MOVING ALONG

Driving from New England at a leisurely pace we found ourselves in Georgia visiting friends Dave and Sharon Lizotte.  We met Dave and Sharon in 2012 when they invited us to share Thanksgiving dinner with them RV style.  We've kept in touch through out the years and love visiting them at their mini-farm.  They have a spot for us with full hookups and offer us big doses of hospitality.

Dave and Sharon never know who will pop in to see them - made new friends with Paul & Pat Recore

Here we are all tucked in with full hookups

They spoil their chickens with a state-of-the art coop, music, hawk proof netting and the chickens say thank you with farm fresh eggs in abundance every day

They are so friendly and came to say hi when I went to see them

I forgot to post a photo of Aunt Donna with her great-grandson Mason.  I tried to get Mason to smile for the camera which he did just after I snapped the picture.

He's quite the bruiser for his age

We're in Florida now which is a little earlier than usual.  The hot and humid weather today kept me busy inside with the air conditioning.  Denis went crazy and thought it would be a good idea to wash both the car and coach.  Both look nice and shiny but I think he sweated off at least five pounds.

Thanks for stopping in to say hi.

VISITING, CHICKENS AND DVDS

We couldn't drive through Georgia without stopping in to see our friends Dave and Sharon.  They built their beautiful home on a secluded piece of land in Georgia, sold their motor home and have settled in with their two cats and egg-laying chickens.  It was wonderful to spend a few days with them.

Sharon taught me about raising chickens, growing healthy plants in her greenhouse and how to make home-made egg noodles.  Denis was thrilled to learn how we could copy our 700+ movie DVD collection to an external hard drive and use a WD-TV live media streaming devise to organize, categorize and view all our movies.  We've been copying about 40 movies a day and still have a long way to go.  Technology is great.

Just love these bright red cardinals

Enjoyed the silhouette of the pecan trees from our campsite

Enjoyed watching this squirrel's nutty antics

Sharon showing off her green thumb - she gave me some aloe, chive, oregano and thyme to replace the herbs I killed - maybe with a little luck, these will survive 

Chicks warming themselves under the heat lamp - too cute

The chicken coop was designed and built by them

Chickens really do scratch and peck - I may never eat store bought eggs again

Dave and Sharon enjoying the good life

Thank you Dave and Sharon for your hospitality ... until we meet again.

HAD TO SHARE THIS WITH YOU

I know I'm on a blogging sabbatical but I had to share with you our photos of Georgia.  We've met up with friends and made new friends here.  We visited two historic sites in the area; Jimmy Carter and Andersonville.

Don't get to see one of these every day

Spending time with the Carter's

Walked the property of Carter's boyhood farm

Jimmy Carter and Rosalynn Smith got married at this church on July 7, 1946

Bill Carter's service station - the museum was closed

Tasted the best home made peanut butter ice cream at Plain Peanuts

Andersonville National Historic Site was a very sad experience.  The Site is the only national park to serve as a memorial to all American prisoners of war.  It was once filled with desolation, despair and death.  The prison site is where nearly 13,000 Civil War soldiers died in 14 months, mostly from disease and starvation.  The National Cemetery brought to reality just how many died and were buried shoulder to shoulder.

Entrance to the museum - got my National Park book stamped at two places today

The first prisoners arrived in February 1864

This area depicts what the prisoners used as shelter from the heat and the 15-foot-high stockade wall surrounding the 16-acre pen

The cemetery was overwhelming

We had a few happy hours with old and new friends.

John and his wife (oops, I did it again)

Ken and his wife (Mary Kay LOL)

Randy and Sherry

Bill and Susan Rasmussen our gracious hosts

Larry and Gail enjoying the beautiful blossoms

Thanks for stopping in.  

Fort Pulaski

Yesterday we had just enough time to drive over to Fort Pulaski National Monument before it closed.  We did the speed tour but had time to walk through the well preserved fortification.  Named for the Revolutionary War hero Count Casimar Pulaski, the fort took 18 years to build.  This is a remarkably intact 19th century military architecture, with an estimated 25 million bricks and 7 1/2 foot thick walls, surrounded by a moat.  I'm not usually impressed by forts but I must admit this one was pretty impressive!

Good shot of the moat

It was interesting how they moved these huge cannons around

The ammunition was stored under this grassy area

I got my Passport to National Parks stamped

Downtown Savannah

If you go, remember it's cash only, no one told us & we had to borrow money

Cathedral of St. John the Baptist

The city had historical signs like this one everywhere

Each square had either a fountain, monument or statue

We had a very full day today, starting at 9 AM on the Old Town Trolley to downtown Savannah.  This was a very informative 90 minute tour of all the squares "the jewels of the city".  We hopped out and did our own self-guided tour beginning with at one hour wait in line for lunch at Mrs. Wilkes Boarding House with down home country cooking.  Everything from fried chicken, black eyed peas, pulled pork, meatloaf, well you get the idea.  It's served family style with 10 people at a table with 21 different dishes.  YUMMY!  After that we needed to walk it off.  We made sure to see the Chippewa square where Forest Gump was filmed, the Cathedral of St John the Baptist, the Savannah River walk, First African Baptist Church, City Hall and much more. 

Jekyll Island

Sadly, we left Florida and are beginning our journey back.  Stopped by St. Simons Island to go to church and had the opportunity to visit Fort Frederica National Monument.  This site preserves the remains of a British town that served as a defense against Spanish Florida and helped defend Britain's claims to the new colony of Georgia during the War of Jenkin's Ear.  Next stop was Jekyll Island for a two night stay.  The bike trails all around the island kept us safely off the main roads and offered beautiful views of the beach, historical homes and old, huge live oak trees.  Rode about 12 miles and had lunch along the way at a place called Fins.  Dined on the patio with a beautiful view of the ocean.  A little windy but the food was awesome.

This was one meal we shared, parmesan potatoes, grilled shrimp, haddock & oysters

Fort Frederica Citadel

An area on the beach had all these uprooted trees, very unusual



Winter Travel Begins

Feels like we spent the whole summer in my parent's driveway but we finally hit the road Friday.  I'm writing from the Walmart in Georgia.  Only a couple hundred more miles til we reach our destination of Thousand Trails Resort near Orlando, FL.  We both need some serious R&R and plan on doing just that while we are there for two weeks.  We'll be there for Christmas.  Now that we're on the road, I plan on keeping my blog more up to date and will share photos along the way.