Nov. 4, 1920

Florida Trip

Left home at noon 4^th day of November. Went to Woodington to Greenville and took the machine to the garage and got new spark plugs. Did not find Carrie’s until late stayed at Eva’s all night, started on the 5^th at 7:30, stopped and got the spark plugs fixed again, from then on the machine worked fine.

At Hamilton we ate a lunch and started on for Lem’s, had a puncture fixed that had a blowout. Went on to Millville on the casing and got a new tire, got to Lem’s about 6 o’clock Sat. Nov. 6^th, it was their 25^th anniversary. Lem and Frank went to Cincinnati and brought some people out with them, the people who bought Lem’s place, their names were Shudley, they stayed for dinner, had 4 young chickens for dinner, made cider in the afternoon, had a fine time at Lem’s, got to Cincy Mon. morn at 9 o’clock, stayed until 3:30 and at last got started on our long ride, was delayed at Cincy as Carrie had business to attend to, he took out an agency for the Dort car. We had dinner at Orvilles, we made about 23 miles that eve stopped for camp in a big sugar grove, belonging to Mr. Hopkins. Did not put up the tent, he did not charge anything but they gave him a dollar (50 cts apiece). Our next town of any size was Williamstown, the roads were very solid but full of holes. We saw where there was to be a funeral, the only one we have seen so far. Stopped at Corinth Ky. And sent some cards. We were ahead and the roads were crooked and we hadnt seen anything of Carries for some time, we stopped and waited almost an hour and still they didnt come so we started back and found them about 3 miles back in front of an old house trying to get their machine to work. The men went back about a mile to a phone to call a man, while they were gone I went and cooked our dinner on the womans stove while Mrs. Burns set the table. The people were named Wood, they had a silly boy he was ten years old but had no spine, he could not walk, could talk some and wore dresses and diapers. They had a boy 18 yrs old his name was Aubrey, he took Franks little gun and killed a rabit and gave it to us. After dinner the man came and fixed the car, charged 5.00 and went on to Georgetown. It is a nice big place but it was raining and getting night so we did not terry long. A man directed us to a stone pit and we camped there on a pile of crushed stone, pitched the tent and was real comfortable, went on in the morning without any breakfast as we were afraid the men would come to work. The camp was about 3 miles from Georgetown and 9 miles from Lexington, stopped at Lexington quite a while, Frank got a fan belt, Carrie got camp stools, we mailed some cards and came on to ------, bought a tablet and some post cards. Our first bit of sight seeing worth while was at High Bridge Ky. On the river. There is a railroad bridge 311 ft. high over the river. We went down a stairs of nearly 300 steps from the top of the cliff to the river. Frank and Carrie went down to the bottom, Mrs. Burns lacked about a dozen steps and I got about down the last flight. I got so light headed. We were about all in when we got down, there were steps to go up on the bridge but we did not go up. We then drove down to the river and crossed on the ferry, we had to pay 50 cts. and Carries had to pay 75 cts.. We stopped there and cooked our dinner, we had a big long pull up the cliff, camped that evening at a school house, it was a very lonesome place, some drunk men came in the evening and about 2 o’clock came back went into the school house stayed about an hour and went on their way.

We saw miles and miles of stone fence and such large farm houses one place called Quakertown had nothing but large houses, it looked like a college town. At Harrodsburg they had a college Asbery it was called. We went over roads along the sides of the hills where you could not see to the top or to the bottom. I dont like such places.

We saw such a pretty place to camp but it was only noon so we ate our dinner and drove on. One place in the hills we saw a man sitting on the fence he was waving his hands at us, we stopped to see what was wrong and Carries hit us and broke their bumper off. The man was crazy and wanted a ride to town. When we got around the next bend he was there waving his hands again but we did not stop we went on to Hodgenville, Lincolntown it has a big statue of Lincoln and 3 miles out of town is Lincoln farm. We went out and saw the hall and Lincoln’s cabin. Frank was in the cabin, I did not go in they had chains around it, I looked in, we registered, it is a lovely place. We would have camped there but we had no bread. We went back to Hodgenville, got bread and meat and went out of town about a mile and camped. It has been awful cold but we slept warm. Carrie went out this morning and killed a rabit we have it dressed for supper.

We made it to Mumsfordville had a bowl of soup and a sandwich at a resturant, cost us 30cts. Came on to Cave City, decided it was so cold we would not visit the caves but hike for a warmer climate. We are hunting a place to camp, Will put up for the night as soon as we can and try and warm up. We found a school house and they let us in, we had a good coal fire, had our rabit for supper and say we did warm ourselves good. Carries slept in the school house but we slept in the machine. We were good and warm. We had a time getting away this morning, the machines were so cold, but we had drained the radiators, but after we got started we had good roads.

We are now in Bowling Green Ky. The men have gone to get some clothes. There was a girl about 16 yrs. old came to the school house where we were and wanted us to stop and get her when we come back and take her “to you alls house”. I was writing and had my back to the street, a man came along and said “where are you headed for? Bill” and I told him.

Bowling Green has an oil boom on now, it is quite a large city but not so nice as some I have seen since we left Lexington. Bardstown is about the size of Greenville it is not far from Lexington and Springfield is a real nice place. I did not get to write these places up because I had no paper. We dont see so very much of towns. This place has the first 5&10 ct store I have seen since Lexington, they had a Woolsworth store. This is H.A.McElroy Co. I am not going to go in. We have no time to stop at ten cent stores if we want to get to Florida this winter. They have a nice park here with a fountain in the center, it has icycles 2 ft. long hanging from it.

We are now at Franklin Ky. We had fine roads. We are now 50 miles from Nashville Tenn. Frank is so cold he had to stop and warm, I was not cold. It was 18 dgs. above this morning. We decided as it was 11 o’clock we would stop and eat our dinner. We ate 2 bowls of soup apiece and it cost us $1.00. We are ready to start if we can decide which way to go.

We fell in with an old jew yesterday at Cave City, he went with us to our camp, then he came on, we have just met him again, he came this far last night, this morning he could not get his machine started. I dont know if he is having it fixed or what he is going to do. Talked to the Dutchman he is going on the train, he is a widower with 2 children.

We detoured from Franklin to miss the cobblestone roads, the road we took had a good little town on it called Portland and one called Whitehouse, from Whitehouse on the roads were bad, water some places up to the fenders, then we had a mountain we went up by degrees but as we came down it was just one long hill, one mile long. We camped about 4 miles from Nashville where there was a nice spring. There was some Michigan people there and one young man who said he was from Wyoming, he had been on the road since the first of Oct. He came in our tent and spent the evening, he was almost froze and so were we. He had two guitars, one was Hawaiian, he played for us, he said he was a showman. He sang some songs. Frank got his fiddle but he was no good on the second. He was a windjammer. We did not hurry this morning as it was Sunday, we left camp about 11 o’clock and are now at Nashville, the men are out telling people where we are going. Nashville is some town, reminds me of Dayton. It is warmer this evening and we are glad. We made good time from Nashville, we struck a toll road, cost $2.25, the good rich people of Nashville directed us. We have had fine roads. We stopped at Cottage Grove and got gas and oil, stopped at a town named Lewisburg and got bread, came about 8 miles and camped in Oak Grove school and church yard, they had a well in the school yard with a bucket like a piece of spouting about 3 ft. long. It was raining when we went to bed but when we got up in the morning there was snow on the ground. We are now at Fayetteville, the men are hunting something for dinner, a lady came up and talked to me she said her home was in Iowa, she said the Michigan people are first, Indiana second and Ohio third, she said the people in these three states had gone crazy. Her man was a salesman. Fayetteville is as large as Greenville maybe larger, it is a pretty place, such wide streets, three stores have sales advertised, we dont get out to see anything. We got skinned in town, Frank lost his gloves, Carrie and Frank both bought a side of meat and it was so strong that they sold it out in the country for 5 cts. less on the pound and was glad to get rid of it. We next came to Huntsville, it was a fine place, they had large cotton mills here we stopped at the square where they drove in to sell their cotton.

Mrs. Burns and I went to the ten ct. store, we bought a foot tub to wash in for 50 cts, we have not washed yet. We drove out of town about 15 miles to Hobs Island and camped on the side of a hill, a very poor place. We named it camp uncomfortable. That was where we sold our meat.

We have seen nothing but cotton since we struck Alabama, a few corn fields, they plant one stalk in a hill about 2 or 3 ft. apart in the rows and the rows are at least 4 ft. apart and the ground is too poor to plant like we do.

