We were shooting for a departure time of 8am and surprisingly able to get out of town by 8:20 am. We left with sunny skies and promise of some great days ahead.
A pretty uneventful day of driving and some overcast skies but no real rain was encountered today. We headed west in PA and near Altoona, we headed south towards Cumberland, Maryland on route 220. Even with the overcast skies, the mountains were stunning, a highly recommended route for some amazing scenery.
After a beautiful day of driving, we landed at Lamberts Vintage Wines which is part of the Harvest Hosts network. We arrived in time for a tasting and tour of this magnificent winery/event space.
Lamberts vintage wines
Wedding chapel
First sunset of the trip
5/12/21- headed to Bardstown, Kentucky for 3 nights. Joe is meeting us there so he and Paul can do some bourbon tastings. The drive today was amazingly gorgeous.
Close your eyes and imagine the most beautiful blue skies dotted with white cumulus clouds set against the bright green leaves of newly budded trees on the mountainside… really, close your eyes because a picture on this blog doesn’t do it justice! That was our drive today… beautiful blue skies and mountains of West Virginia.
My comedic challenge for the day was when Paul said “I could go for a cinnamon roll and a hot cup of coffee”. We were about an hour into the day’s drive and too early to stop so I offered to make a toasted cinnamon bagel and coffee… in the RV… while rolling up and around the mountains.. on a VERY bumpy interstate. I am not kidding, it was a challenge! Heating water on the propane stove while defrosting the bagel next to the flame. Once the coffee was ready and in his hand I toasted the bagel in butter on the stove watching the pan bounce with the road. The discovery today was that I can sit on the dinette bench and safely hold the pan on the stove. Warm and toasty bagel coming up. All in a days work to keep the driver happy 😀!
Rolling hills of Kentucky
We landed at My Old Kentucky Home State Park campground. A small campground but well attended and perfectly located near many bourbon distilleries.
Ending the day with a campfire and dueling ukuleles
Wagons Ho! Looks like we are heading west, leaving on May 11 and arriving home mid June … 30+ days and about 5400 miles, 6-7 national parks, sleeping in 13 different states but travelling through about 20 states. REALLY looking forward to it and can’t wait to hug Jen and Nate!! This pandemic has accentuated the fact that I love hugging people and Jen and I already agreed that it will be a 4 day hug since we have not seen them since November 2019…waaaaaay too long!
So here we go, checklist on the fridge, meals prepped and in the freezer, collection of things to go are in the guest room, most of the home projects that were started are ready for the last final details, cool weather garden seeds planted and should be ready for harvest when we return, someone lined up to cut the grass and dear friend to water the inside plants while we are gone … I think we are ready…. and we just brought the RV home so time to get packing!
Picking up where I left off… we went into Charleston for a ghost tour but left early so we could walk through town a bit. We had drinks at The Rooftop Bar on top of the Vendue Hotel to see the view of Charleston and the bay and caught the sunset. We then realized we had not eaten dinner so we should get a bite to eat before the 7:30 tour. We walked towards the tour meeting place and found the Blind Tiger tavern and shared a little nosh of Bacon mac and cheese which was phenomenal. The server was great and got us fed and out in plenty of time.
The Ghost Tour of Charleston was lead by Mike Brown who is apparently well known for his ghost tours, podcasts, research and experiences with the supernatural. He did an awesome job sending chills down my spine with some of the photos and stories he had as we walked through the alleys of the city. Paul said he was being brave and wasn’t scared… there is a tour of the old jail on the west side of town which sounds more like something that would send chills down his spine.
After the tour, we headed back to James Island Campground and packed up what we could, intending to get an early start in the morning.
Friday 2/26/21
Well, we had good intentions of heading out by 8 but those who know us well, know that we are not early risers. We left by 9:15! We didn’t have a lot of miles to travel today but lots of things to do and see.
Several days ago, we were going through our national park book and noticed there was a national park in South Carolina that we never heard of, Congaree National Park. We happened to be going right by it on our way to Cayce, SC to see our niece… so let’s take a look! We stopped in and we were happy it was not a crowded park. Unlike any other national park we had been to, Congaree has a boardwalk trail that rises above the marshy woods. The slaves that were escaping from their owners would travel through these marshes up stream to a settlement. The marshes were so thick with mud and water, it was hard to catch the people trying to escape. Some of the mud is 8 feet deep!!
