We’ve been able to go to Honeymoon Island, to a Tampa Bay Lightening game, and a 20 mile bike ride. We found a couple more parks, went mini-golfing, then walked around Tampa when Ash and the g-kids came to see us. We were also reminded of the positives of being mobile as cold and snow hit the home base.

We got a good day and went to Hilton Head, we finally found the lighthouse, went to the top, and rode bikes on the beach for a couple miles. We had dinner at a seafood place with live music, it was a gorgeous freaking day. We headed out and found our next stop in Port Richey, where we are staying in an RV Park/retirement community in time to see the “Big Game”. Most of the State Parks in this area are too marshy to have real walking trails, but they don’t tell you that on the website. We headed to Hudson Beach for the sunset one night. Britt’s flight was Flight of the year and she was asked to receive the honor and there are some pics of the G-Kids.

We finally got to Hilton Head on a foggy, rainy day. Nickel didn’t care because the beach is dog friendly and off-leash. We took a very long bike ride in circles looking for the wrong lighthouse (I was incorrectly trying to get to one on a private golf course) and we went to the most disappointing fort ever (a 6 foot dirt wall with weeds and trees growing out of it), then rain and a pig in a truck on the way home. Not to be deterred, we headed to Charleston on a chilly, beautiful cloudless day. We walked along the river, got to see the Circular Congressional Church which was built in1681. A couple more rain days later, upon the advice of Dalton, we went to Jekyll Island and saw the Turtle Rehab, the ruins of a home built in 1936, and driftwood beach. We had a really good lunch at a very questionable food truck. Then we stopped at Old Fort King George on the way back – it’s completely rebuilt based on historical records and is a recreation of the fort and town from 1721 (Nickel was put in the stocks).

We spent a day in Savannah, walking through neighborhoods, a park with beautiful live oaks and the river walk. We saw The Cathedral Basilica of St. John the Baptist, built in 1876 for a congregation established in the late 1700s. We also were able to go up Georgia’s oldest and tallest lighthouse, the current version was built in 1916, on the site of the original lighthouse from 1732. We were in sunny and 60 degrees while the property was around 5 degrees with almost a foot of snow. We are happy with our decision to not go back to the property until April. 🙂

I messed up and we ended up with 2 nights between leaving Hollywood and when we were due in Georgia. I found something called HipCamp – an app where people who have land (and usually hookups) rent you an RV spot. Since Jim’s brother would be in Orlando, and there were no Harvest Hosts, we rented a spot on a horse farm for two nights. It was beautiful and peaceful, we got to see Craig and the girls before heading out to Tybee Island. We walked to the beach and then were able to see Wormsloe, the remains of a homestead built in the early 1700, using sand, oyster shells, water, and lyme. In the mid 1800’s a descendent planted 400 Live Oaks on the driveway – it was stunning. We were also able to see Fort Pulaski, a Confederate fort that surrendered to Union forces in April 1862. Fort Pulaski has drawbridges, a 7 foot deep 36-48 foot wide moat around it. Cannonballs were still imbedded in the exterior brick – it was an incredible building that housed thousands of people. Britt did some winter camping in tents ( -5 degrees at night) in Yellowstone and went cross-country skiing.

We took Roaming with the Ramsay’s advice and joined Harvest Host – for an annual fee, businesses will let you park in a safe location for a night with the expectation that you’ll make a purchase when you’re there. Our first night was at a vitamin store in Alabama, St. John’s Nutrition. The second night was at a brake shop in Ocala, Fl. We made it to Hollywood, Fla on 12.24 and got to see Ash and the family. Tilly got to work torturing Nickel right away 🙂 They kids got me some hiking sandals and gave Jim a Cardinals dart board. We spent all our time w/ the fam and going to parks.

We love coming back to the property. We got to see fall here, burned some weeds, got the road repaired, had some trees knocked down, and Jim finished most of the work on the shed. He got the propane lines in and a tank delivered, the gas company will come back and finish up when we return. Then, he’ll need to install the fireplace and whatever “surround” he’s going to build and get the appliances and we’ll be done. Chayse, Britt, and Dalton came for Thanksgiving, which was really great. We had a massive bonfire and got to hang out and lot, then went on a hike before they left. The goal was to head to Miami in time to watch G-Kid #1 before G-Kid #2 showed up, but she had other plans. Enolah Lynette showed up a week early, on 12.20.21, a couple days before we were heading down.

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Mom and Dad came to Gatlinburg for our last weekend there. They braved the rain on Saturday before we had a good day to drive around and leaf peep on Sunday. It never cleared up enough to be able to go to Clingman’s Dome, but we enjoyed our time. We were able to find a road hike in the Park that we could take Nickel on, so we were able to spend some time in the woods before heading out. Our first Harvest Host was our stay at the National Quilt Museum in Paducah, KY. No check in, nice big parking lot, it was perfect for a quick stop. Then, on to the property to settle in for a month and work on the shed.

I don’t have a lot of pictures of our time with my parents, some of us don’t like having pictures taken 🙂 But we had an awesome stay, we parked in the driveway, Dad and Jim grilled their hearts out, and we had some awesome conversations and chill time. Then, another short trip was extended by a 2 hour stand still on the highway. Luckily, we were towing our refrigerator and potty, so not too much stress for us. Gatlinburg is a bustling town, I mean, shoulder to shoulder, folks out having a blast. We walked through town, drove through Pigeon Forge, and spent most of the time in the mountains. We didn’t hike, because Nickel couldn’t go onto the trails in the park. Again, lots of rain and finally a cold snap that made the trees pop. So, we were lucky to see our second fall color display of the year. We had lunch in a little church and got a couple pictures of a bear that walked right behind the truck. As usual, I also threw in some pics of the kids.

The weather was rainy, again, but we got in one last hike before we left NH. We caught a break and saw a little break in the clouds while we were on the hill over the lake and watched as they rolled back in. At the beginning of the hike there was a crazy tubing system that connected trees for quite a while. We figured out that is how they tap the sugar maples for syrup – it was quite a web. Jim got some pictures of the farm before we left and headed to Baltimore for a stopover in Washington D.C. A 4 hour trip took 7 due to some bad navigation (I blame google) but we headed downtown to see DC at night. The next day we went down for a day time view before heading out to N.C.