Huguenot Memorial Park....truely memorial

WHAT A GEM !!!!!  I would encourage everyone to put this one on their "RV Bucket List".
The St John River flows north from Jacksonville to the Atlantic Ocean. Right where the river and ocean meet is a small city park called Huguenot Memorial. There are NO hookups, so it is virtually dry camping but with water and dump stations available. There are 21 beach sites where you are literally feet from the beach. We choose one where we had a small dune separating us from the beach since Sydney was not permitted directly on the beach. This is a preserve and sea turtles and birds are abundant. Here is where we were. My feet were in the water when I took this picture.

Even John, who is not much of a beach person sat in his chair and watched the porpoises swimming and fishing yards from the shore.

While we were sitting a marine research boat came by and they were dragging a net to catch some of the marine specimens to track the type and size. They were very friendly and gave us a sneak peek of some of the creatures up close. There were crabs, flounder, puffer fish and something called a bat fish. Here are some of the pics I took.

John was able to drive directly on the beach, so of course he did. Here he is........

We took a day trip about 50 miles south to St Augustine....  the oldest city in Florida. It was founded in the 1500's and was occupied by the Spanish and the British prior to becoming a part of the US. I was actually disappointed because most of the old city is recreated or altered and not original. Here are some pics showing the Spanish flavor of the town..

In this next picture check the spot above the 4th shutter from the gate. That area at the top is a cannonball from a pirate ship embedded in the wall.

This is what is left of the actual fort. A small portion of the outer wall....

The best part of the day was the ferry ride at sunset that took us back to the park... These are Pelicans...

While here, we ran into another couple that John had spoken to in Georgia.... Tom and Cheryl Drotning from Minissota. They are just starting out in their 5th wheel. We shared websites and experiences before parting ways. Maybe we will run into them again.... hopefully not litteraly.

We only stayed for 4 days.... I wanted to stay longer, but we had reservations in Orlando.... so off we go. Thanks Millie and Ray for letting us in on this secret place. WE WILL BE BACK !!

Southeast Georgia Time..

John and I both enjoy going to the southeast corner of Georgia. We have done this each year since we started traveling. So..... here we are again. As usual we stayed at a Coast to Coast resort in Woodbine. The ownership has changed hands since last year and we found the campgrounds cleaner and neater than in prior years. The new owners, from Australia, are a young couple with 4 children. They are slowly making positive changes that will definitely keep us coming back.
Each year we choose a different "Golden island" to visit. Last year was Jekyll island..... this year we went to St Simon's Island. What a pretty little place. In most ways it was very typical of most seashore vacation towns but  this one has a huge beautiful city park right in the center next to the shore. Here are some pics...

We also made a trip down to St Mary's, where the boat takes you to Cumberland Island. It has no beaches but is mainly a port for boaters. It is so scenic and pretty. More pics...

We enjoyed our week and will be sure to come back again as there is so much to experience. We are headed just a short 50 miles down the road to the Jacksonville area to a small city park that our friends Millie and Ray told us about. I need some beach time !!

Family and Lowcountry..

Wait a minute.... that doesn't sound right. Visiting family is a high for us....but we were in the Lowcountry of South Carolina too. Maybe I better start at the beginning. We left Sycamore Lodge just before Halloween and traveled southeast to Wilmington NC to see John's daughter Corinne. We stayed at Camp Walmart for 2 nights and had a lovely visit. See looks good, as usual.... see...

We went out for pizza... and it wasn't Friday.

Next stop was Charleston SC to visit with John's brother, Jim, and his wife Terri. We get sooooo spoiled rotten there. I feel like I gained 15 pounds from Terri's good cooking. Here we are posing on their couch so John can learn to do a delayed shot with his camera. It took several tries. Can you tell John is out of breath from running to the couch before the picture snapped?

We went for a ride to Foley Beach at high tide. There were only a few surfers as the waves weren't very high that day.

On the way back from the beach we stopped at the "Graffiti Boat". This is an old boat that was washed up on shore during hurricane Hugo many years ago and was never removed. It sits alongside of Foley Road. Locals started painting messages, wedding proposals and ads on the boat.... and so goes the tradition. I'm told it gets repainted frequently, some times within hours. So if you paint a message, you take a picture of it. Jim's daughter Amy painted it pink when she came to visit for Jim's retirement party and within hours someone had redone it. There must be thousands of coats of paint on this thing. Jim says he thinks someone maintains a web site with all the messages but he's not sure. I'll have to look and see.

PS.... Here is an address to a website with pics of the boat's various paintings. http://www.pbase.com/laplageauxfolles/graffiti_boat&page=all

Another stop was the market. I was there many years ago when I went to Charleston for a conference while working at Williamsport Hospital. They have since done some renovations, and what an improvement. They modernized the conveniences while retaining the charm and history of the place. Terri and I stopped and talked with one of the sweetgrass vendors, Elouise Frazier. What an interesting and beautiful person. She told us the history of the basket making and stories of her grandmother. I could of stayed there all day talking with her. If you ever get to the market look for Elouise and buy one of her baskets.... they are magnificent and she is one remarkable "lady"

As we left the market Terri found me some delicious she-crap soup. A trip to Charleston is not complete without some she-crab soup.

John and I both love the "Live Oak" trees here in South Carolina, so Jim and Terri took us to see the Angel Tree. It is the largest Live Oak east of the Mississippi standing 65 feet tall. It is believed to be between 300 and 400 years old. The trunk is 25.5 feet in circumference and has an area of shade of 17,000 square feet. It's longest branch is 83 feet long. The branches are so long and large that they touch the ground and have to be supported. It is amazing. Here are some pics.

