Sunday, April 3, 2011
Florida 2010 - 2011 The last Chapter
Yep, Savannah was on his mind and the “no see ums” at Skidaway Island State Park had our tender tanned flesh on theirs! Not to worry- we didn’t stay in the park very long since we only took time to get the trailer set up and then off to see Tybee Island to see if it had changed much since our last visit. We were going to stop on our way there to also see Ft Pulaski again but we were distracted by two monstrous ocean freighters that were passing each other in the waterway that led to the harbor of Savannah. What a sight and what a deep rolling wake they each presented to the rocky shoreline! It was a sunny, warm day in the high 80’s – and it was the start of Spring Break! The island traffic was maddening at times and the parking was ridiculous! The restaurants, streets and beaches were mobbed with scantily clad young women and tattoo adorned young men, some carrying their coolers, laden, no doubt, with the afternoon’s supply of beer.
Friday and Saturday was the St Patrick’s Day celebration in Savannah! Parking was free and we found a spot to park the appropriately colored green Jeep and walked thru the quaint old neighborhood to the bustling waterfront. The residential areas were relatively quiet except for those of us looking for a parking spot for our vehicles. The front of the houses lined the stone sidewalks just as they did all those many years ago. The backyards were enclosed with the head high walls of rustic old red bricks and one in particular caught my attention. It’s gas lamp was burning brightly in the cool shadow of the wall but cascading over the top was a beautiful flowing bush covered with a multitude of soft yellow mum like blooms! The sun was shining from the other side and through it, causing it to glow! Nah, H didn’t see it and would not have been as impressed as I was anyway! On the waterfront the big nautical themed fountain had been turned green during a special ceremony. The shops were all busy trying to sell their remaining supply of Shamrocks, silly green hats and even goofier green tee shirts! Most of the people wandering in and out and up and down the walkways were wearing green! The beer tents and restrants were doing a thriving business and the big tour boats, full of passengers, were on the move up and down the river. I imagine those folks were trying to cool off from the 93-degree temperature that hovered on shore! We grew tired of the crowds and the noise of the blaring sound systems so we drove away from the hustle and bustle and found a nice family restaurant called Hilliard’s for our quiet dinner.
Sunday morning arrived and we were up early, anxious to be on the road. And we were on that road all day long! When it’s time to go north – it’s time to go north. I don’t remember too much about that day except we ended up north of where my son and his family live. I was saddened that we would not be able to see them on this return leg of our journey but it was not to be. It was late in the day when we parked in Cove Lake State Park just off I75 and north of Clinton Tennessee. A good nights rest and we were on our way again on Monday morning.
Now, spring had arrived in Florida and the robins were flocking in Georgia. Things were turning green and trees and shrubs were blooming in South Carolina. Tennessee was still pretty brown – except for the daffodils that were blooming profusely in the median’s of the expressway and at all the rest areas. Kentucky was brown. Ohio was brown. Cincinnati was a nightmare! Four and five lanes of bumper-to-bumper traffic, most of it being semis and other large vehicles! Then there were all the potholes! At one spot a rather large box truck, following an even larger semi truck, decided to change lanes - without noticing that we were in the lane he chose to move to! H laid on the horn and locked the brakes and the truck driver swerved violently and then careened back into his own lane, just missing our front bumper. My heart raced and my chest pounded for many moments and several miles after that! Yes, I did offer several silent prayers of Thanks that we were able to avoid the collision with that truck or the looming cement wall in the next lane over. We made it to Michigan safely after that and H easily backed his rig into the driveway where it sat for the next several days.
Our Winter 2010-2011 Journey has come to an end; however, H is planning our next adventure already! I am happy just to get our yard cleaned up from all the ice and snow damage and to get our vegetable garden ready for planting! Snow Drops and Crocus are blooming and the tulips and daffodils are budding! I’ve even decorated the little maple tree out in the flowerbed with colorful Easter eggs!
See you all on the next trip!