There were markers on the boardwalk trail depicting some foliage and history of the marsh. It was really quiet and when we stopped walking, we could hear song birds, woodpeckers and other wildlife that we would not have heard in a crowded park. I wish I could attach and audio file here. The trail was dog friendly and there were a few people that passed by with their pups too. It has been so rainy here that some of the gravel trails were flooded out as well as part of the boardwalk. A nice peaceful place to walk and ground yourself with nature. We walked for about 2 miles and headed back to the RV to continue our journey to Cayce.
artistic shot of the trees’ reflection
Once in Cayce, we dropped off the RV in a shopping center near Logan’s apartment and followed her to Pawley’s Front Porch for lunch. Apparently Pawley’s is in Columbia, SC and was featured on Food Network’s “Diners, Drive-ins and Dives” for its mondo flavorful burgers. We all had burgers, visited with Logan and Drew and really enjoyed seeing some family. Virtual hugs all around, still staying safe, dining outside and happy to relax for a bit before we got back on the road.
Another 2 hours drive to Monroe, NC for the night. We stayed at Sharonview Farm which was a mushroom farm and part of the Harvest Host network. It POURED all night and we were very thankful that we were on a gravel lot at the farm. We entertained ourselves and listened to music, dancing and grooving to the tunes ending the night with Chris Stapleton’s “Tennessee Whiskey “. It doesn’t matter what’s going on outside, just matters who is with you to share a slow dance at the end of the day.💕
247 miles driven today but an action packed day!
Saturday 2/27 we awoke and the rain had stopped. We walked up to the farm house and got an in-depth tour of the mushroom making business. It was really interesting and very clear that the owners were proud of their business. They picked 600 pounds of mushrooms last fall…that’s a lot of mushrooms! The logs grow mushrooms for 5 days then rest for 2 weeks. Of course we brought home some freshly picked mushrooms.
Snow cap shitake mushrooms
an acre of mushroom inoculated logs
After the tour, we headed to another Harvest Host as our last stop for this trip. We ended up at Jump Mountain Vineyard. On our way there, I took the wheel of the RV and, as it usually happens, the once clear interstate changes. This time there wasn’t construction but as we climbed the mountain road, there was a fog warning and crosswinds warning and lots of truckers on the road going way slower than me. I navigated the fog, passing truckers and not bothered by the crosswinds… making it to the other side of the mountain in one piece. Driving is not hard, its the idiots that don’t turn their lights on, think they can pass on the right and zoom in front of you, not realizing they are cutting off a 9 ton vehicle that is towing a car! About an hour and a half is all I could take so Paul drove the last leg, getting us to the vineyard. The directions took us to a crazy hairpin turn over a bridge with inches to spare… so glad Paul was driving. We started seeing snow in the mountains and a bit on the side of the country roads. We are headed north for sure! We made it to Jump Mountain Vineyard and had to unhitch the car so the RV could make it up the steep muddy driveway. We parked on a huge level gravel lot and went straight to the tasting room. They had a fire set up for us outside and we chatted a bit while we did an outdoor tasting. The owners, Mary and Dave, closed up and left us with some wood and a bottle of white that we purchased. A crisp night with a fire and a glass of wine was the perfect way to end the day!
As we turned in for the night, we could hear packs of coyotes howling and partying it up in the distant mountains. It was cool to hear and a bit unnerving to know they were out there in such big numbers.
Sunday 2/28 – it started raining around 11pm last night and didn’t stop. We woke up and both of us were a little concerned that we would have trouble getting out of the winery as there were flash flood warnings in the area for Sunday (and we were miles off the beaten path). Paul carefully inched the RV down the steep driveway and pulled out onto the road where we hitched the car in a minute and we were off and running before 9am. It RAINED. ALL. DAY. and gray was the color for the day… everything was gray all day. We arrived home around 3:15pm. Our wonderful neighbor shoveled the driveway and walkway and we were surprised how much snow remained on the lawn and in the streets. We moved the vehicles around, parked the RV in the driveway and headed inside…
There’s no place like home 🙂
21 days and 3083 total miles driven and no major issues, we are blessed!
Diane delivered a delicious dinner – Oh so good!
Tomorrow we unpack and re-winterize the RV 🙁
Catch us on the road in May, we are headed out to Colorado, Yellowstone, Tetons and Badlands. Hugs to you all and keep being safe.
Wednesday 2/24/21 – We started the day at the dog park, two days in a row and Harley is so tired afterwards, it’s a struggle to get her out of the RV in the evening to do her business! She made friends with Paco and played to exhaustion. We then took a bike ride through James Island park where we are staying. Love the water and the sphagnum moss!
