December 31...Moving Day

Today was our last at F.D.Roosevelt State Park. We spent lots of time visiting with friends and family during Thanksgiving and Christmas and our time there (four months) went by fast.

We've changed our plans and won't be going to Gulf State Park this winter. Instead, we moved north about an hour to an area just south of Atlanta. We are at Pine Acres RV Park near Palmetto and between Peachtree City and Newnan. We moved here to be near our friend who will be having surgery soon. Hopefully, everything will go well and we will return to St. Andrews State Park 3/1/12, as planned.

We never knew this park was here. It is just 2 miles off I-85 but there are no signs. We just happened to find it on the GPS. It used to be a mobile home park but the owner has since turned it into an RV park with full hook-ups, nice gravel & level sites, large lights on electric poles for every 2 sites, and three small lakes with ducks (and fish, they say!). There are walking trails around the lake for hiking. The road through the park is paved and level and will make a good place to ride bikes. Not sure how many sites there are.....haven't counted them.....but probably about 25. There were only 6 or 7 vacancies and we picked a site across the road from the lakes, in full sun (great for winter), with easy satellite view.

It was kind of funny.....Sam got the dish out and set it at the back of the camper, facing the lakes.........I turned on the TV and BOOM.....the numbers were 80's & 90's! He never had to adjust the dish....just secure the tripod in the ground and he was done! That has never happened before.

Tomorrow we're going to explore the area. We are about 15 minutes from both Newnan and Peachtree City. I love Peachtree City, so I will do most shopping in that area. As a bonus (for me, anyway) we're only about 20 minutes from downtown Atlanta. Other than driving through on the interstate, we haven't actually been in Atlanta since the '96 Olympics and I'd like to do some sight-seeing of my 'hometown.' Too bad football season ends tomorrow...I would go to a Falcons game! (Can't afford playoffs.....lol).

I'll take pictures and post some soon.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

There is really nothing new to write about at this time.....we are still at F.D. Roosevelt State Park and just taking it easy, enjoying the fall colors. We've stayed pretty busy just visiting with family and friends who live in the Atlanta area, as well as planning for Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Our friends from Navarre, Florida, are coming for Thanksgiving week in their motor home. We're going to have fun cooking Thanksgiving dinner in our RV's and sharing recipes with each other.

Looking forward to the 2 of the grand kids coming Friday for a few days before Thanksgiving since they are out of school all next week. Logan and Tyler are coming but Kyle has a part in the church Christmas play which is on Sunday, so he will come another weekend.

Time is just flying by....can't believe Christmas is so close. I'm getting a lot of Christmas shoppng done this week (I'm at my daughter's house in Douglasville).

The leaves here in central Georgia are going to be at their peak colors in another week or so. Some of them are gorgeous already....the sweet gums and sugar maples.
Last Thursday, my BFF Judy, came down to visit for the day. We took a ride up to Dowdell's Knob where FDR would go to picnic and take in the awesome views. The colors will be much better the next time we go.

Bronze of FDR

FDR's view from Dowdell's Knob

We also drove over to the Group Camp that was destroyed by the tornado in April of this year. That place looks like a war zone....I can see it will be many, many years before it returns to the beautiful forested area it was before the tornado (25-30 years?). The State hired a logging company to come in and take away all the downed timber. Now they are bull dozing and burning one small area at a time. It will be a long time before this area is cleaned up and replanted. It's a real shame, too. The lake and boat docks seem untouched. There are still boats resting on the grass beside the lake. Most of the cabins and the two 'mess halls' are damaged beyond repair. They will have to be torn down and rebuilt. This area around the lake reminded me of the resort in the movie Dirty Dancing.

Tornado damage

Damaged mess hall

Looking across the lake at the docks and boats lying on the grass

Damaged cabins

Looks like this little guy is the last Hummingbird of the season


And of course, the necessary pic of Buddy.....

and some grand kids!

Just a note to keep ya'll updated....

Saturday, Kyle had his birthday party (8!). We didn't go because it was a sleep over for about 16 boys and wayyyyyyy to crowded! They played some carnival games in the yard, had a bonfire, roasted marshmallows, ate pizza, watched movies and spread their sleeping bags out all over the living room to sleep. Kyle said it was a big hit and they all had a blast!

Then on Sunday, Samantha brought the boys over to spend the night....they were out of school on Monday for Columbus Day. It was cool, windy and rainy but they brought their bikes and were able to ride quite a lot.

Their favorite thing is for PawPa to take them for a ride all over the campground in the Mule, which he did 3 or 4 times during the two days they were here. We had a nice fire going when they arrived on Sunday and kept it burning until after dark, to roast marshmallows.

On Monday, it rained a few showers off and on but they were able to ride bikes between the showers. We took the home about 5:30 Monday afternoon and stopped in Newnan at McDonald's for dinner.