Friday and Saturday was the St Patrick’s Day celebration in Savannah! Parking was free and we found a spot to park the appropriately colored green Jeep and walked thru the quaint old neighborhood to the bustling waterfront. The residential areas were relatively quiet except for those of us looking for a parking spot for our vehicles. The front of the houses lined the stone sidewalks just as they did all those many years ago. The backyards were enclosed with the head high walls of rustic old red bricks and one in particular caught my attention. It’s gas lamp was burning brightly in the cool shadow of the wall but cascading over the top was a beautiful flowing bush covered with a multitude of soft yellow mum like blooms! The sun was shining from the other side and through it, causing it to glow! Nah, H didn’t see it and would not have been as impressed as I was anyway! On the waterfront the big nautical themed fountain had been turned green during a special ceremony. The shops were all busy trying to sell their remaining supply of Shamrocks, silly green hats and even goofier green tee shirts! Most of the people wandering in and out and up and down the walkways were wearing green! The beer tents and restrants were doing a thriving business and the big tour boats, full of passengers, were on the move up and down the river. I imagine those folks were trying to cool off from the 93-degree temperature that hovered on shore! We grew tired of the crowds and the noise of the blaring sound systems so we drove away from the hustle and bustle and found a nice family restaurant called Hilliard’s for our quiet dinner.
Sunday morning arrived and we were up early, anxious to be on the road. And we were on that road all day long! When it’s time to go north – it’s time to go north. I don’t remember too much about that day except we ended up north of where my son and his family live. I was saddened that we would not be able to see them on this return leg of our journey but it was not to be. It was late in the day when we parked in Cove Lake State Park just off I75 and north of Clinton Tennessee. A good nights rest and we were on our way again on Monday morning.
Now, spring had arrived in Florida and the robins were flocking in Georgia. Things were turning green and trees and shrubs were blooming in South Carolina. Tennessee was still pretty brown – except for the daffodils that were blooming profusely in the median’s of the expressway and at all the rest areas. Kentucky was brown. Ohio was brown. Cincinnati was a nightmare! Four and five lanes of bumper-to-bumper traffic, most of it being semis and other large vehicles! Then there were all the potholes! At one spot a rather large box truck, following an even larger semi truck, decided to change lanes - without noticing that we were in the lane he chose to move to! H laid on the horn and locked the brakes and the truck driver swerved violently and then careened back into his own lane, just missing our front bumper. My heart raced and my chest pounded for many moments and several miles after that! Yes, I did offer several silent prayers of Thanks that we were able to avoid the collision with that truck or the looming cement wall in the next lane over. We made it to Michigan safely after that and H easily backed his rig into the driveway where it sat for the next several days.
Our Winter 2010-2011 Journey has come to an end; however, H is planning our next adventure already! I am happy just to get our yard cleaned up from all the ice and snow damage and to get our vegetable garden ready for planting! Snow Drops and Crocus are blooming and the tulips and daffodils are budding! I’ve even decorated the little maple tree out in the flowerbed with colorful Easter eggs!
See you all on the next trip!
Monday, March 28, 2011
NE Florida
Another new Florida State Park patch for my bright blue jacket! Favre-Dyke State Park has only 23 campsites and is at the end of a very long, very sandy, very winding, very narrow tree lined single lane forest road right off of Rt 1, 17 miles south of St Augustine. Once settled in, it was time to go explore the beaches! From Anastasia State Park, south to the inlet you can still drive your 4x4 vehicle on the wide flat sandy beach. During the day the charge is $7 but after 5pm the drive is free! The really nice lady at the guard desk said to come back after 4:30pm and she would look the other way! 40 minutes of shopping and we were back, waving to her as she left her post, her shift for the day being done. The speed limit on the beach is 10 mph and is one way – south. In the distance we saw a colorful semi circular kite weaving back and forth across the beach. As we approached, we found, anchored to the bottom of the kite lines, a young man whose feet looked buckled to a rather large skateboard with oversized wheels. It was like watching the Olympic snowboarders zinging from one side to the other and flipping up and around, grabbing their boards as they hung in mid air. So was this young man as he wove across the sand and back, leaning into the kite lines to change his direction.
Sunday was Flea Market Day in St Augustine! What a bunch of “stuff”! And we didn’t buy any of it, but it was fun to look. Instead we donated some funds to Wal-Mart and got the oil changed in the Jeep since there was no trailer attached and the change was overdue.
On Monday we had a very long road trip ahead of us – 50 miles from St Augustine to Jacksonville - but H still took his time and enjoyed his morning pot of fresh brewed coffee and the Good Morning America show on TV. Up Rt 1 we went and over to A1A, then north to Jacksonville along the Atlantic coast sometimes lined with dunes and tall sea oats and sometimes the view was completely blocked by ritzy homes with fancy landscaping and steep cement driveways. Ron had told H about a very nice city park that was right on the ocean and we headed there!