New friends
bike path view
Back to the RV for some lunch and getting ready for a walking tour of the alleys and gardens of Charleston. We are pleasantly surprised with all the masking and COVID precautions here. The tour guide said that people on tours could get $100 fine for not wearing a mask and the tour guide can get a $1000 fine for not requiring participants to wear one! Taking it seriously in this city. 👍🏻 We got a great tour and tons of history of the city. The third picture below is of the oldest liquor store in America! The liquor stores in SC have 3 red dots to signify they sell liquor since they were not allowed to have any signage back in the day.
The 6th picture of the double porched house was interesting because the ceiling of the porches are painted “robins egg blue” because the wasps and bees can’t tell the porch ceiling from the sky therefore they won’t make any nests around the porch! Interesting!
View from the bridge of the bay
Rainbow row
3 dots signify liquor for sale
Rebuilt the wall around the tree
The First Babtist church in the south
Most narrow road in the city
After the tour, we walked a bit more and stopped at some outdoor cafe seating to get a drink. Blackberry Mule and Blanton Bourbon please 😋
Thursday 2/25/21
Up and not so ready to go anywhere this morning. Leisurely entered the day then off to the Dog park. We have had dogs for the 41 years of our marriage and never went to a dog park till this vacation. It has changed us and certainly given Harley a new outlet to learn some dog pack behaviors. It’s all good!
We are off tonight (Thursday) to an outdoor ghost tour of Charleston then headed homeward. Still a couple adventures to experience… as I am typing this a wren just flew into the RV and took his time leaving…not the kind of adventure I expected!😉
The sun was shining as we left Naples Monday morning and as we packed up, one of the passerby’s said “going to the keys?” Well, part way to I-75 Paul said, “can we go to the keys?” We had 4 miles to go before we had to decide if we go north or south on I75. He pulled over and I started calling campgrounds near Key Largo… those that know me and my multi-column spreadsheet, know it was a stretch for me to pause and go with the idea. Alas, no campgrounds had room and no harvest hosts in the area. So we got on I-75 north and headed for Jacksonville. We passed through Orlando and all the Disney/Universal tourism, then 95 north to Fleming Island, just south of Jacksonville. Along the way we stopped at a Love’s truck stop for gas and decided to swing around back to let Harley out. BIG Mistake! So many trucks parked 2 feet apart and Paul started sweating, not sure if he could get out of there. I had to get out and walk around the lot until I could see a clear way out. We made it, of course, but Paul won’t be doing that again anytime soon! Harley had to wait till the next rest area which was fortunately a couple miles up the road.
We landed at Whitey’s Fish Camp on St John’s River, one of the few campgrounds near Jacksonville. It’s not the most luxurious campground…definitely not an RV resort but more of a local fisherman’s paradise where you can park your rig and go out fishing all day. The people were super friendly and the restaurant was well attended for dinner. After I made the reservation for the night, I did see Whitey’s in my “Road Food” book. The catfish was highly recommended and we followed suit and ordered the catfish for dinner preceded by gator tail for appetizers. Paul had never had catfish and we were looking forward to it. They served whole fish minus the head so it was hard to pick the meat out…the gator tail was delicious though, “tasted like chicken” 😯. It really was good but I’d like to have a fillet of catfish next time. Paul made up for the lack of taste in dinner and had a chocolate molten cake with ice cream for dessert. I opted for key west key lime pie… both delicious!
Dock outside Whitey’s
By the docks
Tuesday 2/23- We don’t have a long travel day today, about 265 miles, so we got packed up and headed out of town around 9:30. Charleston, here we come. Pretty quiet ride with marsh lands and groves of tall straight trees along the highway. We loved seeing the waterways and marsh areas along 95. Another sunny day in Florida!
From Florida to Georgia to SC, enjoying a multitude of waterways along the way.
We turned onto a small road towards the campground and found ourselves in more familiar territory. Trees and cooler weather (69 degrees) were found at James Island County Park just outside Charleston. Granted some of the “woods” were palm trees but the slight nip in the air felt good and we look forward to a campfire or two while we are here.
Home for 3 nights
I had a beverage and chilled with Harley while Paul rode his bike around to get his bearings. We then found a dog park here that comes right up to the water on 3 sides and Harley had a blast. It was hard to coax her to get up to go out this evening…she was really zonked out. Tomorrow we check out Charleston. Last time we were camped in this area, we didn’t have a car with us and missed out seeing the old city charm.
I could have written this Sunday night but we were so exhausted from the day’s activities.
First of all, we woke up to this…
Harley decided she liked the bed stuffing on the outside! I do have a sewing kit so it’s just like new now.
