The official Big Adventure 2019-2020 has begun. We spent about three weeks in Myrtle Beach resting up for the adventure and celebrating Thanksgiving. It was the first Thanksgiving we ever spent without a family gathering. The menu was a rotisserie chicken from Sam’s Club, Bob Evans mashed potatoes, yams from Big Mike’s Soul Food, green beans, Stove Top stuffing, my mom’s cranberry jello-salad, cinnamon rolls and the best lattice apple pie from Sam’s. We missed celebrating with family, but it sure was easy and delicious.

Saturday, Nov. 30

We are going to try doing some of National Geographic’s most scenic driving tours. The first tour will take us from Savannah, GA. to Jacksonville FL. We spent our first night at Fort McAllister State Park in Savannah, GA. Our site was under beautiful live oak trees. During the evening, the wind started blowing and acorns started falling. During last year’s adventure, I mentioned a few times about the loud sound of rain falling on the roof. When hard acorns hit the roof, it was like putting a metal bucket over your head and having BB’s shot at it. The loud racket went on all night long!

Sunday, Dec. 1

Traveling south on Rt. 17, we stopped in Townsend, GA at the smallest church in the U.S.A. It’s about the size of a small bedroom -10′ x 15′. Lois took the pulpit and started preaching. I took a seat in the back and quickly fell asleep.

Seven miles down the road was the Harris Neck National Wildlife Refuge. One of our travel hopes is to encounter wildlife. The refuge is a saltwater marsh full of wildlife and over 300 species of birds. There is a 4 mile loop that you drive through the refuge. Massive oaks line the drive, covered with Spanish moss. The breezy day made the swaying moss a very beautiful scene.When exiting the park, we were all disappointed that we didn’t see one animal or bird. About a mile down the highway, a possum had been hit by a car and three buzzards were having a feast. Our hopes had been fulfilled, although a dead possum may not technically be wildlife.

When we got to Brunswick, GA, the scenic tour was over except for driving out to Jekyll Island. Because we were meeting a high-school friend for a late lunch in Amelia Island, we skipped the island and continued down Rt. 17. The powerful storm that was crossing the country was getting close to Brunswick and the winds were increasing. As we got close to the waterways south of Brunswick, the Sydney Lanier Bridge appeared in the distance. It was a massive cable-suspension bridge.

Since RV’s don’t get along with high winds, a concern about crossing it started growing. The closer we got, the bigger and steeper the bridge got – it looked like the first hill of a giant roller coaster. Just as we were about to enter up the bridge, I spotted an entrance to an under-the-bridge park. I “chickened out” at the last second and turned into the park. It took Carol about 10 minutes to release the death-grips she had on her arm rests. The back-tracking we had to do made us late for our lunch in Amelia Island.

We had a great lunch with Bob Lythgoe at a seaside restaurant. After a few hours of sharing stories and a big storm, we left for our campground. Two and a half hours of driving on I-95, the Sunday after Thanksgiving, in the dark, was exhausting. We were relieved to finally get to Blue Spring State Park in Florida. We were tired and hungry. When we pulled up to the main gate, it was dark and locked. Lois had to cover her ears for awhile as I vented. With nowhere to go and hungry, we had supper and waited for someone to come through the gates, so we could get the gate-code to get in. A half-hour after supper, someone came to our rescue and we made it to our site for a good night’s sleep.

Monday, Dec. 2

With the gas tank almost empty, we went, first thing, to the closest gas station – “Out of Gas”. We went to another – “Out of Gas”. A few miles later, “Out of Gas”. The busy holiday travel had sucked all the pumps dry. Across the street at a WAWA, business was frantic. We filled up and took off for Winter Haven, FL to visit relatives. They lived at the end of a dead-end street, which made a perfect place to park the Ham. We went out to dinner and had a very nice visit. Before we retired for the night, they presented us with a wonderful plate of Christmas cookies. It’s amazing how fast Christmas cookies can disappear. Thanks Janet, Monya and Eric.

Tuesday, Dec. 3

Another scenic drive awaited us at the Florida Panhandle. The wildlife areas and national forests made for a beautiful drive. We camped that night in the funny-named town of Sopchoppy, FL at Ochlockonee River State Park.

Wednesday, Dec. 4

We were a little late for dinner when we stopped at the park’s general store to watch the store manager hand-feed the local deer standing outside the door. We’re not sure if “tamelife” is the same as wildlife. Our dinner with Nicole, Sean and Lila was fun. I got enlightened about Baby Shark, thanks to Lila.

Thursday, Dec. 4

I decided to start pushing miles to get out west for Christmas in Las Vegas. Carol wasn’t thrilled with my aggressiveness. Soon after we started, we discovered that I-10 was shut down because of an accident. Luckily, we weren’t on I-10 yet, but the detour delayed our progress. It turned into a long day and I got scolded. We ended up at Davis Bayou Campground in Ocean Springs, MS.

Friday, Dec. 6

Today, I got scolded again. At least we’re getting closer to Vegas. We ended up at a parish (county) park in Sulphur, Louisiana. Our site was on the river, all by ourselves. It made for a very quiet stay.

Saturday, Dec. 7

The host at Davis Bayou told me about a beautiful lake campground in Jasper, TX. It was ninety minutes away, so that made Carol happy. If you’ve never driven in Texas before, speed limits are crazy.

We were driving on a winding, two-lane country road in Louisiana with a speed limit of 55. When we crossed into Texas, the speed limit changed to 75. A comfortable speed on a straight interstate in an RV is about 65. I couldn’t image driving 75 on a country road. The local lineup of pickup trucks behind grew to dislike this RV from Ohio.

We got to our Sandy Creek campground for lunch. Our site overlooked the lake, it was a sunny, 68 degree day and we pretty much had the campground to ourselves. After two dog walks, a bike ride and the thought of resting for a day, we decided to stay another day. It was a perfect day that got even better as we watched the Big Ten Championship Football game.

Sunday, Dec. 8

We woke up to a cool, foggy morning. Since we decided to delay our dog walks, we watched the 1959, black and white version of the The Bat with Vincent Price. Carol and Lois aren’t fans of suspense movies, but they couldn’t keep themselves from watching it until the end.