This morning came way too early, like 6:30 am.  Yet, the early rise was necessary since today we were going on a tour of Cumberland Island National Seashore and needed to be at the visitor’s center no later than 8 am for check in.  Not only were we going to

the seashore but we were fulfilling a long time wish of Barbara’s – we were going on a cruise.  Ok, so the only way to the island was by a 45 minute ferry ride , but come on the trip was on a boat, across a body of water, so technically it was a cruise!  I like to make my sweetheart’s wishes come true whenever I can.  Here is a picture of our cruise ship to and from the island today.

Some pictures of our cruise over to the island.  It was smooth sailing all the way.

This is a picture of Barbara on board with some new friends, Rebecca and Mark, we met on the way over.

This is the entrance to the visitors center on the island where everyone comes ashore.

Going over with us today was a Boy Scout troop that was going to camp on the island for the next week.  We wish them well, as for me, well, I just can’t give up my memory foam mattress, a hot shower in the morning, and screens between me and the bugs!

This is the visitor’s center on the island at the point were you disembark.  Here you can rent bikes for those so inclined, you check in if you are camping, and, if you are like us, you find your tour guide and driver for the day.

Now for a bit of facts about the island itself.  Cumberland Island is 18 miles long and three miles wide. Only 300 visitors a day are permitted to visit the island.  In 1972, the Carnegie family who once owned over 90% of the island, and had 7 different mansions on the island (more about this later) worked with the Federal government to assume control of the island and establish the Cumberland Island National Seashore. Today 90% of the island is now owned by the Federal government and the remaining 5% is privately owned.

As I said the island is 18 miles long and there was no way that Barbara and I were either going to walk or bike the whole distance to and fro.  Therefore, we chose the next best option which was a planned tour of the island by a company called Legacy Tours.

 Here is a picture of Barbara on board and ready to go.  What’s the hold up?  Yup, nature called and they were waiting for me to come out of the bathroom.  Hey, I’m getting older.

Once yours truly and everyone else was on board it was time to hit the road.  This is

a picture through the windshield of the only road on the island that runs north and south which is called the Grand Highway.  Trust me when I say there is nothing grand about this highway.  It is all dirt, at times like a washboard, other times so narrow our guide, Kathy, had to pull the mirrors in.  It ended up being a very long rough ride, over 6 hours total by the time we got to the north end of the island and turned and came back home.

Along the way we frequently met any number of horses like this one in front of us on the

road.  Yes, they have the right of way and you don’t want to mess with them.  They are wild horses in every sense of the word and ill-tempered to put it mildly.  One person in the past  who didn’t heed the advice to leave them alone ended up in the hospital.  They also have been known to kick in the doors and sides of the tour vans.  Current count puts their number at 141 horses.

We’re going to stop here for the night and call this part one.  Tomorrow will be part two and I’ll give you the scoop on the Carnegie’s and how they influenced so much of the island’s history.   So stay tuned for there is so much more to share with you.

By the time all was said and done it was past 6 pm by the time we returned home.  It was a long, exhausting day but an absolutely wonderful day in every sense of the word.  The temperature was mild and there was a light breeze blowing which kept the bugs away.  We met and made some new friends along the way.  Finally, our tour guide Kathy was absolutely fantastic and very knowledgeable concerning the history of the island from way back when to today.  She made the whole day extremely interesting.

We’re home now nursing our aching knees and sore feet – yes, there was quite a bit of walking involved nonetheless.  Night is now all around us and we are ready for some shut-eye.  We hope you had as great a day as we did.  If not, then there is always tomorrow.  Make sure you do something to make you and your world a better place for all.

As always,  if you are coming to the end of your day with concerns and worries let me suggest that you turn them over to God.  After all, He is going to be up all night so why not let him handle them for you.

Time now for our evening prayers and some shut-eye.  Till tomorrow.  Thanks again for sharing our day with us.

These are the voyages of  Graybeard and it’s occupants, four paws and two humans.  Our continuing mission: to explore as many new states as possible, to seek out new acquaintances and make new friends, to boldly go where we have not been before

Georgia on my mind.  Moving day, the first of many over the next several months.  Not a long trip so we didn’t have to get up at the crack of dawn.  Our estimated departure time was 10 am, sort of what we plan on each time we move.  Of course, as the hour got closer and it didn’t appear we were going to make it my anxiety level began to go up.  Barbara, bless her, promptly reminded me that we were retired  thus there was no real reason to rush.  Hey, the park has been there for years, it will be there when we get there.  OK, point well taken.

We got on the road at 10:30 am, traffic was light and the ride was smooth.  The new tires gave us a great ride and they were perfectly balanced.  It was, however,  windy and gusting so it was a bit interesting driving north.  We did suffer one minor casualty before we left,  our remote thermometer.   I always set it on the right front tire, but not on the tire, on the tire cover.  However, this time I didn’t put the tire cover on when I returned home from getting tires last Friday.  But I still put the remote thermometer on the right front tire.  Yesterday Barbara said to me “Are you going to remember to take that off?”  Well, guess what I ran over as we left, you guessed right if you said the remote thermometer!