We had such awful roads from Huntsville to New Hope so had to go on to Guntersville, 19 miles over a new road, it was fierce, but we got there. We had so much mountain road. We stopped at Guntersville (here we ferrowed over the river) got the spring fixed that Carrie had broken on the bad road at New Hope, got our dinner and it was time to camp. It is a county seat but is the dirtiest town that I ever saw. We drove about 5 miles out of Guntersville to the top of a mountain and camped, it was quite a camp something like 20 or 30 cars all going to Florida. We had a fine place but it was cold. Some people had their radiators to freeze. We came over more rough roads, we struck another mountain but the roads were better and one place called Point View was the finest scenery, we could look away over the valley and see ever so many farms. We then came to three towns, Attala, Alabama City and Gadsden, they were so close together you could not tell where one ended and the other began, they were great factory towns, cottonmills we supposed, from Gadsden we came to Centerville and camped again at the big camp grounds. There was a man and a woman there from Van Wert, they were traveling alone, their names were Bitner, they came and warmed at our fire and today they traveled with us.

We came through one big town today, Rome Ga. It was surely a grand town and cotton bale after bale and field after field, and then we came to a place today where they were picking the first cotton we have seen, we took some pictures of one family, there were 7 of them, four more were not at home or there would have been 11. It was Mr. Benny Jackson and family. Frank went to the toilet, it was a box and his head stuck out of the top.

Some place we found a persimon tree but they were bitter. We are now in camp about 5 miles from a small town called Cartersville. There are 6 or 7 cars here mostly Ohio cars. Frank and Carrie are shaving this evening for the first time since we have started and this is the 17^th of November. We will have to go to bed early to get warm as we have no wood, we are in the woods but the wood is all picked up. We got water from some niggers and they charged us 5 cts a bucket, the men paid them for a bucket that they are to bring in the morning but they did not get it.

November 19^th – I guess we are in Griffin Ga. It is about 60 miles from Macon and is a nice place. Our next town is Marrietta we are now where Sherman fought his battle on his march to the sea. We saw a big stone house that had been used as a prison, the roof was off but it still had the bars in the windows. Marrieta is a nice town 20 miles from Atlanta. We bought some government roast beef for 15 cts. a lb. We are going to have some for supper, it is good. We bought bacon in Gadsden for 19 cts. a lb. (government bacon) and it is better than any we get up home for 60 cts. a lb.

We had bad roads from Marrietta for a few miles they are building new roads and we had to detour, they had convicts working the roads, they were dressed in black and white stripes, the stripes ran around them, they had balls and chains.

We stopped at Atlanta and got some sandwiches, they held us up for 15 cts. a sandwich and they were not good. At Gadsden we got fine ones for 5 cts. We did not see any of Atlanta, we would have had to stay a couple of days and we were all glad to get out. It is just about as nice as Cincinnati. The country down here is much nicer than any we have been through, just acres of cotton yet and great fields of mangoes. This town of Griffin is the best town for bargains that we have found, I would have liked to stayed all day it is such a pretty town, it is as large as Greenville anyway. We are now in the jungles discussing which way to go. I forgot to mention our camp last night it was at a place called Orr. Just a shelter shed, a store, a couple of houses, a church and a school house. We camped in the church yard. Mrs. Bitner and I went in the cemetary. So many people have family cemetarys.

We missed Macon we did not hit any very pretty towns but we came through a peach country for miles we saw nothing but peaches or orchards. We camped in a woods it was not a very nice place, we had no company. We were about 3 miles from Ft Valley where we hit the highway, the National Highway. We had the finest roads I ever saw, they are wide as a city street and smooth, the ground is sand and clay mixed, I guess, I dont know what else but it packs solid and the roads are surely great. We made good time yesterday and stopped at nearly all of the towns. We had some sandwiches in Vienna the county seat of Dooly county Ga. Every county seat has a confederate monument.

We went in a sweet potatoe house where they had over 9,000 bu. of sweet potatoes in crates stored, they cure them and they keep for 5 years.

We stopped at a house and got some turnips, had turnips and greens, every one down here cook their turnip tops for greens, in the stores they have the tops on.

We stopped at one place and the boys laughed at us, they said “You all dont talk like we do”. We camped at a nice place last night, it was a pine clearing on a hill, just a few pines left. There was one Ky. Car, our 3 Ohio cars, one man alone from Calif. and 2 Michigan cars, they all came and sat around our stove, we had a great time. The Ky. people were going back home but they said it was just fine in Florida. Every where we stopped they say “you all going to Florida?” People down here are putting out cabbage plants and the yards are full of roses. Some girls brought us some roses this morning and their Dad brought us some sweet potatoes last evening when they came to spend the evening. This morning there was quite a fog, everything was wet in our camp. We did not have the tent up. I think it rained a little just about day break. The sun is shining now. We have stopped to fix Mr. Bitners tire. We would have been in Florida before now if we had been alone.

We had to change time, we were an hour slow. They have a tree that looks like a locust only it is a nicer shape and has yellowish green berries, they call it the China berry tree, I would like one of them.

We made about 75 miles yesterday. The 22^nd of November we reached the Florida line between 4 and 5 o’clock. We came through two fine towns in Georgia yesterday, one was Tiffton, it was divided by the railroad, one part of town seemed as large as the other. We went to a 10 ct. store, I bought 3 candles, Mrs. Bitner bought some canned heat. We had to detour from the highway through a big pine forest, every tree was tapped for turpentine. There is no underbrush in a pine forest. This woods had palms and the ground was covered with them. Some places they had little pots like those flower pots of red clay others had galvanized pans tacked on the trees, looked about like those old tin comb cases.

At Sparks Ga. we saw some fine college buildings, dont know what college it was. There we saw our first snake, it was a moccason, a truck ran over it first than our machine, the men got out and finished it, it was black and white spotted.

Valdosta Ga. is one fine city, it has a population of about 15,000. The street we came in on had the most fine houses I ever saw on one street. It was a clean town, the people well dressed, they must have been very wealthy living off of the niggers and poor whites, I suppose. We found bad road this side of Valdosta the only mud hole on our trip, the Fords plowed right through but Carries Overland hung up. They got out their shovels and dug the dirt away, threw in some chunks and out we came and on we came through the jungles, no towns and few houses for 28 miles. We found a camp next to a small lake but it was so cold that we drove on it was almost night before we camped, we are in the church yard, the ground is covered with white sand, a colored man lives across the road he has 200 acres of land, he has lots of stock and sugar cane, he has a cane mill of his own, they are making molasses. They have a great lot of cane in the field. The men have gone hunting this is the first place they have had to hunt. Mrs. Bitner is washing. Mrs. Burns and myself are writing. We are going over and see them make molasses. The lady sent me a big basket of sweet potatoes, we will have to stop and sell some of our sweet potatoes or else get a trailer, I never saw such loads of sweet potatoes, they are digging them now, just great loads of them.

The cane molasses they have here is not a bit like sorgum, I dont like it any better but the rest think it is fine. Carrie bought 2 gallons and Frank bought one at $1.00 per gallon. Expect we will have squirrel or wild turkey for dinner. Yesterday was very warm but today it is it is cooler and the wind is blowing but it surely is fine weather. Just now an old darkey went by with an ox hitched to a cart, that is the first that we have seen, this is the real back woods, they grind their cane with a horse hitched to a pole. Frank thinks that he would like to buy a farm here but he would find that it would be worse than Stelvideo. We have just returned from the cane mill, we took some pictures of the mill and also of the coons, they were very nice people, they are methodists. This church that we are camping at is the Wash Foot Baptists. We are getting dinner then we will be going on.

The men are back, they did not get anything, the darkey went with them. Frank shot a snake. I shall stay out of the woods.

Madison Floriday – November 24^th 1920 --- We got so stuck on the place that we camped at that we stayed another night, the men hunted yesterday, did not get anything. Frank fixed the spring in the machine, it was slipped like it was last summer so it wasnt worth while to start out.

They went hunting again this morning, Carrie shot a rabbit, Frank seen a rabbit and a squirrel but did not get them. The rabbits are darker than our rabbits. I took a picture of 2 little nigger girls, the largest one was Elizabeth the other one was Etheline Wyche, the old man’s name is Peter. We bought a quart of molasses of them.

We came through Madison, county seat of Madison county, just a small place, not as nice as Ansonia, and through Live Oak, county seat of Swanee county. We had some awful roads between Live Oak and Banford, the place we stayed all night. We went out on the banks of the Suanee river, a regular camp ground, there was a spring 40 ft. deep, the water was poor, it was hard water. The water they have in the wells here is like rain water or has been so far. We walked across a bridge, it was a fine place in camp. Mrs. Bitner and I went for a walk at the Wash Foot Baptist church day before yesterday just down the road a few yards to the Hard Shell Baptist Church, we walked back a path through the woods and found a cemetary, the most distressed looking place I ever saw and at least a dozen graves had old lamps on them for ornaments I suppose. Two graves had tombstones, one was Martha she was 96 and Lizzie a tree had fallen on Lizzie’s tombstone and broken it.

