Hooked Up and On To Florida

We found Edgewater to be a bit soiled on the outside but to our surprise there were no signs of mice or rodents and our ant traps were full as they had done their job. Everything was working. After spending our first night in the travel trailer, we made a Tuesday morning trip into Valdosta to stock up on supplies.  We then hooked up and headed into the Sunshine State.

The sun was shining so we did not go far before pulling over into a comfortable RV park near Lake City, FL.  It was not fancy but it had level pull-through sites, spotlessly clean restrooms, and 64 clear cable channels that we were looking for with the Bowl games coming up.

Today (Wednesday 12/31) is our grandson, Eli Hollenbeck's first birthday so we want to send him warm Birthday wishes from Florida.  Here he is last summer with Grandma Karen.



 

 

 

Day 3: 1220 Miles and 24 Chapters later....

On Monday we left the Comfort Inn at Athens, TN about 8:30 AM and jumped back on I-75 southbound.  It was cloudy and rainy but the temperature was already in the 50s.  The drive through Chattanooga and Atlanta was crowded but seldom stop-and-go.  About 3:30 we finally arrived at Valdosta, GA where Karen's baby sat waiting for her.  (see Edgewater below)

 

Our trip had taken 1220 miles so far.  Along much of the way we had listened to a book-on-discs that Bill had recently received as a birthday gift.  It was "UnBroken" by Laura Hillenbrand.  It is a fascinating true life story of an American soldier before and during WWII.  It may now be playing in a theater near you.

 

Day 2: Kokomo to Athens, TN

On Sunday we got an early start from our Comfort Inn, and continued on south.  We drove past Indianapolis and Louisville through dark and rainy weather.  We hit I-75 near Lexington, KY and were surprised at the high volume of traffic on this Sunday afternoon.  Perhaps it was people going home from their Christmas vacations?  Anyway, it was often stop and go for our first 200 miles south through Kentucky into Tennessee.  We pulled into another Comfort Inn at Athens, TN just in time to watch the Lions get beat by the Green Bay Packers.

Off to Florida on December 27, 2017

We started our 2015 Travel Trailer Adventure on December 27, 2014 by driving from Frederic, MI to Bill's sister Kathy's house near Vicksburg, MI to attend an annual family Christmas party.  We had little snow up north and none was present when we arrived down state.  Besides Bill's three siblings, we got to see six of our nine grandchildren as well as two of our three children.  It was a fun party with lots of food, presents, and cheer. 

This is our youngest Grandchild, Iggy.

 

We left the party around 6:00 PM and drove to Kokomo, IN where we spent the night at a Comfort Inn.  It was snowing there when we arrived at our motel.

Day 58: Home Again To The Deep Freeze

On Saturday March 1 we drove from southern Indiana to Frederic, MI and made it home on our daughter, Beth's, due date.  However, the baby has not arrived as yet.  Our RV trip took us 5300 miles and almost two months and we had a wonderful time.

Here are current radar conditions. 

Just like on our trip south in the beginning of January we had to keep moving to  dodge storms in our travels.  The pink indicates freezing rain where we stayed Friday night in Indiana.

We stopped in Lansing to see the Hollenbecks.

Here William Edwin  is holding Eli William.

Marybeth and Nolan welcomed the grandparents back.

Karen got to feed Eli for a time.

When we hit Grayling it was 8 degrees and snowing.

Talk about deja vu - the weather was just as bitter as the day we left.

This is how Edgewater looked on our last night in Georgia.

We hope she survives her stay down south without us.

It is zero degrees outside as we write this on Sunday morning.

Here is the high temp forecast for today -- We are missing southern Texas already!!

Bill will soon go out and continue shoveling and blowing snow.

 

WELCOME HOME TO NORHTERN MICHIGAN

 

 

 

Day 57: We Cruise Past Chattanooga, Nashville and make a couple of Stops South of Louisville

On Friday, February 28 we got on the road fairly early, for us, and left Calhoun, Georgia behind as we continued our way back to our chilly home in Michigan.

We cross the Tennessee River just south of Chattanooga and enter into Tennessee.

We drive past Nashville:  home of Dave Ramsey and Emmylou.

We end up stopping at a few antique stores in Elizabethtown that are just south of Louisville, KY.

Can you guess why Karen likes these stores near Louisville?

 

The selection was quite good.

Many booths had some to inspect and compare.

Karen ended up buying five Derby Glasses to fill in her collection.  She even got a 2014 glass that came out in November!

We spent our last night here in Scottsburg, Indiana.

 

Next we will drive back into snow that we have not seen in almost two months.  Boo -Hiss!!

But we are looking forward to home sweet home as we know it has to warm up sometime.

 

Day 56: We Drive North WithOut Edgewater Into The Polar Vortex

On  Thursday morning in Valdosta, Georgia we took all the precautions we could think of and prepped the travel trailer for a long summer of storage.  We drained all the water, took out the battery, removed the license plate,  set varmint and ant traps, spread Bounce sheets around inside etc. etc.  By 1:00 PM we were on the road North from Valdosta Oaks RV Park.

Our timing was not so great as we hit Atlanta right around Rush Hour and got into a lot of bumper-to-bumper stop-and-go driving.