We picked up some acorns from under the tree...... going to see if we can grow one.

Fun times and good people but time to move on..... Georgia coast next.

And so it begins.....

We left Monday Oct 17th from John and Wendy's driveway around noon. We were delayed about an hour and a half because of a light issue. It seems our Jeep rear turn signal was not working when we hooked the "towed" up. Thank goodness for "MaGyver" John Dreese. He had it fixed in a short  time and we were off. Our first destination was Jackson Springs North Carolina. We planned on taking our time getting there since we had been stationary for 3 months. We stopped at "Camp Walmart" in Harrisonburg Va and Statesville NC, arriving at Sycamore Lodge on day 3. We always like coming here, especially in the fall. The weather has been in the high 60's during the day with plenty of sunshine and low 50's at night.... just perfect.
This resort is mostly inhabited by North Carolinian's... very few long distance travelers.  Everyone is super friendly.
Each year the membership puts on an event to raise money for Multiple Myeloma research. They have a "Haunted Forest". This event brought in over $10,000.00 last year. This year they are staging the event for 2 weekends instead of 1. It is a major undertaking. There are over 50 volunteers involved as actors, ticket takers, security, and so on. We caught some of the actors preparing their costumes and makeup before the Saturday night performance. Here are the pics...

These people are really dedicated to this fundraiser and do a wonderful job.

I was sitting having my morning coffee the other day and what did my wondering eyes find....

This camper reminded me of a series of e-mail jokes I periodically receive. An older women in her nightgown, slippers, bathrobe, sunglasses and coffee cup in hand. She always has something to say about everything. For the life of me I can't remember her name...can anyone help?

Our next stop......  Willmington, NC to visit with John's daughter Corinne.

Summer Sumary

Theme this summer..... Rain, Rain ...... GO AWAY!! I think I can count on one hand the number of days that were sunny and warm for the last 3 months here at home in Central Pa. Everything is damp, muddy or moldy. We went through a flood and are well on the way to set a new record as the wettest year on record .... and it's only October.
Despite the miserable weather we stayed active. Here is a picture summary of some of our activities and the people we shared them with. These are not in chronological order..
A party with an Italian theme at Paul Hardy's home.... wine, pizza, stuffed shells, wine, meatballs, baked ziti, and wine just to name a few...

My son Jeremy bought a site at a campground. His very first camper !

A family gathering at my brother Kevin's......

A trip to an Apple/Cheese festival..... in the rain of course.

A chicken Bar B Que with the local fishing group...The Lip Rippers....  I wonder if the fact we had chicken speaks to their fishing abilities.... hummmm. Great people and good food !!

A yard sale with John and Wendy at their home... a lot of work to get ready... but got rid of stuff..... mostly mine or ours..... just a little of John's.

A trip to the wineries around Seneca Lake in New York. Short trip when fun people are in the vehicle with ya...

And baby sitting Lukas. He asked me if I had ever fed a kid before.... I didn't do a very good job of it....  he had more food outside than inside........out of practice, I guess...

And of course, pizza night every Friday with John and Wendy. I did a little posting on my face book the week the grand kids went with us.

My John, Wendy's John and Paul formed the "3 Old Men Construction Company" and worked at fixing things around the 3 homes. Our house now has 50 amp electric service and water at the RV pad as well as a new electric service box in the house. John and Wendy's rental property has a new roof and Paul has an addition on his woodworking shop.

Looking back, I guess we didn't let the bad weather keep us down. We enjoyed ourselves.... BUT IT'S TIME TO HIT THE ROAD !!

Goodbye old friend...

Today John and I said goodbye to a dear friend and faithful companion. We learned last week that Holly's arthritis which has been getting worse had spread to her spine. We have been helping her up stairs, watching her struggle to stand and hearing her moan softly as she layed down or stood up. The medications to lessen that pain are harmful to the liver and kidneys, so John made the decision to let her go in peace and comfort. It was a hard decision to make but we feel she is in a better place..... beyond the rainbow bridge playing with her friends that proceeded her.... Sam, Rusty, Sierra, Luke, Cooper, Bullet..... and others.

Here is how we will remember her...

Goodbye old friend....  happy trails and digging.

WATER !! WATER !! Everywhere

Between Hurricane "Irene" and Tropical Storm "Lee" we had a solid week... or more ... of rain. This resulted in widespread flooding of our creeks and rivers in Central Pa. In an attempt to give you some perspective, try to picture this description. About 30 feet from the side of our home the Lycoming Creek runs toward the Susquehanna River about 15 miles downstream. There is a 4 foot high bank from the water to our yard. The yard is now about 25 yards wide and flat. Then there is another bank up to our deck and house. Going up the bank are stairs to get to the deck. There are 22 stairs which makes the height of the bank 22 feet. At it's highest point the creek was flowing over the third step from the top of the stairs. In other words it was 2 feet from flowing over the deck and 24 feet higher than normal. Here is a picture of the side of the house prior to our journey last year.

Here is that same area with the high water

John says he felt like he was on a cruise ship. When he looked out the windows all he could see was rushing water. More pictures....

As the water started to recede, we were able to see some of the yard landmarks.

We were much luckier than others. Our friends John and Wendy lost a basement wall in their rental property. Ray and Kay, my friend Helen's parents, had 6 feet of water in their home. Since it is a one story home they have lost everything. We spent 3 hours last evening washing dishes, pots, pans, glasses and anything else that could be salvaged from the mud.

Even the creek wildlife was displaced. We have a family of beavers in our section of the creek. They took refuge by our house when the water was ranging.

We consider ourselves very fortunate and are thankful we were spared. We have been helping those we know who were affected and ask for your prayers for them during this difficult time.