Our route took us up 75 to 301 North.  Thanks Hoag for convincing me to take 301.  Traffic was light, only minor congestion in one area, the rest was smooth sailing all the way up to Rt 10 which then took us east.  Before you knew it, this was what we saw

 and within a short distance this is what we next saw out of the front windshield

 

Soon after this we were at exit 1 in 95, which was our exit.  We were now within a few

miles of Crooked River State Park which was going to be our home for the next seven days.  Leaving highway 95, we stopped for fuel and then within another 15 minutes we were at the park.  Checking in we received a very pleasant surprise, two actually.

The first was a discount because we were seniors.  The second was our site.  When I first booked this park they only offered 30 amp service and water, no sewer.  Guess what?  They had just completed renovations on over half of the 60 sites in the park and those 30 sites were now all FHU (Full hook-up) sites.  Better yet, we had our pick of which of the 30 sites we wanted.  We chose a pull through and discovered when we pulled in, it was hard packed dirt and perfectly level!  This is a beautiful state park and anytime we are in the area and need a site we will be back.  Following are some pictures of our new digs for the next week.

Just in and getting water, electric and sewer set up.  Everything is new and right were you need it.  If only all parks were like this.

This is looking across the street at our neighbors rig, apparently they are not home now.

This is looking back down the street the way that we came in.  All the roads are paved and wide with no overhanging trees and no trees on the side that could snag the rig.

 

This is looking down the road in front of us.  This is just a beautiful place to be.  It is quiet and peaceful and well taken care of.  What a find this was for us!

This is home sweet home for the next week.  We celebrated our arrival and our new home with a glass of wine and a steak dinner.  A perfect ending to a perfect day.  If you are ever looking for a perfect place to stay at a reasonable price in Georgia, I would definitely recommend Crooked River.

So it’s time to call it a wrap.  We’re tired but in a very good way and ready to turn in.  Another great day made even better by the fact that we continue to travel along together side by side.  Now here is one for you:

As always,  if you are coming to the end of your day with concerns and worries let me suggest that you turn them over to God.  After all, He is going to be up all night so why not let him handle them for you.

Time now for our evening prayers and some shut-eye.  Till tomorrow.  Thanks again for sharing our day with us.

These are the voyages of  Graybeard and it’s occupants, four paws and two humans.  Our continuing mission: to explore as many new states as possible, to seek out new acquaintances and make new friends, to boldly go where we have not been before

It all began with something so small.  Not much bigger really than, well, I don’t know what to compare it to but suffice to say it’s small.  We’ll get to this in a minute.  Let’s begin at the beginning.  The morning was overcast with the sun doing it’s best to hide.  It was warm, though, so that was nice.  Rousing ourselves from a nice comfortable bed we decided that we needed to finish our game of dominoes from last night.  First, though, a nice breakfast of eggs and sausage.  Now onto dominoes.  Last time here in the park.  I got beat fair and square by Barbara who kept winning hand after hand.

Breakfast and the game out-of-the-way we begin to get things squared away for our move tomorrow.  We also did some house cleaning since we were expecting friends in the afternoon.  And that brings me to it all began with something so small.  I’m referring to

this nifty little device called a Bolt Halo.  It’s a charging device for computers, cell phones and even allows you to jump a car battery.  On our way down here, we met a wonderful couple from PA who ended up next to us at an overnight stop in GA.  Their problem?  The battery on the car they were towing behind their rig had gone dead.  Well, what better chance to use my little, nifty charger that my sister had given to me as a gift.  That was the beginning of a new and wonderful friendship that has continued to this day.  In fact, today, they came to visit us before,like us, heading north tomorrow.  Meet Max and Hoagie, two of God’s beautiful people.  We spent a delightful afternoon together

swapping RV stories, getting to know one another better, and just enjoying each other’s company.   We wish them God speed on their journey home and our prayers will be with them as they have some pressing issues to deal with when they do get there.  We look forward to seeing them again in August when we pass through the Hershey area in PA.  We still marvel at how God works in our lives and what He often uses to bring us together with others and in turn create new friendships.  A charging device?  His ways are definitely not our ways.

The rest of the afternoon was spent putting things in order for tomorrow’s move.  We printed out our route, our departure check list, our agenda for the next month and then waited for Jason our RV tech to arrive to put things right once again.  This was the culprit that was causing all the problems.  Beginning in 2004, the EPA mandated the installation

of this so-called back anti back flow valve on all RV’s going forward.  I did some further  research and also discovered that the company who makes this device considers it their number one seller.  I guess that should tell us all something!

The puzzling thing was that with all the water off and no pressure in the system the leak continued.  Did we have a bigger issue?  Jason to the rescue.  He went outside and opened up the outside shower and lo and behold that took the remaining pressure off the system and the leak now stopped.  Now why didn’t I think of doing that last night?  An hour later the new valve was in, the system was checked under pressure and of course no leaks.  One more thing taken care of.

