2024-25 Trip to the Southeast, Day 33

Day 33, Thursday, November 21, 2024, Frank Jackson State Park, Opp, AL, Day 4 - 0 Miles, 1,589.2 Miles for the Trip

A little early evening excitement last night - I was sitting inside reading when I heard a loud explosion. Didn't quite shake the trailer, but it was loud enough that I checked everything I thought "might" have caused it in/on my trailer. I discovered that it was the spare tire blowing up on the trailer next to me (he said it sure shook his trailer). I've read on a couple of forums of tires sitting still and blowing up, but last night was my first "first hand" experience.

The predicted low temperatures were a day off. 41°F last night, 47°F for my morning walk. Still too windy to sit outside (25MPH gusts) even though there is plenty of sun. Only 56°F at 12:00. More reading inside. The current book is Dead Man's Hand, a collection of short stories by well known authors built around poker, and put together by Otto Penzler.

Around 3:00 I decided it wasn't going to get any warmer at 61°F, so I headed out to do a final drain of the gray & black tanks, disconnect, rinse & store the sewer hose. Since the morning temperature is predicted to be 39°F, I disconnected the water as well. I'd rather run the pump & fresh water tank for the rest of the day & night rather than fight rolling up a stiff water hose in the morning. All I'll need to do is hook up the truck, pull the chocks & disconnect the power cord. Unlike the last move, I want to get an early (for me) start since my Garmin tells me it is a 222 mile trip.

By the way, you won't hear from me for the next three days. I'm heading to Burchfield Branch Park near Brookwood, AL, and according to all the reviews I've read, there is no cell coverage or WiFi in the campground or nearby area. So, it will be one of the times I wish I had Starlink. I keep thinking about getting a Mini, but have rarely needed it, and while I could give up some parts of my cell phone plans and use WiFi Calling on the phones, it would not save me much on the cell plans if I want to keep some data service on cell modems. Anyway, I'll be back to listening to XM Radio, and out of touch over the weekend. 

Dinner was an Amy's Enchilada meal.

Until Monday - 

2024-25 Trip to the Southeast, Day 32

Day 32, Wednesday, November 20, 2024, Frank Jackson State Park, Opp, AL, Day 3 - 0 Miles, 1,589.2 Miles for the Trip

The rain never started up again, and it didn't cool off. My weather app predicted 47°F overnight; it never went below 68°F and with the Maxx fan running on automatic, the inside of the trailer never got below 70F. While there are a couple of choices for 12V roof mounted fans for trailers, I prefer the Maxx fan. It can be ordered with a cover that allows it to be open & run while it is raining, provides 10 speeds, and for me, the most useful feature, a thermostat that can be used to vary the speed of the fan. As the trailer heats up, it runs faster, and as it cools, it slows down or shuts off. Handy when away from the trailer and dry camping since uses less power as it slows down.

In any case, clear skies this morning with a bit of wind. I walked the campground loop - .78 of a mile, and after breakfast decided to do laundry. 2 washers & 2 dryers, all working for a change. $1.50 to wash & $1.00 to dry. One run on high got everything dry.

After making the bed & putting the wash away, I headed for the showers. In the men's room three showers, one of which is handicapped. I used a standard shower. 1 small double hook in the drying area plus a bench. A 4" lip between the drying area & the shower, but because the shower curtain was 6" above the lip, the entire drying area floor got wet. No soap dish or shelf in the shower. A fine spray low volume showerhead and temperature control all in one. I took 4 minutes for the water to get warm (never hot enough to turn it down). It was clean. Overall, a C-.

After my shower I tried sitting outside, managed for a half hour, but even setting up my chair beside the truck, the wind was too much. I gave up & headed inside.

I decided on an late lunch / early dinner - a cheese brat & chips. 

Until Tomorrow - 

2024-25 Trip to the Southeast, Day 31

Day 31, Tuesday, November 19, 2024, Frank Jackson State Park, Opp, AL, Day 2 - 0 Miles, 1,589.2 Miles for the Trip

The morning started as predicted - light rain around 5:00AM that never stopped all day. Heavier at times. I sent the morning inside the trailer - didn't get my walk since I don't do one when it is raining. I did some reading, and spent some time on the internet reading journals & forums. I did an update to the 2025 Rally Map, a Google map that shows the locations & dates for fiberglass trailer rallies. I took over the map from a woman who got tired of dealing with the hassles. It is a handy way to see if a rally is happening along your travel path.

The rain is keeping it cooler than yesterday; 67°F at noon. Still raining. The predictions are for it to go on all day and part of the night, but clearing tomorrow. I'm still sitting inside the trailer reading. The storm shown on the radar map is moving northeast, ie the path puts in line with my location.

