brandi 73. Jogging in the park by deer with Cheryl at Boot Camp by Kevin 74. Having two guys offer to help load my groceries into the trunk at Costco 75. Exploring new beaches with Farid 76. Doing hot yoga with Mitchell at Savage Studio 77. Watching YouTube videos I made a decade ago, one riding home with Caleb 78. Listening to “Brown Eyed Girl” by Corey at Captn Jack’s for my birthday and the Happy Birthday song many times with Amy, Cheryl, Asta, and Caleb 79. “It’s really good, ma’am,” said a teenage boy to me with a character popsicle at First Friday in Tarpon Springs 80. Meeting trampers walking the coast-ish while they make and eat dinner
81. Making coffee with Felicia and Nick, neighbors and complex employees 82. Video calls with Uncle Ed and him sharing his latest project in the shed 83. Naming the shapes in the clouds 84. A handwritten note from Barbara, one of my few childhood pen-pals 85. Caleb’s mom calling about how awesome kombucha is 86. Caleb looking after me while I was sick 87. Complimenting Officer Munoz after a long shift: “Officers are doing calendar shoots, too.” 88. Sitting with Tyler, a fellow resident, on the bench by the pond 89. Feeling young and old as I recall futon memories from Virginia 90. Hot tub conversations with Al
91. Learning Tichu poolside with Terry and Karley 92. Getting matching shirts, sandals, etc. with Caleb 93. Watching animals enjoying the sun – dogs, lizards, gators, turtles, birds 94. Cracking my back while peeling garlic 95. A day trip to St. Augustine on the motorcycle 96. A day with friends on Veteran’s Day – Fallon, Terry, and Al 97. Eating fresh sourdough slices made by Fallon and Karley 98. Having the door shut so I could finish popping bubble wrap 99. Good dreams with friends on a boat 100. Playing disc golf again after three years
101. Trying quail with Caleb at the Asian Fest in St. Pete 102. “That’s sleep music. I don’t want to sleep,” was Layla’s response to me playing my snow globe with a giraffe in it, which is what caught her attention 103. Seeing bucks at dawn by the pond on a walk with Caleb 104. “I’m Chinese. I don’t eat that.” When a customer asked where the breadcrumbs were in Costco 105. Talking about colonoscopies in the Veterans Affairs clinic waiting room while waiting on Caleb 106. Enjoying the water outside my window – the breeze, reflection inside, and wildlife 107. Piano lessons with Terry 108. Reading with a crackling fire background video, plus 34 other books 109. Preparing 492 meals out of 1,000 for the PCT next year 110. Making this list and realizing I could add one hundred more!
I’ve been keeping some notes on the process, but I feel like there is so much I’m leaving out, not on purpose but because I get into the ’empty trays, clean them, buy more food for them, wash them, reload them’ zone along with continuing to keep the house clean and fridge stocked with food for us to eat now.
We plan on hiking the PCT, the Pacific Crest Trail, which runs between Mexico and Canada through 2,500 miles of California, Oregon, and Washington. It can also be done going south, but we’ve chosen to go north for reasons Caleb can share with me later, as he has done a majority of the pre-trip planning to account for weather and us avoiding crampons. We will find out at the end of this month when we can start next spring.
As of today, we’ve had a freeze dryer (FD) since September 19th, so almost five weeks and I have learned a lot, but I am finding out I still have more information to gain, such as oxygen absorbers come in different cc’s of capability. I will be ordering more now that we are out of the 50 little packets that came with our 209-pound package (shipping weight), which we carried half of up a flight of stairs.
Our first few loads were simple fruits and veggies to learn how to load the trays and how long the process takes, averaging about 24 hours for simple items. We’re lucky that the FD comes with a book, and Caleb’s mom has had one for some time, so we had some guidance. You can not over-dry the food, so it’s best to choose extra dry time instead of bagging wet food or keeping it around for your friends to try (good for them, but it doesn’t help us on the trail).
I started out spacing the fruits and veggies with room for the Holy Spirit until I realized that you can pack meals on the tray (which will take more time in the FD), but some things will spread out or be sticky. Having the lids (ordered with silicone mats for less sticking and loss of food powder) with their “spacing ridges” makes it easier to portion meals, and then I put apples and protein brownie bites (and other snacks) on the trays because I can portion them out.
Freeze-dried foods are better nutritionally than dehydrated foods, which is why we went this route. We debated spending $8 to $11 per breakfast so that 150 meals each would cost roughly $1,200 to $1,650 (around 3k for both of us), and then we still need lunch/snacks, dinner, and desserts occasionally. This could easily bring our food cost to $7,200 to $9,900 just for meals and without drinks, which will consist of cocoa and coffee powders added to water.
Hikers don’t have to be rich to set out on long distances, and we will be doing this on a military retirement check, but we don’t want to live off Pop-Tarts and Ramen for over four months (apparently, we’ll be too old for that nonsense). I also don’t want to get stuck eating beef stroganoff because it was the only meal available in a trail store or hiker box.
Some hikers need to repackage food that they buy in town. We are packaging our own (with a balance of carbs, protein, and fats found in similar meals), so we need fewer boxes mailed to resupply stations (trail stores and local post offices) and can carry more food in a smaller space.
going in: cherries, raspberries, bell peppers, apples
Packaging our own food gives us more diversity in vegetables, flavors, and recipes (we’re hoping to have some friends help with this). It is surprising how many things can be freeze-dried, minus peanut butter by itself and other items that are too oily and will remain too moist for long-term storage. If properly done, these foods should last up to 30 years, but we only need them to survive for up to a year.
