Our camp site at Skidaway Island State Park was huge. The sandy area is the tent pad. This is a pull through site, #60.
Hung up some hammocks for talking and relaxing. It's the first time we have been able to use our hammock, it's not allowed at Florida State Parks to hang things in trees. We ended up with two areas, the hammocks were daytime hangouts since that area had shade during most of the day, and the fireside was used more at night. Chairs got moved back and forth as needed, especially the yellow rocking chair.
View of the vehicles from the hammock. The picnic table was a long one, longer than our tablecloth.
Set up a dishwashing station because the bathroom sink is tiny and the kitchen sink doesn't work.
Fauna checking us out.
There was a oak stump that she was throwing at, but it's surprisingly hard to get the knives to stick.
As mentioned in the last post, driving out of Florida, it looked like a 2 hourish back up coming in on I-95. Some quick research showed that it was the ONLY road where they were stopping traffic. How incredibly stupid I thought, but started mapping out other options.
US 17 was out as it is I-95 in that stretch. I figured US 301 or US 441. I looked at both and to our destination, it was only 5 miles less using US 301, but it also offered the advantage of less interstate driving. I have found since I can't drive 70-80 mph in the coach, the lesser traveled roads don't impact our time very much and are much more relaxing to drive on with less traffic.
This route only put us on about 4 miles of Interstate that I could have easily avoided leaving the campground, but I knew there was a good gas station right next to I-95. From there is was all US highways (17, 84, 90, 1, and 301) all the way to Gainesville, FL. All of the driving north of Jax, was new roads for me so that's a plus!
Lucy liked the Florida sign on US 301/ 1 as we entered, but didn't get a pic and I didn't want to stop so here is the google street view of it.
It had that mid century feel with the breeze bricks that were so popular back then.
Major Tommy on navigation duty while the rest of the Stuffy Patrol was in their relaxation period. This was on US 301 south of Starke, FL. We stopped a short time later on the south side of Gainesville, having skated around the east and then south side of town. I gassed up on Williston Rd (FL 121) and headed out of town.
We got a later than desired start leaving close to 11 AM for a 6 hour drive.. This put us leaving G-ville shortly after 4 PM and traffic was getting a little heavy with daily commute. As I was lumbering along the two lane country road people were going around me even though I was doing about 55-60.
Earlier in the day (around the time of the pic above) I had noticed that the sun visor on the front was vibrating a lot. So I'm humming along and had just received my in flight service of a beverage, pub pretzels and smoked almonds, when BOOM there is a loud noise and I instantly realize the sun shade is gone off the front of the coach!
File photo of the coach with the visor over the windshield installed as purchased.
As the PO Kerri told me, her father bought the coach around 2000 and had it painted, updated, and the visor and wheel well covers installed. So, apparently the adhesive they used was only good for 20 years.
Back to the moment....BOOM, holy crap! I yell out, VISOR GONE and look to the rear view, expecting it to come crashing down on the Mini behind me, but I don't see it (rearward vision is only directly behind me). There is no shoulder, only deep grass so I'm loathe to pull off.
I'm coasting now, as I know I NEED to stop. I see a driveway with a locked gate and it's just long enough for me to pull into and get off the road. I figure it's probably a half mile now and I don't want to have to walk carrying it (I have no idea how heavy it is, if it's salvageable, etc._ The only thing I DO know is that, no one got hurt and I am very happy about this, as it easily could have gone into incoming traffic and done bad things.
Dammit, my snack has to wait, but I guzzle my drink walk 10 ft and say, hell with this and go back inside (after a quick look at the damage up top). Looks like the adhesive gave it up and the bolts were only there to hold it in place until the glue dried (they all pulled out).
Six holes over the middle of the windshield, and two more on each side (not pictured). This is after we parked at the campground. Things on the side of the road, were fast and furious, no time for pics.