The Radar Map

The View From My Back Window

The rain stopped for a bit between 4:00 and 5:00, although it is predicted to start again around 6:00. In any case, it is too dark to sit outside, so this has been one of the first days I spent in its entirety inside.

Dinner was a Lean Cuisine Chicken Enchilada Suiza.

More Tomorrow - 

2024-25 Trip to the Southeast, Day 30

Day 30, Monday, November 18, 2024, Frank Jackson State Park, Opp, AL - 78.7 Miles, 1,589.2 Miles for the Trip

I took my time packing up & getting out of the park since the drive to Frank Jackson State Park was the shortest of the trip so far. A short section of I 10, then secondary 2 lane roads for most of the rest of the trip. A few towns along the way. I waited until I hit Alabama to get gas since it was cheaper than Florida prices. I should have waited until I hit Opp and saved another $.15 per gallon, but I filled up in Samson at $2.89 a gallon.

I'm in site 10 which is on the lake on a raised platform. Fine gravel, fairly level (1" left to right & level front to back) with a picnic table & fire pit. Some sites have steps down to the lake; mine just has a steep bank. Full hookups for $43.80 per night including a 15% senior discount & $5.25 reservation fee. The various lodging taxes pretty much counter the senior discount - City Lodging Tax 1.00% $1.48, County Lodging Tax 7% $10.24, Resort Fee 4.25% $6.20, State Lodging Tax 4% $5.84. 

Site 10

After setting up I sat outside and read. 75°F outside and cloudy; it was 78°F in the trailer so I fired up the AC. 

Around 3:00 I decided I wanted asparagus for dinner so I headed to the local IGA about 4 miles away. It was larger than most of the ones I've shopped at, so I picked up a couple of other things. Back at the trailer I finished reading Alan Dean Foster's Jed the Dead, and downloaded another of his books - Slipt. On the drive to the park I finished Edna Buchanan's Love Kills, and am attempting to download another audio book - Harlan Coben's Tell No One. I don't know why, but when I'm using AT&T, no matter how fast it is audio books take forever to download. I can switch to a slower Verizon connection & the books download much faster. In any case, after an hour Tell No One is half here.

For those interested, AT&T shows 24.8Mbps down & 11Mbps up, while Verizon is 8.8Mbps down & 4.9Mbps up.

Dinner was a Bubbaburger and asparagus.

More Tomorrow - 

2024-25 Trip to the Southeast, Day 29

Day 29, Sunday, November 17, 2024, Falling Waters State Park, Chipley, FL, Day 4 - 0 Miles, 1,519.5 Miles for the Trip

Another quiet night, at least once the kids in the tent next door settled in. A little warmer at 53°F overnight & 58°F for my morning walk. I listened to the Sunday puzzle on Weekend Edition as usual, only an hour earlier since the local NPR station starts Morning Edition at 7:00AM rather than 8:00AM for my home town NPR station. Of course, with the time zone change, if I listened to WRVO on the internet it would also be an hour earlier...

Lots of folks left during the day, and a few arrived; the campground is about 1/2 full. The tent campers next door left and 10 minutes later another one arrived. The older of the kids who left locked one of the men's toilet doors, then crawled out. In older times, I'd crawl under & unlock it, but I don't bend as well as I used to so I'll leave that for others.

Another day spent sitting outside reading. It got up to 78°F during the day. I made my usual Sunday phone calls - my brother is doing well & is settling into his new house in the Catskills. Everything at home is going well according to son Kyle, and the Guidos are trying to get the Scamp fiberglass damage caused by the AAA repaired before they put the trailer to bed for the winter. 

I finished Louise Penny's A World of Curiosities, and started Alan Dean Foster's Jed the Dead. I haven't read all that many of his books, but have enjoyed the last two.

I folded up & put away my large outdoor mat & replaced it with my 2' square one in preparation to leaving tomorrow.  I don't need to hurry in the morning since I'm only going 75 miles to the next stop.

That is about it for the day.

Dinner was a salad.

More Tomorrow - 

2024-25 Trip to the Southeast, Day 28

Day 28, Saturday, November 16, 2024, Falling Waters State Park, Chipley, FL, Day 3 - 0 Miles, 1,519.5 Miles for the Trip

A cool morning for my walk at 54°F. Overnight the temperature went down to 50°F. After breakfast I headed outside to sit in the sun & read. 

Eventually, on a recommendation from a previous visitor to Falling Waters & Chipley, I headed to the Outrigger's Seafood and Grill for lunch. I had a couple of grilled Grouper tacos and onion rings. Very good. 

