QC01-15 Goodbye Florida

March 21, 2010 (Sun) Juniper Springs CG (4) 53/64° - Rain! A hard steady rain almost all day. Luckily our site has good drainage, there are hardly any puddles. We got quite a bit of reading done but that's about the extent of our activity for the day. Late in the afternoon, when the rain let up for a while, we took a walk around the campground but it started again just before we got back. This has not been one of the most exciting of days!

And the icing on the cake was no TV for the evening. Digital TV being the great technological advance that it is, we can get only one TV channel here. In years past, with analog, we have been able to get the three major networks plus PBS and others. Apparently the rain disrupted that one weak signal just enough to keep it from getting through at all.

March 22, 2010 (Mon) Juniper Springs CG (5) 48/62° - Today started out cool and though it warmed a bit the wind came up making it feel colder. Clouds over the sun kept any inactive outside activities at a minimum. There aren't many folks here now - actually there haven't been since Sunday afternoon - so it's relatively quiet. There is the sound of a generator off in the distance now and then, otherwise all we hear are the sounds of nature (and an occasional loud muffler on the highway). Our only neighbor isn't home and hasn't been the whole time we've been here. The rules say that a campsite cannot be left unattended for more than 24 hours. I wonder if the lady, another camper, who stops by once a day and walks around the trailer is considered to be "attending"?

A census taker was around this afternoon. When we told her that we would be home in a week or so and would take care of things there, she said, "OK". Apparently they were making sure that the people who live in campgrounds get counted.

March 23, 2010 (Tue) Juniper Springs CG (6) 53/67° - Kind of a lazy day today except that we did hike the loop on the Florida Trail in the afternoon.

Q057638 Juniper Springs CG, Ocala National Forest. #13 dry $9.50 A (x6)
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March 24, 2010 (Wed) Juniper Springs CG to Savannah, GA (225/3684 miles) 47/64° - Got off at about 8:30, took care of the holding tanks and headed for US19 north (clear but ground fog). For some reason we began to think about the first times we traveled this road many years ago. It was our preferred route between Penney Farms where Mark's mother lived and Englewood where Joy's mother lived. Today the drive was much more beautiful, though. It's late March, not mid February, so spring is in the air. Many of the trees are beginning to break out in pale green and the flowering fruit trees and yellow creeper are in full bloom.

After a week in the "wild", laundry needed doing, so we stopped in Green Cove Springs to take care of that. While stopped, we ate lunch and did some grocery shopping.

There were already motor homes and fifth wheels parked for the night in the Savannah Walmart at 4:30 when we pulled in. Folks headed north, we assume. One of the overnighters, a refurbished school bus, was one of the more interesting units we've seen. It had been painted blue with squares of various colors painted along the sides. There was something written in each square but we weren't close enough to know what. We were able make out the names of 1970s rock groups, The Grateful Dead, etc and what was apparently web sites aimed at their still active fans. Very "Hippy!"

Q059864 Camp Walmart, Savannah, GA
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March 25, 2010 (Thu) Savannah, Ga to Mars Hill, NC (346/4030 miles) 52/74° - It was a quiet night, if a little bright from the parking lot lighting. We woke early, fixed and ate our breakfast, and were on the road again before 8:00. The first rest area in South Carolina was loaded. We probably should have gone into the car parking area, it seemed less crowded, but we chose the truck/RV area - where, we discovered too late, there was only one open space. There was no way to get back to that space nor to get into the car area, so we got back on I-95. The next rest area was much more civilized.

From I-95 we turned onto I-26 west. A few miles later, we began seeing electronic signs telling us that I-77 to Columbia was closed. Closed! Must be something serious. We weren't going that way but those who had planned to were causing a big traffic jam in their confusion and indecision. We think maybe it was a serious traffic accident because police cars blocked the ramp. After lunch in a rest area east of Spartenburg we passed another sign announcing the closure of I-385 to Greenville, SC - apparently to replace a bridge.  Again not on our route but the traffic became heavier. It moved along OK. No sooner had we cleared this congestion when we were told that I-40 was closed - due to a rock slide a couple of weeks ago - completely blocking the highway. I-40 wasn't part of our route either but its closure along with commuter traffic out of Asheville and road construction on I-26 were apparently causing big problems.  Fortunately Bob called us with an alternate route soon enough to keep us out of that mess. We have seldom, if ever, come across an interstate highway officially closed to all traffic. In a matter of a few miles we encountered 3 different closures!

We got to Bob and Pat's about 3:30 and settled into our new home - in their driveway.

March 26, 2010 (Fri) Mars Hill, GA (2) 55/61° - Mark went with Bob to the weekly men's breakfast at a nearby roadside cafe. Joy, Pat and Kaye had left to explore a yarn shop by the time they got home. In the late afternoon we all went over to Robertjohn and Claire's house for dinner. While there Mark (guitar), Bob (Banjo) and Robertjohn (fiddle) made some music together. Joy, Kaye and Pat sat with their knitting as they chatted with Claire. We all had a mountain good time.

Q060210 Bob & Pat's driveway