Lucy stood in the road and waved me to back out onto the state road when traffic broke. She ran over and jumped in (I didn't stop for her) and we headed back looking at a lower speed before traffic caught up to us. I must have gotten out of the gas fast as it was only about 1/4 mile down the road in the grass on the side we were traveling it. My best guess is it let go on the driver's side first (were I saw it vibrating), and lifted spinning off to the right and landing on the edge of the asphalt and quickly sliding into the grass.
This is evidenced by the lack of severe damage to it. Lucy spotted it in the grass as I was still driving. I pulled off on the shoulder and ran across the road to retrieve it. The whole operation from hull separation to retrieval was at max 5 minutes. I made another 3 point turn (unassisted this time) and we were back on course for the Rainbow system.
Right after retrieval, and close up of damage after arriving at the campground.
Minor scuffing from a short slide. From the location of the scrapes, I have a good idea how it landed.
All hands made a damage report, but none was visible from inside the craft. We arrived at the campground and I realized I had reserved site 13. Coincidence? I think not in retrospect (read on!) We get checked in an head to the site. I buy firewood, but then we never use it (loaded for next trip!).
We hook up and I survey the damage. get my bathing suit on and head for the 72 degree spring fed river. It feels fabulous. We splash around for a bit and then get out as it starts pouring rain and we are basically all cooled off. We shelter under a picnic shelter and wait for it to pass (15 min) and then pedal back to the coach.
A quick check shows that the rain is not our friend with the new holes and water poured in all over the dash. Unfortunately it is now too wet to tape anything.
Fl gets hot and steamy in the summer time! That is steam coming up off the asphalt after 20 min of rain, so you know it was hot.
We cook up dinner, but use the griddle inside to make fajitas as it was pretty wet out. Finished up and looked out and it was clear! Grabbed the Binocs and the bike and waited for Lucy to come out. My plan was to ride down to the river for best NW viewing. She came out about 5 min later which allowed my eyes to adjust to the dark a bit. I peddled about 2 sites down and rounded a corner that THERE IT WAS in all it's naked eye glory. I did NOT expect a naked eye viewing but damn, there it was. Obviously, Dunnellon is a lot darker that where we were before. (and being north of town helped).
I took out the binocs anyway for a better view than went back to the coach and got the less than impressed teenager out to come look at it (one day she will appreciate it). Not only had I spotted the comet, shared the experience with my enthusiastic son, but now I was seeing it with my own eyes and no equipment other than my glasses. It was a little emotional for me as a life long dream I carried for over 45 years had been realized.... Unfortunately, I didn't have a good enough camera to take pics with.
We retired back to the coach and played some more games....then off to sleep.
Day 7
So a week in! I'm the early riser in the family and I slept in until after 9AM ( workdays I'm up at 5:45). As we wanted to float the river, I got rolling very slowly, knowing it is only a 2hr float. So anyway, by the time I finally rolled over to the river and talked to the lady in the gift shop, found out as a camper with my own floaty, it was $10 for the tram ride back up (2 miles) and you could go as many times as you like, so long as you are in the river by 3PM (last tram at 5).
She gave me the waivers to sign and I headed back to the campsite. I think we had chocolate chip pancakes (again) and then I blew up the floaties which did take some time as they were big. By the time we got back to pay, it was already 1PM!
So we set off and got in the river. We had fun and 2 hours later we were at the end of the run. At first I wanted to hurry up as it was only 2:30 and we could squeeze in a 2nd float. Mother Nature had other ideas as soon after we got out, the sky turned black, the wind cranked up and the tropical deluge started to descend upon us. Right about the time they were loading the tram, they pulled everyone who was not a camper off it to wait and they sent us out to return to the campground.
The wind was probably 30 mph and the rain was coming in sideways. After 2 hours on the river in 72 degree water, I was COLD and started shivering (watch me in the video). It was a full on adventure ride back to the campground.
Shuffling through the water back to the site, Naya asked if I was going to the coach first. As this was a really good question (it was still pouring), I said, no, hitting the shower for warm water pronto. Luck was on my side as someone left a whole bottle of shampoo and body wash, so I used them to get all nice and clean.
