Hard Day Traveling

Bonifay, Florida

Weather: low 80 degrees in Livingston, Louisiana, high 95 degrees in Bonifay, Florida, partly cloudy skies

Summer has arrived! Even though it's still officially the spring season, the weather here is typical of full fledged summer in the south. Only about five months of hot weather to go.

We slept like logs last night because we were so tired. Tonight should be even better for sleeping, as we traveled until I couldn't stand to be in the truck anymore. We stopped for the night in the little Florida panhandle town of Bonifay, which is a quiet, sleepy little town about one mile from I-10.

Bonifay reminds us of many of the little towns we see in our travels in Texas. About the only thing we didn't see was the county courthouse. We drove down the main street of town, checking out what was there, and decided that the primary industry is farming and ranching. We took a ride through one of the older residential areas of town, and were impressed by the neatness of the homes and the way the yards were kept. Pine and oak trees are the major trees, and many of them are probably over one hundred years old. The yards are covered with azaleas and roses, and we think this would be a beautiful place to see in the spring when everything is blooming.

I looked the town up on the Internet, and was surprised to see that between the years 2000 and 2008, the population decreased from about 4,000 people to about 2,800 people. There are probably a number of reasons for that, with the remoteness of the town being the major reason, along with lack of jobs. That's a shame, because Bonifay appears to be a good place to raise a family, or even retire to.

We moved away from Florida about 30 years ago as we followed jobs and careers. Since then, we usually return about once a year to visit family, and we always talk about whether we would ever want to return to Florida. The conversation usually follows the same pattern, with us deciding we probably wouldn't want to move back to the Ocala area, but the panhandle area might be interesting to look into. It reminds us of what Florida used to be like before it became so crowded and changed so much from what we remembered.

We should arrive in Ocala tomorrow, and we're ready for this trip to end. It is a long drive.

More later, be safe.

Today's Town - Toledo, Ohio: Detroit’s Right Hand

Not all who wander are lost.