QC41-04 Further South

January 9, 2014 (Thu) Mars Hill, NC to Savannah, GA (344/1032 miles) 22/68° - Traveling down out of the mountains is always a beautiful way to begin the next leg of our journey. The cold of the last few days followed by thawing temperatures created masses of icicles looking all the world like hundreds of waterfalls all along the road. The strange cloud formations over the mountains ahead looked like snow squalls and we wondered if we were headed into wintery trouble. We weren't. In fact we never did learn what the heavens were sending our way. I'd like to say that when those clouds cleared away and we were left with bright sunny skies but I can't. A dull overcast replaced the interesting cloud shapes. The best I can say for the weather was a gradual warming as we drove south.

We got the best price on gas so far in our trip at a Walmart (MurphyUSA) in Bowman, SC, 2.95/gal. There happened to be a Wendy's nearby so we went on and had lunch.

The Walmart parking lot in Savannah, GA was relatively devoid of overnighting RVs - there was only one older motor home and a fifth-wheel. A couple of big motor homes pulled in later but that was it. Unusual.

Q090903 Camp Walmart, Savannah, GA
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January 10, 2014 (Fri) Savannah, GA to Titusville, FL (265/1297 miles) 54/72° - Eating breakfast in a rest area along the highway usually offers a better ambiance than a Walmart parking lot. So after an expensive refueling at the nearby MurphyUSA station ($3.21/gal) we headed on down the road 100 plus miles to the first rest area. It rained along the way, sometimes heavily, but it lightened up by the time we got there.

Whether to stay on the main interstate (in this case I-95) straight through a major city or to take the "bypass" or "loop" around it is a question that often comes up as we travel. Jacksonville, FL presented that dilemma this morning. We chose to follow Hildene's instructions - straight through. We hit some construction at one point but, other than some heavy traffic in that area, we breezed right through.

I've come to the conclusion that traffic engineers either drive fast cars or don't drive at all. It is very annoying to be driving along in the right hand "granny" lane and suddenly find that it has become an exit only lane. More often than not when this happens, a lane has been added to the left, the fast lane, to accommodate the continued flow of traffic. My driver education classes, back in the day, taught that changing lanes is a relatively dangerous move yet a driver wanting to keep to the speed limit, i.e. stay in the slow lane, has to continuously change lanes to avoid ending up in city traffic.  Why not add it on the right and let the folks exiting do the lane changes?

Mike and Dorcas were waiting at our site (their old one - they have move around the corner to a new and better one) to greet us when we arrived at The Great Outdoors just before 3:00 pm. It was good to see them again after a year.

January 11, 2014 (Sat) Titusville, FL (2) 69/82° - Yesterday, when we unhooked Lamont from Q, we heard a squeaking/grinding noise in his left rear wheel. Wow, how long has that been going on? And how much damage has been done? We located a Honda dealer in Titusville and called for an appointment. "All filled up till Tuesday" was the response. "Bring it in, leave it and we'll see if we can fit it in today or Monday but no promises." Mark and Mike dropped it off there this morning. We got a call at about 2:00 this afternoon saying they couldn't get to it today - maybe Monday. Well, I guess we'll be here until Tuesday at least. No telling how much longer than that!

For lunch we rode in the Lavery golf cart over to a The Grill Cafe for Tuna Melts and Turkey Reubens. Generous and delicious. The decoration in the dining room consisted of posters, art work and memorabilia of the 1950s. Among the art work displayed was one that Joy particularly liked. She took a picture for her roadkill album.


January 12, 2014 (Sun) Titusville, FL (3) 57/68° - The Great Outdoors RV and Golf Resort (TGO) is a high-end gated trailer park, very high-end. There are no decaying mobile homes on junky overcrowded lots here, but expensive, well cared for motor homes and fifth-wheels in pristine surroundings. Not all units are mobile, though. Some are permanently built homes ranging in size from about that of a double-wide trailer to multimillion dollar mini mansions. All the lots are small and immaculately landscaped and maintained. One of the main features/attractions here is an 18 hole golf course around which many of the lots are located. Other resort amenities include the usual, restaurants, swimming pools, hot tubs, tennis courts, pavilions and meeting halls. Q seems a little out of place here, not only because he is relatively small - though there are a few small motor homes scattered around, but also because he hasn't had a bath for a while.

There were high winds and heavy rain during the night - or I should say during the evening as it was all over by 9:30. We were no worse the wear here but some nearby communities north and west had trees down and flooding. We probably would have had to take emergency precautions had we been in the Ocala National Forest - a distinct possibility, if our itinerary had been slightly different. We wonder how our friends who spend their winters in Alexander Springs Campground made out.

It's been what Mike calls a typical Sunday at TGO. Everybody just sitting around doing little more than nothing. There are people puttering around their pads, making them and their rigs more beautiful, or walking by, or riding by in golf carts heading for the first tee or swimming pool or wherever. Everyone waves as if it were a precondition to living here. It's kind of nice - friendly and small-townish. Typical Sunday? It seems like a typical everyday here to us.

Q901168 The Great Outdoors, Titusville, FL. 440 Cove