We stayed over at their house Monday night and Sam took them to school Tuesday morning since he had to go into Douglasville to get a new battery for the truck. We had been having trouble with it not starting a few times this past week so needed to fix that problem!

We left Samantha's house about noon Tuesday and headed toward Newnan to meet BFF, Judy, for late lunch. On the way, we drove through the newest Georgia State Park, Chattahoochee Bend SP, off Highway 27 near Whitesburg. It's very remote.....11 miles and about 20 minutes from the main highway. Add another 30 minutes to Newnan and that's about 50 minutes to an hour to the nearest "stores". That's a little too far for us as far as hosting goes.....not too bad just to camp for a weekend or so. Being new, it's very nice and the sites are large and clear. There was only one camper there on Tuesday, with two hosts.....one in each loop. The visitor center is beautiful and the playground in Loop #1 is huge.

Visitor Center

I didn't take any pictures so check out their website for more. And I can't believe I didn't take any pictures while the boys were here.......I totally forgot!

We met Judy at Applebee's in Newnan, near I-85, about 2:00 and had a nice visit. We didn't leave the restaurant until 5:30! Buddy was able to get a nice nap in the truck. He needed to rest up from playing with Samantha's dogs! He got some leftover chicken for being such a good dog...lol!

We got back home to FDR and the camper about 6:30 and everything was fine....only 2 campers in our loop after being full over the weekend.

Pictures from F.D. Roosevelt SP

Here's a few pictures of our Host Site in Loop 5. The site is huge and nicely landscaped too!

We managed to bring a palm tree with us from Florida!

Our huge site at Loop 5


Another view

We got back to FDR last Tuesday (the 20th) and have been just taking it easy around the park this past week. One of the hosts (a single lady) has been gone all week so we have taken over the hosts duties including checking the bathrooms, raking some pine straw from the sites and cleaning out any fire pits as needed.

Today Sam went to the maintenance shop and split some wood to bundle and sell. The other host couple left this morning and the single lady is leaving tomorrow so we will be here by ourselves, as hosts, until the second host couple arrives on Friday. We are expecting a full campground every weekend in October and probably November also. Thanksgiving week is a sell out, too.

Tonight I drove about 45 minutes to Newnan, GA, to meet my BFF and have dinner at the Olive Garden. We met 40 years ago, in summer of 1971. Wowee.....time flies! Sam stayed behind this time in case anyone needed to buy firewood and we are the only ones in the campground for now. He said he sold 3 bundles!

Tomorrow or Thursday we will move into the host spot in the 500 circle. I'll get some pictures posted later this week.

Winston, Buford & Flowery Branch, GA

We left our little camper '"home" at FDR State Park on Thursday afternoon and headed north about 70 miles to visit with daughter's family for a few days. Friday morning we had lunch at the school with her middle son, Logan (K-5), for Grandparents week. We left her house on Saturday and headed 70 miles across town to my mother's house in Buford, Ga. We brought Tyler, Samantha's youngest (4 yr.) with us. Of course, no trip thru Atlanta would be complete without stopping at the Varsity Gwinnett for lunch!

I'm pretty sure it was Tyler's first visit and even though he didn't want a chili dog this time, he did get a slaw dog and onion rings!


Tyler loved the onion rings!


Saturday night was Mexican with my son's family then over to their house to visit for a while so the kids could play.


Scott, Angelia, Mackenzie and Ethan

Dr. appointment Monday with mother then on Tuesday it's back to Samantha's for lunch at the school with Kyle (2nd grade). Later that afternoon we'll return to FDR and the camper. Short, busy trip completed!

Change of plans.........we're at F.D. Roosevelt SP. Arrived Thursday evening. We didn't like the looks of the site at Sprewell Bluff.........and the DNR, not park rangers, are in charge of the facility. The site was just a pile of gravel spread on a red dirt road, in full sun, leading to the maintenance shop. Not what we expected. There was already a 'host' there who was supposed to have left but had not. She didn't really act like she wanted to leave and we sure didn't want to stay, so we said adios and came on over to FDR.

Our site at FDR State Park. It's the "Maintenance Host" site.

We knew there was a maintenance host position available and we opted to take it for 30 days until we move into the campground and take one of the campground hosts positions on 10/1.


We really like this site and don't mind being 'outside' the campground at all!

No one had used this maintenance host site since 2008, but with a little weeding and raking, it looks very nice. The full time maintenance guys, Steve and Barry, checked out the electric, water, and sewer and got it all going for us and we moved over from the campground to this site yesterday, and got all set up. We are just outside the back gate on a circular drive that turns off the highway. It's not numbered on my map but runs between Ga190 & US27. We are just 3 miles from Pine Mountain.


View looking toward the highway (our entrance).


View looking down our road toward the curve that goes to the highway from the other end (our exit).

