Middledgeville, GA (6/3/15)

This morning we did our boat tour in the Okofenokee Swamp at 10:00.  We probably saw 40-50 alligators, 2 turtles, various birds, two different kinds of water lillies.  It was a really nice boat ride, the scenery was georgous, and there were plenty of gators to go around.  While we milled around the pond in front of the Trading Post, Joe got a couple good pictures of gators right there.

Here's our boat coming in.  There were 6 passengers:  us 2, a couple from Germany and 2 ladies, one from San Francisco and one from Washington State. 

This was our channel out to the lake.  Very nice scenery.

And here I am, just enjoying the ride.  It was nice to have a roof, and most of the time we were in shade, so it was a very comfortable boat ride.  And here are some gators.

They've named this next one "Big Un" and he's over 14 ft. long.  He's usually in this same area so they know where to find him.

Lots of interesting cypress trees.  One was struck by lightning a long time ago but continued to grow.  The guide said this tree is over 200 years old. 

More scenery.

There are 4 baby gators on this log.  One got off, then back on, while we watched.

We saw two yellow-bellied slider turtles, but didn't get a picture of them.  Too soon, we were back at the Trading Post, and we headed back to de-camp.  Joe dumped our tanks and we pulled out at 11:50, and encountered rain in about 30 minutes, so our timing was good.  Joe said if we want to do anything outside in this part of the country, it looks like we need to do it in the mornings.  We did see one deer cross the road on the road out.

With our late start, it was hard to get our 200 miles in, at least it seemed hard to me, and I wasn't even driving.  We stopped at a produce stand and bought a watermelon, 2 vidalia onions, some Georgia peaches and tomatoes.  Joe kept looking for his diet soda all day but never found it.  We fueled once, but they didn't have any fountain drinks there.  We did see a live armadillo cross the road, in fact Joe had to swerve to miss it.  It was small, about the size of a rat. 

We had rain off and on all afternoon, and we decided to make it a Camp Walmart night because we could see it was going to rain again, and it was 5:00 when we pulled off, 205 miles today.  There's a Mellow Mushroom Pizza place on the Walmart parking lot that we are going to try.  John and Bridgette went to one in Brandon, and they liked it so we will give it a try.  And since we have phone signal tonight, maybe we will catch up on some phone calls to find out where our traveling partners are sleeping tonight.

On the Road Again (6/2/15)

 After saying our goodbyes to Andrew and Bridgette, they left for school/work, and we went down the street to Steak & Shake for a quick breakfast.  When we got back, we finished our final road check, and got on the road about 9:45.  We wonder what Andrew will say when he comes home today and sees that our RV is gone.

It was cloudy, sprinkled a little, but that made for a good driving day.  We had spent 38 nights in Florida, 5 of them over at Long Point Campground near Melbourne Beach, and 2 more at Disney World at the Caribbean Beach Resort.  But the important fact here is that we spent 38 days with Andrew -- and his parents.  He is a great little guy, and we will surely miss him.  It was hard to leave him behind, but we plan to come back in the fall, before we return to Arizona, so that made it a little easier. 

Our goal today is to get out of Florida, and we decided to head to the Okefenokee Swamp and Wildlife Refuge near Fargo, Georgia.  We took I-75 to Lake City, then cut over to US 441 and started angling northeast.  We took a short lunch break at a rest stop here at Lake City about 1:00 p.m., and crossed the Georgia State Line at 2:15.

It was only 45 miles from Lake City to Fargo, and our turnoff to the Swamp was just a mile before Fargo.  Then it was a 17 mile drive through the swamp to the campground, the Stephen C. Foster State Park, which was a very nice campground/park.  It was a pretty drive into the park, nice forests and grass, little swamp ponds occasionally.

  On the road in, we had a red fox cross the road in front of us, and we saw 2 turkeys.


We got there about 3:00, got checked in at the Trading Post (cost of $28.00), and got set up in camp just before the rain storm hit.  So we took a little nap and waited out the storm, then had dinner.  We went back to the Trading Post after we ate to walk a nature trail there around the little pond/lake/river, but it was closed.  Apparently, it is only open during store hours (closed at 5:00).  We had suited up in all our mosquito gear (zip off pants, repellant, net hats, 2 bottles of water, and walking sticks) but didn't get to make use of them. So, instead we went for a "WVD" (wildlife viewing drive), the first one we've been on in a long time, and the first one of this trip. 


We lucked out, we saw another turkey pretty quickly, then Joe took a side road (no surprise) to the Sill Recreation Area, which was like a canal, with a very narrow and shallow stream of water.  We probably spotted a dozen gators in this canal, and a bunch of buzzards or vultures seem to be expecting dinner at any moment.


