Our Road Trips: June 2017

6/4/17 5/2-5/25/17

We spent the first 2 weeks of May enjoying the beach at Gamble Rogers State Park, checking out a bunch (10) of State Parks, visiting with friends, and having our kids up on the last weekend for Mother's Day and to say good-bye until we see them in Minnesota for Barb's niece's HS graduation.

On Tuesday, we went west to DeLeon Springs and visited the State Park there. It was pretty empty. It has been there a long time and is still a draw on weekends, make your own pancakes is the big draw. Then it was back to the camper, all on back roads, and an evening of listening to the surf.

Wed, we drove north, ready to visit the 9 State Parks north of Jacksonville, mostly on Amelia Island. We had never been that far NE in Florida, so it was an interesting day. Fort Clinch is the largest of the 9 State Parks. There is a restored fort, 2 campgrounds, a 1/2 mile long fishing pier and a mile of white sandy beach. There was a lot of damage to the pier by Hurricane Matthew and it is being dismantled. Hopefully, there will be funds to build a new pier. We managed to find all 9 parks, some very small (1 block square) and one basically a parking lot for a beach and another a boat ramp and another just an old bridge that has been re-purposed as a fishing pier. It was a very fun day, visiting old Florida and all it has to offer. We also went by Fort Caroline National Monument (which was closed) and visited Kingsley Plantation on Fort George Island and a ferry ride off Amelia Island across the St John's River, near where it flows into the Atlantic. Then it was south through Jacksonville Beach on A1A through St Augustine. We stopped and had dinner with Tom & Lynn Marine in St Augustine before heading back to the RV. It was a very enjoyable day, seeing new parts of Florida. We have seen over 1/2 of the 157 Florida State Parks now, been a fun adventure.

We stayed at the camper the next day, enjoying the beach. It was a beautiful day. On Friday, we drove the 15 miles to Princess Place Preserve, a beautiful spot owned & maintained by the Flagler County Parks Dept. There is a beautifully maintained home & out buildings built in 1887-8 where the Pellicer Creek & Matanza River intersect http://www.visitflorida.com/en-us/things-to-do/arts-history/princess-place-preserve-palm-coast-florida.html What a cool spot. I had a nice chat with our guide after his tour about maintaining the place & their war with carpenter bees trying to destroy it. What a fun afternoon. Visiting all the well preserved places has been an enjoyable few days.

The next morning, we loaded up and backtracked to our home, did some laundry, took nice long showers and just relaxed a bit. When the laundry was done, we loaded up the car and headed to Tampa for a Joe Walsh/Tom Petty concert at Amalie Arena. We had met friends at a restaurant before the concert, so it was a fun time. The concert was great and so were our seats. About 1115, we headed back to the RV, arriving there about 330 am...long day. We had never seen Tom Petty before, more new stuff.

We spent the next 3 days at the beach and at the RV, recuperating from our fun week. I did some repairs to the RV and a lot of hanging out in the A/C. We went to lunch one day and then followed the St John's to Jacksonville, more new stuff. We went & saw Tom & Lynn's new house in Palm Coast on a canal that links to the inter-coastal...nice spot. We ate dinner at a BBQ place on the inter-coastal...nice evening. Our kids came up on Sat and we spent the day trying to stay dry but enjoy the outdoors. It was great seeing them. One more day at the beach and we will be headed north. We have thoroughly enjoyed these two weeks at the beach. We plan on coming back next May.

The next morning we broke camp and headed NW to Chattahoochee, FL., where we spent the next 2 nights on Lake Seminole, formed by Woodruff Dam at the Fl/Georgia line. We were camped in Georgia looking out across the lake, beautiful spot. We did some sightseeing and stopped at a State Park we had visited last fall, but there was no one there to stamp Barb's book. A lady was there this time. We just enjoyed the area for two days and relaxed. We are headed north tomorrow.

