It has been 3 years of so many things to keep us from finishing our trip to see all of the USA. Finally, I felt like the time was right to get back to it.  A year in advance, I made the reservations for the parks we wanted to stay along the way. The plan was to head to Texas, go along the gulf to the Florida Keys and then up the Atlantic side as far as Charleston. Then head back across the lower middle states homeward.

We left before the sun rose and headed south, hoping for clear roads. The roads were clear and we made it to Corning, CA for the night. The next day we headed for our stop in Baron, CA. It was not a good day of driving. As we were driving on I-5, a car was honking as they passed us, pointing back to the trailer. I was sure one of John's bins had come open. It was worse than that. A blow out. We had been driving on the rim for a while. $300 for a new rim and tire.

And then came the snowy weather. I could not believe that far south we were in a snowstorm. There was a lead truck to get everyone through. The next day was more of the same as we headed to Tucson for the night at Mark and Terri's. We went to a celebration dinner for Jim's estate to be finished. Van Horn, TX was the next stop. As soon as we pulled into our site, we noticed another tire was going flat. We located a guy to come take a look. The tire had tiny leaks in it from rolling over the steel belting from the blown out tire the day before. Another $180 for a tire and change.

Finally, we made it to New Braunfels to see Emily and her family. We stayed three nights. It was so much fun to relax and spend time with those two great-grandkids!

It was perfect timing to see Alan and his family too. His brother Lester is living with him now and his mother Teresa was on her last day's visit from Nicaragua. 

Next stop was Port Aransas, right on the gulf. We had a nice time walking the beach and went to a few bird reserves. Pelicans were wintering there.

Ibis and egrets

I really enjoyed my visit to the tiny little 'Chapel on the Dunes', it took some hunting to find it, as the trail is right between two houses.

We stayed there for 4 nights and headed to Jamaica Beach for 2 more nights. We took a ferry to the mainland to save us time. I was not sure about it, but it was a simple thing and there were semi-trucks and other RVs on with us.

On the way to Jamaica Beach, we saw some pink birds nesting. We could not stop to see what they were, but as soon as we unhooked the trailer, John drove me back. It was Rosetta Spoonbills and herons and egrets. 

We enjoyed more days of walking on the beach and visited old town Galveston. 

From there we went as far as New Iberia for a night. 

Then the next day made it to New Orleans. We had been there before, at Mardi Gras when Dennis and Abby attended LSU, but I wanted to see it when it was not full of partiers. Surprise! Would you believe it was Super Bowl Sunday and New Orleans was hosting! It was high security and full of military and police of every branch.

Jacksonville Jaguars owner had his mega-yacht docked there.

Our RV park was close to the Sydney and Walda Sculpture Garden. We walked around and ended the day with warm benights and latte.

And then we headed for Eastpoint, FL for 2 days.

While we were there, we had a problem with our water intake. A mobile repair guy ($50) showed me the part I needed. I ordered it on Amazon to be delivered to the park in the Keys where we would be long enough to get it fixed. While at Eastpoint we drove over to St. George Island and saw the lighthouse. 

Our RV park was right along the water. 

 As I said before, we had to book our sites a year in advance. Three weeks before we left, we received a notice that our site near the Everglades had been cancelled because repairs were not done from Hurricane Mitch. I scrambled and found another park. While we were at Eastpoint, I received the same notice from our park near Tampa, one week before we were to check in. There was nothing around that had space, so I called the park near the Everglades and they had room for an extra night. But that meant instead of an easy day's driving, we had to drive 8 hours to get there. If that was not bad enough, we had another blow out! 1 and 1/2 hours extra added to our day and another $375!

I had low expectations of the Everglades substitute park because they were not all booked up. To my surprise, it ended up being one of my favorite parks. Very rustic, but all the hook-ups we wanted. 

And Sasquatch too!

Roadkill in Florida is not the same as Oregon.

And then it was finally time to get to the Keys. I had wanted to go there for years. It was a short four hour drive. My first impression was disappointment as we drove in bumper to bumper traffic and all you could see was hedges of mangroves the lined the hwy. 

Before I knew it, things opened up and those tropical waters did not disappoint. 

'Fred' the famous tree has survived hurricanes.

I had splurged for out RV park. It was packed tight with motorcoaches that made us feel tiny. We stayed on Sunshine Key right in the middle of the keys so we could drive to see them all. 

Our first night there, we cracked open the champagne that our neighbors gave us before we left home.