It is almost noon and we are sitting along the road at a large oak grove. Frank has gone in the woods to hunt a little while. Our next place is Ft. White. We did not get started on again until next day, we found a fine spring, I never saw such clear water, it was a fine camp, before night there was 8 cars in camp . The men had no success in hunting, Carrie shot one gray squirrel. The woods was full of magnolia trees, ackorn trees, holly and all kinds of ferns. There was a river there that was something like 10 ft. deep, it was just as clear as the spring water, the water was soft. I washed some, the river started back in Florida a few miles and runs 6 miles underground. We ate our dinner (Thanksgiving) in the camp. We had rabbit and sweet and irish potatoes. The name of the river is Ichetucknee. On the 26^th day of November we started on, we had more bad roads, if they were not deep with sand they were deep with ruts, we had several miles of that we came several miles through the woods, just like a wagon track, until we came to a town called High Springs, from there on we had good roads, we are now something like 4 miles from Gainesville, it has the University of Florida, the college buildings are fine, the town is a fine looking town. We met a man from Marrietta Ohio he is in Gainesville for the winter, he has his boys in school, he said the living is cheap there, we bought oranges 3 for 5¢, the man had them in a wagon like we would have apples. We have not seen any orange groves yet, we are still trying to get to Jacksonville to get our mail. I think we have about 120 miles yet. We were going to make a big drive today but the men have gone in the woods and here we are at 10 o’clock and not started yet. It is cloudy today, when the sun shines it is too hot. We have a little fire today but no wraps just my short sleeves. Mrs. Willy Bitner is sitting out writing but we are in our tent. We went up to a house to see the banana tree and get some flowers, she had some princess feathers, christanthums, perriwinkles, they were very scrubby but she thot they were fine, she called bananas , pananers.

The boys came in with 5 squirrels, we had dinner and started for Palatka, we had about 41 miles to go and it took us about 4 hours, the road was rough and sandy. We came to a town called Edgar where they washed the sand out of clay to make dishes and spark plugs.

Palatka is a nice place, it has the State University. We crossed the St. Johns river on a bridge, 30¢ toll, the bridge was 7/8 miles long. We camped in east Palatka in a grove owned by Mr. Brownie. We started on Sunday about 10 o’clock and reached St. Augustine about noon, got some sandwiches, paid 25¢ apiece for them and went and sat on the sea wall to eat them. We saw some lovely orange groves between Gainesville and Palatka, but it was raining so we did not get any, they were laying under the tree like apples do in our country when the trees are full. There was nothing to see between St. Augustine and Jacksonville but swamp the road is brick paved about 8 or 10 ft wide the bricks are loose. There was no towns between the two places, a distance of 41 miles, only a few shacks in a turpentine camp. Jacksonville is a large place but not a nice place.

We crossed the St. John river in a ferry, cost 51¢. We were on 2 sailing vessels at Jacksonville, one river vessel and an ocean liner, the river vessel was the nicest. We drove out over the residence part of town but there was nothing extra to see.

We camped in south Jacksonville Sunday night bid the town goodbye on Monday and got back to St. Augustine Monday P.M. Stopped as we drove into town and visited an old cemetary, though not the oldest one it was old, the oldest one is a catholic one, one man was buried in 1811, he was a U.S. senator, Charles Downing. On most of the stones it told where they were born and if they had been at collage , and where. Then we went to the fort. That was the greatest place of all. The guards took us through the different rooms, there was 3 rooms full of relics, one of guns and swords, it had a fire place in it with an old chair in the fireplace, it was the wishing chair. Frank and I sat in it, we got some post cards in there and went out on the top and on up in the tower. We had to come away as it was getting night and we had no camp. They have a tent at the post office, inquire and they tell you where the camp grounds are. We crossed a small bridge to new Augustine to the free camp ground they have a nice place here, they had a big camp fire and everyone went and the new campers were taken into the order of the Tin Can Tourists. We all joined, it was free also. We tie a tin can on our machine to let people know that we are members, it is quite funny.

This morning we got on a car and went over to the beach and to the light house, we gathered shells and everyone of us took our shoes off and waded in the water on the 30t^h of November. We did not get in the light house. Frank and Carrie went on to the alligator farm, it was so far that Osie could not walk so we came on home as did Mr. and Mrs. Bitner. We walked around town a little bit and then on to camp.

We are waiting for the men to come home, they are to bring fish for supper. We had our fish, went to the Tin Can meeting, one man had a bango, Frank took his fiddle and everybody sang, we had a fine time. The meeting was in the tent of an Illinois man, it was too cold to be out. Next day we went to the alligator farm, we drove over, it cost 35¢ there and back.

We went to two different beaches, one place a man had driven out on the beach and got stuck in the sand, the tide was coming in and he was almost scared to death. We got out and pushed him out, he was from Urbana O. There was over 6000 alligators at the farm, they had snakes and birds, coons, squirrels and all kind of domestic fowls. It was a great thing to see but nothing nice. We were over there all day, came back and had some more fish and walked back to town. There was a man preaching on the street, he had a fine car, we stayed and heard him preach then walked around town down the narrow st. and through the old slave market.

Next day being Thursday December 2^nd we broke camp at St. Augustine, bought a new front tire. Carrie had his dust pan put on and we got started at 12 o’clock, got over to Holly Hill, 2-1/2 miles from Datona, 70 miles that afternoon. We had brick paved road part of the way, but it was very poor, then we had some sand that was very bad and then we struck some paved road that was fine. Miles and miles of forest, palms and palmetto, it was a most beautiful drive, some farming land around Hastings. They raise irish potatoes there, they are getting ready to plant them. After they dig them they have time to raise a crop of corn on the same land.

We are now where there are orange groves, things look a little better again. Holly Hill where we camped last night was a beautiful little town on the banks of the Halifax river. The houses are all on the west side we had our tent just on the river bank. We went to the Tin Can camp. They were just organizing a camp. We were the only old members outside of the organizers. We had a nice time and went on to Datona this morning, rode around over the city, there was nothing to see but fine houses and fine things for the rich. They have a fine beach to hear them tell it but we did not go over you have to pay for every thing you do.

We have stopped and ate our lunch. We are just through New Smyrna Beach, the roads are good, they are shell roads, they have pits of oyster shells just as we have gravel pits, they haul them on the roads whole and you crush them as you drive, that is the way they repair. I think when they make new roads that they crush them before they put them on.

This is the 3^rd of December at noon. Frank and Carrie are in the orange grove talking to some men, when they come we will get on our way. We are bound for Miami, we are well up on our schedule, we have had no fishing and very little hunting, we have followed the main roads too much.

The roads are full of tourists. We have not reached the town where the Coletown people went. We got oranges at New Smyrna, 8 for 10¢ out of the orange orchard. We had a lot of swamp to come through again and the roads were not so very good again. We had to stop and fix our right front wheel, the pin had come out and three of the balls were lost, we fixed it so we could get to the next town, a place called Mims. They worked at it and charged us $1.75 then when we got to camp Frank fixed it himself.

We camped at Titusville it was a very damp place, not nice at all. We went up town to an open air concert by the band. How was that for the 3^rd of December. The band was all dressed in white, there was five women. I did not count the men. We left Titusville about 10 o’clock made a good drive. We reached Ft. Pierce in the evening of the fourth of December and went in camp just north of town, They have a fine court house, all towns in the south have nice court houses. We bought some gas and eats to do over Sunday, paid 37¢ for gas, the most we have paid yet, one place they asked 34¢ but we did not buy any. We find that the large places are the cheapest on gas. The camp at Ft. Pierce is just new, it will be a good camp some day. Nearly every town has a camp, it brings them trade.

There was a Tin Can meeting at either Titusville or Ft. Pierce Sunday, we cleaned up a little and started over but our machine went bad about 2 miles from a little town called Salerno. Carry pulled us in the garage man was gone but a man came along in a Ford and fixed it, there was lint on a pin someplace, he fixed it in about 10 minutes and charged us $1.00. We made Palm beach about 1 o’clock drove out to the beach and ate our dinner, they were bathing and having a fine time. We came on to Ft. Lauderdale the home of the Seminole Indians.

We drove 115 miles the best drive we have made yet, but the roads were the finest I have ever seen, we had over 100 miles of it, they are tar roads. We came nearly all the way along the water, water on the one side and orange groves on the other and fine homes where the land was under cultivation and water on one side and swamp on the other where it was not.

We saw our first pineapple field and first cocoanut trees on Sunday. The cocoanuts are most beautiful. We have not seen any pineapple on the plants yet.