While this was being take care of Barbara decided a trip to the park wishy washy was

in order.  Let me tell you she thought it best to take everything, and I mean everything even the shirt I had worn and kept hidden from her for four days – hey it wasn’t walking down the hallway on its own yet!  So we’re leaving with clean, freshly laundered clothes and bed sheets and blankets.  Thanks sweetheart.

So we’ve come to the end of our day.  A quick supper, time to put the laundry away, take a shower, now that we have water ,and into bed for a good nights sleep.  It’s been a wonderful day that we would not trade for anything.  Tasks accomplished, issues resolved and best of all, the really best of all, time spent with friends.   Without friends what would life be like, I don’t even want to think about it.  I believe this says it all

As always,  if you are coming to the end of your day with concerns and worries let me suggest that you turn them over to God.  After all, He is going to be up all night so why not let him handle them for you.

Time now for our evening prayers and some shut-eye.  Till tomorrow.  Thanks again for sharing our day with us.

These are the voyages of  Graybeard and it’s occupants, four paws and two humans.  Our continuing mission: to explore as many new states as possible, to seek out new acquaintances and make new friends, to boldly go where we have not been before

Hiding in plain sight, right in front of my nose, so obvious I wonder how I missed it.  More

about this later.  First things first, what a beautiful day we awoke to.  It was pleasant and the sun was shining.  Only one glitch, no morning news to watch because we couldn’t pull in any stations.  Oh well, in the overall scheme of  things that was a real, I mean, a real minor issue.

Up and out we were headed for the last time this year to the Presbyterian church.  This being Palm Sunday the church was comfortably full.  Once again we were not disappointed with our time in God’s house nor with Pastor’s message.  I told Barbara as we prepared to leave that I was going to put papers and markers on our pew so that no one would sit in it while we were gone.  Want to know how far I got with that idea?

Once out of church, we headed to a favorite breakfast stop.  This being the last week in

this area we decided to treat ourselves.  As always we were definitely not disappointed.  The food, the service, even the atmosphere is always great.  Till next year.

Hiding in plain sight, right in front of my nose, so obvious I wonder how I missed it.  What’s this all about?  Since changing the waste valves there has been a persistent leak in that area.  Was something jostled and now loose?  Could be but the only way to find out was to, ready for this, remove the rear inner fender well liner since it was blocking the view up into that area.  So that was the first order of business which was no small feat in itself.  Once it was pried loose and we could see up in there, wonder of wonders the leak it was now obvious was coming from somewhere up in the unit.  But where?

Next order of business, inside to inspect.  We checked under the shower to make sure the drain was not leaking.  Not that.  On to the bathroom sink.  We started to pull things out so we could take a look, wait a minute, why was the steel wool in here all rusted?  I just put it in two days ago to keep unwanted critters from crawling up and in along the water lines.  There it was.  Our nasty, persistent leak.  Hiding right in plain sight.  A small backflow preventer valve which is installed under each sink, this one in the bathroom had decided to give up the ghost.  I breathed a big, and I mean big sigh of relief.  Another item caught before we moved out.

Tomorrow we’ll pick up the valve and install it.  For the time being we’ve had to turn the water off to stop the leak.  Ah well, the bathhouse is just down the end of our lane.  It’s not the worse thing in the world.  Tomorrow we’ll put the valve in and be back to normal, whatever that is!

Now that was taken care of we decided to go shopping, I know what you’re thinking, didn’t they do that yesterday?  And the day before?  And the day before that?  Yup, maybe we’re just addicted to Walmart!  Truth is we’re still discovering items we had best have on board before we move North.  Heaven help us if we don’t discover more Walmart’s along the way!

Once back home we met our new neighbors, Dave and Patty, who are also full timers.  They’ve come down from Virginia to create a domicile, like us, in Florida.  Dave I discovered is a lot like me, he too wants everything planned out in advance.  So like me, he has his campgrounds and route planned out already for 2018.   It was great spending time with them today during the afternoon.

We’re now at the end of the day.  The sun has gone down and the night is just about upon us.  Are we discouraged because we keep finding things that need to be fixed?  Not at all.  We expected this, and still expect it to happen.  RV’s were never meant to be lived it full-time.  We’ll just keep up with the preventive maintenance and fix the other things as they come along.

So yes, we had a great day.  We’re still together, traveling along, singing our song.   Hope you enjoyed your day as well.  Never forget you can’t control your circumstances but you can control how you face and handle them.

As always,  if you are coming to the end of your day with concerns and worries let me suggest that you turn them over to God.  After all, He is going to be up all night so why not let him handle them for you.

Time now for our evening prayers and some shut-eye.  Till tomorrow.  Thanks again for sharing our day with us.

These are the voyages of  Graybeard and it’s occupants, four paws and two humans.  Our continuing mission: to explore as many new states as possible, to seek out new acquaintances and make new friends, to boldly go where we have not been before