After getting setup at Fort Wilderness, we immediately headed out for our first attraction. Yep, ESPN Club. Had a 'specially good ribeye steak and a brew. The place is really wild, even the restrooms - a TV in every stall and over every sink. All with sports. A really fun place.

Having used Eustis as a staging stop, we finally arrived at the true destination, Fort Wilderness camp resort at Disney World Resorts Orlando, FL.

While in Eustis, we stayed at the Southern Palms RV resort. Very large park with all the amenities. Most of winter fulltimers had departed for more northern climes, leaving the pretty empty. Just right for us.

The Quarterdeck Restaurant in Eustis, FL. Enjoyed a really good seafood dinner, reasonably priced, in a friendly local setting.

A shot of Christa and Lucy passing in front of the Luther Hall boat landing and park area taken 8 April, 2005. This little state maintained park off State Highway 20 just west of Tallahassee FL, offers a few free tent camp sites, picnic tables, rest room facilities, and of course a boat landing. Though it could be a little cleaner, I enjoyed the facilities that were available. Coe's Landing a few miles up the road is a little nicer and has RV sites ($12.50 a night if I remember correctly). There are a number of other "landings" that we did not explore, but they offered camping, picnicing, hiking and boating as well.

After a bit of lunch, we set out for a paddle on this expansive lake. The weather was a bit iffy, a little blustery causing small chop. Partially overcast and alternating between very warm and slightly cool depending on whether a cloud was overhead. I additionally took photos of some loons, but I have not finished processing them. Below are a couple of photos of Goat Island.

Goat Island on Lake Talquin near Tallahassee, FL. Many people have spoken of Bald Eagle residing in large numbers here, but I did not see any on this day.I crossed the lake from the Luther Hall boat landing off State Road 20. Taken 8 April, 2005.

A campsite on Goat Island which sets in Lake Talquin near Tallahassee, FL. Photo taken 8 April, 2005.

This is a late entry, but I just got the photos finished up. I attended this show around the middle of the month in March of 2005. Very interesting with some of the participants showing some amazing machinery.

A fantastically restored steam car on exhibit at the Gas & Steam Show, Tallahassee, Fl, March 2005.

Several small engines from the Gas & Steam Show held in Tallahassee, Fl, March 2005.

Mr Bobby Bennett showing off his antique "Hit & Miss" lumber mill. Mr. Bennett tours the country with his club demonstrating old gas and steam engines and the engineering feats of bygone eras.

A scenic view of Savannah's river harbor. Our recent return visit to this great city was much anticipated on our part. Our visit last year was just to darn short and we had vowed to return. We once again placed ourselves in the hands of local tour guides to get a quick picture of what we wanted to see in greater depth later. I would recommend the 'Old Town Tours' trolleys for a good trip around the city with a marvelous depiction of local sites, history, and famous people. Other tours companies offer similar tours at similar prices, but they do stop at different sites and Old Town fit our needs better. My recommendation is to check out their routes and see which one works for you.

We did take the Old Savannah tour bus also, but was a bit dissappointed in the lack of scheduled buses. We took the tour with the option of getting on and off when and where ever (authorized stops) we wanted. Due to the lack of scheduled buses we (and a large group of folks ended up waiting close to an hour a bus to pick us up at one of the designated stop/pickup areas. They advertise a bus every 20 minutes, the result was a group of disheartened tourists. Add to this, a rather cavalier attitude on the part of the dispatcher, a poor situation was made worse. The tour company finally dispatched a special bus to pick us up, but by the time that bus got there, there were to many people for the bus to carry. So another special bus (at additional waiting time) was dispatched. I'm sure that the company doesn't operate like this all the time ( I hope), but they should have offered recompense of some sort to assuage the many dissappointed passengers. Regardless, I still recommend the tour buses as a great way to get the lay of the land.

We stayed at the Bellaire Woods RV park off Highway 204 west of I-95. A nice wooded park, though creative leveling and crowding were a couple of detractors. That and the fact that it rained for a good portion of our stay were the only real downsides to the stay. The RV park is heavily wooded, so if you happen to depend on satellite internet as we do, then site selection becomes an issue. We had to suffer withdrawals as we could not get a clean signal out and because of a crowded park we were not able to change to an alternative site. But, we managed to survive despite the lack of an internet fix. They do have Wifi at additional cost offered by Linkspot that we used on our last day to check mail and take care of some other business.