The Lauderdale camp is the best camp we have found yet, they have electric lights, city water, toilets and everything handy, they have the ground covered with shavings. We got in late Sunday. Mrs. Willy Bitner did not travel with us Sunday, we caught them just out of Lauderdale. We joined the campers around the circle (they don’t need a fire here) the people are very nice. It is like our very hottest summer weather. Too hot for me.

Monday December the 6^th we went to Miami, it is sure a fine place. We did our Christmas shopping and got the first mail we have had since we left home. Miami is the most beautiful but it is for the rich. We found prices about the same for things that we wanted as other places. We did not try to buy eats. We left our tent at Lauderdale and drove down in Carries machine, our brakes were not good. We drove out across the bay on a road that is built solid through the water, it was a wonderful drive and the most beautiful homes and cocoanuts all along the road. It is no use to tell about it because I cant. We went one road and came back the ocean drive. It was 25 miles from camp. It was a fine day and we did not go home until after dark. We had supper and went to the tin can meeting and then went to bed. On December the 7^th Frank, Carrie, and I went to the beach to get shells before breakfast, Osie stayed at home and washed. The men got a few shells. I did not come home, had breakfast about 10 o’clock, the rest wrote letters and I went a tent of a sister camper to learn how to make shell bags.

It has rained almost all after noon but not hard, it thundered for the first since we have been in the south. Frank is helping a man put new brake bands on the machine---December the 8^th and they are still working on the machine this morning. I went last evening with Mrs. Willie Bitner. The men went up town.

We broke camp at noon, went to the beach about an hour and then came to Lake Worth, found the camp grounds very poor. Came out to the beach this morning, no place for shells. Saw some darkeys cast their fish net, it was about 500 ft long, they got three or four shark in it and in letting them out the fish all got away, so we will not have any fish for dinner.

Drove back to Lake Worth and got our lunch, ate it at the Lake bridge drove over to Palm Beach. Frank and Carrie hired suits and went in bathing. Did not go back to Lake Worth, camped at a grounds 3 miles out of Palm Beach where they had hula huts to rent at 50 cents apiece. We did not rent or pitch our tent, came on this morning, stopped in an orange grove and got some oranges, fine ones for 15 cents a dozen, was in a grove that the fruit had been sold on the trees for 10,000 dollars, it was some orchard.

We got out about 10 west of Melbourn and our machines went back on us, we tried to fix it and lost part of the parts and dark overtook us 10 miles from a garage and no house in 3 or 4 miles, Carries were a mile away and could not get back because the roads were narrow and rough, so we were alone with no water to fix us anything to eat so we went to bed, we could have slept but something got in our cupboard and gnawed all night. I took the lid off and it got away and we didnt get to see what it was. Frank lost the buttons off of his pants and had had to fasten them up with a spoon, sewed buttons on them this morning, came back to Melbourne, Carry started to pull us but the machine started after being pulled a ways and we ran in all right, they are fixing the machine, we lost all the bearings out of one wheel yesterday, a man came along who had a new cone with him after we had the wheel fixed. He charged us $2.00 for it and was mad because Frank told him it was too much, said they cost more than that. He was from Missouri and he showed us what a holdup was.

December 11^th---Had new spindle, 2 ball races and new hub cap put on the machine and got started back at 2:15 after eating our dinner at Melbourne, came back over the same road, they were bad for 17 miles then we had 11 miles of cement and then 10 miles of bad road again. We will now have good roads to Tampa. In all the 40 miles that we traveled we saw about half a dozen houses just out of Melbourne, one turpentine camp and a couple of tents where some darkies were watching a camp, for 23 miles we saw nothing but pine forest and before that prairie swamp, lots of range cattle up to their bodies in water, they looked tough.

Camped at Aligator Lake, 6 miles from St. Cloud, there was 1 Indiana and 1 Toledo Ohio car in the camp. We all stayed over Sunday. We were tired.

December 13^th---Washed this morning and ironed what few pieces that had to be ironed., had our dinner and went on. Stopped at Kissimmee and got gas. Made Haines City in about 40 miles and camped. Fine little town, 221 ft. above the sealevel, rather hilly which is really a change. Hills and lakes and great groves of oranges.

December 14^th---Left camp early, got caught in the rain and stopped in a long shelter shed, started on as soon as the rain slacked and stopped at Lakeland, Carrie got some boxes and we came on to Tampa and here we got our mail, we had a letter from Eva. We went to the camp grounds but it was so crowded that we pulled out and started for St. Petersburg. Reached Clear Water and have supper to cook. The men have gone back to a town we just came through called Dunedin.

December 15^th---Frank and I got up and went to the gulf to get shells, got about a peck and decided to stay a few days. Carrie went out in the bay and got oysters, they were small.

We all got up and went to the beach but it was so cold that we did not stay long. It is too cold here to be comfortable, Frank and I are ready to move on. He put his heavy underware on again this morning. We are too near the gulf, when a person comes south to be warm I dont know what they want to stay here for. This is the place that the people in the interior come to spend summer, to get the cool gulf breeze.

This evening some people came to camp, a women, little girl and 2 men. Both men have their legs off, one uses short crutches and the other walks with his hands. They have performing dogs.

December 18^th. There was 9 cars on the grounds last night. I will finish this and send it, there is nothing to tell any more, the country is the same. Everyone is dissapointed in Florida that you talk to. It is nothing but a skin game from beginning to end. A man that is honest wants to have money to last while he is here and then get back where he came from. We have seen cars from almost every state in the union and some from Canada. An old lady in here is 73 years old, she is from Indiana. She dont like it. I pity her, she said she had plenty of coal and wood at home and she dreaded the trip back so bad, but the old man likes it. He is busy cutting wood. We have to have a fire all the time.

Are you going to have a big Christmas? We wont know when it is Christmas here. We heard it frosted at Haines city the other night. We have seen no frost in Florida, we heard it was awful cold up north. Pop and I are going fishing

Love to all. Hello Juanita

From Mom and Pop, to

Roy, Blanche, Amos and Juanita.

This is a magnolia leaf.

December 18^th--- Well Daddy and I went fishing but we didnt get any fish, Carry got oysters but we did not like them.

December 19^th--- Got up this morning and drove to St. Pete it is a nice town but has no nice beach, just the bay, it is several miles to the gulf. We saw 2 airplanes on the ground, we looked in them and at them. They did not fly while they were there. We came back and stopped 4 miles west of Tampa at a country store and stayed all night, cooked and ate in an old house, spent the evening in the house with the people. They built a fire in the fireplace to make it cheerful for us, they were very nice. She was from Iowa and he was from Kentucky. Most everyone we meet are northern people.

December 20^th--- Came on to Tampa this morning, got a letter from Mother Robbins. We are now at Plant City. The men are buying a tent for Carries, we are thinking of settling down. Well, they finally bought a tent. Got a small one 7 by 9 for six dollars. Came up to Lakeland and had to wait about 2 hrs. for Carrie to get his oil cleaned out of his machine, we got about 1 mile out of Lakeland and camped, the ground is nice but no water, no toilets and no fishing but we have to wait here till Carrie sends home for money.

December 21^st.---Frank and Carrie went to Lakeland this morning and got tent poles. Got nice lettuce for dinner and some good old native stake for supper. They got the tent fixed up.

They are still fixing Christmas presents, they are not new ones, just the same old presents. I have a few for the home folks but I have got so tired of hearing about sending things home that I dont think I will send them. Got the tent up.

December 22th.---Frank got tired staying around camp so he and I came over to Sarasota, it is about 50 miles from Tampa, it makes us about a 160 or 70 miles more drive and I dont think we are getting very much nicer shells and they are not very plentiful. We went back to Sarasota from the beach to camp and got our supper we had bacon and lettuce. Cooked our supper on some Columbus Ohio peoples stove so did not put our stove up, we did not bring the tent or the table over. We spent the evening with Charley Snyders, the people who bought Parent’s truck, they are spending the winter in Sarasota. He is working every day. Frank would like to stay here, there seems to be plenty of work for carpenters but it will be so far for us to come back and there is this dampness about the place too close to the water, we did not feel good this morning. It rained last night. They have a fine camp grounds here, toilets with running water and shower baths, they have no lights.

We saw the nicest field of celery and lettuce as we came down, no wonder we get them up north in the winter, they keep planting all of the time and have big and little in the same patch.

I am in the machine while Pop hunts for shells, the sand flees bite me so and then I have walked a good bit for me so thought I would rest a while. I am facing the water, it roars all the time like a great wind through the trees. We have to come out 8 miles to the beach, 3 miles on cement and the rest through the woods on shells, not made roads but just natural, the whole island seems to be shell. A car from Michigan just drove up, they have sacks with them to get shells but I am afraid they will be dissapointed unless this is their first trip and then they will pick up what other people have thrown away and think they have found something.