Back at the campground I headed for the showers. There are 2 in the men's bathroom as well as 2 family bathrooms that have roll in showers. I picked the smaller of the two in the men's bathroom. Still a large shower with an adjustable low volume multi jet shower head. A large drying area with no hooks (there was a broken one flush with the wall) but a large bench. A 1' high wall between the shower & drying area kept it dry. There is a towel rack in the shower? and a soap dish. Took a long time for the water to get hot, but once it was there was plenty & hot enough. The building was cold even with the 72°F outside temperature, probably because it retained the cool nighttime temperature. Overall, a B-.

After my shower I sat outside and read and watched the incoming campers set up. There is a large family with a huge tent next door. There is a big shift in the type of campers. During the week, older folks, but on weekends families with lots of kids arrive.

Since I'm still full from my taco lunch, I just had cheese & crackers for dinner.

More Tomorrow - 

2024-25 Trip to the Southeast, Day 27

Day 27, Friday, November 15, 2024, Falling Waters State Park, Chipley, FL, Day 2 - 0 Miles, 1,519.5 Miles for the Trip

A cool night. Around midnight it was down to 67°F in the trailer so I dug out the electric heater & plugged it into the thermostat set at 65°F. That keeps the head of the bed at 62°F. It came on a couple of times towards morning. It was 57°F outside when I went for my walk.

I didn't do much during the day. Some reading - finished Linwood Barclay's Take Your Breath Away and started Louise Penny's A World of Curiosities. Still listening to Edna Buchanan's Love Kills during my walks.

Since the park is named after Falling Waters, I headed for the waterfall. For a place as flat as Florida, it was OK, although I suspect it would be far more impressive if there was more water going over it. It is also interesting that the waterfall falls into a hole, not a lake or stream. There is a sign at the park entrance saying the water flow was low. In any case, a couple of photos:

Back at the trailer I did more reading, then headed in for dinner.

Dinner was a salad and the other half a better goods Mushroom & Truffle Pizza.

More Tomorrow - 

2024-25 Trip to the Southeast, Day 26

Day 26, Thursday, November 14, 2024, Falling Waters State Park, Chipley, FL - 126.6 Miles, 1,519.5 Miles for the Trip

While there was a bit of light rain overnight, it was damp but not raining as I pulled the utilities for the trailer around 9:30. I left Florence Marine State Park around 10:00. I probably should have held around longer since I gained an hour crossing into Alabama & Florida. Still, even though I pulled into Falling Waters before 12:00, my site was empty & I settled in. 

While setting my phone back to automatic for time zones fixed it & my watch, The laptop is a different animal. If I choose automatic and the Apple time server (the only one available) it insists that I'm still in eastern time. If I shut off automatic & choose a Chicago, a city I know is in the central time zone it still stays in eastern time. The only way I could set the correct time was to manually tell it the time. 

Light to medium rain for most of the drive, as well as when I was setting up. Now, at 12:30 the rain has mostly stopped. I'm in site 6, a short site that just fits the trailer & truck. Not all that level - I had to correct 3 1/2" side to side & lower the tongue 4" to level the trailer. The site is on fine gravel with water & electric, a picnic table & fire ring. Close to the bathrooms. With taxes & reservation fee it comes out to $29.30 per night for 4 nights. There is a Casita in the site next to mine.

Site 6

The Casita Next Door

After setting up I checked the internet speed - AT&T came out to 47.9Mbps down & 4.9Mbps up and since I have unlimited AT&T data, I didn't bother firing up the Verizon cell modem. It is nice not the have to wait for every page to crawl into existence.

After setting up I drove into Chipley & the local Walmart (3.5 miles away) for some supplies & to restock the freezer. I picked up a pizza that won't fit in the freezer (unless I get rid of everything across the top & door) so it will be tonight's early dinner.

Dinner was half a better goods Mushroom & Truffle Pizza.

More Tomorrow - 

2024-25 Trip to the Southeast, Day 25

Day 25, Wednesday, November 13, 2024 - Florence Marine State Park, Omaha, GA, Day 4 - 0 Miles, 1,392.9 Miles for the Trip

A little cooler last night at 62°F; great sleeping weather. I went for my walk this morning making loops around the campground & talking with the Guidos. AT&T phone reception was OK even if there is little or no AT&T data. 

After breakfast I sat outside and read for a bit. Just a little cool without the sun and a light breeze for comfortable sitting so I moved back inside. 

After lunch I went back outside, sat for an hour or so, then back in the trailer.

Since morning rain is predicted, I cranked up the stabilizers, hooked up the trailer to the truck & pulled all the chocks. All I'll need to do in the rain is unhook the water & electric.