As with the last visit, we enjoyed our time in Savannah. We were able to get in some paddle time, enjoy some good eats, take in a couple of good tours including the 'Old Town Tours' ghost tour, and check out some nice museums and a cematary. I rate Savannah as one of those cities you need to see at least once in a lifetime.

Touring the UGA Marine Education Center on Skidaway Island in Savannah.

One of the more historic places in Savannah, the Pirate House offers fine dining in a unique setting. Robert L. Stevenson refers to this house in his book "Treasure Island."

River Street in Savannah, Georgia, offers great dining and shopping opportunities for the traveler. My personal favorite was the Shrimp Factory for dining, but the River House was a close second.

The Ship Museum offers a very nice garden to walk through and a detailed history of Savannah's maritime history. Excellent displays of ship models, paintings, scrimshaw carvings, and mast heads. If you have sea salt in your veins, this is a must stop.

Entrance to Bonaventure Cemetary in Savannah, Georgia.

Bonaventure Cematary features beautiful grounds amonst some of Georgia's most prominent past residents.

Very serene at Bonaventure Cemetary.

This way to John Mercer's gravesite.

A bench depicting some of John Mercer's more famous works.

John Mercer's final place of rest.

A lot of famous folks are in these peaceful settings. John Mercer of Moon River (and others) fame rests here.

Avast maties. Christa and Lucy catching a few rays.

A kodak moment at the lake at Scott Park, Savannah, Geaorgia.

Out on the lake at Scott Park in Savannah, Georgia. A beautiful day and a nice paddle.

Our new inflatable kayaks from Advanced Elements. Taken at Scot Community Park in Savannah, Georgia, end of March 2005.

One of the newest features on our rig is the addition of a Datastorm Satellite dish that handles both Directv and Direcway (tv and internet). You can see it as the blue lighted arm on top of the motorhome. Installed by Bill and Janet Adams of InternetAnywhere. They did a super job getting the components installed. We met them in Silver Springs, FL, and were very impressed and happy with the service they provided. I recommend them to you if you need a similar setup. They provided a picture that is somewhere on this machine, but I can't figure out where I stored the darn thing.

Christa and Chino (my son's pooch) enjoying a bit of shade at the Smart muster held in March at Sugar Mill RV Park near Thomasville, GA.

Smart members taking it easy to enjoy some sun and a little comraderie.

Having sold our home in Thomasville, we are adjusting to the "Full-time" RV lifestyle. One of the ways to get into the swing of things is to join a good club such as the SMART (Special Military Active Retired Travel) Club. We attended our first Muster at the Sugar Mill RV park near Thomasville, GA. Met many new friends and had a good week of fun and food.

Our new rig that we purchased along with a trade of my previous truck and trailer rig. Picked it up while on a trip to Texas in Dec 0f 2004.

Fish Fry at Uncle Ray and BJ's campsite. Lake Corpus Christi, TX.

Overlooking Lake Corpus Christi in Texas on a calm evening.

Thanksgiving 2004 Trip

Just got back from our annual trek back to Texas for the family reunion. Had a blast and made some lifestyle decisions that will be of interest to some.


Going home to Seguin, TX is always a highlight for me. Getting to see the extended family with my mom, siblings, all my uncles and aunts, and old and new nieces and nephews is a refresher (though being an aging codger, small doses are good). When we first arrived at my mom's house we were greeted by typical late fall Texas weather - rain. And lots of the wet stuff. We made it to the house alright, but then were land locked for 4 days until the flood waters subsided enough to let us cross the low water crossings.

On the fifth day though, the weather cleared up to a beautiful next few days, even if it was a bit breezy. Went around and visited old friends and even ran into one of my buddies I hadn't seen since High School, a real treat. Man I can't tell you how he has aged. He didn't keep himself young looking like me (smirk). Actually, Pete looked pretty good considering the gulf of years that has passed. He came over to my mom's and we all had a fine meal, reminiscing over old times (and putting Christa to sleep).