We did not have time to stop but took a few pictures as we slowly drove through in the thick traffic.

Here is Turner Field - Home of the Atlanta Braves baseball team.

This is the Georgia Capital Dome.

And here is part of Georgia Tech.

 

We grabbed a motel about 30 miles south of Chattanooga before dark.

Day 55: Valdosta Oaks RV Park in Georgia

It rained almost all day Wednesday so we did laundry and explored a little of the nearby area.  We also tried to put together our game plan for getting Edgewater ready to stay here in storage until we, hopefully, return next December.

The park is pretty plain and wide open but they do have great cable TV service and their storage rates are about one-half what they charge a few miles south in Florida. .  We will park the trailer over near a tree line to help with a wind break and also for some shade during the summer and autumn months ahead.

After we get her parked we plan to head north for Atlanta today.

Day 54: We Loose a Friend back in Illinois

We are now in Southern Georgia near the town of Valdosta where we plan to leave Edgewater for storage during the summer months ahead.

On Monday Wally McGovern passed from this world into the next.  He was our youngest daughter's father-in-law, and a good and gentle man to call a friend.  He is going to be dearly missed by all who knew him including our (and his) granddaughter, Mary.

 

Here is Wally in the middle of his family during the Baptism of his and our granddaughter, Mary Jo McGovern in November of 2011.

Day 53: The Milton Florida Area Northeast of Pensacola

We are on the way to southern Georgia to leave our travel trailer in storage for the summer.  We have spent two days at the KOA campground near Milton and like it here.

We have been seeing a lot of these guys.  We do not know if they are flocking together here before heading north or if they have been living here all winter.

The KOA has a miniature golf course and Karen is showing off her putting skills.

On a bike ride Bill found this unusual old long brick road that has been turned into a bike/jogging trail.

Down  the road he came across this sign.  The road was 13.5 bricks wide and at least 7 miles long so Bill figured out that it consisted of about 1-1/2 million bricks.  A little research taught us that this road (now  SR 90) passes throught all 15 county seats at the top of Florida and ends at Van Horn, Texas.

Next to our RV lot a fellow named Rich came in from Canada in a big motor home pulling this beautiful 1966 Mercury pickup (made in Canada).  He went to dinner in the campground with us.

Rich looked and talked like my friend Carl Neer from Traverse City.  He was traveling by himself and had been down to the Florida Keys.

Day 52: Out of Louisiana and Into Florida

On Sunday February 23 we drove through Lucinda Williams country in the pouring rain.  Lucinda Williams is one of Bill's favorite artists.  We drove past Lake Charles, Lafayette, Slidell, and Baton Rouge to name a few.  It was not a good day of travel.  Besides the rain we had a flat tire on the trailer and had to waste over an hour on the side of Interstate 10 until a guy from the truck stop came out and put on our spare.  However, we made it through Louisiana, and traveled through a small part of Mississippi, and Alabama and ended up in a nice KOA Campground near Milton, Florida.

The sites are large and campground is modern and clean.  We like the place and compared to Louisiana it is like heaven.

Here is the sign for the exit off Interstate 10 for our KOA.  We are finding the prices to be higher in Florida for campgrounds than we paid in Texas.

This Florida KOA has small cabins like this to rent.

And larger ones like this with some having small screened in porches.

This is the KOA version of an indoor swimming pool.

And it works even in cool weather.

Day 51: We Spend Two Nights in Hammond, Louisiana --- Boring!!!

We found Calloway Campground in Hammond, LA to get the trailer hitch fixed and to get supplies for the next leg of our journey.

The campground was not special but there was a small lake with cabins to rent.

Hammond LA is a couple hours north and east of New Orleans.

These ducks were one of the best attractions we saw in this town.

Day 50: We Leave Texas and Drive into Louisana

Friday brought better weather so we packed up early and hit the road to the east.  We crossed into Louisiana east of the Town of Beaumont, Texas as we traveled along Interstate 10.

Near Lake Charles we started seeing large refineries like this.

The swamps in Louisiana are numerous and huge.

We came to the Mississippi River near Baton Rouge.

 

The bridge was six lanes and very busy.

Here is a ship being loaded on the Mississippi River

Here you can see barges on the right.  The river was very wide down here.

 

Our destination was Hammond, LA and we made it to our campground before dark.

Day 49: We Explore the Valley Creek Texas State Park near Beaumont

On Thursday Thunderstorms were predicted to rumble across this area and eastward, where we are headed, so we took a day to fix a few items on the trailer and truck, do some washing and explore.  The storms blew through last evening while we were tucked safely in this heavily wooded park.

Bill found the park had miles of good trails.

Many of the trails were great for mountain bikes.

 

The locals call this area "The Big Thicket".  East Texas has lots of pine forests.

In the creek access parking lot Karen noticed this long line of ants carrying pieces of leaves.

We traced the line back to this tree where they were coming down the vines.

We followed the line back the other way more than 30 yards across the gravel parking lot.

To this hole where they were taking the leaves.  It was an amazingly long way for an ant to travel carrying a large piece of leaf.

Just outside the park this lawn decoration proves that Texans are not normal people!