Time to Head to Florida

Since it's been a week-and-a-half since we left home, I guess it's time we cross the Florida state line pretty soon.  It's been great to just "meander" down here - very leisurely pace!  We spent four days in Columbus, then three at High Falls, and now three at Reed Bingham, but tomorrow morning we'll be heading south for the last leg of our trip down.  We still plan to take two days to get all the way down to Fort Myers, which is probably kind of silly but we really like to only drive a few hours a day if time permits (which it does since Thanksgiving was SO early this year).  We'll only be drving about 200 miles tomorrow - as far as Bushnell, which is just north of the Tampa area, and then we'll get down to Pine Island pretty early on Saturday.

Our time here at Reed Bingham has, as usual, been very pleasant.  The weather yesterday wasn't GREAT, but it wasn't too bad (certainly not compared to home, where we hear a little snow has fallen!).  But today was very nice - in the low 60's and sunny all day.  We just got back from having a very nice dinner at Carter's Catfish House, which is about 20 yards outside the park limits.  I had this excellent deviled crab, which was sort of like little crab cakes smooshed into crab shells - 4 of them - along with an excellent twice-baked potato, the salad bar, and hush puppies (I LOVE hush puppies!).  Dave had a grilled shrimp salad, with a huge bowl of crispy fresh salad ingredients and 3 skewers of shrimp - 12 shrimp total.  And our total bill was $28.85!  What a bargain!  This place is only open Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings and it's almost worth scheduling your trip around their hours.  Excellent!

We had two lovely campfires during the two evenings we've been here - we had to use the rest of Dave's "scrounged" firewood since we won't be having any more fires for two months now.  One of the disadvantages of staying a month each at the next two RV resorts is no campfires.  We've already decided that next year we're going to spend more time in state parks -we really are campground people at heart!

Most of the rest of our time here we spent taking walks, Dave riding his bike, and me still focusing on getting back into my running program - I can NOT believe how much ground I lost over the past couple of months!  Valuable lesson to be learned.

But the most exciting thing that occurred over the past three days involved our little "wild child", Brandi!  (Surprise!)  There is a really nice hiking trail here in the park, that goes down to the river but has an extensive length of elevated board walk that is built maybe five feet off the ground and goes through this kind of swamp land along the edge of the river.  There is one point along the boardwalk where a side path goes down to an observation deck right over the river.  From the observation deck you can go down about five or six steps to a "raft" that kind of floats right in the river - I think it's there so people could possibly pull up in a canoe or kayak and climb onto the raft and then do part of the hike.  Anyway, we were down on that raft area when Brandi decided to lean way over and get a drink of water and all of a sudden SPLASH she fell headlong into the river.  We have no idea how deep it is, but she definitely was way over her head - and she is not normally a swimmer - she doesn't ever go out past her belly.  So Dave and I are yelling and screaming and she's dog-paddling like crazy and swims UNDERNEATH the raft.  Now Dave and I are terrified because we don't know if she'll get trapped underneath there or how in the world we're going to be able to reach her.  Fortunately, she swam out from under the raft and headed toward shore, where she climbed up and started running through the swamp.  We couldn't get to her because the whole boardwalk is too high above the swamp for us to get down, or for her to jump up.  So we had to walk as fast as we could to where the boardwalk FINALLY got lower to the ground and she could finally jump up.  But while we were trying to get to that area we were calling to her so she'd stay with us and she was RUNNING RUNNING RUNNING from one side of the boardwalk, underneath it, and over to the other side in these huge circles.  We could tell she was pretty frantic and couldn't figure out how to get up to us.  When we finally got to the area where she could jump up and rejoin us on the boardwalk, she was gasping and panting and was just crazy frantic.  POOR POOR baby.  When we finally got back to the RV, she jumped up on "her" couch (we all know the couch belongs to her!) and basically passed out for the rest of the day.  So once again, Brandi seems to provide the highlest level of drama for the trip.  Fortunately we love her to pieces, and we were SO relieved that she was ok.  Naughty girl-she really had us scared.

So now that THAT is all over, we are ready to pack things up and head south where we can really unpack and get settled in for a month long stay.  By the time I post the next blog we should be safely settled into the KOA on Pine Island (right off Fort Myers) and enjoying our 80 degree weather. 