Dinner was a Saffron Road Chicken Tikka Masala bowl.

More Tomorrow - 

2024-25 Trip to the Southeast, Day 24

Day 24, Tuesday, November 12, 2024 - Florence Marine State Park, Omaha, GA, Day 3 - 0 Miles, 1,392.9 Miles for the Trip

A quiet night other than the yappy dogs a few sites away, and the not so gentle tap of acorns falling on the roof every couple of minutes. They are small - less than 1/4" in diameter, but they make a lot of noise hitting the roof!

I walked down to the boat slips for a few photos. While it took awhile, they did upload to my ISP.

Morning

Egret?

The Shoreline

Lots of sunshine, something I haven't seen in the last few days. At 11:00 is was 81°F under the trailer with the sun shining on the outdoor sensor. I read forums, a bit of time on Facebook, then sat outside reading my Kindle. I finished Jonathan Kellerman's Blood Test, and started Alan Dean Foster's Codgerspace.

During the afternoon I stripped the bed (it was beginning to smell a bit too much like Jon) and did a load of laundry.  $1.00 to wash or dry. After remaking the bed I headed for the showers.

5 showers in the men's section, one of which is a large handicapped version.  The others have a fairly large shower with a low volume, multi spray head, and a soap dish.  The drying area has both a shelf & bench, and a 4" wall between the shower Y drying area. Only one small double hook in the drying area, although there is a closet pole running under the shelf over which you can hang your clothes.  Plenty of adjustable hot water. Two problems - very soft water increasing rinse time, and what ever they use in a tank sprayer to disinfect the floors & walls makes my eyes water.

Dinner was a Boston Market Orange Chicken bowl.

More Tomorrow - 

2024-25 Trip to the Southeast, Day 23

Day 23, Monday, November 11, 2024 - Florence Marine State Park, Omaha, GA, Day 2 - 0 Miles, 1,392.9 Miles for the Trip

Well, this park is a good location to convince me to keep my XM Radio subscriptions. I'm not willing to pay full price, but if I call and threaten to quit every 6 months, I get it for around $7.00 per month each for the trailer & truck. When I started it was $6.00, but like everything else, prices go up. There are no classical or NPR FM radio stations that I can get on my trailer radio, and Verizon's data speed is too slow for internet radio. So, unless I want to listen to country music, modern rock,  or religious stations, my XM Radio is the only choice for background noise.

A pleasant night with a low of 63°F. I walked around the campground (about 1/2 mile) before breakfast, then read some forums while drinking my morning coffee. Verizon is slow, but it does work.

I don't know if it is the slow internet connection or that I'm getting close to a time zone change, but my phone & watch both dropped back an hour. I had to go to the phone and manually tell it I'm in New York's time zone to get it back to the correct time. Both my weather stations & my Kindle show the correct time. Even stranger; my laptop is, like the phone, is set to automatically set the time zone. It didn't switch. 

I checked my Rand McNally Road Atlas & it shows the switch between Eastern & Central time goes through the Walter F. George Reservoir (the one the campground sits on), so my phone is switching just like when staying on the edge of the Colorado River in Arizona. The solution is to shut off automatic & pick a city you know is in your current time zone. You need to be careful with the calendar because changing time zones changes appointment times. After mixed up times when scheduling while out west for home town area appointments, I now am in the habit of putting the actual eastern time in the notes section of the calendar.

Well, the phone connection held up & I had my TeleMed conference with my doctor. The rest of the afternoon was spent as usual, reading outside in my folding chair. A few bugs, but nice weather at 74°F. I finished Liberman's Day by Stuart M. Kaminsky, and started Jonathan Kellerman's Blood Test, written in 1986 and the second book in the Alex Delaware series. There are 40 of them; I've read most, and was surprised that I hadn't read this one.

Dinner was a blueberry muffin and a can of Creamy Chicken & Dumpling soup. 

More Tomorrow - 

2024-25 Trip to the Southeast, Day 22

Day 22, Sunday, November 10, 2024 - Florence Marine State Park, Omaha, GA - 143.9 Miles, 1,392.9 Miles for the Trip

What is with Georgia house flies? Normal (at least for the rest of the country) house flies fly around, then land and sit for a bit. They may fly away as you sneak up on them, but eventually, the fly swatter wins. The fly in my trailer is nuts. All it does is zoom back & forth, never landing. Fast enough that you can't nail it mid air. It was driving me crazy trying to sit & read last night, worried that it was going to annoy me trying to get to sleep. No problem with sleeping - it never landed at that end of the trailer. Still, it was never in one place long enough for me to swat it so it is still in the trailer.