A couple of days later, Thanksgiving arrived with everyone present except for Becky and Rod (sister and bro-in-law) and my brother Blair. This year was Becky and Rod's year to travel to his folks for Thanksgiving (Kansas), and my brother Blair had to have back surgery in Montana. Fortunately everything turned out well. Becky and Rod got to take in some Pheasant hunting and Blair's surgery was a success. The rest of us just had to endure terrific foods and great company, Texas style. Yep, that means having the Thanksgiving Brisket (prepared by my brother Ben) and handmade tamales. Of course there was a big bird there and some glazed pork as well. And of course their was the dessert bar, wow. A whole lot of pies cakes, cookies, puddings, yadayadayada.

The following week we hooked up the camper and off we went to Rockport, TX to see another of my oldest and best friends, Dave and Debbie. Genuinely good Texas people. While in Rockport we stayed at the "Lagoons RV Resort," a beutiful and friendly park. Most everybody got to know Lucy (our pooch) by the second day. Clean with lots of activities going on. Alot of snowbirds down from the cooler north were enjoying some really mild late fall weather.

We always love to go and see Dave and Debbie whenever we get the chance. David and I have been like soul brothers for close to 40 years. One of those friends that are just comfortable to sit and talk (or not). Enjoyed some fine dining courtesy of Debbie (she knows everybody and all the best places to eat). The second evening Dave, Debbie and their daughter prepared a fantastic meal of shrimp and beef fajitas. Man, there's nothing better. As usual, just not enough time to visit with your friends as much as you like and the time to go arrived all to early. If only we could just stay a little longer, that would be great. Wait a minute. Earlier I mentioned a lifestyle changing decision.

Oh yeah, we made the big decision and traded up to a full sized class A motorhome. A big 'un. We have been batting around the idea of going "fulltime," that is live on the road, for a while. We could never take the plunge, well we did this time. Picked up a 37' diesel pushin, leather festooned home on wheels. We picked it up while visiting the Camper Clinic in Rockport and came across this rig that had been left for a consignment sale the weekend previous. Alot more than we were looking to spend, but it's pretty nice. I haven't taken pictures of it yet, but will try to get some posted soon.

Leaving Rockport, we went to Lake Corpus Christi to spend a couple of days with my Uncle Ray and Aunt BJ. We stayed at the park they semi fulltime at, the KOA at Lake Corpus Christi, just north of Mathis, TX. A beautiful lake that they winter at (they come down from Colorado every year) and do a great deal of catfishing on. Matter of fact, we had a fish fry while we were there with fresh caught cats. Some more real fine eatin'. A great evening of sittin', eatin' and talkin' while looking out over a beatiful sunset on the lake. It is not better than that.

The next day we were off again back to my mom's house where we stayed until about mid December. The night before we left, we went and had a Christmas Dinner at our old Disabled American Veterans Chapter house in Seguin. Chapter 61, headed up by Doug and Terri. A great couple that really work hard for veteran benefits. Some more really good food (including, of course, the Christmas Brisket, pepared by Phil) and great company. A really good time.

Finally the time had come to depart. We were sad to leave as usual, but mixed with excitement at the prospect of travelling in the new motorhome. The monster drives like a dream. It just glides over the rode and is surprisingly easy to handle. Of course, at the first fuel stop, my dream like trance of enjoyment was rudely slammed to full wakefullness when I had to pony up the bill. WOW!!! $160 a pop. Oh well, I get about 700 miles out of a tank, so it's not to bad. My previous rig (F250 and trailer) got about 10.5-11 mpg. Now I'm getting 8.5-9 mpg.

We're anxious now to get with the program. That means unloading the house, putting keeper stuff in storage, and selling everything else. We hope to be on the road by April and will be heading for Alaska by June.

Maybe we'll see you on the road.

Atlanta 15-20 October 2004

Sorry about the lateness of this post, things were pretty busy on our return home.

A great trip to Atlanta, Georgia. Seen here is the entrance to Jones RV park in Norcross, a suburb of Atlanta, where we pitched camp during our stay. Not as pretty as most of the parks we usually stay at, but very clean and the people were super. At the time we were there, plenty of pull throughs were to be had. We were informed, though, that soon their winter season would kick off and they stayed pretty full. So the hint is call ahead. One thing that makes this a nice choice is there location to points in town. I recommend driving to the nearest MARTA public rail station, parking for free and riding the train to any destinations in town. Saves on parking fees, the hassle of finding parking, and the stress of driving in city traffic. If you're a country bumkin like myself, the driving can be unnerving. I think I witnessed at least 2 collisions each day we were there, a couple pretty serious.