Kathryn Abbey Hanna Park has a full hook up campground of 293 sites, a nature preserve, 3 levels of off road bike trails, hiking trails, a 33 acre fresh water lake and a mile of Atlantic coast beaches. The wooden boardwalks that led to the beach were lined with the Live Oak trees, whose dark limbs stretched out like knarly witch’s fingers entwined and dripping with silvery Spanish moss, so reminiscent of many Northern Florida/ Southern Georgia back roads.
Our next stopover on our slow trip north was Ft Clinch State Park on Amelia Island in the extreme northeast corner of Florida. The 3 miles from A1A to the campground amazed me at each of our entering and exiting! When the sun was shining, only a portion of the sunny rays managed to make it thru the under-canopy of mossy doilies being held aloft by those knarly fingers! While at Ft Clinch we toured the old fort again but this time without the really neat young corporal tour guide. The fort is in a constant state of being restored but it still was familiar and brought back fond memories of when we were there with R&N! We walked the beach and strolled all the way out on the lengthy fishing pier that extended out into the ocean. I took more pictures and gathered more seashells! And of course we HAD to check out the touristy little town of Fernandina! See our Previous Florida Blogs to see the fort and more details of the area! And double click the photos to enlarge them!
From Amelia Island it was back to the mainland and, sadly, north out of Florida. Savannah is on H’s mind!
Sunday was Flea Market Day in St Augustine! What a bunch of “stuff”! And we didn’t buy any of it, but it was fun to look. Instead we donated some funds to Wal-Mart and got the oil changed in the Jeep since there was no trailer attached and the change was overdue.
On Monday we had a very long road trip ahead of us – 50 miles from St Augustine to Jacksonville - but H still took his time and enjoyed his morning pot of fresh brewed coffee and the Good Morning America show on TV. Up Rt 1 we went and over to A1A, then north to Jacksonville along the Atlantic coast sometimes lined with dunes and tall sea oats and sometimes the view was completely blocked by ritzy homes with fancy landscaping and steep cement driveways. Ron had told H about a very nice city park that was right on the ocean and we headed there!
Kathryn Abbey Hanna Park has a full hook up campground of 293 sites, a nature preserve, 3 levels of off road bike trails, hiking trails, a 33 acre fresh water lake and a mile of Atlantic coast beaches. The wooden boardwalks that led to the beach were lined with the Live Oak trees, whose dark limbs stretched out like knarly witch’s fingers entwined and dripping with silvery Spanish moss, so reminiscent of many Northern Florida/ Southern Georgia back roads.
Our next stopover on our slow trip north was Ft Clinch State Park on Amelia Island in the extreme northeast corner of Florida. The 3 miles from A1A to the campground amazed me at each of our entering and exiting! When the sun was shining, only a portion of the sunny rays managed to make it thru the under-canopy of mossy doilies being held aloft by those knarly fingers! While at Ft Clinch we toured the old fort again but this time without the really neat young corporal tour guide. The fort is in a constant state of being restored but it still was familiar and brought back fond memories of when we were there with R&N! We walked the beach and strolled all the way out on the lengthy fishing pier that extended out into the ocean. I took more pictures and gathered more seashells! And of course we HAD to check out the touristy little town of Fernandina! See our Previous Florida Blogs to see the fort and more details of the area! And double click the photos to enlarge them!
From Amelia Island it was back to the mainland and, sadly, north out of Florida. Savannah is on H’s mind!
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
Ocala National Forest
The Ocala National Forest is home to Florida’s biggest and prettiest natural springs! Alexander Springs is one of the top 2! 72 million gallons of crystal clear water a day!! The large dark blue basin is a magnet for snorkel and scuba divers alike! And we were drawn to it each of the 3 days we stayed in the campground. The edges are lined with waving sea grasses teeming with curious varieties of sunfish and ones that look almost like a perch! Even with my bright blue snorkel mask and big long fins – if I just floated quietly – they would come right up and peck at my outstretched wiggling fingers. On one of our swims, we followed 3 scuba divers out and marveled at the sight of them heading deeper and deeper into the blue water while the tiny air bubbles from their oxygen tanks floated back up to the sunshine at the top.