Mrs Snyder had beeds made of black eyed susans, a berry that grows here, we want to try and get some, they are red with a black spot on them.

Six more people to get shells, they are some foxy, they have their field glasses with them. The other people are coming back, they have not been very successful, their bags hang very limp. I see 21 big sea gulls they look like they are as big as a turkey.

Everyone is coming in but Father. You know what a sticker he is. He will have a whole bag of shells. I wish he would come, we have had no breakfast. The field glass people are from Indiana, they have all gone back. The birds I saw were pelicans instead of sea gulls. I have been talking to a man from New York for about an hour, he is a cripple, stays out here and tends the bath house and soft drink place. Dad is back he has about a peck of shells. We have a mill sack 1/3 full, a sugar sack 1/2 full, an overall leg full, some under the seat some in the potatoes, so we have a few. We will divide up. We got our dinner and went back to the beach and got more shells.

We are getting ready to go back to Lakeland so I will close my bunch ` of junk. Tomorrow is Christmas, here they shoot firecrackers, it is like the fourth of July. The weather is not very nice it has been cloudy for three days, the first we have had in Florida, I will be glad when the sun shines. We are well. From Mom and Dad.

December 24th---Left Sarasota about 1 O'clock. Went up town and bought 2 handkerchiefs for 25 cents. Went on out of town about 1 mile and stopped in the woods and got some black eyed susies, started on and it began to rain, still raining when we got to Bradenton, crossed the Manatee river at Bradenton and over into Palmetto, the bridge is 1 1/2 miles long, came to the Alafira river ten miles south of Tampa, came across Dave Wright's party and camped all night with them and spent Christmas eve listening to fishermen tell sea tales.

December 25th---Got up and had breakfast and Frank and Dave went out and got about 1 bushel of oysters, then they went fishing. Frank caught a drum fish that weighed 5 or 6 lbs. and one cat fish. Dave caught 2 cat fish and he gave them to us. We then had our dinner, Frank had some bread and raw oysters and I had some bread. We were in too big a hurry to cook. Then we started on our 40 mile drive home, we had the stove full of oysters. When we got near Lakeland we saw airplanes taking people for a ride, they paid $10.00 for a ride of 7 minutes, we saw them go up and we saw them come down but we stayed on the ground, got back to camp, cleaned our fish, had fish for supper and sat around the campfire awhile and so ended Christmas Day.

December 26th---We spent the forenoon cleaning oysters, and the after noon sorting shells, spent the evening at the camp file. Frank and Carrie treated the crowd to cocoanut.

December 27th---Went to Haines City to get the mail, got a letter from mother, it is 24 miles to Haines City but we will still get our mail there. We came back by Winter Haven a very nice place. We came through a trucking country where they had pipes up on posts for irrigation, we saw them spraying at one place. Had lettuce for supper. It rained in the evening we sat in the tent and had a candle for light.

December 28th---Frank went to Lakeland this morning and bought a lamp, he gave 25 cents for it, it is a brass one and was in the ark. We all went up town this afternoon just to pass the time, sat in the tent this evening by the light of the new lamp. I finished my beads. Frank wrote cards. Carrys came over and spent the evening, I gave Ocie a string of beads.

There are twin girls in this camp they are 7 years old, they are Dorotha and Juanita Bailey.

December 29th---Washed this morning, Frank got a candy bucket and I had that and a foot tub, got along fine. The men went up town and took the camera along, they got a pack of film and left the others to be finished. The men went back to town in the afternoon, Frank sent for his automobile license, the neighbors all came and sat in our tent in the evening, there was Mr. and Mrs. Bailey and 2 girls, Mr. and Mrs. Ed Hurts. Mr. and Mrs. Bill Griffin, Mr. and Mrs. Sam Hula and Mr. and Mrs. Burns. We had quite a time. Frank played the fiddle.

December 30th---The men went to town as usual. We bought fish from an old fisher, 3 fish for a quarter, had them for supper, the ladies came over and sat awhile, they had their work, they were making baskets of pine needles. I learned to make a lace of Mrs. Hurts and made half enough for a pillowslip today. Frank was busy getting wood, it was colder today, I ironed, Carry and Frank went to the campfire. Ocie and I sat in our tent we had good lights to work by.

December 31st---Got up and had our breakfast, our neighbors Mr. Griffins and Mr. Hurts left us this morning. They went to Sarasota.

We went to Tampa today to get a box Carrys had been looking for that was sent to them but it was not there, we went from there out to wrights and spent the afternoon. It was a very long day and we were very tired. We had steak and corn grits for supper, sat around the tent a while and went to bed, so ended the year of 1920.

January 1st. 1921---We got up and had breakfast at half past eight this morning, Frank bought the old fishermans catch this morning for 25 cents, he had 5 fish, they were all cat fish. Carry, Frank and I went to Lakeland this morning. Mrs. Burns ironed so I went to get us some thread. We got a beef heart for dinner. Frank is fixing some turtle hooks.

I am going to try to make a pine needle basket this afternoon.

The men sat their hooks and drew them in this evening and had a big snapping turtle and one fish. I sewed on my basket and got the bottom about done, some Kansas women came in to learn how to sew baskets, they have rooms up in Lakeland. The campers came and sat in our tent this evening and we had no fire, we did not need much, this has been a very warm day. Frank sweat until he was wet while he ate dinner, it was so hot in the tent, I went out and raised the wall a little, that helped some. Frank drove 4 sticks in the ground and nailed boards on the top, put a shelf in it and that is my cupboard, we have that, the table and our camp stools and stove in the tent, that is all the furniture we have and we are fixed about the best of anyone that I have seen.

January 2nd---Cleaned the turtle this morning. The men did not get anything on the hooks but one small fish. We read and layed around camp, nothing doing all day. Had fried turtle for supper.

January 3rd---Washed today, had 18 pieces. Frank was up town 3 or 4 times, got the pictures and 7 were good. Charged us 80 cents. We go up town expecting to get skinned and are not dissappointed. Carry and Mr. Bailey worked on Carry's machine all day, I sewed on my basket, Ocie made lace, Mr. Hula washed and Mrs. Bailey worked on her basket. We had potatoes, boiled and fried and lettuce for supper. I cooked my dried apples and made butter out of them, it is swell. Isnt this interesting? Will send this to you so you will have something to read.

It is very warm today, but some windy. We are as well as usual, none of us have had colds. We havent been in a house since we started. The gnats are bad tonight and a few mosquitoes.

January 4th---We drove over to Haines City and got 8 letters and one card. Some of the letters were a month old, one from Blanche was first sent to Jacksonville then to Miami, then to Tampa and to Haines City. We stopped at Lake Alfred and looked at the camp it looked fine for fishing but the gnats were very bad. They have a house built out over the water with seats built out along the sides where you could sit and sew baskets and hook while the men fished. We may stop there for a few days. I will get this ready to mail.

We would like to see Juanita with all of her play things. Will send you some leaves, but not today as I have none. We got your letter wrote the 27th, we got three from you. Frank is writing to his mother. I have one about ready for Mother, her birthday letter.

Well children you did have some Christmas. We didnt know the day was here. It is so warm today the day is unpleasant. We are in the machine under the trees writing. The tourists are all going east today, they go in droves. I expect Frank and I will go tomorrow. Burnes have their tent loaded up and they hate to move but Frank is tired of this place, there is nothing here but the corner of a woods (more tourists going by) . We will go and they can come when they get ready. Send the mail to Haines City until further notice. We will be there until we get our license. Dad and Mom.

Frank and Marty went to the campfire so I did not sit up and write so late.

January 20th---This is the morning that we leave Haines City. We are lothe to leave it but it is time to go, dropped a card to Carrys, came on to Kissimmee, and looked at the camp grounds and it did not suit us, it is small and no shade. Met Williams from Piqua had met them at St. Augustine, came on to Orlando and did not like it there, it is a beautiful place but nothing to see but town, so we drove in to Sanford, missed the camp there so as it was only three o'clock started on for Deland. Sanford is a small place but it is a great gardening section, lettuce and celery, and different kinds of greens. They have a large shipping plant from Orlando to Sanford, it is well built up, one little place or large orange groves. Went in camp at Deland, they have a good camp, nice grounds, not so sandy, it is a park have a pavillion with a double fire place. Had our supper and had steak bought at a negro shop.

Mrs. Long a lady from Hamilton came in camp after we did, she and I went up to the colored mans grocery, she got potatoes and I did not get anything. While we were there an indian came in, he had a feather head dress on. He is the only indian I have seen.