While we were here we took in a football game (Falcons versus Chargers), saw Stone Mountain State park (beautiful, even though it rained on us all day), drove by the Falcons Training faciltiy at Flowerly Branch (closed to public day of our visit), took a day trip around Lake Lanier (a very pretty and clean lake), and visited the Mall of Georgia (to me just another mall, but Disneyland to the missus). We also toured the Coca Cola Museum, CNN studios, and The Underground (another mall, only underground), in downtown Atlanta.

An action packed 5 day stay, with interesting and beautiful sites. Downtown Atlanta is a fine city with lots to offer to just about everyone. Stone Mountain Amusement Park looks like it would be loads of fun, but we were rained on all day with most of the attractions closed or running intermittent schedules as the weather allowed. One thing to point out is the German Food Restaurant in Stone Mountain Village. Great food and neat little pub. Nice bakery, too. I can't remember the full name of the place, but you can't miss it if you're in the heart of Stone Mountain Village.

Atlanta is a city to see, but plan well, and use the MARTA whenever posible. We enjoyed the trip and hope we can get back through here again. My only real beef was that diesel cost more than premium gas. As diesel is the cheapest product out of a barrell of fuel oil, I can't see the justification in these prices.

Good travels to you and hope you're enjoying life's journeys. Already looking forward to our next trip which will be in a westerly direction.

Old covered bridge in the Stone Mountain State Park. Pretty neat, of course it's raining here, too.

A rainy view of Stone Mountain. Pretty awesome sight, especially with lightning striking the mountain top. Needless to say, the Skyrail was closed that day. Bad luck for us.

Stone Mountain Amusement Park. As you can probably see our visit was not made under the most optimal weather conditions, but we did literally have the park to ourselves.

Entrance to the CNN studios and newscenter in Atlanta.

Old Train outside Atlanta Underground.

Covered bridge in Stone Mountain State Park.

Coca Cola Museum in dowtown Atlanta.

Falcons Vs Chargers on 17 October 2004. What a great game, particularly if you were a Falcon fan. This was the opening ceremony to the game.

Camping on Jekyll Island, Georgia

This last weekend, we took a short trip to Jekyll Island in Georgia. Hurricane Ivan was kicking up some dust (and wind, and rain) so we went east to get further away from the action. Proved to be a decision of some luck. Most folks were heading away from the beaches, so we when we finally arrived at the Jekyll Island Campground, we were pretty much alone. The campground was still cleaning up from Hurricane Frances that had come through the previous weekend, but the park was in really good shape all things considered. This is one of our favorite parks because of it's location next to beaches.

We only stayed about 4 days, but had a very good time. We took a trolley tour about St. Simon Island allowing us to get a pretty good dose of the local history and high points. I highly suggest this tour if you are going to be limited in your length of stay. The lady that operated the Trolley, known as the "Trolley Lady" because she has been doing it for some time, was very knowledgeable and friendly in her accounts of the Island lore. She stopped on several occassions so that I could take some pictures of the trees with the carved faces.

One of the stops was for the Wesley Methodist Church. A beautiful little church nestled amonst stately oaks, pines and a few cypress trees. Though small, the church is a work of prcision carpentry, and was built by period shipwrights. Going in to look at the stained glass windows is a treat in itself, having some of the finest glass work around, including a couple of Tiffany windows. If your in the St Simon/Sea Island area, this is a must see item.

Back on Jekyll Island, we enjoyed some beach time though the water was a bit choppy and the wind a bit blustery. To be expected with a near miss by a hurricane. While we were enjoying a little peace time on the beach, we chanced upon a shrimp boat that had gone aground. The picture below shows a handful of spectators that were watching as the boat tried to free itself. When we first arrived on the scene, another boat had been (at least it appeared so) trying to assist the hapless shrimper off the beach. We left after a few hours with the boat still stuck and about an hour left til high tide. However, passing by a few hours later, we noticed that the shrimper was gone and guessed that he must have freed himself. At least there wasn't any wreckage to indicate otherwise.