Walked back to the coach and got dried off and relaxed until it was time for dinner. Again it was super wet outside, so we stayed in to cook. After dinner we watched the video we shot on the river and played some more games until it was bed time. Too cloudy for comet viewing.
The second port of call on our tour took us out of the home galaxy of Florida into the northern reaches of GA. I was a fairly straight 180 mile shot right up I-95. This would be the last leg of the journey with the support shuttle craft flying in formation. As I anticipated it took us right at 4 hours to make the drive with a gas stop and trip to the grocery store (more on that later).
We left the campground and drove through Old Town to US 1, and headed north. From St. Augustine to Jax is actually faster up US 1 as there are not many traffic lights and I-95 is pretty far west of town. Naya got some drive time in as I wanted her to drive the same stretch of road I made her brother drive when he was learning.
Interestingly (and foreshadowing), I had read a post on the GMC FB group about a guy losing his brakes on a mountain road out west (he was able to safely stop), so I made it a point to check the fluid level in the Master Cylinder. It was down just a little, so I topped it off at the gas station and off we went. Just before the interstate, the girls swapped drivers in the Jeep and we hit the east beltway around JAX.
Drive by video going over the bridge in Jacksonville, FL
Everything was running smoothly, except the slippy fan belt. It was getting really annoying as I was trying to move with the flow of traffic and it was right at the speed where it would start squealing. We got around town with no issues and headed north on 95 toward GA and I slowed to a pace that would keep the belt quiet.
I had been wondering if they stopped the CoVid check point coming into FL on I-95 and half an hour later we could see it was still in full swing. It was about 11:30 AM and the traffic was backed up for at least 2-3 miles as they stop EVERY vehicle entering on I-95 South. I vowed right then to find a different route back.
We stopped at the GA welcome center for a potty break, and to make sandwiches for lunch, then got back on the road again. I checked the brake fluid and it seemed to be holding it's level since I had topped it off.
I took off immediately again and trundled along in the slow lane doing about 60. The girls caught up again about 70 miles later, about 10 miles before out exit.
We were meeting my boy and his girl at the park and after speaking with them, decided on steak and potatoes for dinner (needed to buy steaks). While stopped I had googled and saw there was Kroger on the way, and a Publix right next to the state park (but a little past it). I decided to patronize the Kroger as a change of pace (we don;t have them in FL). I found parking and masked up and went straight to a disappointing meat section. They steaks they had didn't look really good and they were really expensive for what they were. Tons of Chicken and Pork though. After discussing with Lucy for 5 minutes, I said let's get out of here and go to Publix.
I was not disappointed as I got a really thick London Broil (almost 3 lbs!). Got some firewood, ice, and a few other things and headed out.
We checked into the campground (got a magnet for the RV fridge) and got set up. Honestly, our campsite was larger than the property my house sits on. It was huge and our neighbors were at least 100 feet away on any side.
The boy and his lady arrived about 30 min later and after joyous hugs (haven't seen him in a year), got to the business of handing off the Jeep to it's new owner. The meat was marinating by now and I started setting up the fire to grill. Usually, I just use wood, but this spectacular chunk of beef needed an even heat, so I broke out the bag of Mesquite charcoal and got busy with it.
Beef, it's what's for dinner! You can see the taters wrapped up in the foil. Looks like the double round of Mai Tais were all gone already!
The view back toward the front of our site. The firepit was at least 75 feet from the coach, tent pad off to the left of the photo.
Earlier JT and I took a bike ride to recon a comet viewing area and found this view looking in the right direction.
You can see the observation tower under the tree branch on the right. There were people at it so, we figured we would come back that way later for night viewing. Notice how clear the sky is! BTW that is the Intercoastal Waterway out beyond the reeds.
We had three bikes (four if you counted JT's that was in the Jeep), but one of them had a flat I discovered in St. Augustine. The beach cruiser had a tendency to throw the chain if you weren't careful. The path was bumpy and the boy got tired of putting it back on. In the process of trying to fix it, the chain actually broke!. So now we were down two bikes....