It finally was under 70°F overnight. Down to 65°F by morning. At home I'd find that too warm for sleeping, but after a couple of 71°F humid nights here in Georgia, it felt fine.

After breakfast I packed up the trailer and headed out by 10:30. Most of the drive was on US 280, mostly 2 land with passing zones every 15 - 20 miles. I stopped in a Walmart in Abbeville to restock the pantry & refrigerator. I arrived at Florence Marine State Park around 2:00, checked in and settled my bill (with a senior discount). I'm in site 6, which is back to back with site 7. There is no dividing line between the sites, so I just took up as much space as necessary to fit the truck & trailer, leaving more room for a larger trailer on site 7. Full hookups (although the sewer is too far away to be useful) on gravel/dirt for $33.83 per night. It is a marine state park because there are boat slips on the Walter F. George Reservoir as well as 43 sites for RVs.

Site 6

While my AT&T phone shows between 1 & 2 bars, there is no data on either my phone or the AT&T Nighthawk cell modem. Verizon shows 13.1Mbps down & .3Mbps up on the best check, but after that more like 1Mbps down & .4Mbps up. Again, like at Little Ocmulgee State Park, adding the pair of external antennas did not improve the speed. I have a TeleMed connection with a doctor tomorrow - we will see how that goes. I do have cell phone over WiFi turned on on the AT&T phone so it should be able to connect with the Verizon cell modem.

I attempted to upload the site photos, a small thumbnail at 12K & the large version at 384K. While they made it to my website, they took over 4 minutes to get there, something that usually takes seconds. I tried checking some web pages and this looks like this is a great campground to read either paperbacks or already downloaded Kindle books!

While it is 70°F outside & 72°F in the trailer with the MAXX fan barely turning over, it feels cool & comfortable, partly is because I've had 77°F days for the last couple of days, and because the humidity is down to 45%. While I doubt I'll run the furnace or electric heater, it will be nice not to need the AC to make the trailer comfortable.

Dinner was a Boston Market Chicken Pot Pie. I cooked it in my toaster oven rather than the trailer propane oven to keep from heating up the trailer as much. I know I can microwave it in the box, but I'm not impressed with the results so I'm sticking to real heat.

More Tomorrow -  

2024-25 Trip to the Southeast, Day 21

Day 21, Saturday, November 9, 2024 - Little Ocmulgee State Park, McRae, GA, Day 4 - 0 Miles, 1,249 Miles for the Trip

The same overnight temperatures last night as the night before. Never got below 71°F, and it hit 77°F today. 

I did 1 1/2 loops around the campground for my morning walk, had breakfast, then sat outside reading. Current book is Undercurrents by Ridle Pearson. Still listening to an Edna Buchanan audio book, Margin of Error. 

Around lunchtime I headed to the lodge to see if the menu was any better than yesterday's breakfast. It was. First, an actual menu rather than a buffet. I ordered 2 shrimp street tacos. They were excellent, except for a bit more cilantro than I usual like (but it was fresh). Still not inexpensive at $18.00 - that is not a normal street taco price!

After lunch I headed into town to fill up the truck. $3.05 per gallon, quite a bit more than I've been paying. I'm sure that with a full tank I'll find it cheaper down the road. 

I packed away the grill and my folding chair in preparation to leaving in the morning.

Dinner was a Healthy Choice grilled Chicken Marsala bowl.

More Tomorrow - 

2024-25 Trip to the Southeast, Day 20

Day 20, Friday, November 8, 2024 - Little Ocmulgee State Park, McRae, GA, Day 3 - 0 Miles, 1,249 Miles for the Trip

Another warm night with the outside thermometer only going down to 70°F.

I decided to try the lodge restaurant for breakfast. I'm not impressed - a buffet with OK biscuits & gravy, dried up sausages, grits, some lousy pastries, dried up orange slices & a couple of apples. The coffee was OK. All for $17.00. I didn't bother trying for lunch, although I might at least look tomorrow.

On the way back I stopped to look at the lake:

Back at the campground I went for my morning walk, read on the laptop, then sat outside reading my Kindle. While it isn't raining, it is very humid - my weather station says 91%, down from 95% last night, and 74°F. It hit 78 during the afternoon.

The campground hosts are cleaning up the empty sites - the campground is well under half full. As to sites, if it looks like heavy rain, site 53 (mine) appears to be one of the lowest in the park. There are signs that it was flooded during the hurricane, and even the medium rain we had over the last couple of days made a 6" deep puddle in front of the site.

More trailers arrived during the afternoon, but the campground is still less than half filled. Some of the sites are tough to get into. Narrow roads with trees & stuff along the edges. Almost feel guilty taking up a pull through site with a small trailer.