It will take about a month to make all the breakfasts, mostly granola and egg scramble, before we make the dinners. Our FD is on the floor, so it’s not the best for draining, but it’s also no issue when we were woken at 3 am to unload the trays and leave the FD to thaw with the door open. The other option is to heat the trays for two hours so that the thick ring of ice has an increased melt capacity. I’d say that after 30 minutes, you can break the seal with a butter knife (a guy posted a video using needle nose pliers).
The FD is too imposing on our counter, so it could drain into the sink, even though this is the most counter space we’ve had in the States. I prefer to use that space for loading trays, making coffee, keeping tea, and, if I’m lucky, a batch of homemade biscuits before I finish them within 24 hours.
I got woken again, this time at 4 am, with the FD beeping, and it can take up to an hour to measure the bag rolls (pre-cut sizes are awesome!) to the estimated size needed, seal one end, load them with food, add an oxygen absorber packet (while keeping them from sucking in all the oxygen in the kitchen), and vacuum seal them with a 15 seconds timer each (unless I have to re-flatten the bag end to get a better seal).
cooked breakfast scramble and fresh chickpea salad with apples
I do this for 12-15 meals and then either leave the trays by the sink (to get a nap) or wash them and set them to dry to reload as soon as all moisture has been removed from FD; otherwise, the oil pump will smoke aka puff oil vapors into the room (not so bad when the temperature and humidity allow for an open door to vent the space).
The rubber ring around the FD door (to aid in making a vacuum) will drip condensation, so we have a tea towel underneath. I was told the company Harvest Right used to sell something for that, but we just use the drain pan to catch ice pieces when we pull the chunks out. The ring has to come off, the tray rack comes out (so it can be wiped down if needed), and the interior chamber can be squeegee’d and wiped. I use a microfiber towel, so I don’t let tiny fibers get stuck in food or ice.
Our FD kit came with an impulse sealer, which provides an electrical pulse to seal poly and foil bags with candy or small tools and components. Hair ties and paint brushes don’t have the same shelf-life concern as our food. Other FD users (the videos I’ve watched) are also using jars (there’s an adapter) for long-term storage in their basement (heat can spoil things) or making tons of sweets to sell out at the farmer’s market/street fair/next vending opportunity.
For this reason, we bought a vacuum sealer and saved over $150 by not ordering the orange-button option. I was taking pictures of each load, but it’s difficult to get all five in the photo at a decent angle, so I won’t be posting all of them (but we all knew that). I need to come up with a new way to track how many batches are done so I can replace the vacuum pump oil every 20 to 30 uses for proper maintenance.
I wrote about our 2023 December trip to the Tampa area. We came back for nine days in March to find a place to live within a one-hour commute from Caleb’s transitional position into the civilian sector at Cummins Inc. We were supposed to move into our new place on April 12th, but the carpet had to be replaced, which took the weekend. We were able to stay at a friend’s place and got a discount on the rent. Then, the moving company we hired showed up two hours late, after we’d moved half the 16-ft truck up a flight of stairs, and still demanded to be paid in full.
Harbor Palms Nature Park
Caleb unpacks boxes and puts their contents in cabinets… some things are still missing. We keep busy with spring fests, local parks, clubhouse events, making new friends, and going diving. Caleb had to take two months off work (from the Navy) before starting his new job. We had to go somewhere… that’s where Ireland comes in for ten days in May. We explore museum deals, live music venues, and visit a long-time friend before we go to San Diego for a week in June. We leave directly from the hotel to drive up to Washington, where we will join Caleb’s Uncle Ed on a cross-country trip.
Hillsborough River State ParkJohn Chestnut Park
We will visit 25 states in two weeks, which was enough time to stay a night at Jessi’s (Caleb’s sister) in Montana, visit his mom, Terri, at work, stay a night at Kris’s (Caleb’s brother) in Wisconsin, and a half day at Niagara Falls with Ed’s old friend Mark. Maine would mark the goal of this trip, and then we skipped more stops the closer we got to our new place so we could rest over the holiday weekend. Caleb started work on Monday morning before I got out of bed (before the sun did too!) He agreed to work four days at ten hours each for four months.
Brooker Creeksunset over the pool
August and September are spent with friends — in their pool, at the park, at restaurants, paddle boarding, celebrating my birthday, and at a women’s expo. We go diving, donate blood, replace the mirror motor on the car, shop for some necessary trail supplies, and buy a freeze-dryer (so we can make our meals for the PCT we’re planning to hike in 2025). My friend, Farid, came to visit from New York City for five days, and we spent them cooking and beaching it up when we weren’t in the hot tub. The tide wasn’t always in our favor, but it was a great time. Though I love my alone time, I also enjoy house guests.
Madeira Beach
Now, we’re in October, and I just received my first emergency evacuation. I didn’t heed the order to leave. I filled up camelbacks as a water supply, and Caleb grabbed our highlighter suits from the garage so we could walk around for live storm updates. The water in the pond went up, we went to bed after 10pm with high winds and blue lightning, and woke to a beautiful morning — no traffic stress, no worry about gas, no getting in the way of those who needed to get out because their homes were already damaged less than two weeks ago. People outside the state were more concerned for my safety, and I’m grateful for their consideration in this situation.
banana, pear, apple, mango, mixed veg, bell peppers
TheJessicaness 