Sunday in Tampa with Karen and Eric

We just had to go!  Karen is a special lady... funny, loving, optimistic, artistic, creative, singer, song writer, musician, and otherwise and all around great person!  She has lived on the Hillsborough River in Tampa for years and years and years.  I've always wanted to visit Karen and Eric at home and it was finally time.

Karen on her back porch
overlooking the Hillsborough River

Now, we tried to pull our wonderful travel trailer into their spacious drive way for a weekend visit but someone had other ideas because the drop from the road was too high.  True it would have lightened our load by removing the waste water tanks and spare tire... but those are essential parts of the trailer.  So we headed to Hillsborough River State Park for a camp site and promised to visit on Sunday.

Bill and his buddy
on that lovely back porch

Your first impression is "Old Florida", what ever that means.  Guess you know it when you see it.  The house is small but the yard large and the property drops down towards the Hillsborough River.  In the yard are semi-tropical and tropical plants that should not grow this far north except the Tampa Bay and river keep the area warm.  The back yard and porch area contains banana trees, citrus, avocado, loquat, and more.  Not to mention her vegetable gardens in every spare corner.

Karen and Bill
in their matching tee shirts
"Guess they got the memo!"

Bill and Karen are long time friends who met through common friends.  When the "Cool Bus Riders" were a folk group in Florida they both purchased tee shirts to support the group.  And, on Sunday they were both wearing their shirts... could it be they discussed it when we were not listening?

Eric inside the
sunny and artistic home

 Karen calls  Eric her "Handy man" and he certainly lives up to the title.  Eric can fix most anything and improve it in the process.  The house is bright and sunny with fresh paint, creative wall hangings, a new floor, beautiful kitchen cabinets.  Ever where you look there is an Eric improvement or creative design.

The river garden

Our visit included plenty of chatting and hugs before we toured the gardens, played with the cats, and harvested a few tomatoes.  Lunch on the veranda was gourmet and filled with more talk.  

Karen seems to attract stray cats
some never leave home

After lunch we considered dropping the canoes into the water for a paddle on the Hillsborough but decided to take advantage of a lazy Sunday and chill on the porch.  Now we have an adventure for the next trip.
 

Karen and Marg
Relaxing after a perfect afternoon