867 December 3-4, 2022 Stone Mountain Christmas

We left Lane Southern Orchards on Saturday morning.  We only had a short drive to Stone Mountain Campground just outside Atlanta.  We had planned to arrive on Monday…but we just couldn’t wait to see David and his family. 

Once we had settled into our campsite, we drove to go and see the kids.  They didn’t know we were coming and they were so incredibly happy!  We had a great visit and David made us dinner.

We went back to Stone Mountain for the night.  On Sunday afternoon, David and Dre and the boys came to visit us.  We had pumpkin chili for lunch and walked down to the lake. 

The best part of the day was our adventure at Stone Mountain Christmas. 

We took the Sky Ride to the top and looked at the view of Atlanta.

We played in the indoor playground and ropes course.  I had lots of fun climbing right along with the boys.  I did not take the slide down 3 stories but decided on the stairs!

We walked through the outdoor dinosaur park.

Then it was time for snacks.

We took the train around the mountain.

The lights were bright and colorful as we walked back through the park to the car.  It was a very fun day.

Tomorrow we are going to take the RV to a storage facility and then we will move into David’s until after the New Year.  I will take a break from publishing the blog until then.  May you have the happiest of holidays!

866 December 2, 2022 Lane Southern Orchards

We started the day with our usual exercise.  I walked more than 3 miles in and around the campground at Lake City.  It was 46 degrees and I had to put a sweatshirt on!  We actually had to use the furnace overnight.  We are in for a rude awakening!

Tim drove all morning; out of Florida and into Georgia.  We found a Harvest Host site in Fort Valley in Peach County.  Lane Southern Orchards is an extensive operation.  They are primarily peach and pecan growers. 

There are miles of orchards in the surrounding area. 

There is also a beautiful farm store with all sorts of preserves and dilly beans and pickled beets and syrups and nuts and too many other things to name.  As soon as you walk in the door you are met with the fragrance of sweet roasted pecans and your mouth begins to water.

We had a lot of fun shopping for all kinds of treats and gifts.

We rested for a short time and then I walked the property while Tim rode his bike. 

At dinnertime, we went back into the store and ordered pulled pork sandwiches.  It was nice enough to eat out on the porch.

One more walk as the sun set.

We really do enjoy these Harvest Host experiences.  We spend a lot of time in traditional campgrounds.  It is really fun to find a place that we would otherwise not even know about and to travel off the well-worn interstate to explore these treasures.

865 December 1, 2022 Lake City

I walked around the town of Frostproof this morning.  I walked all the way to Clinch Lake.

I saw sandhill cranes.

I saw a bald eagle flying overhead.

He then landed on the water tower where he sat for a long time.

We went in to see Mister Chris for a cup of coffee.  I had Brazilian which was smooth and rich.  Tim had Tanzanian coffee.  I know that it was stronger than our usual because my heart was pounding for awhile!

We enjoyed our short time in Frostproof. It is a quiet, gentle place.

Today was a driving day.  Tim drove more than 200 miles.  The first many miles were through a series of small towns.  Then past Legoland and Disney…someday I hope to bring the boys here.  Then we were on the turnpike with lots of traffic.  Finally onto 75N. It was here that we started to think about where we might spend the night. Campgrounds closer to Ocala and Gainesville were outrageously expensive.

We arrived in Lake City in midafternoon.  The campground is older but clean and well kept.  The laundry room was a great asset and I had all 4 machines going! 

I walked in the surrounding neighborhood between washing and drying.

We had a simple dinner; trying to clean out the freezer and the fridge.

We walked again after eating.

864 November 30, 2022 Frostproof

It was cool and breezy overnight.  It was so nice to sleep with the windows open and I even needed a blanket!

This morning, I walked one mile in the campground and then another almost three on the levee.  I had a  creeping companion on the trail.

We drove a couple of hours north on 27 through farmland, citrus orchards, and small towns.  We had found a Harvest Host site in Frostproof, Florida.  Mister Chris’ Coffee Gallery is in an old train depot that was constructed in 1912.  This labor of love houses an eclectic bunch of antiques and classic collectibles as well as fresh coffee.  We can’t drink coffee in the afternoon and so we settled on some coffee beans for the coffee connoisseurs in our lives.  We toured the seven rooms.  Each has a theme and is meant to be interactive if you are inclined. 

In the music room there are tons of vinyl albums and a record player just begging for use.  There are also board games and other fun things to do. 

When this was an operating depot, there were two ticket windows.  The window on the left was for colored people and the window on the right for whites.  The owner here wanted to preserve this part of history and designed his space so that the ticket windows remained intact.  They are part of the story of this place.

This was the crew of men who built the depot and worked on this portion of the Atlantic Coastline Railroad.

The building as it appeared in 1912.

The grounds here are lovely with several live oak trees that are more than 200 years ols.

There is a Native American Burial Site on the corner.

We rested during the hottest portion of the afternoon and then walked down to the dock on Reedy Lake.

We spent a lot of time on this porch swing. 

After dinner, we walked through town.  We love these quaint places…small town USA.  If not for Harvest Host, we wouldn’t have stopped here.  It was a pleasant way to spend the day.

863 November 29, 2022 Back To South Bay

I walked three one mile loops around Monument Lake this morning.  The air felt just a little cool.  It was wonderful walking weather.  I saw flocks of migrating wood storks and three roseate spoonbills.  I saw another black snake and I saw a little gator.

Killdeer.

Brazilian peppertree.

