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!

Day 48: Heading into East Texas

After Kingsville we drove another couple hours north until almost dusk and found a small clean RV park near Victoria, Texas called Gateway To The Gulf.  On Tuesday we got on the road early toward Houston.

Here is where we stopped for gas and lunch.  It is called Buc-ee's and the stores are only found in Texas.  They have unique high-quality merchandise and great gourmet sandwiches.

We had another white-knuckle drive through Houston and then Beaumont, Texas and settled into the Village Creek Texas State Park near Lumberton.  We are roughing it now with no cable TV or swimming pools!

Village Creek turned out to be bigger than we expected.

The creek gets canoe and kayak traffic.

There is one cabin in the park that can be rented.

Our campsite costs $21 per night.  This cabin goes for $80.

Near the creek are many deep gullies that flow into it when it rains.  Down here this is called a slough.

Signs like this make a person watch where they are walking on the trails.

Day 47: We Leave the Rio Grande Valley and Stop at The King Ranch and Museum

On Monday February 17 we said goodbye to San Benito and headed north up Route 77 to Kingsville, Texas.  We stopped at the King Ranch Headquarters for a 1-1/2 hour bus tour to see part of the 825,000 acre ranch which is larger than the state of Rhode Island.

This is the "Flying W" brand for the King Ranch. 

Here are a few of the Long Horn Cattle raised on the dry pastures.

The ranch has its own rodeo barn to have events for its employees.

This sign caught our attention.  Richard King paid $.02 cents per acre for the first 15,500 acres he bought.  His wife later started paying  $.03 cents apiece for each snake rattle brought to her as she hated rattlesnakes.  240,000 we brought in over the years.

Richard King developed the Santa Gertudis breed of cattle.  Here are some of the registered stock.

This is a push gate that can be opened by bumping it with a pickup without having to get out of the cab.

These antlers were in the front yard of one of the ranch employees.

This was an original stone barn from the start of the ranch in 1853.  It was renamed later to the King Ranch.  Ford Motor has a fancy pickup edition named for the ranch.

 

After the ranch tour we drove into Kingsville to see the King Ranch Museum but no pictures were allowed there.