Hanging out in Georgia for a While

High Falls State Park is SUCH a nice place to pull over for a few days.  When we pulled in on Saturday, the park was almost full, but by Sunday afternoon we were almost entirely alone in the park.  Honestly, I don't think there were four other rigs in the whole place.  On Saturday we just kind of hung out in the park, went for a walk and hit the sack early - it was a pretty long two days of driving and neither of us slept well at the Walmart outside of Knoxville.  But Sunday was beautiful!  We went for a long (probably 2 hours) hike along the river and the falls.  The falls themselves are not very tall, but they are really pretty.  The terrain is fairly rugged, so it's a fun hike, with lots of climbing up and over and around.  Brandi LOVED it!  I'm attaching a few of my pictures, but probably have about three times as many that I'm not.  After our hike on Sunday we drove about ten miles to visit another state park in the area, Indian Springs State Park.  It was ALSO a very nice park and another place we'd definitely consider spending a few days at on future trips.  We have had great experiences over the year with the Georgia state parks - they are very pretty, well-maintained, and have really spacious sites.  Monday was do-your-own-thing day.  I actually spent a few hours doing some Kerkstra work but still had more than enough time for another nice long hike on the other main trail in the park.  Dave spent most of the afternoon doing some fishing - didn't get anything but he always enjoys dropping a line in a pretty river!  We had great campfires both Saturday and Sunday nights, and did hot dogs one night and hamburgs the next night.  I know - NOT very healthy, but what the heck...we're camping!  And after we leave here, we'll be staying in RV resorts for December and January, which is definitely NOT camping - and there will be NO campfires.  So for now we're just enjoying the option of having fires and eating bad food.

On Sunday Dave did his normal firewood "scrounging" thing - he collected a LOT of leftover firework, including a big hunk of wood that he then chopped all up with his wood splitter,  Just for fun I'm posting the "before" and "after" pictures of his prize chunk of wood - hey, it's cheap entertainment for him plus is good exercise, right?  Overall, we had a really nice little three day layover here at High Falls...!

On Tuesday, I did the weekly Kerkstra conference call and then we packed up and headed out to head further south.  It was a pretty easy drive because we only planned to drive as far as Adel, GA with a stop at Reed Bingham State Park.  This is another park we always enjoy staying at for a few days.  The only problem we had (and it really wasn't an issue at all...) is that it pretty much rained all day today.  We don't LOVE driving in the rain, but since we only had about two-and-a-half hours to drive it really wasn't an issue.  We have a great site here at Reed Bingham and are looking forward to temps tomorrow in the high 60's.  There is a very nice hiking trail here too, so that's probably what we'll do tomorrow.  We plan to stay here until Friday morning, have a couple more campfires and then we'll finally head down into Florida. 

In the meanwhile, as a VERY weird way to entertain ourselves, we went into the local grocery store here in Adel and took pictures of the food.  OK - I KNOW that's really weird sounding, but HONESTLY we are just amazed at the food they people down here eat.  We try very hard to be socially accepting of other "cultures", but do you REALLY eat this stuff???  So Dave's picking stuff up in the store and going "Oh my God, look at THIS!" and I'm using my I-Phone to snap pictures so I can post them.  REALLY rude, huh?  So even though we had hot dogs and hamburgs over the last couple days, we are feeling really virtuous and healthy now!  (Plus, I've re-started my running program so am feeling absolutely saint-like at the moment.)  So here's some pictures of the culinary delights available at your local southern-Georgia grocery store (and, inc ase you can't read the labels, these are "country cured neckbones", "country cured pork hocks" and "country cured jowls", in addition to the all-time favorite "fried out port fat with attached skin."  And we wonder why we have an obesity crisis in this country?

Thanksgiving and Headed South!

Hope Everyone Had a GREAT Thanksgiving!

We had a wonderful few days with Brenda and her family.  We left a day earlier than usual, on Monday instead of Tuesday.  We had great traveling weather - it was like a miracle!  Sunshine, no wind, no rain, no accidents - everything was terrific.  We pulled into Buck Creek State Park at about 4:00 and got all set up.  As usual we were the ONLY camper in the entire park.  And it is SUCH a beautiful park, right on the edge of this gorgeous reservoir.  After we got set up, we drove about 20 minutes to get to Brenda's house and we all just had pizza together and then dropped off my old Christmas tree at Tessa's apartment.  I haven't set up the tree for about 3 years now and, honestly, probably never will again, so I was more than happy to "gift" it to Tessa.  On Tuesday, Dave and I took Brandi for a two hour walk in the park - it was probably close to 60 degrees, sunny and the water was absolutely calm and flat - really pretty!  After we got her worn out a little, we left her on the couch in the RV and Dave and I headed into Westerville to Brenda's bakery.  I hung out until about 6:00- and of course she put me to work making batches of sugar cookie dough! - while Dave rode his bike around town - what a treat for him to be able to spend time outside on such a mild day.  Arnie, Tessa and Chelsey all came to the bakery at various times throughout the afternoon, so all of us went to dinner together at the Westerville Grill.  I had the old "truckdriver special" - meat loaf, mashed potatoes and gravy on bread - boy, am I going to have to get out and start running again!


