Ft Lauderdale

We had a great time at my brother, Gerry and his wife, Amy and on Saturday we headed to Ft Lauderdale to meet up with Wendy, Scott and Xavier before their flight back home to Costa Rica.  They were down from Costa Rica spending Christmas with Scott's Mum and Tom in Key West.   They picked us up at the hotel and we got to spend a couple of hours together and they took us out to an Indian Restaurant(so good).  Thanks Scott and Wendy.  After they dropped us back at our hotel and this morning we were off early and headed back to St Marys GA.  It was great to see them.  Xavier is growing up so much. 

Pic 1.  We stayed at the Comfort Inn and the car belongs to a couple that are presently on a cruise.  Someone came in and stole their tires.   Would of loved to see their face this morning when they got off the cruise....They must of had low profile tires and that are very expensive....
Pic 2....Scott and Xav at the restaurant
Pic 3....Gary, Wendy and I outside the restaurant
Pic 4.....Beautiful Sunrise this morning...how does that expression go....Red sky at night...Sailors delight...red sky in morning.....sailor take warning....Thank Goodness we were almost home before the rain started....It was quite heavy when it started but tapered off....

Christmas in Bradenton

 

 

Christmas Eve went to a very pretty Church in St Mary's GA.(pic 1)  Very much enjoyed the service but did miss not sharing Christmas Mass with my sister, Lynn and my granddaughters, Bryanna and Sophie.  Our Christmas eve meal was champagne and fresh Shrimp(pic 2) that we got fresh from the market.  So very delicious.   On Christmas Day, we headed to Bradenton, FL to spend Christmas day with Gerry, Amy, Evan and Ashley for Christmas dinner.(pic 4)  Mike, Donna and Bert and Patty were there as well(pic 3).   It was great spending it with all of them.  It was a gorgeous day and I got to Skype with my Kids.....Not as good as being there with them but to see them all made our day.  Merry Christmas to all my family and friends,

 

The Blessings of Peace
The Beauty of Hope
The Spirit of Love
The Comfort of Faith
May these be your gifts this Christmas Season.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fernandina Beach

 

 

 

 

 

Had a great day at Fernandina Beach.....Walked thru the town...Had a coffee along Centre Street and watched the shoppers walk by.   Had lunch at Crab Trap....Yummy!!!  I had broiled shrimp Po-Boy Sandwich with grilled vegetables and Gary had fried Oysters with breaded fries.  They were delicious.  We stopped at Atlantic Seafood and bought fresh shrimp from the boats and red snapper for dinner......Great day....Had a great day.....

Pic 1..view of Fernandina Yacht Club Pic 2..Old railway station....Pic 3 Manse house built in 1860 next to Methodist Church....Pic 4 my shrimp Po-Boy   Pic 5 Gary's Oyster Po-Boy....Pic 6 Picture of Pelican flying by as we are leaving. 

Gorgeous Day Today!!!

Great day today!! Weatherman says it was 24C and feels like 33C...Pictures 1 to 3 are downtown St Marys which is on St Mary's River.  Beautiful old historic buildings.  And of course the best Pecan Pie I have ever tasted....They do know how to make them here!!!  Could not resist. 

Had to go to Camping World to pick up a connector and what should of took 20 minutes took us 2 hrs.  Tractor Trailer overturned on highway 95....Back to back traffic....When we returned the highway was backed up all the way into Georgia and we got off at Exit 3 and we could still see the traffic at a distance at a standstill.   OMG!!!!  Unbelievable!!!  They were almost done picking up....so hopefully it cleared up!!!! 

Jacksonville FL

My first view of palm trees is when I cross from South Carolina to Georgia...as you can see from the picture 1......We took a drive to Jacksonville which is only 20 minutes away from our campground.  This is the bridge that crosses Jacksonville.  So beautiful and I took pictures of the Ships in the dock...The last one is a car container ship....It was massive.  Today it got as high as 88F....Loving this weather.....Now having wine and garlic bread on the grill.   Live is good....Cheers

A Big Wheel RV Park

This is our site, the lots here are a good size...70 by 20 and concrete pads....Love it.   Still have to get our bikes off the back.  Maybe tomorrow.   They have a fishing pond with wide mouth bass and they want us to fish it and we do not need fishing license to do it as it is privately owned.   So pretty and the lots are well treed......Having a great day today though we did get rain quite heavy for a bit but still 25C.  

