~ Low Internet Service ~

We decided to leave St. Andrews on Friday, 8/22, when the state ordered mandatory evacuation of all the campers. Volunteers could stay, but because we had SOLD (!) the motor home we thought we should keep it safe until we deliver it to the new owners in Newnan, GA.

We stopped over in Vernon, FL, at our cousin's place to wait out the storms and rain. Today there is finally some sunshine. The internet service with my Sprint data card is slow (roaming) in this area so I haven't been able to do much. We've been busy packing up our belongings in the MH and will unload it all at my daughter's house in Georgia before delivering it to the new owners. Then we have the fun (?) of looking for a new RV - this time a travel trailer.

We're planning to leave for home tomorrow! Yippee! Four months is a long time to be away from family. Our next "gig" isn't until November at John Tanner SP near Carrollton, GA. In the meantime we will be visiting with family while looking for a new home on wheels.

So long old girl. We had a fun ride for a year!

~ Just like a woman...... ~

Fay has changed her mind again! We'll be getting some rain - not sure how much. Probably nothing like Melburne or Flagler Beach received. People are still arriving at the campground. Guess no one is very worried about Fay. The rangers said to expect a two-foot surge. We are about 80 feet from the water and maybe 10 feet above sea level. I don't look for it to become much more than a rainstorm, lasting about 24 hours.

It was a nice day yesterday, sunny and not too hot. We drove up to Torreya State Park just to have something to do. We were close to Sneads, where Sam's brother Donald and his wife Ann live, so we called them to meet us for lunch at Apalatchee Restaurant in Bristol, FL. Yummy fried chicken and black-eyed peas. Marilyn was with us and she had fried catfish, the house specialty. Very good home cookin'. Marilyn is camping with us this week. She brought her 24' Hi-Lo and is set up right next to us.

We actually were going that way to make a stop at Bank of America in Blountstown, which is the nearest branch to Panama City.....a mere 47 miles. All of our banking is done with auto deposits and online bill pay so we rarely need to visit in person. We took care of business and had a nice chat with the teller. She told us about the restaurant where we had lunch. Now normally we keep very little cash, dealing mainly with debit cards. The restaurant took cash only (go figure?) so Marilyn paid for ours. After lunch and our excursion to the State Park, we ended up back in Blountstown where the bank was located. We got $$ out of the ATM to repay Marilyn and to have a little cash. Well, dummy me drove off and left my card in the machine. I realized it when we stopped for gas a little later. That's the first time I've ever lost a card of any kind! No real problem....I called the Customer Service Dept. They canceled that card and are mailing another one in 5-7 days to my mailing address in Georgia. We will be there in less than 2 weeks and will pick it up it at that time. Til then, Sam has a card to the same account with a different number which is not affected.

Gregory House is a plantation home built in 1849. It's located in Torreya State Park on the banks of the Apalachicola River.

Front of GregoryHouse, facing the river.

Looking down at the river from the front yard.

Sam and Marilyn walking her dogs.

~ Fay turning away ~

Looks like we will just get some rain from Fay. We're on the panhandle just east of that little peninsula that points south. Maybe north Georgia will benefit from some of the rain.

~ Wind Chime is happy today! ~

~ More rain........and here comes Fay ~

Gosh, I thought the rain was gone for awhile (see Aug. 13 for pics; it looks the same!). Now we're watching tropical storm Fay. Per the local weather, the projected path shows her coming VERY CLOSE to us on Tuesday night/Wednesday morning. Actually, about 80 to 100 miles east of here in "big bend" area. That is, just southeast of Tallahassee and by then she will be a hurricane with minimum winds at 90-100 mph.

The weather.com maps shows Fay turning sooner, towards Tampa.

If it comes too close, there will be a mandatory evacuation of the park. We would just head inland to our cousin's to wait it out. If it's really close, we might have to move the motor home. Ironically, our cousin has reservations to come here camping next week arriving Tuesday. Not sure how that will play out. Stay tuned!