Wednesday was a great day for
me.  The weather was beautiful - I think it hit 70 - so Dave decided to stay in the park.  He went for a long, long bike ride and then put his kayak into the lake for a few hours and did some fishing.  He told me he had a really nice day just spending time outside and enjoying the weather.  While he played outside, I went in and played at Brenda's bakery for the day.  Yep, she put me to work again and I loved it.  We made pumpkin and apple pies for our dinner, and she had me make a whole bunch of "ganache" (I have absolutely no idea how it's spelled, but basically it's semi-sweet chocolate chips melted into heavy cream - delicious!).  I also ran a bunch of errands for her and then (being the accountant in the family!) got all of her books caught up to date.  But mostly it was just great spending the day with her.  I left the bakery about 6:00 or so and headed over to Tessa's apartment to help her and Chelsey (with a little extra help from Emma) decorate the tree.  It looks terrific in Tessa's apartment and I'm so happy I was there to be part of her setting up her first Christmas tree.

Thursday, of course, was Thanksgiving and we all had a wonderful day together - great meal, great company, such special family time together.  It was so special to see Tessa and Chelsey multiple times over the three days we spent in Columbus, and of course our little Emma is just so cute and sweet and funny.  She's at that fun age where she's just learning to walk so she takes about 10 or 12 steps then falls onto her little bottom.  But, actually, I was surprised to see how well she IS walking - and oh my gosh, does she have a lot of energy.  She is, at least in Ohio, the center of the universe for all intents and purposes.  (And that's as it should be!)  Her mother, her "auntie", and of course her Grandma Brenda and Grandpa Arnie all just love the pieces out of her.  She's a very lucky little girl, surrounded by all the love in the world!

Friday morning we took off for parts south.  It's always sad for me to be leaving the family behind, but it's also exciting to know we're starting off on our next adventure.  This year we plan to be on the road until late April or early May.  We plan to spend the trip entirely on the Gulf side this year, ending up in New Orleans.  I'm very fortunate because I have the opportunity to keep working for Kerkstra this year, even while I'm on the road.  It's good for my brain and good for my pocketbook, and hopefully I'm able to provide a certain amount of value to the team back at Kerkstra even though I'm not physically on-site with them.  (This is where any of my blog followers who happen to also be Kerkstra employees can join in with a big "A-MEN" if you'd like.)  Anyway, we got as far as Knoxville Friday night and pulled over to stay in a Walmart overnight.  Dave had noticed that our back tire on the car seemed soft....AGAIN!  I just had it fixed on my last Friday at work, and now it was soft again - frustrating!  Anyway, the Walmart we parked in was adjoined to a Sam's Club so we took the car there and sure enough they found a small puncture that the kid in the Holland Sam's Club apparently missed.  It was a relief to have a specific answer to our problem, especially since we also somehow lost our backup camera about halfway down to Knoxville.  This is very frustrating because we sort of feel like we're flying blind without being able to see the car behind us.  We've decided to wait until we're settled in on Pine Island before we deal with it, but we feel better knowing we probably aren't dragging a car with a flat tire behind us!  So, anyway, we got settled into the Walmart parking lot, got dinner and went to bed about 9:00 (unreal!) - but I don't think either of us slept very well because it was COLD COLD COLD in the rig.  Poor Brandi - I think she almost froze to death.  But we all made it through OK and today (Saturday) we got through Atlanta, which is always a HUGE relief - we HATE driving through Atlanta! - and we decided to pull into High Falls State Park for a few days.  High Falls is located about halfway between Atlanta and Macon.  We have LOTS of time before we have to be down in the Fort Meyers area - our reservation isn't until December 1, so we've got a whole week.  We stayed at this park 2-1/2 years ago and really enjoyed it.  The weather is pretty good - about 60 today and tomorrow, but it's supposed to be in the low 70's by Monday, so we decided to pull in here and stay until Tuesday.  I'll take pictures tomorrow and Monday and post some - it's very very pretty here - but in the meanwhile we are just happy to be on the road, eating the fantastic cheese cake that Brenda sent with us, and getting another wonderful trip started. 

(PS-I also saw on the Weather Channel on my I-Phone that it's supposed to SNOW in Michigan on Saturday and Sunday, so it looks like we made it out JUST in time again - sorry, all you guys up in Michigan - don't hate us, OK?!)