January 21st---We took a drive this morning, over Deland and out to the depot and on to the ship landing the depot is three miles from town, don't know why. The boat landing is 3 miles farther on it is on the St. Johns river, there is nothing there but the freight house, the river is narrow. We crossed it at Sanford by bridge about 2 miles out of town cost us 50 cents, it was narrow there but up at Sanford it is wide, they have a ferry on the other side of town it is free only after 6 o'clock and on Sunday, but it was 4 miles out of the way so we came over the bridge, it was a very poor bridge and cost the most of any we have found.

After dinner Frank made a chair, believe me it was some chair, but is a little bit too reclining to suit me. An old cracker from Alabama came over and spent the evening.

January 22nd---The Alabama people came over this morning and stayed an hour or more, they ate nearly all of our tangerines, we didnt think they wanted them but were just eating them because they were getting them for nothing. He made us think of Hurley Smith. After they were gone we went up town, Frank got shaved and got him a new hat. We are dolling up some to go to Datona. I got me 50 cents worth of silk and put me a new crown in my hat. We are dolling up to see Harding. When we see him we will say, "where are you from, where have you been, where are you going?" When he finds we are from Ohio won't he be glad to see us? We had to go to bed early this evening as we had no wood and it is too cold to sit around without.

January 23rd---This is Sunday but we had to move or go go out in the country to get wood so we loaded our goods and came on to Datonia it was only 23 miles. We came to the regular camp but it is low and damp so we ate our dinner there and came on to Holly hill, two miles north of Datonia. We pitched our tents and the went back to Datonia to look at another camp to see if we could find anyone we knew, we did not but we found that old Mr. Turner that used to live in Greenville. He was glad to see us but Wrights had not come back, they put up with him when they were in Datonia. We took the old man a ride, went up to the river to see Harding come in but he did not come. (Granny lined her hat all for nothing) We went back to the old mans house and he gave us some wood for that evening. We went home, saw several ships go by but did not know Harding from anyone else. We are camped at the bank of the river.

January 24th---Frank went up town this morning, we intended to spend the day with Harding on the beach, but he fooled the people, he did not stop but sailed right through. They don't like him here, they would not vote for him.

We got fish bait and went fishing after dinner out on the old bridge. Frank caught one very small cat, but a man that fished earlier caught so many he gave us 27. They were called yellow-tails, they were small made supper and breakfast.

We have great times here of evenings, the boys take an old tire or suitcase, tie it to a string and lay it in the road, nearly every machine stops and comes back but there is nothing to be found, then the boys laugh. When they get up to the camp then the men laugh, so we have a time. Sometimes the other people laugh but not always.

January 25th---We got ready this morning, fixed our lunch and went to the beach. It is a beautiful beach. It was low tide at 20 minutes to four but we did not stay that long but the tide was away out, the widest beach I ever saw. We drove 2 or 10 miles on it and could have gone 20 miles. We found a few shells and the ground was full of cocenias, they use them for soup, boil them shell and all. We did not feel hungry for them so did not get any. You could scoop them up by the handfull. I got a lot of the shells and strung them this evening. They make portiers out of them. You know what I mean.

We bought vegetables of a darkey, turnips, radishes, carrots and mustard greens, each at 5 cents a bunch. He comes every day they are fresh and very good. Frank wrote to Mary Martin.

January 26th---Frank went with a man to work this morning, packed his lunch but did not stay, they were hoeing around some orange trees and the ground was wet, he would have ruined his shoes and they only pay $2.50 for nine hours and you board yourself. This is for the benefit of the tourists who are out of money, the niggers wont work they know that when the northern people are gone they will have to pay more or not get their work done, see.

Frank is working on the machine cleaning the carbon out. We are going to have turnips, carrots, and potatoes cooked with salt pork for dinner.

We went yesterday for wood out north of town and some people from Chicago they had a strip of jungle with 160 ft. frontage that they visit every 2 or 3 years and pay city tax on the rest of the time. Great dope. They told us to get all the wood that we wanted. The dry wood was on another mans ground but no telling where he lives so we should not worry. That is the way it is here at Lakeland. The ground we camped belonged to a man in England. The Chicago people had had a fair shack on their lot, furnished. She said people would live in it for 2 yrs. At a time and they would not know it and finally their furniture was all gone. Someone had taken it.

It is more like spring here than back in the interior, the red birds sing and the grass is green and there is more grass. I don't know if it is natural or if people soe it.

We have had our dinner, Frank has cleaned the carbon out of the machine, it was very dirty, the next thing is to go to the crate mill after wood. There is plenty of it the yard is covered and they use it for roads near the mill to keep them out of the sand. We got a ford load.

The boys are out with their suitcase again. Our oil is all and the store across the is closed. We will burn the candle a while then go to bed.

January 27th---This is Franks birthday, we had planned to go to the beach to celebrate but it is too cold. It is a good thing we got wood. This is the worst day we have had in Florida, the wind is blowing and the tide is away up the river, I would like to see the ocean but it is 50 cents every time we cross at Datona,

Frank and Mr. Gott from Michigan have gone to pick oranges, I dont know how that will be, hard work I guess, they are to get 10 cents a box. I am cooking greens, radish and turnip tops and some turnips for dinner today. The vegetable man did not come today, it was too cold for him. I suppose this is to old crackers what zero is to us and you do notice the cold believe me. It is almost cold enough to frost, this is an awful place when the wind blows, the sand and dirt gets in every thing, we have not had very much wind, just a few days.

We have been buying a few persimmons, they are the Japanese about the size of an egg. They are like the girl with the curl when they are good they are very, very good but when they are not they are horrid.

Well I will get this ready to send. We are well, Dad says he has been feeling fine. I am rather stiff but able to get around. Send our letters to Daytona. Roy your letter was all right you might try again. I am counting off the ones that I will not have to write to again, Mandy and such, you know the time is growing short. All of the campers here are Michigan but us. We have not heard from Carries since last Monday a week, dont know where they are, sitting some place like a bump on a log I suppose seeing Florida. Hello Juanita. From Mom.

Noon-January 27th---Frank picked 10 boxes of oranges, the man only wanted 20 boxes, it did not take them long. He liked orange picking.

January 28th---We went up town after mail. We did not get any, never get any anymore, came home stopped at the boat house, saw a man catching a big fish, went home, Frank borrowed a casting rod and went fishing, did not get anything the wind blowed and the sea roared like a lion, it is very cold and nasty. I sit in the tent and eat dust.

January 29th---Got up very early and went over to the beach, we thought there would be lots of shells as it had been such high tide but there was none, if any had been brought out they were covered with sand. The beach was like a washboard washed by the waves as they beat on the sand. We did not drive on the beach, we did not stay long. Came back stopped up town a few minutes, came home got some dinner and went back after the mail. Did not get any, sat on the street a while looking at the people go by. Some are togged up about right and some look like us. Got a McCall to read over Sunday.

Frank went to the deadmine and got wood. We have a 7 day advent lady in camp, she keeps Saturday, she calls herself a Sabbath keeper, she is wise she Saturday, then Sunday she can do anything in the way of pleasure that the rest want to, see. Her name is coats from Lansing Michigan. Another car came in they are from Atlanta Ga.

January 30th---Did not get up until 10 o'clock, Frank got up earlier. I was sick all day, had runnigut whizz, was awful sick, had fever, took Dayton Doctor pills that he gave Frank and went to bed before dark. Frank went down where they always loose their suit-case. It is still funny.

Frank took the machine apart again and looked at the connecting rods, they seem to be all right. He made an oven out of two old oil cans, we will have baked potatoes.

January 31st---I am all right this morning, Frank and George went to the grove but there was no picking, they told them that they would soon have to pick them as the bloom was coming on and the pickers knocked the bloom off, so they came back and went to Daytona. I have potatoes on baking. Frank toasted bread fine in the oven for our breakfast. He and George went up town in the forenoon, got 5 letters, 1 from Daddy, one from Hazel, one from Eva and two from Mother, all sent on from Haines City. After dinner we dressed up as best we could and went up town and looked through the 10 cent stores and bought 60 post cards. I like to sit in the car and see the people go by with their swell dresses on. The high heel shoes are very scarse on the streets of Datona, compared with other kind but some people will totter along on them. We got beefstake for supper tried to have corn grits but burned them so they were not fit to eat, fire enough for meat is too much for grits on that little stove. If I had the Georgia man that told us about grits down here I would drown him in the Halifax river. Frank has found another man that can out set him, Mr. Gott he stayed until 1 o'clock last night, that was too much for Frank and he comes every night. We will have to move to get any rest. Frank played the violin last night the first time since we left Haines City. One little boy of George Smiths about 5 yrs. Old was very much taken with it. Mr. and Mrs. Georgia went fishing with us this afternoon, got a nice string of fish.