Dinner was a Butterball turkey burger & canned succotash. I do wish I could find the real canned succotash, the kind that only had Lima beans and creamed corn. I haven't seen it in years. All I can find is a version that is mostly diced tomatoes with a few Lima beans and whole kernel corn.

More Tomorrow - 

2024-25 Trip to the Southeast, Day 19

Day 19, Thursday, November 7, 2024 - Little Ocmulgee State Park, McRae, GA, Day 2 -0 Miles, 1,249 Miles for the Trip

Another warm night. It didn't get below 70°F until a little before 6:00AM. It rained until early morning, but stopped long enough for me to do a half mile walk around the campground. I met the campground host cleaning up the pine needles, leaves & mud the rain left across the roads. I thought about heading to the restaurant for breakfast, but in the end, ate in the trailer. I changed the sheets on the bed, always a good exercise routine!

During the day there was light rain off & on. During one of the breaks I headed to the loop 2 bathroom (the loop in which site 53 is located) for a shower. One regular & one handicapped. The regular has a wall mounted low volume but many jets of spray shower head and adjustable temperature. Takes a long time to warm up, but plenty hot enough when it does. A bit difficult to adjust the temperature because it takes so long for the low volume of water to reach the shower head. No lip between the shower and drying area, but there is a shower curtain & the shower head is perpendicular to it. The slope of the shower floor to the drain is good enough that very little water makes it into the small drying area. No shelves in the shower although there is a broken mount for a soap dish. 5 hooks & a bench in the drying area. Overall, a B+.

After lunch I headed to Jack's Coin Laundromat. While there is a washer & dryer in the loop 2 bathroom, the washer is broken. It is a little further from my site to the loop #1 bathroom however both the washer & dryer are working, in fact the dryer is free. Still, I have enough clothes, including heavy flannel sheets that I'd need to do a couple of loads. Looked on my phone for coin laundry & Jack's came up 2 miles away. I did a search on my Garmin & it found Jack's Coin Laundry 2,450 miles away in California. Putting the address into the Garmin worked. I used a 3 load commercial front loader for $4.00 and a large dryer the ran $.25 per 6 minutes. Not the cleanest laundromat I've used, but lots of machines available. There were carts & folding tables, and the usual for laundromats, uncomfortable chairs.

On the way back to the trailer I stopped at Piggy Wiggly for some supplies. More expensive than Food Lion, and not as well stocked.

Back at the trailer I put the food & clothes away and read for the afternoon. Still 74°F and either rain or mist outside.

Dinner was a Boston Market Sweet & Sour Chicken bowl.

More Tomorrow - 

2024-25 Trip to the Southeast, Day 18

Day 18, Wednesday, November 6, 2024 - Little Ocmulgee State Park, McRae, GA - 168.1 Miles, 1,249 Miles for the Trip

A warm night, again no heat needed and 63°F by 8:30. I did my walk around the campground loop twice, then had breakfast. After that I read for a bit, then packed up the trailer & site. It definitely reminded me how much I hate camping on sand, particularly wet sand. Not only does it get tracked into the trailer, but it sticks to the electric cord & water hose. I use "Leggo" stacked pads under the stabilizers to spread the load, and sand packed the holes in the bottom Leggo. I finally got rid of most of it, wiped the cords & hose, and headed out. On the way I took a photo of some of the tree damage on the Picnic Road:

Tree Damage

I saw this type of damage (uprooted trees, topped trees & piles of branches) all along the drive to Little Ocmulgee State Park. All but 20 miles of the drive was on secondary roads, although some of them were 4 lane. I arrived at the park around 2:00. The gate guard suggested I set up first, then head to the lodge desk to get registered & pay the remainder of my bill. The original bill for the site was $56.00 per night, however when I paid I was given a senior discount bringing the nightly charge to $40.00. Site 53 is a pull through with water & electric on gravel. Needed 1 1/2" side to side leveling, and a 1" rise for the tongue. The site has a picnic table & fire ring. There is a restaurant that serves breakfast & lunch at the lodge, a short drive from the campsite. 

Site 53

There is an off & on light rain here at the campground; during the drive it went from sunshine to rain so heavy I had to slow down from 55MPG even with the wipers on their fastest speed. 75°F outside for most of the trip & here at the campground, and very humid. I'm running the AC.

During the drive I finished listening to Edna Buchanan's Act of Betrayal, and since I didn't have another audio book downloaded to my phone, looked for & found a Georgia Public Radio NPR station. 

As to Kindle books, I finished reading I Think We've Been Here Before by Suzy Krause, and started Chain Gang All Stars by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah. 