We all walked back to observation area at dusk and went up on the tower. As it was wood, it shook so the boy and his new camera went down to the ground for better photos.
The comet is actually behind him in the photo, and he said I blinded him with the flash. I like the picture myself, even if he's a little out of focus.
The comet it turned out was really easy to spot this evening as I had seen it the night before and knew where to look. I pointed out (JT had only seen it pre-dawn so different constellations), he brought his camera up and nailed it on the first look. He took lots of pics, and we spent a good hour or longer gazing upwards. He also tried to get shots of Jupiter and Saturn, but couldn't get the focus right.
Went back and stoked up the dinner coals and burned a few logs before calling it a night.
Day 4
Pancakes and Bacon for breakfast, followed by fixing the squealing belt. After two days, I couldn't take it anymore. Internet research and looking at pics of Oldsmobile accessory brackets I came up with a plan. With JT helping we got it snugged up in about half an hour.
A quick reconfigure on the Jeep (move stuff around), and we all were on our way into Savannah about 15 miles away. We parked at a garage downtown and I thought this was a cool alley shot.
We started walking around and made or way to the riverfront as it was getting to lunch time. It was too crowded in the restaurants next to the river, so we retreated back up the hill and a block over and found a brewery with good food. We went and found a bike shop and after talking with the owner, decided to bring back the bike and let them put the chain on so it wouldn't be loose (they could pop off the extra links).
At 5PM the highlight of my day happened when a new bar in town called the Bamboo Room opened for the day. We were the 2nd people in the door and got a good look around before it got busy.
A friend of ours from the Hukilau was the main guy who planned and orchestrated the build out of the space. He did a fantastic job with the decor. It definitely has the right vibe inside.
After a couple rounds of drinks and some horderves we were ready for the next adventure.
Clouds obscured the viewing, so we cooked chicken on the fire and burned through a lot of firewood.
Day 5
Slow easy start to the day and after breakfast JT and I loaded up the Schwinn and headed to the bike shop. It took about 45 min and $58 later I had a new chain installed and new tire for the mountain bike. We had changed the tube but the sidewall in the tire was shot...
We returned to the campsite and went for a very HOT bike ride for about 3 miles. We saw an old Moonshine still that was abandoned in the park
Testing out the new chain
Water was down for the time being.
Part of the old still. you can see axe cuts through it where the revenuers got it during a raid.
We decided to go to the beach. Even though we were pretty close to ocean at the campsite, there was no beach in the marshy area we were at and had to drive back around to Tybee Island. Even though is was less than 20 miles, it took us 45 min each way.
The kids having fun
If you zoom in, you can see the others in the background.
We went late which was good as most people had left for the day so the crowd on the beach was fairly light. We all went swimming and caught a few waves on the boogie board. We dragged the grille with us and made burgers on the beach and enjoyed them there.
We then slogged it back to the campsite and played a few games and made another fire.
First family photo in over 4 years where we are all in it. Tommy even photo bombed it. The new curtains look nice.
The fire was still going late. I ended up dumping water on it to kill it.
Late night view of the Pineapple. We said our goodbyes, as we had a longest leg of the trip the next day. Only 2.5 days, but sure was nice spending time with my son.
Best laid plans of mice and men and all that. Originally, had two weeks off in a row, with a short trip to the Rainbow River planned for late July/Aug. We had plans for Texas or Maine after that, but as with everything in 2020, plans change and some other commitments forced our hand and a rearrangement of dates was necessary. We were able to take a week and roll it together with the Rainbow River, so we got 9 nights on the road this outing. I have another week off coming up, but the Space Pineapple is down for repairs during that time (details below and in following days).