There was a man passed today and gave us a tube he had found laying along the road, he had a horse and buggy, he had drove from Oklahoma he said and his outfit looked it.

February 1st---I am all right today. We had a lunch today and went up and got old Mr. Turner and went over to the beach but the tide was in so we could not drive on the beach, we went south on a road for about 6 miles on the east side of the river and that was worse than any jungle we had seen yet. I think the road is between Datona Beach (that is the part of Datona that lies east of the river) and Port Orange. We crossed the bridge at Port Orange and went through the town, then out to the Old Spanish Sugar Mill, it is west of Port Orange. The walls of the building were built of shell rock, part of it still stands, the wooden part is getting pretty well rotted but the machinery looks like new only for the old gray moss like that growing on old rails at home, no rust on it whatever and it has laid there for ages. No record is to be had they tell us of this old mill. The iron kettles are still there that they cooked the syrup in, the pans of sheet metal are pretty well rusted, a tree that looks to be a hundred years old has grown up by the old stone chimney. It is a wild cherry tree and cedars have grown up over the furnace that are as tall as the wall and some almost as tall as the flue. It looks strange to see the iron looking like it does, it must be wonderful stuff and the ground was high and nice where it set. A nice camp grounds was was there but no one was in it. We came back and went in to Mr. Turners and met hid housekeeper stayed a few minutes and went home. We had our supper on the way home, stopped at a house and got some greens, some kale and chinese cabbage, 5 cents a bunch. George came over in the evening.

Got a letter from Carrys today, she said Carry had work and they would stay while that lasted.

February 2nd---It rained last night and is cold this morning and very windy. Frank went to town this morning to get some boxes to send some persimmons home, we made three trips to Datona and one to the orange grove before we got them ready, no wonder Carry went almost bughouse over their Christmas boxes.

After dinner we went to the orange grove, we walked through the grove, the trees are budding and putting out new leaves but the old leaves are as thick and green as ever. The chinaberry and the fig are the only trees that I have seen that loose their leaves like ours do. Wee saw trees yesterday again that we had seen before but had not learned their name, they are the Florida plum. We saw them in bloom when we were going to Sarasota now they have plums on that are beginning to ripen, and at Deland we saw ripe plums, they are yellow, we put a leaf in the boxes of fruit we sent. We found buckeye when we were in the orange grove in bloom, the bloom is like ours only red. This grove we were in yesterday was planted in a palmetto grove, the tallest palmetto trees I ever saw and I have seen scads of them, then we went to the crate mill and got some kindling then went back to Datona to get some comquats, then home had some supper and went to Martins and spent the evening. Mr. Martin popped some corn, it was very tough.

The Georgia people left this morning. While they were here he killed a Moccasin snake just outside of their tent. I said something about it and he said they didnt think anything about it, they were used to snakes.

February 3rd---Answered Ocie's letter. It is not so cold this morning and the sun is shining again but the wind is blowing a gale. Frank and George have gone to town.

This afternoon we went over to the beach but it was so cold we did not stay long, the wind was like ice. We drove up to Ormond on the beach, it is made up of beautiful homes. The Rockefeller home is there but it is very common, the house is large but very plain of frame and painted a grayish white color, it shows the lack of care. A Mr. Price has a beautiful home there, the grounds are kept up and that is what makes things nice here.

February 4th---We went over to the bridge fishing. Frank took the boxes up and mailed them, cost 1.05 cents.

This afternoon Frank caught 2 drum fish and we caught some yellow tails. We could have caught cat fish they were biting fine when we came away, I was just throwing them out but people do not eat them, they are salt water cats so it is fun to catch them. It is like catching craw fish at home. We had bought a mess of speckled trout from some coons so we had fish for supper and breakfast. George spent the night with us as usual.

February 5th---Frank and I went with Mr. Gauts up town this morning, just to be going and got 3 letters one from Mother R one from Mother and one from Blanche. We were, then after dinner we went back again, George went with us, we looked through the curio shops and visited the caseno, it is a fine place for the tourists to spend their time. We were too late for the concert, they have one every afternoon and evening. George was over this evening.

February 6th---Frank and George went fishing this morning, caught several fish but only 3 that were good to eat, then Frank and I went back after dinner so that the fish bait would not be wasted and I caught 10 good fish and he caught 3 or 4 so we had a good mess for supper. They were about like a small carp in looks, they call them yellow tail. George was over this eve.

February 7th---George and Frank went to pick oranges today they did not go until about 10 o'clock, the dew was so heavy that the trees were too wet unless you wanted to get soaked which they did not.

Our neighbors, Smith went back to Michigan today, they sold their car and went on the train, there was the Mr. and Mrs. Vane Marcus and George. They live at Charlovoy Michigan, they have a rooming house and hotel at a summer resort. They are up to snuff to hear them tell it.

I washed the blankets today. The men picked 20 boxes of oranges apiece. If they would work early and late they could make good wages. They brought home 3 dozen of oranges apiece and did not pay for them either, some were drop and some were not.

We had macaroni for supper with tomatoes. Washed some more Chinaberry. George was over and spent the evening, only stayed until 10 o'clock. The dew had begun to drip off the trees before we went to bed, the fog was so heavy we could not see the fog across the river.

You wanted to know about the camera, we only had one film finished and 7 were good. We have another pack about half taken. I took a picture yesterday of our tent and one of a boat on the river. I have to do something to kill time while Daddy is gone. The time is going all too fast for him, he does not like to think of going home but the time will soon be here. I dont know if we will stay here all of this week or not, we would like to go back to St. Augustine again, it will be about 40 miles out of our way but there is so much to see. That is the only place where we really have seen much, there and Deland. We had no one to hurry us there, the only way to travel is alone if you want to see what you want to see.

We have not heard from Carrys for a week. I am looking for them everyday, they may fool me and not come at all. Ish-ka-bibble.

I had a nice letter from Hazel, was glad to hear from them. You will get tired of hearing us talk when we get home. Will close with love to all.

Mom and Daddy.

February 17th---Nothing special today, Frank went up town and got a letter from mother, Blanche and Carrys. Carry said he thought they would not start until the middle of March so Frank sent them a card that we were going.

I visited Mrs. Guthrie from Akron in the afternoon. We met them at three different places. We packed our junk and got ready to start next morning. A Kentucky man came and spent the evening with us.

Got up next morning early and got ready to start but had to wait a while on the bunch, there are four cars leaving for the north --- 5 one more has joined us. Three Michigan, one New York and ours.

February 18th---We are coming back over the same trail that we traveled last fall. Stopped at Itchtucknee river, ate our dinner there, stopped at Branford and looked at the Suwannee river and made camp 12 miles north of Live Oak. Of the 5 cars that started only 2 were left, ours and Mr. Garteners from Michigan, he is a dentist, so we are traveling togather for a while at least. Made 87 miles today.

February 19th---Got started this morning about 8 o'clock, the roads were sandy from Suwannee to Madison, reached Valdosta about 11 o'clock. Our machine worked poor and we had to stop and fix the spring, while the men worked at that we went and bought syrup at a farm house. $1.00 a gallon. When we reached Sparks Georgia we took the machine to a garage and had a man work $2.15 worth and did not help it much I am afraid. Had a bad detour after that and we thought it didnt heat up so bad. Got north of Lenox and camped, it was almost dark. Made 80 miles, bought a dozen of eggs of a farmer, Whiteman, for 30 cents. We all sat around the campfire for a while. The neighbors have gone home and I am going to bed.

February 20th---Oiled the car and got started at 10 o'clock the roads were good, made Cordele till noon, ate our dinner and reached Macon about 4 o'clock. Did not stop long, it was a very nice place what we saw of it but that was not much. We got on the wrong road, came back and got on the wrong road again and camped about 10 miles out of Macon in the edge of a cotton field. Before we left camp this morning Frank shot a rabbit, we gave the Doctor part of it and I had mine fried nice and their little girl was playing in the sand and threw a shovel of sand on my stove, some of it went in the skillet and spoiled our rabbit. We couldnt eat it.

February 21st---Had a time starting the machine but finally got on our way. Got back to the highway and made Millegeville till noon, had a bowl of soup, cost 15 cents a bowl.

Millegeville has the state prison, the reform farm for boys, the State Military School and the Normal school, they have fine buildings at all of the places. Then we started out for Augusta, got as far as Louisville in the middle of the afternoon, it began to rain and made the roads very slippery, they are of red clay and hard to drive on when wet. Camped in a pine grove about 4 miles north of Louisville. We have about 45 miles to Augusta, then we will soon be in South Carolina.