We didn’t have any specific plans and had another leisurely morning, finally getting our shoes on at 11:30 am. We decided to treat Harley to an adventure at Baker Dog Park in Naples…OH SO MUCH FUN! She has never been to a dog park other than small ones in the RV campgrounds and typically no other dogs were there. She sniffed and ran and ran and sniffed and ran and sniffed for over an hour and a half with about a dozen other dogs of all sizes. After about an hour, she tried to hide under my chair to get a rest but a small white dog wouldn’t let her be! There were balls everywhere, dogs running and water fountains for the pups throughout the area.
I just want to rest!
She seemed over stimulated and panting so we went across the parking lot to an open community park and playground. There is a mound in the center of the park where you can see Naples on one side and the airport on the other. We were told that Naples airport was the busiest airport and there were nonstop small jet and planes that were landing every 5-10 minutes.
Since we wore Harley out, we went back to the RV for a late lunch and put on the AC and ventured out to Ti n City where we ran into Paul and Wendy in the parking lot! They had friends down for the day and did another Segway tour…this time there was a unfortunate event when someone rode the Segway into the water at the waterfront. The person was fine but the Segway remains at the bottom of the bay! We said our goodbyes again and headed to Fifth Avenue where the term “hoity toity” was definitely coined. If you are in the market for a Rolls, Lamborghini or other high end car, this is the place to see them all! We were toying with the idea of rolling through town in our Honda Fit with the base booming and windows down, waving to everyone but we opted for a less conspicuous choice and just drove through town like we belonged there, although driving a Fit is always a conspicuous choice in Naples!
We got back to the RV, didn’t disturb Harley and took a quick bike ride to the park across the street to watch the sunset. As we rode around the lakes to find the perfect spot to view the sunset, I was stopped dead in my tracks by a fairly long black snake traveling across the bike path. I was so startled, I gave out a squeal, stopped the bike and as I tried to hop off, I almost ran the bike over the side into the marshy brush…oh geez! Of course Paul stopped and wanted to catch and give it a name! After collecting my wits and getting back on the bike, we did find a perfect place to view the sun setting behind the clouds.
These two pictures were taken at the same time/place.
Now you see us with helmet hair, now you don’t!
Lovely way to end the stay in Naples. Thank you Paul and Wendy for sharing your slice of heaven.
Back at the RV, we put the bikes in the car (yes they both fit inside the Honda Fit) and packed up the table, carpet and all other outside things, hooking up the car so we would be better able to get out on time tomorrow. Showers, late dinner, 2 games of backgammon, which I lost, and then to bed we go. Ready to start another adventure tomorrow…Jacksonville for the night then to Charleston for a few days.
Today was a new venture in Naples. We met Paul and Wendy and their 2 friends for a tour of Naples… a Segway tour, which none of us have done before. We watched a video last night to see how to maneuver these machines but the ones we were presented with today looked nothing like the video 😳. Oh no, we are in trouble now!! Well with a very kind guide and some practice time in the parking lot, we did pretty well in a short period of time, I must say.
view from Naples pier
Nine miles and 90 minutes later, we arrived back at Tin City with no injuries! Yay us! Many older folks have golf carts to get around the RV resorts…we decided we needed to get a Segway. So fun!
While on the Segway tour, we passed an Outdoor art show so we had to go back and check it out. It was great to see a craft/art show and enjoy the gorgeous day. So beautiful today, in the 70s, sunny and breezy, my favorite kind of day 😎.
Back at the RV, we tended to Harley, vacuumed and cleaned the RV for the next leg of the trip then put on some music and hung out and Paul even brought out his ukulele.
We shared a grilled dinner with Wendy and Paul and soaked up as much family time as we could on our last night together.
As we rose today, we could see the sunny day before we opened the shades. I know that folks at home were getting more snow today but it’s hard to believe it’s February here! We got ourselves together and took the pup for a walk before leaving to meet friends who were taking us to Marco Island for a boat tour. We were the only ones in the lower dining area which made for some safe visiting and sight seeing. The company was wonderful, the staff very attentive and such a nice view. Oh so much money is on this island. One of the homes belongs to Eminem, the rapper… it includes a slide for his bedroom to the pool!
We toured for 2 hours, had lunch on the boat and thoroughly enjoyed our time with Karl and Lana.
Back on the RV ranch we realized we have to do some housekeeping, laundry and a quick trip to the local Publix market. The big advantage of a laundromat is you can do 3 loads of wash at once 😊
Remember these? It’s been a long time since I was in a laundromat
Once we put all the laundry away, it was time for dinner and … you guessed it, relaxation! Paul put some tunes on the front speakers as we enjoyed the evening.
Friday 2/19/21 – Up early to gather our thoughts and get ready for a morning at the botanical gardens with Paul and Wendy. Oh such a beautiful breezy day, perfect for walking around the gardens. They were having an orchid sale so we got a few unusual ones that hang in hopes that we can hang them from the new pergola being installed this spring. Here are some of the amazing plants we saw.