We had four stops on this 1100 mile tour of the Florida system, with a jaunt out of the system to Georgia for 3 nights to see my son. I will break the blog out to each stop as a separate entry and each location offered up new and interesting experiences. Showing the route taken, not the one originally planned. Read on for the reasons behind the changes
Having just used the coach two weeks ago, I was feeling pretty good that all the mechanical systems needed for safe flight were in order. Lucy started on our new curtains and packed her sewing machine along for the ride as they didn't get finished prior to departure.
This mission to beyond the edge of the Florida galaxy had an additional crew member
Astrobear Capt. Ted E. Bear reporting for duty on this space mission to far away lands.
Command module co-pilot Hugo, Major Tommy (away team), and Science officer Capt Ted E. are strapped in and ready for lift off, ready to travel back in time to the oldest city in North America.
First stop was Anastasia State Park in St. Augustine. A beach front park, but the campground is just far enough from the beach, you want to bike or drive over to it.
We got loaded up and headed out on time for the second trip in a row! Pulled out around 11:50 AM Wed morning as I knew it would take longer in the coach to make it the 250 miles. I figured 5 hours and with a gas stop and a quick stop for takeout, I made in about 5:10. Above 2500 RPM one of the belts was slipping and would start squealing loudly, so I would have to back off the throttle until it quieted down, then ease back on the gas. It hadn't been a problem as our usual outings as we stay off the interstate.
Aside from that, I realized 20 min into the ride that I forgot to lock down the paper towels and the whole roll unwound while I was driving. Normally, not an issue as crew can cover the small damages, but I was flying solo except for my stuffy crew (they are useless when under power). Luckily, the towels stayed in the coach and the glue on the roll was good, so I just had to roll up the roll again.
We arrived and got settled in and headed for the beach. As we had multi stops, I skipped bringing a surfboard as there was surf shop just outside the park entrance if it was really good. We did bring a boogie board, and there was some small shin to knee high lines coming in. Lucy and I both caught a bunch of them and it was surprisingly thumpy for the size. We stayed in the water until the sun was going down.
Dunes and a platoon of Pelicans flying by. This section of shoreline I found out is relatively new. It was some offshore sand bars, but in the last 100 years or so, once they built the jetty at the rivermouth and ocean it filled in and vegetation took off on it. The actual campground area about a 1/4 mile away is older growth with many mature trees etc.
Part of this trip for me was to try and spot comet NEOWISE as the photos were outstanding, and the rainy season in South FL had made viewing it impossible. St. Augustine wasn't any better this ever as a huge thunderhead had the entire NW part of the sky obscured, so we headed back to the campground and had dinner.
My Mom's backyard pineapple in the Pineapple. We saved it to share with my other offspring.
I built a fire using, some more of the wood from my Mom's oak and it still wasn't dried out enough (we left it in the coach to bake for the past 2 weeks). It would burn, but slowly and you could hear the water boiling out of it.. Lucy and I sat out for awhile and we turned in fairly early as I had been really tired from work and not sleeping well.
Day 2 came dark and early as I woke up at 5AM for some unknown reason. I thought about going back to sleep, but even though I KNEW the morning viewing on the comet was fleeting (getting lower on the horizon every morning), I rationalized if I didn't get to see it, I would always wonder if I blew my chance.
Here is a video that pretty well describes how it was moving across the sky. It was based on Charlotte, NC so everything was even higher in the sky than here in Florida.
Okay, so with that key information, I knew the morning to the 16th would be the end of morning viewing, but decided WTH do I have to lose and went to the beach at 5:15 AM. My first thought was to go to the top of the dune on the overlook so I would get a better angle and look to the NE just out over the ocean from shore. The first thing I noticed was the No-See-ums. Usually, insects don't bother me, but they were biting me every second or two. I rationalized that down by the waters edge would be better. As the wind was offshore, it was only slightly better as now I was getting bitten every 5 seconds.
First light of the morning around 6:15 AM
The surf had died down overnight and was no longer rideable. Unfortunately, there was alot of moisture low in the sky although it was broken overhead and I could see Venus clearly, but Mercury was obscured by clouds that didn't move until it was too light out.