February 22nd---We had an awful time getting the machine started and did not get started on our way until 11 o'clock, then Mr. Gadrener had to pull us. We heated he water in the radiator and heated the oil but could not get the thing to go. At the first town we stopped and drained the old oil out and got new oil in, ate our dinner and we are now in Augusta, the men have gone for directions to get out.

Every place, large or small are having reduction sales and things are sure marked down, that is clothing. The eats don't come down quite so fast. Frank asked in one store for coal oil and they didnt know what he wanted, he happened to think and told them kerosene. The sun is shining today and it is warmer. After we left Augusta we passed through Langley, a mill town the houses were made somewhat alike, they were fine looking. The roads began to get bad almost as soon as we left there, the next place was Aiken South Carolina. We stopped there and had the machine looked at again, cost 25¢. Detoured six miles around through country roads, struck the highway and it was worse than the country roads, camped about 14 miles outside of Augusta in a pine grove. The old man where we got water was a grouch.

February 23---Had poor roads to Columbia and worse ones afterwards, I think. We got on the wrong road, we came where there had been a flood and washed the roads out, we pushed each other out of the mud holes and held the cars up to keep them from falling over and finally got on safe ground where we camped in a small patch of timber, it had rained all afternoon so that the ground was soaked. We went to bed as soon as we had supper.

February 24th---Had 11 miles to the next town, Winnsboro. Started a 9 o'clock and reached town at noon, we pushed each other out of one hole into another. Went on low most of the way from there to Chester, the roads were some better and since that they have been good and they tell us they are good the rest of the way. We camped about 2 miles north of Lando in a pine grove just across the road from a nice big house, people by the name of Tompson lived there, she came over and spent the evening, she was very nice but they had a dog that stole all our bread, we had 2 loaves and Gardeners had 2 loaves and it was all gone. Gardeners had part of a loaf that the dog didnt get.

February 25th---It was raining this morning and it turned to snow, did not get up very early and did not start until 11 o'clock. The roads were good lots of cement. Left South Carolina about noon. North Carolina is much better, every few miles there is a mill town and they are some towns. At one place we saw the largest towel factory in the world, but I dont remember which one it was.

We drove within six miles of Lexington and camped on the side of a hill, not a very good place, no water handy.

February 26th---We got up early and Frank and I drove on to Lexington, he got shaved and I got me a suit of underware and a skirt. 98¢ for my B.V.D'S and $1.98 for the skirt. The other people were not ready so we came on. We may not see them anymore. Just as we were leaving we saw them coming behind us so we went on but went too fast for them, I guess as we left them behind and they have not caught up yet. We had some bad roads but short stretches but we got through all right. Got lost in Durham, had some time getting out, one man would send us one way and one another, but we got out at last. When we left Durham we left the factory district behind us, up to that North Carolina was just one factory after another.

We came past Elon Collage but could not locate it, there was so many large buildings. All through North Carolina we saw tobacco houses, we saw where they made Bull Durham. The tobacco houses are built of log and are dobbed air tight, they strip the leaves off in the field and kiln dry them in these houses.

We kept driving after we left Durham until we got 5 miles from Oxford. It was getting late so we got permission to camp in a grove close to a house, we had neglected to get bread but had enough for supper and had the lady bake us some biscuits for breakfast. They were not baked good so we just ate the tops off.

February 27th---It rained this morning before we were up and after we started sprinkled a little more, just a little rain makes the roads so slick you can hardly drive, we got to Oxford and had to stop and fix the radius rod, did it ourselves. It was then half past nine, we drove on as best we could up hill and down, it did not rain much and the roads began to dry and we were soon in Virginia and the roads were better, at 11:30 we were in Clarksville Virginia. It is a small place and very dirty. We crossed a toll bridge there and cost 50¢. Boydtown was our next town we got on the wrong road there but did not go far, turned around and found the highway, stopped at South Hill and got gas for 33¢, had 57 miles to Petersburg, made that and it was time to camp, kept looking for a camp and got to a suburb of Richmond and asked a storekeeper and he let us camp in his back yard, he was a Pennsylvania man, W. S. Wenner. We spent the evening with them and had a fine time.

February 28th---Had our breakfast, got such good food from the store. Discovered that the hose on the radiator was leaking so had to fix that. It is warmer this morning. I am writing while Frank repairs. I will send this the first place I have a chance and I expect this is the last you will get. We will try to reach Washington today, we will spend the evening with Wilson. When we turn west from Washington then we will be getting towards home and the story will soon be done. We are well and Dad is almost ready to start.

Mom

Still February 28th---Did not get started until 11 o'clock. Richmond is a very crooked town, up hill and down. We were some time getting through then we got on the wrong road that took us 7 miles out of our way, after we got straight we made good time the roads were good.

We came through Spotsylvania, an old battle ground and Fredericksburg. We stopped and went in the National Cemetery, it is on top of a hill, has terrases cut all around and graves on them, it covers 12 acres. The bodies are those that were picked up from the battle fields around. They had found 3 within the last 7 years.

Fredericksburg is an old place, has quite a good bit of manufacturing. We crossed a bridge there the toll was 8¢, it is not a large town. We drove about 126 miles up hill and down. We came a past the government reservation where they keep their prisoners, camped at Larton Virginia, back of the store, there was just a few houses. We did not unpack anything, it sprinkled a few drops but did not rain we were glad. I went to bed. Frank went in the store and talked a while the people were Ohio people. From Cleveland.

March 1st---Got up and started early drove out to Mt. Vernon got there at 8 o'clock they dont open until 10 so we did not see much. We did not wait. We are now at Alexandria. Frank is hunting some rye bread, we are 9 miles from Washington. We saw crape on 3 doors when we came in this town, it is I suppose, some larger than Greenville. Got our bread and some cheese, ate our lunch at the edge of town about 9 o'clock, got in Washington tried to look around but was such a jam we were glad to get out of town.

We was at the monument and drove past the White House, saw hosts of other buildings that we did not know what they were, got out of town about 1 o'clock, had to stop several times got within 6 miles of Hagerstown Md. Camped at a farm house, made something over 100 miles. While at Washington we visited the Arlington cemetery, they were digging graves for the soldiers from France they told us that for awhile there was ?? bodies burried a day, now it is something like 80 a week, there is something like 410 acres in the cemetery. We drove around some but we did not see it all. I got a spray of fern off of the grave of Jessner Johnson. They have wooden slabs at the new graves.

March 2nd---Got an early start but had so much mountains dont make much time. Saw large orchards, one had 20,000 apple trees and 2,000 peach trees. Our brakes gave out coming down Sideing mountains, sent for a garage man he came out, fixed us up so we got to the garage, they are now putting in new bands. I am sitting in the office where it is warm. Got ourselves togather again started on but the machine did not work right so we turned around and went back and had the man look after it again, all togather it cost us $6.75. We went on over one mountain after another, reached Cumberland and got through there. It rained almost all afternoon and toward night a fog raised, it was very dissagreable. Got permission to pull the machine in a building at a farm, it was almost dark they had a forge in the building and Frank sharpened a drill for them. I went to bed almost as soon as we landed. I think it was 20 minutes of six, Frank came to bed soon. We had bought our lunch at the last town back, Frostburg.

March 3rd---Got up this morning waited until 7 o'clock, no one got up at the house so we pulled out. Had fairly good luck all day, but had several more mountains to cross, got across them at last and into the hills, they were not as bad. We made 132 miles today.

We came over the old trail pass that Washington used during the war. We got in a blacksmith shop where we have a fire and are real comfortable. We are in the town of Loydsville Ohio, just a small place.

It got colder today and is snowing.

March 4th---The blacksmith came he is a nice man, Charles Hammersle. Pretty chilly, we had our breakfast and got an early start. Had a loom and timer put on the car. Did not help much and had to stop again for a man to finish the job, put a timer roller on, stopped at Zanesville and got our dinner and then run out of oil. Frank had to walk about a mile to get oil and that was the way it went all day, just stop and start on. Come on through Columbus to Mechanicksburg, it was then dark. Stopped at mutual and tried to get a place to stay all night but people seemed to be afraid of us so we came on, had our supper in Urbana and thought we could make it home, but when we got a mile west of St. Paris we got hung up in the mud, got to the side of the road and got to bed.

March 5th---Raining this morning just a pouring down, laid in bed until half past eight, when we got up the roads did not look half as bad as we thought they would, we only had 3 miles to pavement, we soon made that and were not long in getting to Piqua. Frank went to a resturant washed up had his breakfast and brought me some warm sandwiches to the machine and we came home through Covington and Bradford.

Got home about half past one just 4 months to the day after we had left Greenville. Grandpa Gephart and Millers boys helped us unload the machine and so ended our trip to Florida.

THE END