ST. AUGUSTINE, FLORIDA

We spent a wonderful morning in the oldest city in the United States, St. Augustine. Breakfast and lunch were at the Casa Monica Hotel in the middle of downtown. It is a great walking place, so we enjoyed getting our exercise while seeing the Castillo de San Marcos, the oldest fort in the U.S., near the oldest street in America, where Marie took a photo of an "old man" in front of the oldest school house. Other highlights were Flagler College, with all the red roof decorations--once a deluxe hotel built by the founder of much of the town, Mr. Flagler. The Lichener Museum is hard to see in the shadows, but was once another hotel that is now the City Hall, as well as a repository for a lot of local history.

After two hospital visits, in Ormand Beach and St. Augustine, and a very helpful consultation with Dr. James Meschia, a neurologist at Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, we are now en route west toward Tucson--with a necessary stopover in Tallahassee for some repairs on the motorhome engine on Monday, March 3. The examination by Dr. Meschia indicated that I could probably travel safely back home, but should "take it easy" along the way. Derek will meet us in New Orleans to drive with us through the southwest where there are long stretches with no medical facilities or other services. Hopefully, we'll be back in Tucson by March 9.

Bill and Marie