We headed to West Point, Ga the next day, about 5 hours. We got set up and sat outside enjoying our cool site. Our friend Patti Grant drove to our spot & spent the night with us. While sitting at our site, a group of 4 adult & 9 Canadian goslings came right to our site, eating clover...it was pretty cool. The sunset was spectacular from our site. The next morning we went to Providence Canyon State Park near Lumpkin, GA...Grand Canyon of Georgia. It was pretty but sort of small. But the drive was nice, through the edge of Columbus, Ga and past Ft Benning where a lot of folks have been for basic training for the US Army. On the way back, we stopped at Omaha Brewery in Omaha, GA, a rather new brewery that has been open less than 4 years. We took a tour and sampled a few of their beers and then stopped at Louvale for some dinner. When we got back to the RV, Patti headed home. We had a nice time with our friend. She missed a spectacular sunset. We had a beautiful site, we will remember this for the future.

The next morning, we were off to Nashville, planning on a nice weekend in Music City. We also found out our brother-in-law Clint had passed away out in Bellevue, WA. So it is a sad day. RIP to Clint...it has been a real pleasure to know you. Right after we got to our site on Friday, it started raining. And on Saturday, it stormed again, so we have just stayed near the camper. I noticed anti-freeze on the car when we arrived and found the overflow tank for the radiator had split. So we drove to several places looking for a replacement. Most places were closed on Sat., but we finally found one for $11, fair enough. I installed it, we'll see how well it works. We went to get the nasty washed off the car and it started storming on our way back. We decided to stay at the camper...not wanting to walk around in the rain. Sunday afternoon, we finally made it downtown. We visited about 12 different places that all had live music, so we had an enjoyable evening. We went back and got some sleep...on the road again tomorrow. Nashville has become a very cool town, love being here.

The next morning we are off to Sullivan, Illinois and a spot at BO Wood ACE park on Lake Shelbyville. It was a long drive, about 7 hours. But we have a nice site and we will be visiting Springfield, IL from here. We drove to the dam that forms the lake and stopped at the Visitors Center, which was closed. But we got some pictures and looked at all the recreational possibilities in the area. The lake is very full and they are letting out massive amounts of water from all the rain they have received recently. Too cloudy for sunset pictures, so we planned our day. The next morning we drove into Springfield, about an hour's drive. We toured the Capitol with a nice lady named Delores, fun time. She was full of info. The Congress was still in session, so it was a very busy place. Then we had lunch and went to the Lincoln Library & Museum, 2+ hours to walk through. Then we went to the Lincoln home and the tour there, and drove across town to Lincoln's tomb, pretty impressive. On our way back to the RV, we stopped at a restaurant floating in a marina on Lake Shelbyville. Turned out we were the only two customers they had all day, so they treated us very nice. It was a fun way to end the day. We have enjoyed our visit to the lake and the Illinois State Capital.

The next morning we are off again, headed to Iowa City, and the West Overlook ACE Park on a reservoir (Coralville Lake) on the Iowa River. On our way, we stopped at the World's Largest Truck Stop near Wolcott, IA...interesting place. They claim 550 employees, 7 lounges and parking for 900 trucks, big place. We had been to the ACE Park in 2014, so we knew what to expect, no internet & not much TV. The place was starting to fill up for the big weekend ahead...a ranger told me there would be no open spots by Friday afternoon. We had to drive about 5-6 miles to get internet, whatever. The next morning we drove to Des Moines, about 90 mins west. We toured the State Capitol with about 30 5th graders, which made for an interesting 1.5 hours. Near the end, we climbed 150 steps to a location high in the dome, pretty cool spot. Several 5th graders declined, these two kids made it up there, got some interesting pictures. Then we loaded up and headed back. We stopped at the Old State Capitol in Iowa City too, much smaller version of the one in Des Moines, but an interesting time anyway. Then we stopped at a Walmart for a few supplies and at the Harley Dealer to take a picture of Max the Pig...Iowa type entertainment. Then we stopped at Flannigan's on the river for some dinner, nice way to end the day...a nice steak dinner with tater and all for $10, nice. Back to the RV, tomorrow we are off to Minnesota, where we will spend 11 days with family for our niece's High School Graduation. Our family is coming up and we will all be together for Memorial Day and beyond.

Stay tuned, we are headed to Lake Superior from there, then Canada, plenty coming up.

Steve & Barb Larson