The park has a nifty nature boardwalk that follows around the spring and has 2 fishing piers /resting areas along the way. The birds were singing and the sun was sparkling down thru the newly green leaves of the forest. No snakes and no alligators were seen on this visit! SPFB!! We even took time one afternoon to go find some “two-tracks” to go explore! One of them actually ended up at a very primitive boat launch of sorts. Across the river were several tire and rope swings strung up over the slow chugging river run that originally started at Alexander Springs. Would you believe it – there was another guy out there who didn’t know where the road was going either! H had to get out his Florida Gazetteer to make sure of where we were and where to go from there. . From there we trudged thru or maneuvered around a lot of deep rutted mud holes and puddles! We know of another certain Jeep owner who would like to navigate those mud tracks
The campgrounds in most of the national forests have no electricity and no water at each site. “Dry camping” is no problem – as long as the weather is warm!! The “mobile motel” has a gas furnace for a quick warm up in the morning and a tank of fresh running water with the flick of the pump switch and a turn of the faucet! For TV watching and lights there are 2 mega batteries under the couch! AND – H was sure glad that he invested in his latest prized possession – his 2000-watt Honda Generator, which insures that he can have his fresh brewed coffee in the mornings while we were in the forest.
We were hoping to move up to Salt Springs, which has lots of electricity at each campsite to solve the colder weather problem, but they were full so we moved instead to Juniper Springs Campground to continue our “dry camping” trend. Juniper Springs is the closest National Park campground to Ocala so H made a phone call to set up a breakfast date for the next morning at Bob Evans. We enjoyed a great breakfast with D&S and followed it with boring grocery shopping!
Not wanting to leave the forest right away, and since Salt Springs was full we headed north to the edge of the forest and stopped for one night at the Rodman Dam Reservoir Campground. The campground is actually part of the Florida Greenway, just like Ross Prairie is on the south west side of Ocala where we stayed on the beginning of our winter journey as we headed south. Rodman is located right on the Cross Florida Barge Canal, which was originally dug to run from each side of Florida. The east section starts on the St John’s River but quits just west of Dunnellon. Like the Erie Canal up in Ohio – did progress move too fast or did the funds to complete the project too slow? Now the Canal is a freeway for pleasure boats, including the fast moving bass boats that sprayed wide spreading white water as they sped upstream in an early morning Bass Tournament.
Once out of the forest, it will really be official – we’re heading north – to North Florida!
The park has a nifty nature boardwalk that follows around the spring and has 2 fishing piers /resting areas along the way. The birds were singing and the sun was sparkling down thru the newly green leaves of the forest. No snakes and no alligators were seen on this visit! SPFB!! We even took time one afternoon to go find some “two-tracks” to go explore! One of them actually ended up at a very primitive boat launch of sorts. Across the river were several tire and rope swings strung up over the slow chugging river run that originally started at Alexander Springs. Would you believe it – there was another guy out there who didn’t know where the road was going either! H had to get out his Florida Gazetteer to make sure of where we were and where to go from there. . From there we trudged thru or maneuvered around a lot of deep rutted mud holes and puddles! We know of another certain Jeep owner who would like to navigate those mud tracks
The campgrounds in most of the national forests have no electricity and no water at each site. “Dry camping” is no problem – as long as the weather is warm!! The “mobile motel” has a gas furnace for a quick warm up in the morning and a tank of fresh running water with the flick of the pump switch and a turn of the faucet! For TV watching and lights there are 2 mega batteries under the couch! AND – H was sure glad that he invested in his latest prized possession – his 2000-watt Honda Generator, which insures that he can have his fresh brewed coffee in the mornings while we were in the forest.
We were hoping to move up to Salt Springs, which has lots of electricity at each campsite to solve the colder weather problem, but they were full so we moved instead to Juniper Springs Campground to continue our “dry camping” trend. Juniper Springs is the closest National Park campground to Ocala so H made a phone call to set up a breakfast date for the next morning at Bob Evans. We enjoyed a great breakfast with D&S and followed it with boring grocery shopping!
Not wanting to leave the forest right away, and since Salt Springs was full we headed north to the edge of the forest and stopped for one night at the Rodman Dam Reservoir Campground. The campground is actually part of the Florida Greenway, just like Ross Prairie is on the south west side of Ocala where we stayed on the beginning of our winter journey as we headed south. Rodman is located right on the Cross Florida Barge Canal, which was originally dug to run from each side of Florida. The east section starts on the St John’s River but quits just west of Dunnellon. Like the Erie Canal up in Ohio – did progress move too fast or did the funds to complete the project too slow? Now the Canal is a freeway for pleasure boats, including the fast moving bass boats that sprayed wide spreading white water as they sped upstream in an early morning Bass Tournament.
Once out of the forest, it will really be official – we’re heading north – to North Florida!
Sunday, March 6, 2011
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