Arrived in JAX

2 Feb 09
Only one thing to say about the trip from Milton, Florida to Jacksonville: RAIN!!!
Yep, it rained the entire time. Not heavy, I can’t see, rain, but it made the roads slick and driving hard. Thank goodness, it didn’t seem to bother Tom. He just drove along.
We left Milton about 730am and arrived in Jacksonville around 4pm. We were slowed down because of the rain and of course Tom had to take a nap about half way across Florida. Driving does make you tired.
It was still raining when we arrived at Hanna State Park. We stayed here before but they’ve changed the rules and I had forgotten no cable, no internet. For me that’s roughing it. Also the water pressure is lower than we’ve had at other parks. That’s the disadvantage of staying at a State Park. There are some advantages. We are only a short ride to the kids/grandkids. The park is very private and quiet. The lots are large, tree covered and very lush with “Florida tropical plants.”
Speaking of plants, I carried (in a box) two of my terracotta planters with cactus. I gave them to Missy last night.
After setting up the camper in the rain (it was light), we drove to Missy’s. Of course, Aurora was the first out the door and jumped right into Tom’s arms. She does love her Opa. Since it was raining, the rest of the family stayed at the door. Danielle has grown up, it’s hard to believe she’s 12 years old. Jack Jack didn’t seem to know what the fuss was about. It took a few minutes for him to realize who we were, but then he wanted our attention.
When I asked him how old he was, he answered holding up 4 fingers and said “four”. I asked if he’d had a birthday and he answered “yes and two parties”. I told him I hadn’t been invited. His little face looked puzzled for a second then said “I can have another one for you”. Gee, he’s willing to have cake and Ice-cream just because I missed his birthday party. What a kid!
Tommy was still working and couldn’t get over before we left. We didn’t stay long at Missy’s as we were tired from the drive. It was still raining when we got back to the camper. Ever tried parking a Dodge 2500 long bed in the dark, with a zillion trees and bushes all around, while it’s raining? Not fun. It took Tom 2 times to get it parked out of the road. Tomorrow, in the light, we’ll work out how/where to park.


Till next time from “knitone on the road”.

On the Road from Texas to Germany day 1 and 2

We left Schertz about 6am. Tom made me help him disconnect the camper in the freezing dark. What's up with that? We drove to Baytown, Texas where we had some excitement added to our trip. We stopped for fuel and at the truck stop we saw a drug bust. What did we see but a brand new 18 wheeler on the side of the road with cops everywhere? We had to wait for the cop to direct us around the truck and I thought it was a truck that dumped bread on the side, but not so. It was bundles and bundles of drugs. Looked like something on CSI Miami. Tom said it looked like a million dollars of drugs on the side of the road. Some drug lord is not happy about that, I’m sure.
About 3pm we arrived at Kinder Louisiana Casino RV Park. Not only did we have a free RV site, we also got steak dinners on the house. We spent a few hours playing slots. Ended up about $200 ahead. Not a bad night.
On Day 2 we left the RV Park about 7am. This time we disconnected the camper in daylight. Before we got out of Louisiana, we saw another “cop” fest. There were about 6 cops cars surrounding a SUV. Maybe another drug bust? Who knows? Since Tom didn’t want to drive straight through, we decided to stay in Milton Florida. I had to call Missy and have her find the phone number of a RV Park on the internet. We made good time and arrived about 4pm. What did we do before cell phones and the internet?
Tomorrow we’ll drive the rest of the way to Jacksonville and see the kids. I’m sure I’ll have more to tell you about the grandkids, and maybe some photos too.
Not sure if we'll have internet at the next RV Park, since it's a state park, I don't expect they will have WI FI.