Around 4:00 the power went out in the park, at least for me & the near by sites. It came back on around 4:25. With the trailer set up to run on batteries, I only noticed because the AC stopped working.

Dinner was a Night Hawk Fiesta Enchilada bowl.

More Tomorrow - 

2024-25 Trip to the Southeast, Day 17

Day 17, Tuesday, November 5, 2024 - Aiken State Park, Aiken, SC, Day 3 - 0 Miles, 1,080.9 Miles for the Trip

Hope all those in the US have voted by the end of the day!

Very light rain started around 8:30 last night, off & on throughout the night. 

There was a break around 9:00AM when I made one loop around the campground,then the rain started up again. During the morning it rained light to medium off & on. Still raining at 12:00. 

With the rain I spent the day inside reading. I finished Outside Lanes, and started I Think We've Been Here Before by Suzy Krause. My Kindle is driving me nuts. Any new purchased book won't download until I reboot the Kindle (which doesn't always work), even if the purchase is listed as an instant download. I called Kindle support and they told me that a new purchase can take as much as 24 hours to become available; even when labeled "instant download"? The funny thing is the books instantly download to the Kindle app on my iPhone or iPad. I don't know if it is the Kindle itself or the programing at Amazon, but it is a pain since I prefer reading on the Kindle, and rebooting is anything but instantaneous.

During an after lunch break in the rain I did another loop around the campground. I have a new neighbor moving in, car camping with a pair of easy-ups. Hope the predicted rain holds off while he is here. One of the RVs left - 5 of us, including 2 car campers still in the campground.

Around 2:00 the rain stopped & there was a short bit of sunshine. After that it clouded up, but no rain yet. Since it was still a bit too damp to sit outside, I decided to clean the trailer's back screens & windows. Lots of "fluff" from a previous campground embedded in the window side of the screens. Anyone that has removed the screens in a Hehr frameless window knows how difficult it is to get them back in. The shades & valences in the Escape make it even more interesting. It is much brighter at the dining table!

Yesterday afternoon I thought I heard a hummingbird fly the trailer so I put out my feeder. I must have been imagining it - no one showed up. I pulled the feeder just before dinner since I'm heading to Little Ocmulgee State Park in the morning. I'm using my smallest mat in front of the trailer door and it is covered with wet sand from my shoes. I do my best to scrape it off before going into the trailer, and take my shoes off as soon as I get inside, but there is still sand on the floor between the bed & bathroom. Should feel great heading to the bathroom in the middle of the night. I hope I get it all swept out before hitting the sack.

Dinner was the remainder of the Knorr's Creamy Pesto with added chunks of chicken.

More Tomorrow - 

2024-25 Trip to the Southeast, Day 16

Day 16, Monday, November 4, 2024 - Aiken State Park, Aiken, SC, Day 2 - 0 Miles, 1,080.9 Miles for the Trip

Three times around the campground loop equals a mile walk. Not much is going on. There are 4-5 RVs in the 25 site campground. Most are water & electric, but there are a few full hook up sites, including the empty host site. 

If you are planning a stay here, particularly in a tent, be sure to put things away at night. During my walk I saw many raccoon prints in the sand.

I discovered that while a connection with the WRVO app (my hometown station in Oswego) worked fine on AT&T, as did WXXO in Rochester, NY where I listen to Hearts of Space, an interesting weekly collection of ambient music I enjoy, not so good connecting to KBACH (KBAQ) in Phoenix, AZ. Lots of breaks which doesn't go over well with classical music. Still, it is fast enough for web pages & facebook, and I even managed to FaceTime my daughter in Takoma Park, MD last night. 

After breakfast I sat outside and read. Current book is A. J. Stewart's 18th Miami Jones book, Outside Lanes. They are fast reads, but interesting, even for a non sports person like me. I'm also listening to Edna Buchanan's Act of Betrayal during my driving an morning walks.

I took a break from reading to do lunch ( a turkey sandwich) then it was back outside in the 72°F afternoon for more reading. During my walk I took a photo of the Oliver across the way:

The Oliver

It eventually made it up to 74°F, quite pleasant to sit outside. A few mosquitoes, but not enough to go inside. Around 4:30 I headed in to do my exercises & start dinner.

Dinner was Knorr's Creamy Pesto with added chunks of chicken.

More Tomorrow - 

2024-25 Trip to the Southeast, Day 15

Day 15, Sunday, November 3, 2024 - Aiken State Park, Aiken, SC - 144.6 Miles, 1,080.9 Miles for the Trip

During my morning walk there was only one open site, #18, the small one across from me. Even one of the two cabins was rented. Quite a few left during the morning, but when I got to the dump station, it was empty. 