One of the orchids we bought, hopefully it grows up to look like this
The Pauls
Lunch at Texas Tony’s (outdoor dining and only one other couple in the area) and then home again, home again jiggity jig. Outdoor relaxing and thoroughly enjoying the breeze before dinner and then to Paul and Wendy’s for dessert. Hugs to you all.
You know you are on vacation when you don’t have any idea what day it is. It really is Tuesday as we settled into vacation/retirement mode and after waking up, we took our coffee out to the picnic table and sipped, watching the day begin and enjoying the breeze and sunshine. Then another step into the day of relaxation, we had a leisurely breakfast… such a lovely day! Is it May or February??? Wendy and Paul told us about a great biking trail right across highway and we gathered our bikes and took off to see what we could see. We crossed the highway and rode into the park and came across some marsh lands filled with wildlife. While riding, we were followed by a couple small swarms of dragonflies and caught a glimpse of a monarch butterfly. Such a magnificent blue sky and warm breezes.
White Ibis gathering
Yes, that’s an alligator
Darter
We were drawn to the flowers in front of the Lely Golf Resort, making me long for spring… I am sure the northerners are longing for spring for a different reason! We turned the corner into Lely Golf Club and just rode, easy to do in Florida with no elevation change. We toured the posh resorts and ended up riding aimlessly through the area. I had to pull my phone out to see where we were and see if there was a road to get us back to route 41. We made a left then another left waaaaaay down the road and finally ended up on route 41. We knew our RV “resort” was right next to a Racetrack gas station… Paul, do you see the gas station?? I pulled out the phone again and now realized that we had another 2.5 miles to get back to the RV. OK, we rode leisurely but now our bodies are reminding us that we haven’t ridden the bike since October. We made it!
Back at the home front, Paul took the car for a bath after being towed hundreds of miles in the rain and we headed off to see some friends in Cape Coral. Ray and Linda used to live in PA but relocated to Cape Coral 10 years ago. It was a pleasant evening visiting outside and having dinner by the pool. Ray and Paul took a dip in the hot tub while Linda and I sat on the side and chatted… social distancing of course! It is always special when you can catch up with old friends and enjoy each other’s company.
Wednesday 2/17/21
On no! it’s another 80+ degree sunny day in Florida.
Up a bit earlier than usual, I went outside and sipped my coffee as I watched the sky turn from gray to blue. It was 70 degrees inside and 70 degrees outside – perfect! Paul and Wendy took us to Lowdermilk Beach in Naples for an ideal beach day! We enjoyed a picnic breakfast from WaWa and then claimed our spot on the beach. We walked along the edge of the mildly chilly water and collected some shells, watched the boats come in and out of the bay then walked back to our chairs and did some more relaxing…I could get used to this!
We headed back to the RV so we could tend to Harley and shower then… yes relaxed until dinner, which was shared with family. We are content with our RV life!
2/15/21 Day 8 – We left Casey Jones RV park and headed south on I75 and as we traveled for a few minutes, Paul exclaimed “what’s that?” I thought I missed a bird flying into a car or something…. He was talking about the sun trying to peak through the clouds. It is overcast but bright and not raining or gray for the first time in 4 days and I might have to grab my sunglasses! After all, I am finally in a short sleeve shirt! It is Interstate 75 all the way to Naples so hopefully it will be an uneventful journey. It was quite windy today and Paul had his hands full driving this rig in the gusty winds.
One way you know you are in warmer weather is a fly appears in the RV, then another, haven’t seen those in awhile! The second way is there are bugs, oh so many bugs landing on our gigantic windshield, it’s a good thing, I’ll take it. After awhile, Paul checked the outside temperature and it was 88 and about 150 miles from Naples, we had to turn on the air conditioning… not that I’m complaining but it’s a bit of a culture shock! Yeah, sorry northerners…not sorry!
Those aren’t birds in the distance, just bugs on the windshield!
We arrived at the Marco Naples RV Resort around 4 pm and started to set up. No Power?! Oh you mean we have to connect to the new power box? Done! We are sweating and a bit cranky but set up is just about complete when Wendy and Paul arrive…with dinner AND dessert. God bless family 😊
Palm trees and blue skies 😎
We took a stroll after dark to familiarize ourselves with the park. Dog park, swimming pool, entertainment area and a few friendly neighbors to welcome us. A good day 😎. We will be here for a week so I’ll update you all mid week. Be safe!
Todays mileage is 343 and grand total so far 1536 miles.
