2011 - Mar. 08 & 09 Day 28 & 29 Blasting for Home

Seems like when we get headed for home, there's no time for anything but the necessities (drive, gas, eat, sleep, restrooms). We left Crooked River State Park outside St Marys, GA at 10:00am on Tuesday, 3/8. By 8:30pm, we had traveled 735 miles during a beautiful day until the rain started near Nashville. We "camped" at a Flying J Truck Stop in Oak Grove, KY.

It rained all night and was still raining when I folded the camper down to hit the road at about 5:00am. I didn't have a chance to take a picture of our campsite because I didn't want to get the camera wet.

Anyway, we drove the remaining 333 miles and arrived safely at home around 10:45am today, 3/09, to find the highest gasoline prices of the whole trip - $3.62 per gallon at every station we passed! Welcome to Springfield where the government AND the gasoline retailers are crooked!

It was a great trip. The only time it rained was at night and, for the most part, we had beautiful daytime weather for our chosen activities.

Thanks for following along on our trip. Check back once in a while for our next adventure, whatever it might be.

2011 - Mar. 07 Day 27 Cumberland Island National Seashore

We boarded the ferry at 9:00 for the 40 minute ride to Cumberland Island. The island is a national park that was originally inhabited by native island people, but later became the winter home of Thomas Carnegie and his children. Several cottages were built there as the children grew older and required separate homes for their families.

We took the guided tour of the Dungeness Ruins, then hiked over the dunes to the beach where we turned northward for a mile and a half. At that point, we turned west and crossed back over the dunes toward the Sea Camp Ranger Station. We stopped on the boardwalk to eat our lunch which we had to bring with us as there are no services on the island. Along the way, we passed thru the campground nestled among the most fabulous grove of live oaks I've ever seen.

After a ranger presentation about sea turtles, we reboarded the ferry at 4:45 for our trip back to the mainland. It was a chilly, but great day! Too chilly to cook dinner back at camp, so we went back to Seagle's Saloon for another dose of abuse from "Cindy, the Queen of Mean."

Tomorrow, we head for home. See you on the road!

2011 - Mar. 06 Day 26 St. Marys, GA

This morning we walked around the park and snapped a few pictures. Later, we went to Wally World on the way into St. Marys.

We walked around for a while, which was not very exciting on a Sunday afternoon. After stopping to talk to Captain Roger on the Dream, we happened upon Seagle's Saloon. We were here last year, but Cindy was not. Today, she was there. What a riot! She was so funny that Marsha had 4 beers and we stayed for supper!

After we left Seagles, we came back to camp to shower and get ready for tomorrow's adventure on Cumberland Island. We have to be at the ticket office between 8:00 and 8:30 tomorrow.

It's time to call my dad and we'll hit the sack after that. More later!

2011 - Mar. 05 Day 25 We arrive in St. Marys, GA

We drove into town about 2:30 to find the local Mardi Gras Festival in full swing. This morning, before leaving Anastasia State Park, we tried to call for Cumberland Island Ferry reservations, but the office is closed on weekends. So we walked thru the festival to get to the Forest Service office where we were able to get on the list for Monday morning's ferry.

Hopefully, the weather, which is supposed to be rainy tomorrow (Sunday), will clear off for Monday. According to the forecast, we should have decent weather. It would be a real bummer to be stuck on that island all day in nasty weather.

So after we made our reservation, we headed for the campground and got set up. It's a nice campground. It even has cable TV! We had an armadillo in our campsite for a short visit, but we were talking to the neighbors and I didn't get a picture of him. Maybe I'll get another chance while we're here. We grilled steaks for dinner and had a few cocktails around the campfire before settling in for an evening of watching TV.

I have no idea what we're doing tomorrow. Kind of depends on the weather. The stars are out and it's 57 degrees right now, but rain is in the forecast. I'll let you know how it turns out.

2011 - Mar. 04 Day 24 St. Augustine - One more trolley ride

We got up and headed to the snack bar for my daily Internet session. Then we went into tow for one more trolley ride. This time we got off at the Memorial Presbyterian Church, walked around town a little more, then had a sandwich outside the Fountain of Youth Park.

When we go back to the campground, our neighbors, Charlie and Carol had a "going away" wine & cheese party for us since we're leaving in the morning. Then Jerry and Jane, fellow Aliner owners from Maryland, stopped in for a visit around our camp fire.

It was a good day. In fact, it's been a good week. Tomorrow we'll make the two hour trip to Crooked River State Park outside St. Marys, Georgia.

See you there!