Going Home--October 24-31, 2010

When we arrived in Georgia, we decided to stop at Towns Bluff Park between Hazlehurst and Uvalda. It is a nice Passport America Park that is only a few years old. It is located in the Bullard Creek Wildlife Management Area.
We spent two nights so we could grab the few geocaches in the area. We found several in Alston, Georgia.We found the one and only cache in Hazlehurst.

Our next stop on the way home was Okefenokee Swamp. On our way there, we stopped for lunch in Douglas with Aunt Laurie.

Once we drove into Okefenokee, we found that the area was in desperate need of rain. This was how Suwanee River looked at Fargo, Georgia.The swamp wasn't a swamp. All the boat tours and rentals were canceled as you couldn't get out to the swamp.
The water usually covers most of the cypress knees on this nature trail, but this trip they were high and dry.
This spot was usually covered with several feet of water, but I think this gator likes it just the way it is.
From Okefenokee, we headed to Florida. We stopped at Camp Blanding to spend a few nights. They were running a special--3 for 2 so we stayed three nights.
We made it to Jacksonville to see Beverly and Walter while we were based at Blanding.

Hmmm.....After finding 40+ caches in the Middleburg/Kingsley area, we decided it was time to make the final leg of our trip.......

Should arrive home in the early afternoon........

Looking forward to seeing everyone!

Abbeville, South Carolina--October 21-24, 2010

From Brevard, NC it was a short drive to Abbeville, SC. Can you believe we decided to take a back road instead of the interstate? Well, we did. Bob thought US178 looked like a good road going south and for the most part it was since there was little traffic. There were some hairpin turns along the way.

We stopped at a Wal-Mart for lunch and to pick up a few items and then it was on to Sumter National Forest near Abbeville, SC.

We arrived at the campground and found a site although we knew it wouldn't give us much if any solar power. Once again the tree cover was too thick.
It was still a nice large site, like most of those in national forest campgrounds we visited.
We did some geocaching Friday and Saturday. If you are watching our totals, you know we have passed 2000 finds so we can return home.

Sunday we had lunch with my nephew Charles and his wife Lisa. We hope they will visit us in Florida in the new year.

After lunch, Bob and I were on the road again. Time to get closer to home. We made it to Uvalda, GA before we stopped for the night at a Passport America park.

North Carolina Mountains--October 18-10, 2010

Ah, yes, we were leery of narrow roads from Tennessee into North Carolina so we took the interstate to Brevard, North Carolina. We found a site at Davidson River Campground in the Pisgah National Forest. It was a great site, but the tree cover and mountains interfered with phone and internet signals....not to mention our solar panels.Our first night in the campground we went in search of geocaches near the campground. We found about 50% with the other 50% being missing. We hiked to English Chapel--named after its first minister.Then we hiked along the Davidson River towards Brevard.The leaves are at their peak of fall colors and we enjoyed seeing the change!Tuesday we visited Ernie and took a trip to Mast General Store. I always like looking through the 'old' general store.

We took a trip to Bullington so I could see the tree dedicated in memory of my sister Carolyn. It is a dove tree and will live 150 years.
Wednesday Bob and I went hiking and caching along US 276 in Pisgah National Forest. We stopped at Looking Glass Falls.
About a mile down the road we stopped to hike to Moore's Cove Falls. There were caches to find along the way. We found all of the ones that didn't involve getting feet wet.The water fall at Moore's Cove had much less volume than Looking Glass, but it was still a nice place to visit.
After eating dinner with Ernie, we said our goodbyes and headed back to the campground. Thursday was another moving day.

Tennesse--October 10-17, 2010

The drive from Ft. Boonesborough, KY to Corryton, TN took a little over 2 hours. We drove the interstate until we had to get off to get to Andrea's house. Once again, the roads were narrow--not as narrow as Kentucky's, but still narrow! We met Andrea at the local gas station and she took us to the place where we parked the rv. After unloading what we would need while visiting, we headed to her house.

It was nice to relax and chat with her. We made plans to geocache and camp with her the following weekend. We also went through the K-cups to see what was in store for us! Mmmmm, some new flavors to try and lemon zinger tea!

While Andrea worked, we got our laundry done and checked out the local area. Thursday we headed to Douglas Dam to find a campsite for the weekend. Once we found the campground, we took the only site available! The place was packed!

This is a view of the dam from the campground area.Andrea joined us Friday and we went hiking in the dam area, then we got in the car and crossed to the visitor center to get 2 caches.Saturday we planned to hike a trail to a waterfall near Gatlinburg, but the traffic was horrendous! We turned around and headed in the other direction to spend the day caching. Hmmm, I wonder why we are standing next to Santa.....Andrea left us Sunday to get home and ready herself for her next work week. Bob and I went caching. We found this water wheel in a local park, but we didn't find the cache!Monday we left and drove to North Carolina.

Ft. Boonesborough, Kentucky and Friends--Oct. 3-10, 2010

We arrived at Ft. Boonesborough early in the afternoon. Ira and Mary met us at the fort and got us headed in the right direction to find the campground. Bob and I decided to stay a week since we had been traveling too much lately. Site 100 was a great site and only a row away from Ira and Mary's site.Monday morning Bob and I walked the path up the hill to the fort. We were geocaching, of course.We stopped at the fort to look at the monuments....
...and the historical activities.
The fort was built closer to the river, but due to flooding, it was moved to this hill overlooking the Kentucky River.

