Florida day 1

September 20

What a terrible night we had last night! No breeze ever came up and it was hot and sticky in the van. Razelle woke up often to complain about the conditions. The van has four small sliding windows along its sides with screens to keep out insects. Opening all these should have let a breeze blow through without letting insects in, but there was no breeze. The van also has hinged windows on the back doors and side doors that open a few inches, but they have no screens, so opening these had the potential of letting insects in when the van is parked (and of letting in exhaust fumes when the engine is running). Opening these didn't help either, although we imagined at first that we felt a difference. Opening the front door windows might have helped but then that would have left us vulnerable to people getting in, so that was out of the question. Razelle couldn't bear it. By 4 o'clock in the morning she went into Josh's air-conditioned house and sat in a chair to doze until the sun was up. I was uncomfortable in the van, too, but I was asleep when she left and I only discovered she was missing when I awoke in my own sweat after sunrise. By then Razelle had showered and she glared at me when I entered the house to look for her. I took a quick sponge bath and then woke Josh to thank him for hosting us. Razelle didn't speak to me as we drove through Gainesville, but words were not needed for me to know what she was thinking.

I tried to buy gas with my credit card before we left Gainesville but the pump again told me my card wasn't valid. I went to see the clerk and he also told me that my card had not been accepted by the system. I tried a second gas station and the same thing happened there. I bought the fuel with cash. We then drove to Altamonte Springs to visit with Keith and Yelena.

We could have taken Florida's Turnpike, but because it is a toll road, I decided to take US-441 instead. That decision didn't earn me any points with Razelle, either, because this took us through Ocala and Mt. Dora FL, and every traffic light we came to turned red as we approached. It was hot in the van and the air-conditioning proved to be inadequate once again, especially whenever we were stopped by a light. Razelle was miserable on all accounts. It was so tedious going this way. These used to be such small towns when I lived in Florida in the 1960s; they were so much more developed now.

Keith had been my best friend in Jr. High when we lived in Orlando. This is a friendship that has endured five decades. I made a point to visit him twice over the years when he lived in California. Now that he was back in Florida I really wanted to include a visit with him in our round-the-world itinerary. We had a wonderful reunion. I got to meet Yelena for the first time and was utterly charmed by her. She went to a lot of trouble to be a perfect hostess. She made delicious chicken soup with matzo balls just for us. They have a dog Razelle reacted strongly to because of her allergy to dogs, so she stayed in a room the dog is not allowed in while I visited with Keith and Yelena. They and I talked extensively about our trip and I showed them my photos, which they appreciated very much because of their critical eye for photography. During our visit, a thunderstorm came up suddenly and passed just as quickly; such a nostalgic event. After the rain stopped, we said our warm goodbyes and drove on.

We drove through Winter Park to Genius Drive, where our father would often take us kids on a scenic drive to see the old Spanish-moss draped trees and the peacocks that lived there. We drove to the neighborhood I used to live in and I posed in front of my old boyhood home. Our timing was perfect. The owner arrived while I was posing. He was very friendly; he accompanied us into the back yard so I could see where the trees once stood that I and my brothers used to climb on and where we had build a tree fort under them. His wife arrived next; she had moved into the neighborhood two years after my family moved out. She knew many of the neighbors I used to know.

I showed Razelle my old elementary school, which I was attending when Kennedy was shot. I showed Razelle where my old Jr. High School had been before it was torn down; in its place there now is a VERY ritzy neighborhood with a waterwheel at its entrance. I showed Razelle where the Boy's Club once was; an expressway runs through there now. I showed Razelle where the synagogue had been that was the scene of my Bar Mitzvah; it's now an office block. I showed Razelle Lake Eola where I'd heard Hubert Humphrey give a speech and where water skiers put shows on for us and where my Grandpa Louis walked with my dad and me while I fed the ducks. I showed Razelle the Albertson Library where I checked out books and read newspapers from far-away places. Orlando has changed so much, but it still meant a lot to me to visit all these places with Razelle at my side.

We got onto I-4 and drove west. This took us past exits leading to Disney World and Sea World and a number of other related theme parks, one after the other. Most of the traffic going this direction with us got off at these exits, leaving us with an open road we could sail down without hindrance. As we set out I had Razelle call ahead to let Brent know we were on our way to Bradenton, now. I expected it would take longer to get there than it actually did. When I had lived in Florida in the 1960s, the Gulf side of the state seemed to be so much farther away than the Ocean side. After the awful night we'd had sleeping in the van in Gainesville, Razelle wanted to be sure we didn't have a repeat of the same. She asked Brent if his home had air-conditioning. A reasonable question, but it struck Brent and me as being a very humorous one. I imagine there aren't many homes in Florida that don't have air-conditioning, but now that I think about it, I don't recall whether or not our home in Orlando did or not in the 1960s.

The sun set upon us as we pulled into a rest area on I-75 along Florida's Gulf Coast. Sunsets along the west coast of the Florida peninsula are legendarily breathtaking. We had the privilege of experiencing this one from among parked semi-trailers under clouds painted gold and crimson and amber and umber. We shared this scene with the pair of smartly uniformed highway patrolmen who man these rest areas. We saw the same set of law enforcers at the rest area we stopped at in the Florida panhandle when we first entered this state. I imagined in my paranoid mind that Razelle and I must look to them like homeless types pulling in for a pit stop at sunset with hopes of staying until the sun came up again. Our bug-spattered van would have added to the effect. When Razelle returned to the van, we drove on into the last of the sunset.

We reached Brent and Ricki's home in Lakewood Ranch, a suburban community adjoining Bradenton FL, after dark. It had been a very full day. We were greeted by Ricki, who knew to expect us. We were very impressed by the architecture of their home. Brent and I had gone to Israel together on the "Summer in Kibbutz" program in 1974. I haven't seen him since, but, thanks to Facebook, we were able to renew our acquaintance. We found a vibrant family here, including Brent and Ricki's Israeli son-in-law, who Razelle talked with about raising bilingual children. Brent wasn't home when we got there, but he arrived shortly thereafter. He remembered many incidents from our past, as we came of age in Toledo, OH and he remembered our summer at Kibbutz Yassur in the Western Galilee. He helped me remember some of the people and events I had forgotten about from that special summer, which I had hoped he might recall. It was hard for me to stay awake late this evening and Razelle had already bid them good night before I had. I excused myself while Ricki and Brent caught up on the day's events and I joined Razelle in the guest bedroom they had set up for us. We slept soundly on a nice bed for a change and appreciated the air-conditioner very much.