Or so I thought! Looking at this pic at home on the big screen, you can see Mercury just above the cloud below and slightly left of Venus. Wow, missed it naked eye, but got a picture (I checked the star maps and it works out). COOL!
I kept trying to find the comet, although I wasn't exactly sure where I should be looking but knew it was right at the edge of the horizon. As I found out later, at this latitude, it was no longer above the horizon in the mornings by this date.... I toughed it out with the bitey flies and watched the sun come up to a pretty nice sunrise. I was along until the last 10 min before it popped up.
Turned out to be a decent sunrise for the dozens of bug bites I paid for it with. But I don't welt up, so 20 min later I forgot about them. And by the time I got back to camp the sun felt hot already lol.
On the ride back to the campground. I saw a Great Egret and juvenile red shoulder hawk.
I relaxed with coffee and breakfast for a little bit, then took a look at the squeaky belt issue and didn't see a good way to adjust it and decided to leave it alone rationalizing I didn't need to go too fast anyway and this was sorta like a speed limiter for me.
By now the girls were up and moving and they wanted to go into town and see the historic part of St. Augustine. We had a vehicle to use for the first part of the trip and I gotta say, it was nice to have as it extended our range.
As we left the park we saw how they maintain their sidewalk edging....
We first went to St. Augustine light, which none of us had been too before. We toured the light keepers home and then trekked up the stairs to a commanding view of the area around us.
Tommy violated the mask restrictions. Something about not having lungs, but I wasn't buying it.
This wrench was for tightening the bolts on the balcony around the top of the light. It was HUGE!
After the light, we went to the Post Office as Lucy has been sewing masks for the Navajo Nation as they are in dire need of help with PPE in combating CoVid-19. That done, it was lunch time. Naya wanted ribs, so we asked and were told Mojo BBQ was the 'best in town'. Well if it was, they are hurting for BBQ in St. Auggy. At best is was okay. The meat while tender, had no smoke infused flavor and I had to slather the sauce on as it was also dried out. Maybe since I started smoking meat and have eaten a lot of Texas BBQ, I'm spoiled, but so be it. It was in old town and thus the restaurant was geared to high volume tourist trade I should have known better.
After lunch we took a walk down St. George St. stopping in St Augustine Distillery. I'll admit I've become a rum snob. But at $25 a bottle for un-aged rum with flavoring, it's a hard pass for me. Out of the 12 or so tastings they had, I tried about 5 of them and was done. I can think of much better aged and smoother rums you can sip at the same price point.
We went in and out of shops and people were mostly wearing masks (inside it was required). We walked the whole length and then back to the fort (closed) for some photo ops with Tommy.
Major Tommy left his tin can and went for a space walk above Castillo San De Marcos. He was floating in a most peculiar way and the stars looked very different to him that day.
Major Tommy returned to the capsule hatch at too great velocity and had issues with the airlock.
Luckily, we were able to get him back in the capsule and he modeled, his uber cool Conquistador straw hat he picked up at the lighthouse.
We went food shopping and picked up a few other things and headed back to the campground.
The sky was looking promising for night viewing of the comet, so we set off to the beach right around sunset. I forgot how long twilight hangs around and it took awhile for it to get dark enough. Based on maps I had seen and saved, I had a good idea of where to look for the comet. It was clear in that direction and I was hunting for some time. Finally, I moved around and used the lifeguard stand to prop my arms up and started a methodical search of the sky. On my 2nd or 3rd vertical sweep I found it.
I was SO excited. Ever since I was a kid and saw pictures of comets, I have wanted to see one with my own eyes. I had tried on some previous ones (Halley's in the 1980s, and a couple others) but always came up empty handed. This wasn't a fuzzy diffuse blob, but had a bright head and long tail.
I gave the binoculars to the girls, but they couldn't find it. After they gave up, I got it back in view and held the binocs while they looked through then let them take over. I spent the next half hour or so looking at it in awe. It.was now almost 9:30 so we went back to the coach and played a card game called Turtle Butt.