A last item to mention is of course the restaurants we ate at. The first was "Lattitude 31." Excellent. This eatery sits on a pier overlooking the inner canal between Jekyll and the mainland. Christa had broiled shrimp on fettucine and I had a broiled grouper and shrimp platter. Both plates were excellent. I also had a cup of the seafood soup, mighty tasty. The atmosphere was and service were both excellent. We paid about $18 a plate. We will be seeing this place again.

The other restaurant was "Blackbeard's Family Seafood Restaurant" overlooking the Atlantic Ocean. This was the second time for us eating at this place, so, as you can guess, we favored it from our previous visit. We paid about $16 a plate, and though I like Lattitude 31 a little better, I will say that Blackbeard's is not to be walked away from. The service was exceptional, the atmosphere gets you ready for some good seafood, and the chef delivers. My broiled shrimp were a little overdone, but overall, another outstanding meal.

We love the Island feel of Jekyll and the other Islands in the Brunswick area. Jekyll and St Simon both have ordinances that limit building to 45 feet high. This is important because it has kept the big condos and hotels from coming in and obliterating the beach view as they are doing in places like Panama City, Fl. We even toyed with the idea of looking at some property, but found that we need to win a lottery or something if we want to move there. However, I can definately say that we will return for future stays at the Jekyll Island Campground.

Christa standing next to one of the famous St. Simon Island faces. These carvings are in the trunks of various trees about the island. Supposedly, these faces were the faces of sailors lost at sea many years ago.

A shrimp boat suffering a minor grounding with seas whipped up by Hurricane Ivan. The boat and spectators are on Jekyll Island, Ga, around the 20th of Sept, 2004. The boat worked itself free a few hours later.

Georgia Veteran's Memorial State Park

The four photos that are shown below where taken from our recent trip to Georgia's Veteran's Memorial State Park Near Cordele, GA. Another beautiful Georgia State Park, so far they are batting a thousand with me. Clean,well maintained by friendly staff, with a nice veterans museum to boot. We undertook this camp out with some friends of ours Curtand Audry, who were testing out there new Crossroads Travel Trailer. We did try some fishing, but did not get a bite from anything worth keeping. That's OK with me I'm not that good with a pole and worm.

I do like to take pictures of the natural beauty of places and Lake Blackshear offers some really great views. Though a popular recreation lake with lot's of power boaters and jet skiiers, we found it not to crowded to get some quality paddle time.

While at the park we enjoyed some fine dining at "The Olde Inn" located across the road and a little west from the entrance to the park. I had a wonderful Mexican Grouper dish that was both spicy and tasty.

Some of the other highlights of the trip was a quick jaunt to Plains, GA, and the home of the 39th President, Mr. Jimmy Carter. I was pretty impressed by the humble roots of the man. A quiet unsupposing little town, Plains still has the look of a little farming community surrounded by fields of cotton, peanuts, corn and pecan groves. We visited a couple of the shops in town, finding friendly folks and some chocolate peanut brittle. Man, that could get addictive.

Another highlight on this trip was the Veteran's Museum located behind the main checkin to the State Park. Very well done with donations from many Georgia Veterans. A facinating display of military memorabilia, personal histories, and pictures. Not a big museum, but nicely done and free though they do accept contributions to help with the maintenance.

If you are into the high side of life they have a nice little resort called "The Retreat" which looked like they could cater to someone looking to really relax.
On our trip home we encountered many folks headed north to escape Hurricane Francis. Most were headed to North Georgia or further. As for ourselves we needed to go ahead and get back as we hadn't strapped anything down in preparation for the big blow.

All in all a very good trip with a high recommendation to make this state park a stop on your travels or as a complete destination in itself. Until next time, happy trails.

A perfect sunset over Georgia Veterans Memorial State Park near Cordele, GA. Taken from my kayak after a great paddle.

A picture of me after having just climbed back into the kayak from a quick dip in Lake Blackshear.

Here is Christa taking in a beautiful vista. Lake Blackshear in Central Georgia.

We just got back from a week and a half camp at Georgia Veterans Memorial State Park. Once again Georgia scores high with me for the beauty and cleanliness of their parks. Here is a picture while out on Lake Blackshear. A nice little paddle around the shores, this being a self portrait coming out of a water bound cypress grove. Only saw one gator, not very big (about 6 or 7 feet) and he slipped away on my approach.