1056 November 22, 2023 Fort Clinch State Park

One last walk through Crooked River State Park.  New discoveries every day!  

The River Trail.

Today I saw a gopher tortoise.  This is a cool sighting.  These turtles spend 85% of their lives underground.  A five-year-old tortoise is only as big as a tangerine. A ten-year-old tortoise is the size of a softball.  These tortoises can’t make baby tortoises until they are twenty-five years old.  Not sure how old this guy was but he was about the size of a dinner plate.

Pretty red cardinal.

SOOOOO many squirrels!

Today was moving day again.  We had another short trip over the Florida line to Fernandina Beach and Fort Clinch State Park.   Our campsite has a view of the Atlantic Ocean if you stand on the picnic table and look out over the dunes.

This armadillo was visiting our neighbor.

We both took walks on the beach.

Tim saw this tortoise near the boardwalk.

This evening, at sunset, we drove to Fort Clinch.  The museum and fort were closed.  We walked out to the river as the sun went down.

1055 November 21, 2023 Visit With Cousin Curtis

We spent our day walking and biking in this beautiful park.

At the Nature Center, we learned a lot about the creatures of this area including gopher tortoises.  The tortoises have nesting grounds among the pines here and they dig a deep burrow in the sandy soil.  This hole in the ground can provide shelter for more than 300 other critters.  These remarkable animals are a keystone species.  This means that the survival of many other species depend on these tortoises.    

We also learned a lot about Kings Bay Naval Base.  This site is the home port of the Navy’s fleet of nuclear submarines.  The tide here has a seven-foot variation and ebbs and flows every 12 hours.  The changeover is rapid and this makes it an ideal place for the submarines to be pushed in and out of the docks.  At this base, dolphins and sea lions from the West Coast are trained to identify and retrieve explosives.  These intelligent animals are transported to war zones to assist Naval teams.

Late in the afternoon, we drove to Yulee, Florida to visit Tim’s cousin, Curtis and his wife, Janice.  Dementia is exceptionally disheartening.  Curtis cares for Janice with compassion and patience. 

Curtis took us to Amelia Island to the Salt Life Food Shack.  We enjoyed a delicious meal as we shared life stories.  We had a great visit.  I had promised to do a better job getting pictures but the evening slipped by and we completely forgot!

1054 November 20, 2023 Crooked River State Park

I walked the same loop to Clam Creek Pier, past Driftwood Beach, and back to the Campground.  Today there were new things to see.

The bridge to Brunswick.

A shrimp trawler.

Herons.

Pretty bushes.

We took our time leaving.  We had only a one-hour drive to our next site.  Goodbye Jekyll Island!

We stopped again for groceries and we grabbed some BBQ for dinner.

We arrived at Crooked River State Park this afternoon.

We had a very short bike ride interrupted by nasty drizzle.

The rain passed quickly and we took our BBQ dinner to a bench by the river.

We will have lots of time tomorrow to explore this park.

1053 November 19, 2023 Sunny And Seventy

I liked our bike ride at Clam Creek to Driftwood Beach so much yesterday; I decided to take my walk along the same route today.  It was a sunny and glorious morning!

Wading birds roosting in the trees along the path.

We packed our lunch and drove the Jeep around the perimeter of the island.  We saw these beautifully restored historic cottages.

We stopped at several beaches to get out and walk.

We biked through the Village Square shopping area but we didn’t stop and shop.

I was tired and so we went back to rest.

Tim took his bike out again late this afternoon and went for a long ride. He called me to get him!

We grilled shrimp and tortillas and had guacamole and sweet papaya as well.

Jekyll Island is really a great place to stay and I wish we could be here longer…but it is moving day again tomorrow!

1052 November 18, 2023 Jekyll Island

Happy Birthday Andrea!   We hope that you have the very best day!

I took my morning walk along a dirt road that led to the Jaycee Park where there was a nice walking path.

Today was moving day again.  When we altered our plans, we had to put together a patchwork plan.  We were off to Jekyll Island for a two-night stay.  It was only 100 miles.  We stopped for some groceries and then when we realized we were still going to be too early for our 2pm check-in, we stopped at the Golden Isles Rest Area.

We arrived at our campground and within 30 minutes, we were on our bikes, exploring.

We began at the Clam Creek Pier.

We rode on to Driftwood Beach.  We saw dolphins right away.  They were fairly close and coming out of the water in beautiful arcs.

I walked for a while with Tim but then I just wanted to sit and watch the water.  He walked on and we were both happy.

We watched the wedding of a young couple. 

What a gorgeous day in a gorgeous place.  I am already looking forward to biking more tomorrow!

1051 November 17, 2023 Biking in Tybee

It rained hard for much of the night.  There was still light rain this morning.  I got a later start than I usually do.  I was determined not to get wet today.  At last, the sun made an appearance and I got ready to go.

I took a morning walk in the community surrounding the campground.  There are so many sweet little beach cottages.  This is a very quirky and cool little island!

We took our bikes and found the bike route to the other end of Tybee.  We stopped at the Back River fishing Pier.

We hopped back onto our bikes and rode to Inlet Avenue.  We left our bikes and walked along the beach.