Our beach

One of our days, we took a drive just to scope things out for parking and traffic at Key West. It was packed, so we decided to take the bus when we came back to spend the day. The bus only cost $1 each, each way! It took 1.5 hours and we didn't have to find a parking spot. I asked a person that was paying for parking and he said it was $50!

First thing we did was get in line for a photo at the southernmost point of the USA. The line wasn't as bad as I had expected. 

I toured the Hemmingway House and saw the ancestors to his six toed cats who roam the property.

Where he wrote his books. 

We had a Cuban coffee and a Cuban sandwich at Cuban Coffee Queen and topped it off with key lime pie.

Key West has chickens running everywhere. One of them decided to see what we had to eat.

We found a place for a fancy drink and then I left John there and went to the Butterfly Arboretum.

I spent so much time inside!  Butterflies were everywhere and along with them were all kinds of beautiful birds. I loved it!

Right in our park we had manatees, iguana, birds, fish, a pool, and sunsets.

Baby and Mama Manatee

We spent our days driving to see the sights. On deer island, we did spot a tiny deer, but I only got a shot of its tail. 

While we were there, Amazon delivered the water part and a mobile guy that lived right there at our RV park came and replaced it. $264!

We headed north for Miami. I had a place reserved at Hollywood Beach. I didn't know that it was a tourist destination. We had two nights booked there.

We spent the afternoon there.

 The next day we went to Little Havana.

From Miami, we headed along the coast to 

St. Augustine for four nights. We had been there years ago with our kids and my parents, but this time was for me to find the homes that my book characters had lived in. I found most of them. I started out with the lighthouse.

Maria's House above

Courthouse where she did business

Military Hospital where Margaret worked

Margaret's house

It was really fun to walk on the streets that were in my books.

Oldest Schoolhouse

City Gates

Castillo San Marcos

I don't post a lot of food photos, but these have to be posted. I love beignets, but this place called Harry's took it them up another notch. The food was great, but this dessert was amazing.

Beignet stuffed with an Oreo, then drizzled in a white chocolate bourbon sauce and a drizzle of chocolate. John ate 1/2, thought they were good, but rich, I ate two and finished his 1/2 and took the other 3 home and warmed them up. So good! The oreo softens up and is kinda creamy.  

On Flickr, I follow a guy named Ed from Titusville. He posts photos from Merritt Island and Orlando Wetlands. His photos inspired me to visit them.

He shares where he shoots and gave a perfect description on how to find the nesting owl. I found her and even could see the owlet! 

We drove on to the Cape Canaveral National Seashore. As we stopped at the entry, there was an armadillo!

The space shuttle was on the launch ready for the evening blast off.

From there we went to the Orlando Wetlands. It ended up being my favorite place we visited. I considered contacting Ed to meet up, but thought it might be awkward. While we were there, I wondered if he was there too. But I don't even know what he looks like, so I would not have known.  That night, I was on Flickr and he had just posted a shot almost the same as mine!  I checked the timestamp and he had been right there at the same time as we were!  I wrote him a note and thought it was hilarious. I really regret not contacting him beforehand.

Mama and her nest

I could not believe that you just walk along next to gators. I posted this one to show how close they are.

They are not interested in us at all.

There were so many birds nesting, egrets, ibis, storks, herons, and spoonbills.

A real treat for me was to see the sandhill crane family.

I could go on and on with photos, believe me!  But that is a good idea of what we saw there.

We left there for St. Simons Island for four nights. In the 80's I read a series of Christian Historical novels by Eugenia Price. I fell in love with the characters that lived on St. Simons and St Augustine and wanted to see where it all took place. I was not disappointed!

James Gould Lighthouse

I found slave houses, but the plantations had all been burned in the war.

Slave quarters

A memorial to Neptune Small, a slave

It surprised me how emotional I got when we arrived to the Christ Church Federica. John waited in the truck as I walked around the church yard and cemetery that held the remains of all the characters I had read about. It was as if I was visiting graves of relatives. 

Anson Dodge was the pastor of the church. He took his bride on a 3year trip around the world. She died in India of cholera. He buried Ellen beneath the pulpit where he preached. Years later, he married Anna Gould. They had a son who died in a carriage accident when he was 3. When Anson died, Anna had Ellen's remains removed from the church and she buried them together. Their grave is on the right, Anson's mother is in the middle and Anna's grave is on the left by the crosses that mark the grave of their son.

I found so many of the graves of the ones that had been in my books. Eugenia Price is buried here too.

