American by birth, Southern by the grace of God.
Louis Grizzard, a great American
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It's choice ~ not chance ~ that determines your destiny.
Jean Nidetch

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Monday, May 20, 2013

Moving right along............

We are on our way to St. Andrews State Park in Panama City, FL, for four months:  from 6/1 until 10/1.  

On the way we are making a couple of stops.  First at Florence Marina State Park in Georgia on the large Walter F. George Reservior.  The campground here is small with only 46 sites but it is very well maintained with many large oaks and pines.  No "overgrown" brush, etc., between the sites.  The bath house is new and exceptionally nice.




Site #20


Today we drove over to Providence Canyon State Park, also in Georgia.  They call this the little grand canyon but to me it resembles Bryce Canyon in Utah, only much smaller.  I would have liked to walk to the bottom on one of the trails but knees won't permit it!  





 
On the way back we stopped in Lumpkin, GA, at  a local BBQ joint, 4 Way Stop BarBQue, appropriately named for it's corner location at the 4 way stop, of course.  Very interesting place:  the owner lives in the large older house and after cooking barbecue on his front porch for himself for several years, he decided why not cook for lots of others?  So he made the large hallway the inside eating area and the large front porch the outside eating areaThe kitchen is in the front corner of the house and the waitress opens the window to serve the "to go" customers.  Usually open Thursday through Sunday, we lucked up as they were open today to feed the crew shooting a movie in the areaFood was great too!

Front of the house/restaurant.

Corner angle showing the stop signs!

  Front wrap-around pouch with seating and more tables and large grills in the gazebo area.

 Inside hall with tables

 Part of the living quarters, roped off living room between kitchens (2).  More living quarters were on the left side of the hall.



Tomorrow we are heading further south to Lake Seminole in Georgia and in Florida.

















Sunday, May 5, 2013

Catching Up..............


This is already May.....and we have been super busy!

Tallie is still with us and doing great.  She fit in perfectly with our family.  She took over almost immediately but Buddy still (thinks he) rules the roost....LOL!

In March we went to St. Andrews State Park, Panama City, FL, to meet up with our friends Barb and Ron from Navarre, FL.  

Sites 37 and 39 at St. Andrews.  Our camper and their motor home.

In April we met up with them again at a great little place in Keaton Beach, FL....Old Pavillion RV Resort, a really cute little Mom and Pop style campground directly on the GulfWe already made reservations to return next April for 2 weeks.  Thanks, Karen at Florida/Georgia Camping for the tip on this little gem.


 Site #24 on the Gulf


 Had a great time exploring the area and finding some new restaurants.  One day we took a picnic lunch and found a picnic area at Bald Point State Park.  
  Ron and Barb

We managed to get the Kayak out for a few paddling trips. 
 That's us beside the 2 palm trees.

We stayed at Keaton Beach for 10 nights then moved over to Chiefland to visit with our cousin at her place.  She has a great set-up for visiting campers, with full hook ups!  
 
Set up at Marilyn's.
We took many, many road trips from these two locations and visited 12 State Parks, 3 Springs and the old Florida cross state canal:

  • Econfina River State Park
  • Forest Capital Museum State Park
  • Wakulla Springs State Park
  • Ochlockonee River State Park
  • Bald Point State Park
  • Lafayette Blue Springs State Park
  • Peacock Springs State Park
  • Troy Springs State Park
  • Devil's Millhopper State Park
  • Itchetucknee Springs State Park
  • San Felasco Hammock State Park
  • Rainbow Springs State Park
  • Ginny Springs
  • Pie Springs
  • Blue Springs
  • Inglis Locks and Spillway
 Suwanee River at Lafayette Blue Springs State Park

Many of the Springs are closed to swimming due to high water levels from local flooding of the rivers.  Suwanee River was 5 to 6 feet above normal.

 Flooded walkway and stairs going down to Lafayette Blue Springs.  Notice the tarnish colored water from the flooding.

Peacock Springs was one of my favorites.  Just beautiful and clear water.  Divers love this springs with over 33,000 feet of underwater passages and one of the longest underwater cave systems in the U.S.  Only divers with cave certification are allowed to explore the caverns.
 Peacock Springs beautiful reflections.
Look close to see the 2 divers (or click to enlarge).
We are now back at Little Tallapoosa Park in Carrollton, GA, for a couple of weeks to see some more little league games and visit family and mother's for Mother's Day.
 
 Little Talapoosa State Park
Site #6 at Little Tallapoosa Park. 




Ethan's 5th Birthday!
 

 Ballplayers!


Heading back to Florida about May 21st for four months of hosting at St. Andrews State Park (and a few more road trips!)