A Bike Ride into the Countryside

On New Years Eve Bill dusted off his old bicycle that had spent the winter in Georgia and went for a ride while Karen did some laundry.  (She is a wizard and does her magic in almost every laundry room as we travel)  Here are a few rural Florida sights from the bike ride:

The creeks and streams were certainly not as clear and beautiful as those in Northern Michigan

 

There were lots of house trailers and shacks, but also some pretty homes like these out in the country:

 

Bill soon realized there is some real competition down here to his Michigan Maple Syrup empire!

Happy New Year to All Our Readers!!!

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.