We traveled for just a couple of hours to South Bay RV Park on Lake Okeechobee.  We stayed here for a week back in October and it is another good place for bike riding.

As we entered South Bay, we saw a long line of tractor trailer trucks stuffed with sugar cane.  It is harvest time.  Some of the fields were being burned today and the world smelled of burnt sugar or caramel.  They must also be spreading manure because we also had pungent wafts of really stinky air!

We took a short ride to on the Levee to Torry Island.

We climbed the tower.

This evening, we took our dinner to John Stretch Park.  It was a nice to walk around the lake after our meal.

862 November 28, 2022 Biking Shark Valley Again

We woke up to some very dense fog.

Early every morning, there are thousands of spider webs in the high grass and in the trees.  Today, the webs were covered in dew and they were beautiful.

The shroud of fog began to lift as we drove to Shark Valley,

One of our very favorite places to bike will always be Shark Valley.  We stayed nearby so that we could ride this loop one more time before heading north.  We got up and packed our bike bags and we were at the gate at 8:30 when it opened.

My favorite part is the beginning.  We always go clockwise when most other people start at the other end.  This allows us to bike all by ourselves.  It is so quiet and wild and I love this part of the ride.

We saw very few alligators.  The temperatures are still very warm during the day with a forecasted high of 88 degrees today.  The alligators don’t need to be laying on the banks to be warm enough.  In fact, all of the gators we saw were submerged in water.

The swamp is still overflowing and we rode through several inches of water at some points.

There were very few birds.  I believe that the water is still too deep for the wading birds.  There were a bunch of crows.

And on purple gallinule.

Lovely swamp flowers.

Tim’s favorite part is the walk to the observation tower.  The view that goes on forever…

Tim heard a splash as we cycled and spotted tiny alligator hatchlings. We could hear the babies chirping.

Mama knew we were there.  Can you see her?

After finishing our ride, we drove all the way to Everglades City.  The skies became dark and we had a few drops of rain.

We had a yummy lunch at City Seafood.

I spent hours this afternoon trying to find a place to store our RV while we are visiting with David in Atlanta.  I was finally successful! 

A frog this evening on our windshield.

861 November 27, 2022 Back To Big Cypress

We both did abbreviated versions of our morning routines and then got packed and ready to roll. 

Tim has been nursing a sore shoulder for the past two days.  Today he had some significant improvement and that is a very good thing.  He has lots of driving to do. 

In Key Largo, we stopped for diesel fuel for the RV.  It was down to $4.99 a gallon.  We got 50 gallons for $250.00.  The 100-gallon tank will just about get us to Atlanta.

We noticed that the canal along Route 41 is still brimming with water. The floodgates were wide open and the water was coming out with full force. We wonder if they the floodwaters have been draining at this rate the whole 5 weeks that we have been gone. That is an unimaginable amount of water!

We arrived at Monument Lake in Big Cypress in early afternoon.  It was 87 degrees and hot! 

We both took walks.  I saw a black snake slithering toward the taller grass.

I also saw this gator on the bank.

We made grilled chicken fajitas for dinner and ate outside.

As soon as the sun went down, the mosquitoes descended, pushing us back into the RV.

Tomorrow, we want to return to Shark Valley and ride the 15-mile loop.

It is so peaceful and lovely here.

860 November 26, 2022 Last Day In The Keys

Today, just like every other day, we got our morning exercise done. 

We are moving on tomorrow and so much of today was spent organizing, cleaning, doing laundry, emptying tanks, filling with fresh water, and packing.  When we spend a month in one place, we can get pretty comfortable and it takes us a little longer to get everything put away.

We did ride bikes around the campground this afternoon.

This evening, we picked up some sushi and took it to Veteran’s Beach.  One last picnic while watching the sun go down.

We have had a wonderful time here.  Warm weather, palm trees, lots of sunshine, beach time, pool time, seafood, Key West, exercise classes, bike rides, a visit with friends…this has been a month of paradise. 

It would be hard to leave but we are on our way to Atlanta and you know that the boys are there!

859 November 25, 2022 Pleasant Day

I got a good walk in and then headed to the Total Body Stretch Class.  I have really enjoyed these classes and need to find a way to continue this momentum as we begin to head north on Sunday.

Later, we biked to Long Key State Park.  Unfortunately, there has been no progress toward opening more of the park.

We stopped at the post office to get stamps.  The postmaster there had sea grape leaves in a basket on the counter.  Did you know that you can mail almost anything in the US Mail with proper postage?  She had me write a note to the boys and address it on the other side.  She put a 99-cent stamp on it and hand canceled it.  We shall see if it arrives in Atlanta!

We got showers and drove to Islamorada for a late lunch at Lazy Days.  I had a really good blackened mahi sandwich.  Tim had hogfish prepared with horseradish and capers…yum!

We stopped for a few groceries. 

The sunset was gorgeous this evening.  There was a nice breeze and the water was so still.

858 November 24, 2022 Happy Thanksgiving!

We got our morning routines complete and got to talk with Kyle and Allison and Mom and we were able to have FaceTime with David and the boys.  Even though we were not with everyone for the holiday, we certainly felt connected and loved!

We enjoyed some pumpkin overnight oats for breakfast.

We had a simple Thanksgiving meal this evening.  We grilled chicken and grilled a cranberry chocolate ciabatta roll.   We steamed green beans with spicy pecans and had cranberry relish.  It was tasty and it was enough.

Today is a day for remembering our blessings.  We are grateful every day for our wonderful family and friends and we are thankful for the opportunity to be living our dream.