Ft Federica, an active settlement before the Civil War.

Oaks and Spanish Moss

John and Charles Wesley's' church in St. Simons.

Savannah

Forrest Gumps bench was in this place for the movie, it is now in a museum.

We walked the streets and loved all the old homes.

Jekyll Island

We took a trip out to see the driftwood sculptures on the beach. We also saw the ruins of the Horton House.

The whole beach is full of trees that have fallen from erosion.

Charleston was our next stop for three nights. The first day we went to see the Angle Oak tree.  It is estimated to be 300 years old.

The next day a bad storm came in with a tornado warning.  Our trailer was rocking hard as the rain and wind hit. The park manager told us that downtown Charleston would be flooded. We waited around most of the morning but finally decided to give it a try. It was raining as we left but had stopped raining by the time we arrived downtown. All was dry and open for visits. We walked around and saw all the sights on my list and more. I am so relieved we didn't miss it!

The Aiken Rhett House. The closest I got to 'Gone With the Wind". It wasn't a part of the movie, but was a major part of the antebellum history. The brown building attached to the back of the house was the slave quarters.

Charleston is nicknamed the 'Holy City'. I could see why as we drove in.  Every corner had at least one church, sometimes one on every corner. All with huge steeples. 

We saw the Charleston City Market, then walked to the waterfront and saw the Pineapple Fountain.

Right across from the waterfront park is Ft Sumter, where the first shots of the Civil War were fired. We could see dolphins there too.  

We walked on original cobblestone streets and saw beautiful homes everywhere. A famous area is called Rainbow Row.

The homes were huge and gorgeous, but I could not figure out why they would even bother building the huge verandas with only another huge home in front to look at. 

We left Charleston with the plan of going as far as we could each day. The destination was Clarksville, Arkansas to see the gravesites of Jimmy's grandparents and father. I found the Old Cemetery, where his great-grandparents were buried, but it was in ruins, so I didn't find their graves. Later I discovered there is a second Old Cemetery, but it is on private property, so we would not have seen their graves anyway. That is where is Father is buried. I will just have to be content that I have internet photos of those.

We did find the Stillwell Cemetery where his Grandmother and Grandfather are buried. There were other Feltnors buried there. Until then, we didn't know there was other family there.

From Arkansas, we headed to Tulsa, OK where my high school friend Melanie just moved to from Memphis. We had a really nice time with them catching up, they made a great home cooked meal and we soaked in the hot tub.

As soon as we got on the hwy back to our RV park, we heard a pop noise and realized we had a flat tire! This one was on the insurance company.

From Tulsa, we headed south to Caddo Lake, Texas. We had a site right on the water.  Such a unique place. We stayed two nights. 

We discovered one of the cables on the slide was down to one cord. Luckily, we had a spare one that we had from a repair guy on our first trip. He told us that we always needed to keep one on hand. So glad we did. But even with it on hand, the repair guy charged us $400 to install it!

We took a swamp tour. It is such a unique place to see. Of course I have a billion photos.

After Caddo Lake, we headed to Mineral Wells, TX to see Leah and her family. We went to Ft.Worth together.

I had high expectations about the longhorn parade. As it turned out, there were less than 10 of them and it was over in about 5 minutes. Oh well, we had never seen longhorns before and we had a good time.

Our reflection...

We had 3 nights booked there, but on the second morning, we saw that there was a high wind and dust alert. It was going to last for a few days. We decided it would be best to hit the road that afternoon and maybe avoid it. We left at 4pm and drove to Santa Rosa, NM at 12am. We parked in a Love's truck stop for the night. We had not out-driven the wind. It blew hard 50mph winds all night and kept on going the next day. We kept watch on the weather and tried to find a way out of there. The road we had planned on taking to AZ was closed for snow. Finally we saw a route south-west with no wind. At 7pm, we decided to try it and made it to Deming, NM for another night in a truck stop. By morning we headed west with no wind. We drove a while then pulled into an RV park and took showers, ate and napped for a few hours, then hit the road north towards Vegas for another night at a truck stop. The next day we did well until we hit Winnemucca and the winds were worse than before. John did his best, but we decided to get a hotel. The next morning was calm as we headed into Oregon, we drove north to avoid snow and made it home that afternoon. The grandkids were waiting at the end of our street to run us on in! 

I never expected snow in New Mexico and Arizona!

We had every kind of weather.

Dust storm again

Finally Home and DONE!