The traffic on I 77 was very heavy going north, but our side wasn't too bad. I eventually hit I 20, US 1 & US 78. The signage at the park is minimal. There is a sign that points to the campground from the main road, but no more campground signs. I managed to do an extra 25 miles criss crossing the park until I decided that the campground "might" be on Picnic Road which is a 10 mile or so one way loop road. Sure enough, I first found the office (it was closed) and a family that knew the campground was further down the road. The roads in the campground are sand as is the campsite. I'm in site 11, a water & electric site with picnic table & fire ring. Level enough side to side but I had to drop the tongue 2". $30.00 per night plus $10.80 in state & local taxes.

Site 11

The park is about 20 miles from the nearest shopping so I suspect I'll end up eating out of the refrigerator & freezer. While both Verizon & AT&T show 1 bar of service, neither are going to win any internet speed records. Verizon showed 7.3Mbps down and 0Mbps up. The ping at 125ms & jitter at 192ms looked better than AT&T's, but using it for websites, FaceTime or internet radio was useless. AT&T first showed a 776ms ping & 212ms jitter and 22.3Mbps down & .4Mbps up. 5 minutes later it was 62ms ping & 12ms jitter with 26.7Mbps down & 4.1Mbps up. In any case, while I couldn't Facetime the Guidos, a phone call was OK & viewing web pages as well as internet radio and uploading today's site photo was usable. 

An Oliver pulled in across the road from me. Another retired college educator (computer science). Not sure why, but folks in education seem to like fiberglass trailers.

After setting up I drove back to the office and picked up my site & mirror tags. Along the way I could see why the park was closed for quite awhile after the hurricanes. Many trees down & cut just clear of the road, as well as a number that were topped.

Back at the trailer I read outside for a bit, then headed in to do my afternoon exercises & make dinner. With the loss of daylight savings time I won't be spending time sitting outside after dinner - it gets dark an hour sooner.

Dinner was a cheese brat & chips.

More Tomorrow - 

2024-25 Trip to the Southeast, Day 14

Day 14, Saturday, November 2, 2024 - Chester State Park, Chester, SC, Day 6 - 0 Miles, 936.3 Miles for the Trip

After dinner last night I was reading on the computer when a spider ran across the screen.  I attempted to squash it, but it got away.  Now I don't like any kind of "bug" in my trailer, but I really don't like spiders.  Probably comes from my much younger days when I had to carry firewood into the family house when I was in grade school.  There were large spiders in the woodpile, and if you didn't manage to knock them off the pieces of wood as you stacked it in your arms, you found them while carrying in a full load. 

Anyhow, I spent the next 10 minutes looking for the spider with no success.  At least it is in the opposite end of the trailer from my bed.

It was warm enough for my morning walk to be done in a "T" shirt @ 64°F. There were only two empty sites at 9:00AM. A few pulled out during the morning, but the place is still pretty full. One of the empty sites is the small either van or tent site (18) but for some reason a guy came in & set up his tent in the large pull through site next to me. He may have made an on line reservation without knowing it was one of the larger sites in the campground.

After breakfast, more sitting & reading; current book is Asta's Book by Ruth Rendell. Not my usual fare, but interesting. I'm listening to Infection by Scott Sigler. Evidently, he made podcasts of the 3 book series first, and reads the audio books himself. Not the best reader I've listened to, and a very drawn out story. Not sure I'll finish it. Later - I didn't finish it. I rarely give up on a book, although it does happen more often with audio books. In any case, I started listening to Edna Buchanan's 3rd Britt Montero book Act of Betrayal.

After lunch I headed for the showers again. For some reason the water was not as soft as it was last time. No idea why. 

Back at the site I put away the grill & 5 pound propane tank and pulled the plastic mat. I had to sweep the leaves off it before folding it away. The bag I keep it in is falling apart. Need to find a new one. The Guidos found one at a Camping World; if I see one I'll stop.

Dinner was an Amy's Cheese Enchilada bowl.

More Tomorrow - 

2024-25 Trip to the Southeast, Day 13

Day 13, Friday, November 1, 2024 - Chester State Park, Chester, SC, Day 5 - 0 Miles, 936.3 Miles for the Trip

Another warm night; the electric heater never came on. The morning walk was nice, didn't even need a jacket. Lots of campers left this morning. By noon, the park was only half full.

Another day spent sitting outside reading. Not much sun, but warm enough at 74°F. While sitting outside more than 5 trailers arrived. Looks like lots of campers over the weekend. There are still a couple of sites open, one large full hookup pull through, 3 normal sized, and one very small site, all of which are water & electric.

Dinner was a Bubba burger & pickled beets.

More Tomorrow -