The wind picked up and the sky began to darken.  We decided to get back to the RV before the rain began.  There was a little bit of spit but soon the sun was out again.  69 degrees and mostly sunny!

1050 November 16, 2023 Tybee Island

I tried to get my morning walk done.  As soon as I began, the rain started.  It was a gentle rain.  I did a lap or two in the campground and then went back for a raincoat.  I did another lap or two as the rain increased in intensity.  I went back to get an umbrella.  It rained even harder and when my shoes and pantlegs were soaked…I QUIT!!!

I drove to the grocery for a few items while Tim finished his workout.

We packed the RV and the bikes and dumped tanks.  We were on the move today.  We had only a one-hour ride to Tybee Island.  We arrived by lunchtime.

After lunch, we took the bikes and cycled to North Beach.  We locked the bikes and went for a long walk beside the ocean. 

Royal terns.

Coopers hawk.

This evening, we went to Salt Island Fish and Beer for dinner.  We shared some she crab soup, some brussels, some mussels and some elote.  I left my wallet in my bike bag in the RV.   Tim had left his wallet in the RV as well.  We scrounged through our pockets and came up with enough cash to pay the bill but we were short the tip.  I remembered that I had $20.00 in the console of the Jeep!  Perfect!

1049 November 15, 2023 Rainy Day Shenanigans

I donned Tim’s bright yellow raincoat and set off on my morning walk.  It was amazing to me that although it had been raining for several hours, the canopy of trees is so dense that there were still dry patches on the pavement.  It did stop raining while I was out.

I stumbled upon small pond where I found three birds hunting in the water; a great egret, a snowy egret, and a wood stork.  I had fun watching them and taking pictures.  They took off one by one to roost in the treetops.

I walked the gravel trail along the park road.

It wasn’t a very nice day to play outside. We tried riding our bikes but it was chilly and raw and spitting rain.

We decided to venture into Savannah and go to the movie theater. We saw Killers of the Flower Moon. Martin Scorsese directed the film. He spoke on camera before the showing. He talked about how the crew worked very hard with the Osage Indian Tribe and with historians to tell the story as accurately as possible. In the 1920’s, at least 20 Native Americans and probably more than 100, were killed in Osage County, Oklahoma. Oil was found on reservation land and the Osage Indians became very wealthy. Neighboring ranchers became greedy and carried out plots to inherit the oil headrights. This movie was an intense 3 1/2 hour sobering tale of murder and avarice. Another chapter in our nation’s history dictated by materialism, self righteousness, and selfishness. This was a moving and powerful story.

We grabbed dinner on the way back to the campground. The movie stayed with us and we had lots to talk about. It really made us think.

School pictures; Oliver second grade and Austin kindergarten…sure to bring you smiles.

1048 November 14, 2023 Quiet Skidaway

What a peaceful place to take my morning walk!  I planned at walk the Sandpiper Trail.  There was a notice saying that a bridge was out on the trail but I figured I would walk as far as I could.  I didn’t get very far at all.  The trail was flooded!

I finished my walk on the paved roads in the campground.  I love the tall live oak trees dripping with Spanish moss and the low growing palmettos. 

We drove to the nearby Publix for fresh water.  We also bought mangoes, papaya, beets, figs, snap peas, and avocadoes.  As I out our groceries on the conveyor, I thought that we had purchased an unusual combination of foods!

At lunchtime, we packed our bike bags and rode the rough trail back out to the observation tower.  We enjoyed our picnic but because it was windy, we didn’t climb to the top.

Tiny crabs skittered in the sand beneath the raised boardwalk.

This is the remainder of a shell midden. Hundreds of years ago, this area was inhabited by Native American peoples. One of the main components of their diet was oysters. They discarded their shell into great piles or middens. These middens leach calcium into the ground. This allows plants to grow in the less acidic soil. Often, cedar trees will thrive near middens.

We biked the remainder of the Big Ferry Trail because we enjoyed it so much yesterday.

We rested for a while this afternoon and then took our bikes and rode from the campground and into the surrounding neighborhood.  This is a very ritzy area, with lovely large homes and beautiful churches. The bike path was marked with NO TRESSPASSING signs at several of the gated communities, forcing us to turn around.

It was cloudy and windy today.  Tomorrow’s forecast calls for a chance of rain.  We will see what the new day brings!

1047 November 13, 2023 Skidaway Island State Park

I walked the commercial parking lots while Tim did his yoga and strength workouts.  We left Lumberton at about 8am. 

We shortly crossed into South Carolina and then a couple of hours later, we were in Georgia.  We did not expect to be so far south so quickly. 

We arrived at Skidaway State Park in early afternoon.  We rested and then we took our bikes and cycled through the park.  The trails are hardpacked sand, albeit with lots of live oak roots, and we rode through the woods. 

We biked to the overlook tower where we had expansive views of the tidal marsh along the Skidaway Narrows.

Cool neon orange fungus.

We saw no gators although they are known to live in the slough ponds here.  We saw no bobcats either.  Nor did we see dolphin in the river.  We did see lots of squirrels still hustling to horde acorns.

I was prepping dinner when Tim caught sight of this beautiful buck walking across the road and into our site.

We have another couple of days to explore here!