St Marys Georgia

Pictures......1 is Sunset on our Journey down on the first day.  2 is our rig with the bikes on the back and you can see our red car in front parked in front of the office....3 is the RV Park and 4 is the place where the Sunday brunch is being held.
Our destination this year is St Marys  Georgia for 3 months.   We left on Friday Dec 7 as we were trying to avoid the 2 storms.  The first day we drove 14.5 hrs and got as far as Willmington CT outside of Hartford Ct before we hit heavy rain mixed with snow.   Stopped over for 5 hrs and continued our trip at 3am.  We hit clear roads thru Scranton PE but could see they had snow and freezing rain continued for 15.5 hrs and overnighted in Enfield NC and the next day it was only 9.5 hrs to our destination at A Big Wheel RV Park in St Marys SC.   Today it was a balmy 23C....all set up and looking forward to spending 3 months here.  The staff is so friendly and helpful.  Every Sunday they have potluck with all the residence in the park.  Because we just arrived, we were invited to attend and it was excellent and everyone very friendly.  Looking forward to next Sunday and we can bring a dish.  I love Rving as we meet such wonderful and amazing people.  We have a couple from Bedford NS....They have been coming here for 6 years.  Looking forward to our stay here.  

Journey Home....

Sunrise out of Virginia



My favourite  Dogwood....so pretty

Old stone tunnels



Joy, Gary and Dick relaxing on the patio



 

 

Great afternoon with good friends

Joy and Dick Brochu

Love the old farmyards

Farm in PA

The journey is almost over and it has been a great time.  We got to see a lot more this year.  There is so much history and it has been great exploring and we look forward to continuing it again next year......We left Ringgold on Sunday and headed to Wytheville VA, overnighted and headed to Jonestown PA.  We are here for 3 days and today we took a side trip to visit very good friend of ours, Richard and Joy Brochu who live in Newtown PA.    They are very special people and it was great to spend the afternoon with them. It was a beautiful drive thru the countryside.  We saw quaint Dutch and German influence.    Tomorrow we will be resting and packing up for our final journey home.   We will overnight in Portland before heading home.  

I tried to think of a great quote to end this journey and I found this and I think it says it all

How far we travel in life matters far less than those we meet along the way.

 

Chattanooga, TN & Ringgold, GA

Dogwood in bloom

 

 

Traffic at a standstill by Atlanta

Yahoo!!!  Right next to the KOA we are staying at!!  Free wine tasting!

Incline Railway...Zoomed in at the top!!

Pic at the top looking down...end is by the big building below!

 

Heading down!!  Yikes!!  We are in front!!

Railcar meeting halfway

Yesterday it took us 9 hrs to drive from Gulfport, MS to Ringgold, GA.  We headed north to Montgomery AL from Mobile and across to Georgia.  Weather was great, light rain. Dogwood in bloom so pretty.  Took us an extra 1.5 hrs as traffic around Atlanta was almost at a standstill.  We were at Interstate around 3pm and by the time we got to the other end of 75 it was 4:30pm.  Glad we got thru before the suppertime traffic!!!!

 

Today we headed to Chattanooga and took the Incline Railway right to the top and back.  At one point the incline is 72.7%. There are 2 Railcars one from the top and bottom.  They meet halfway....When you arrive at the top, you get to go to the observation deck.  Each trip take 15 minutes.   It only take 40 passengers and you have to wait in line in both directions.  We got to be in front for the return.   Scary!!!!!!! Definitely not for anyone with height issues.  I just made it!!!!  All in all a great day.  

 

New Orleans Day 2

Sunrise this morning

Cablecar on Canal Street

French Market

Gary and I with Mississippi River in Background

Jackson Square with St Louis Cathedral with Calbildo, the old city hall now a museum

Steamboat Natchez does day and dinner cruises

Gary and I heading out to Bourbon Street

 

chargrilled oysters for our appetizer

 

 

Rajun Cajun Bloody Mary !!!!

 

Woke up this morning and when I saw the beautiful sunrise, I had to stay up to take pictures. As you can see, it was so worthwhile. It is so nice enjoying the scenery from our windows on the 14th floor. Wow!! Today we got the day pass for the streetcar for $3 all day. We took the streetcar to the french market and walked back along the riverwalk and was able to get pictures of the steamboat along the Mississippi River. I am sure we walked about 2 miles today, at least!!! So enjoyable. Took the streetcar home and now enjoying Wine, cheese and crackers. Getting ready to go out to the Oceano Restaurant on Bourbon street for Dinner in our finery!!!  Went to Oceano Restaurant on Bourbon Street.   Had charbroiled oysters for appetizer and I had Louisana crabcakes with cajun crawfish sauce and garlic roasted potatoes with vegetables.  Gary had fried oysters with hush puppies and fries.   He could not finish the fries and I couldn't finish the potatoes and veg.    Gary got his drink "Rajun Cajun Bloody Mary which is made up of Bloody Mary mix along with green hot pepper, pickled olive and spiced green bean.   Gary had to admit it was very hot but very good.   I had Manderin Blush which is made up of Absolut Manderin, Cranberry juice and sprite.  Not bad at all.   Great end to our time in New Orleans.