Last night we had dinner at San Marcos Mexican Restaurant in Pine Mountain. It was excellent and the place was packed. We got there just in time (about 6:00) because they were waiting everywhere, including outside, by the time we left. Today for lunch, Sam picked us up barbeque sandwiches at Whistling Pig Cafe. The barbeque was also excellent along with the slaw and fries!

The area where we are located is very level so we can ride bikes all around and over to the campground section across the street. The lower part of the campground is very hilly and not suited for our bikes (or bodies!) ;-)

We're packing up and cleaning out, getting ready to move to Georgia to Sprewell Bluff State Park for the month of September. Sprewell Bluff is a day use park and does not have overnight camping facilities. There is a ranger who lives on the premises and takes care of most issues. We will be caring for the day use facilities around the picnic area down by the Flint River which runs through the park and just general upkeep where needed.




We will be moving to F.D.Roosevelt State Park on 10/1 through 12/31.

August 19.....

Friday, two weeks ago, we took the short drive west down Hwy.98 to visit friends Ron & Barb Gurta in Navarre, Fl. They have a beautiful home on the water with gorgeous views of the bay from almost every room.
We had a wonderful visit and Barb fixed a great lunch we enjoyed out by the pool. Buddy and Katie greeted each other like old friends and shared Katie's lunch and toys!

The lovely Katie


Buddy loved the tile floors


Refreshing dip in the pool before lunch

Yummy lunch by the pool. The ceiling fans kept us cool!

Barb's new kitchen

View from family room

We are looking forward to seeing them again in Georgia, when we are hosting at F.D.R. State Park!

August 21.....

Last Sunday, the hosts couples got together and rented one of the pontoon boats available in the park (exceptional deal for all of us!) ;-)

We rode over to the other side of Grand Lagoon to one of the waterfront restaurants, Bayou Joe's. It was excellent and we will definitely return.

There was a threat of rain, with a small storm in the distance, but we only got a few drops as we went under the closed draw bridge....and we just did fit under that low bridge.

After dinner, it wasn't quite dark so we rode over to another area and stopped at a bar and grill for after dinner drinks and a little local music.

Bayou Joe's.....waterfront dining

Our pontoon parked at the restaurant

Good Food

Good Friends

Nice Views

Low Bridge!

2nd stop, Gracie Mae's Bar & Grill

August 8.......

I returned to Florida, to the camper at St. Andrews S.P. Hated to leave all the family but happy to be back to the camper & Sam & Buddy. Here's some thoughts about Georgia, copied from my Facebook page:

I was raised in Georgia, where you can use the ‘hootch or the Big Chicken for directions. We visit the Atlantic Ocean, Jekyll Island, and Paula Deen in Savannah. We cherish azaleas and dogwoods in the spring and magnolias all summer. We take pilgrimages to the mountains in the fall to see the leaves and keep our babies home from school if it snows. We love the Dawgs, Jackets, Braves & Falcons, Krispy Kreme, Vidalia onions, peaches, boiled peanuts, and a large Frosted Orange. We celebrate the ’96 Olympics in Atlanta and the country’s first gold rush in Dahlonega. We play football, fish in mountain streams, kayak in the Okefenokee, camp, hunt and surf. All soft drinks are called COKE!

Two stadiums: Atlanta Fulton County Stadium and Turner Field
(1997, before the old one was imploded!)
The Georgia Dome in upper left background where the Falcons play.

Georgia Visit

I came up to Georgia on Saturday, 8/23, to bring a truck load of bikes, etc., to Samantha's house and to bring Kyle home because he had stayed with us for a week after Samantha and Logan and Tyler returned home. Nathan came back with us also for the weekend and returned to Panama City with a co-worker on Sunday night or Monday morning. Then I found out my mother wasn't feeling well and my brother and sister-in-law were here from Asheville. I went to Mother's on Wednesday to stay for a while and my brother went home on Sunday. This is Tuesday 8/2, and I'm still at mother's for a few more days. She is much better now so I will probably leave this week to return to Sam & Buddy at the camper at St. Andrews S.P.

We'll be at St. Andrews until 9/1, then we are heading to Georgia to Sprewell Bluff State Park for one month, then on 10/1, go to F. D. Roosevelt State Park until 12/31. On Jan.1, we'll leave Georgia and go back to Gulf State Park in Gulf Shores, Ala. Then back to St. Andrews on 3/1 for four months. Whew............that's the plans for now...........but, of course, they could change at any time! ;-)

Special plans for January or February......but more on that later. Here's a hint:

Last fun days at the beach before returning to Georgia & school!

Pontoon Sunday 7/10/11

Nana floats!

One giant leap for Daddy! (and Logan).

Go Karts one last time!

Go Karts for all!


J.Micheal's Seafood Restaurant