 

 We finally headed back out to the main road and drove the rest of it, into Fargo where we gased up the car ($2.599).  We had hoped gas prices in Georgia would be a little less than Florida, but they were about the same as Tampa.  Most of the prices along the interstate were another 10-15 cents, though.

On the way back, we spotted another turkey, then a deer.  And two more deer right outside the campground. And we saw a few squirrels.  And shortly after we got back inside the RV, it started raining again.


Mazie had called us this morning and they had run into some trouble. (They are in northeastern Missouri)  They took a road that dead-ended, and Dave tried to make a U-turn with the RV and car and wasn't able to keep it all on the road, so he got stuck in the mud.  They had to call for a tow truck, and we talked to Mazie two more times, but they finally got out, with just some minor damage to the RV (a plastic strip on the back).  We always hate to hear about any of us running into problems because we all know it could happen to any of us at any time.  Hopefully, that will be the only problems they encounter.



We don't have much of a phone signal here, not enough to make a call or get on the internet.  Since we didn't have phone or internet here, I did my blog in the "notes" section on the computer and pasted it in later.  When I do that, sometimes it leaves large blank spaces where I have had to move pictures around, so if that happens, it's just part of the process.

We traveled 226 miles today, stayed in a state park, saw some wildlife.  We are finally back in "RV mode travel."  Joe's foot seems to be pretty well healed, and we got out of Florida one day after the official start of hurricane season.  I think we are back on track.

Our last Monday at the Drs. Froeschke (6/1/15)

It's been a hectic time here, with John and Bridgette keeping Kaylee entertained. I'm still nursing my sore finger.  After a full week, it still isn't fully healed.  I think that fish got me all the way to the bone.  And it's very difficult to type with a bandaid on that finger!

  Friday we did slow down a bit.  Bridgette and I got the laundry caught back up in the morning (while Kaylee slept), and then Bridgette and Andrew took Kaylee to the mall on a shopping trip.  Joe and I opted out of that, but we did venture out to a kitchen gadget store we pass all the time, "Rolling Pin," which we liked to never found, even though I kept seeing it when we were out.  We finally had to google it, and it was on a cross street between the two main streets we kept driving up and down looking for it.  Joe bought a rolling pin (little one), and I bought some soccer cupcake holders for Kaylee.  It was a rather upscale shop, and they had a wine lesson underway while we were there, and a guy outside grilling shrimp in some $1200 ceramic charcoal grill.

Saturday was Andrew's graduation program at daycare, and even though he wasn't "graduating," he did have a performance on stage, so we messed around the house most of the day.  Joe started getting some of his pre-departure work done, and of course he had a helper.
 
 


 

Bridgette made sure he got a good nap, and then off we went to Brandon High School for the program.  His performance was "Itsy Bitsy Spider."  Here is his fan club, eagerly anticipating his arrival on stage.

On the right side, next to the teacher bending down

Back with Mommy

In full costume

He wasn 't too happy on stage, but he really liked having the spider legs outside.  They had some really cute performances but it appears you have to be about three years old before you are much into performing.

 

Then we went back to the mall, to the Food Court so everyone could pick what they wanted for supper, and to let Andrew play in the playground there.

 Sunday we made a trip back to Orlando to the outlet mall there.  We shopped several of the stores, some the same we have at home, but some different.  This was a strip-mall style, and we got caught in a rainstorm before we left.  Kaylee and Andrew spent some time playing in the rain puddles on the way back to the car, and she had to wring her socks out to keep from soaking the car.  Joe and I took the scenic drive home, so we were behind them a half-hour or so. 

Today (Monday) Kaylee went to school with Bridgette to work with her summer student, and we set about getting the motorhome ready to travel, catching up the laundry, grocery shopping,and  final loading, tire checking, etc.  Joe finished his chores by mopping Bridgette's floors before we headed off to lunch at our new favorite Mexican restaurant up the street.

When everybody got home, we had a little birthday celebration for Andrew, since we won't be here when he turns 2 on June 23.  We gave him a train that blows bubbles, and a semi truck hauler. 

The bubble blower was a big hit -- Bridgette and John may never had to suds him up again.

  Kaylee decided to run  through the bubbles a few times.

Then it was time to take Kaylee to the airport about 4:15 for her 6:55 flight back to Arizona.  But her flight was about 1 1/2 hours late leaving Tampa, so she is going to have a long day.  Lightning was in the area, and right after they shut the door on her plane, I heard one of the airport people say it was 8 miles away and they were trying to get that flight out of here.  Her plane left just before the rain storm hit. 

Kaylee in line to board her plane

Kaylee's plane back to Phoenix

 Kaylee had a good time here, and she really liked Florida.  It was nice that she got reacquainted with her Uncle John and Aunt Bridgette, and that she got to be buddies with her cousin Andrew.