That afternoon we rode with Ira and Mary along some scenic drives and saw the horse farms. What elaborate stables they had! We also saw the house where Ira was born in Winchester. Of course we picked up a few caches along the way.

Tuesday we drove around the area looking for caches and seeing the sights. Across the river from Ft. Boonesborough was a Civil War Fort. We hiked the trail to the top of the hill. We found two caches along the way.This cannon was at the top of the hill behind the embankments that remain. The signs going up the hill said there was never a cannon at the fort during the time it was occupied.From Civil War Fort it was on to Winchester (Ira's hometown). In College Park we found a geocache near the statue of Daniel Boone. It's funny, but Daniel doesn't look a bit like the Daniel in my mind (Fess Parker)! They don't share any attributes!Several days Bob and I walked through the day use area. We walked to the dam and read the historical signs to solve the puzzle cache.
As we neared our departure date, the leaves started to show their fall colors!
Thursday night was dollar night at The Red Mile! Ira and Mary went with us for a night filled with harness racing. Mary was the big winner!Mary and Ira spend 2 months at Ft. Boonesborough. Their site is ready for Halloween.Our last night there, we cooked hot dogs and s'mores over the fire.It's always fun to camp with friends.
Bob and I walked around the park admiring all the decorations and lights. Halloween is a big celebratory time at Ft. Boonesborough. In fact, they have two weeks when people can make a donation to drive through the campground to see the decorations.Sunday morning dawned and we got up a little later. It was moving day--on to Corryton, TN and Andrea's house.

The Bridges of Madison County and More--Sept. 28-Oct. 5

On Tuesday we visited Madison County, Iowa. Our first stop was Imes Bridge near St. Charles, Iowa. The bridge, like most in the county was moved to its present location. This is the oldest of the bridges--originally built in 1870.
Our second stop was Holliwell Bridge. It was built in 1880. It had also been moved.Then we were on to Winterset City Park. We crossed this stone bridge in order to get to a geocache.Also located in the park was Cutler-Donahoe Bridge.From the city park we drove past John Wayne's boyhood home which is now a museum.
Roseman Bridge was next on our agenda. We had to drive out some country roads to access this bridge.Then it was on to Hogback Bridge--the only bridge still in its original location.Even though it is in its original location, you can't drive across it.On our way to the last bridge, we drove to Stone Schoolhouse which is on the national historic register.The last bridge we visited was Cedar Bridge which is also located in a park. It is the only bridge you can drive through, so we did.Later that evening we ate dinner with friends we were stationed with in Maine. Ed used to mow the lawn for the author of The Bridges of Madison County. We had a great time visiting and sharing memories. We hope they will visit us in Florida once Ed retires!

The next day we went geocaching in West Des Moines. Unfortunately, the caches along the trail by the river had many muggled or were missing.

We left the area Friday, October 1, and spent the night on the road--a Wal-Mart in Champaign, Illinois. Saturday, we stopped in a Wal-Mart parking lot in Bedford, Indiana so Bob could watch some college football. We didn't stay the night, we moved to New Albany, Indiana to spend the night at Horseshoe Casino. All I can say is that I don't like casinos on Saturday nights--too smoky and the slot machines were cold!

Sunday morning we called Ira & Mary to let them know we would be arriving at Boonesborough State Park early in the afternoon. The weather was cloudy and cool--have we had much of anything else?

As we drove through Louisville I waved toward the hospital where Bobby was born. We stopped for a few caches along the way. As we approached Lexington we expected a lot of traffic due to the World Equestrian Games, but we were pleasantly surprised that the traffic was light.

After a trip down a harrowing road (very narrow with trees growing toward the road) we made it to Ft. Boonesborough!

We planned to stay at Boonesborough for a week--geocaching and visiting friends.

Off to See Friends--Sept. 26-28, 2010

Our next destination stop was Norwalk, Iowa. We had quite a drive to get there. After leaving Badlands, we stopped at 1880 Town to look around and eat lunch.One thing I like about driving through North and South Dakota is the sunflower fields. This time of year the petals have fallen off and the seeds are waiting to be harvested.We stopped for the night at Cabela's in Mitchell, South Dakota. They offer free parking and there is a dump station and potable water.

The next morning we did some rest area geocaching as we drove toward our destination.We found a geocache at the Minnesota welcome station--only it was so far west in the rest area that is counted as a cache in South Dakota!
Our next stop was Le Mars, Iowa--ice cream capital of the world. Only there was no parking for rvs at the museum. We kept going and I fired off an e-mail to Blue Bunny headquarters letting them know how disappointed we were. Their answer was laughable--there was parking for an rv as long as it wasn't a big one! Let me just say that an rv of more than 25 feet would not be able to get in let alone maneuver in the parking lot!

We kept going until we reached Lewis and Clark State Park in Onowa, Iowa. We found a great waterfront site.Once again there was a beautiful sunset.The visitor center is under construction and the keel boat is out of water until next season.
As we walked along the park road looking for geocaches we came upon these turkeys.
The next afternoon we continued our drive to Norwalk. Not far from Des Moines we stopped at a rest area for another earth cache.We arrived at our campground--Walnut Woods State Park--a day earlier than expected. We called Ed and Doreen and made plans to eat dinner with them the following evening. We spent the next day exploring Madison County, Iowa.