Snow in Georgia

I had my first ever white Christmas!!!  I’ve been in Georgia for 47 out of 50 years and we have never had a white Christmas.  The news says it hasn’t happened in more than 130 years!! 

It didn’t start snowing until after 9:00 am, so I went to my mom’s house early for breakfast on Christmas day.  We noticed it was starting to sleet and snow, so I left shortly after that.  By the time I got to Dillard the streets were already snowy and icy.  But I made it back to the campground just in time.  I saw one minor accident where someone slid into a street sign. 

The pictures below are from Dec. 25.  The first picture was taken from my car on the road just before the campground. 

In the above picture, you can see a few folks huddled around a fire.  They are 2 rows behind my site!  I knew one of the guys and during one of my walks went over and warmed up a bit.

The next 3 pictures were taken on Dec. 26.  It never got above freezing! We ended up with 5 – 6 inches of snow.

I realized I forgot to post a picture of a great campground in Gainesville, GA.  River Forks Park is a Hall County park and campground near Gainesville.  I went there because it’s only about 12 minutes to Camping World and I had an appointment the next morning.  The park is on Lake Lanier which is the lake where some friends and I would rent a houseboat for a few days each summer. 

It is now Dec. 27 and 18 degrees.  It is not supposed to get above freezing today, but hopefully once the sun comes out I’ll get out of the campground and go to my mom’s house.  Others made it out yesterday, but nobody else is on my row at the campground, so the road is still very snowy and icy.  My sister and family are due in today if they make it through all the bad weather. 

Georgia

I haven’t blogged much while in Georgia.  I have visited friends, family and doctors (not socially!).  During my first week in GA, I stayed at Ft. Yargo State Park in Winder, GA.  This is a nice park and this year I got a spot on the lake.

Below is a visitor to my campsite.

After Ft. Yargo, I went to Dillard, GA for a month.  After Dillard, I had thought I was going to go to the Florida panhandle – probably St George or St Joe State park.  But in watching the weather it was going to be cold there (and almost everywhere in the US), so I went further South.  I went back to Sanibel Island.  I camped for a week and stayed in an ocean front Condo for a week.  This was the first time I have slept in something not on wheels in almost a year. 

While there it was a bit chilly, but it was still nice.  The day after the real cold weather the beach was interesting.  Lots of shells and live sea creatures.  So many that I saw on the news that some marine biologist were looking into it, but as an initial cause they were thinking it was just the cold and rough water.  Lots of good shells (many still had the creature inside), starfish, hermit crabs and even squids.

Ding Darling Wildlife sanctuary is one of my favorite places on the island. Below are a few pictures from my visits this year.

I didn’t realize that wood storks have a leathery head.

I also went back to the Corkscrew Swamp refuge.  I saw a Night Heron do the strangest thing.  It looked like he was trying to stand on his head. He would stay that way for several minutes, then straighten up for a while and then do it again.  Below are 2 different shots of this behavior.

When I saw this, I was glad I was on the boardwalk!

One day, a lot of urchins had washed ashore.  I would say thousands.

I also say a Skimmer for the first time.  When I first saw it, I thought it was a gull that looked like a toucan.

I’m currently back in Dillard, GA watching it snow!  On my next blog, I’ll post some pictures of the snow and my RV. 

Driving back from the Pacific Northwest

I went through my pictures several weeks ago and picked out the pictures below.  But I just realized that I never put them on my blog.  I turned 50 a couple of weeks ago and I think my mind is going!!

A few final pictures from the Oregon Coast -

 

Before leaving, I went to one of the areas in Oregon known for it’s waterfalls.  I went to the area around the Umpqua river.    While visiting, I stayed at 2 campgrounds.  One was Hi-Way Haven RV park.  This park was supposed to be just a quick stop over for me, but I ended up staying here for several days.  The interesting thing about this park is that it was originally a drive-in theater.  They still have the screen and show movies sometimes on the weekend.  You can see the screen in the picture below between my RV (on left) and another Lazy Daze on the right side of the road.

After that I went to Susan Creek Campground, where I missed some fellow Lazy Dazers by about a week. 

Lots of waterfalls in the area, below are pictures of the falls and trails -

 

Above is a picture of the trail to Susan Creek falls.  The waterfall was nice, but the scenery along trail with the small creek running along side was beautiful.

At the beginning of Falls Creek Falls trail, you go through these moss covered rocks.  Neat place!

Above is Toketee Falls. 

After leaving Oregon, I stopped in Twin Falls for a few days.  I visited Crater of the Moon National Monument one day.  Lots of lava and interesting Lava shapes.

The way the lava twisted in some places was interesting. This place is known for it’s lava sculptures and caves.

  Both of the cave pictures have people in them so you can get a perspective of the size.  In the first one, there is a person on the left side of the picture.  In the second one, you can see a person on the staircase leading down into the tunnel. 

While in Twin Falls, I visited Shoshone Falls.  But this is a waterfall that should be visited earlier in the year.  When I visited, it was almost dry.  In addition to the picture I took of the falls, I took a picture of a sign that shows what it looks like in the spring.

Snake River Canyon -

 

Coming back from Oregon, I made a side trip to Shipshewana, IN.  I visited here last year and enjoyed it.  While looking around at the Shipshewana flea market/farmers market I made a discovery.  Last October I posted a picture of something that I had found at a state park in Kentucky and I asked if anyone knew what it was.  Well they were selling them at the farmers market.  It was a Hedge Apple.  They sell them as natural insect repellants.  Below is the picture I posted last year.

Trying to catch up – Part 2

While in Oregon earlier this year, I had noticed a few areas that I wanted to spend more time in.  One of those areas was Cape Kiwanda, OR.  So I went to a campground that was just across the street from the beach. 

The picture below is another Haystack Rock at sunset (there are a few “Haystack Rocks” along the coast).  You can just make out the little dots in the water – they are surfers. 

While walking the beach one day, I happened to see something I had never seen.  A man pulled a strange looking cart out on the beach and unfolded it.  It looked like a low tricycle.  But he didn’t power it with his feet. 

It was powered by the kite. 

This area is known for their dories.  I didn’t know much about these boats, but I had heard that you want to see them launch and come ashore.  They are on a boat trailer, like other boats, but something is a bit different with this trailer.  They back it up on the beach just into the water.  Then they quickly go forward with the truck and the dory just slides off into the water.  The coming back on shore is more exciting.  As they get closer to shore, they rev it up and just slide up on the beach. 

The one above had just come ashore. 

Another Sunset picture -

One day, I drove back to Oceanside.  This was a beach that I enjoyed earlier in the year.

 

I went next to Newport.  Within an hour or so there are so many things to do.  I went back to Cape Perpetua where I went back to one of the blowholes.  One of the days that I was there it wasn’t blowing much, so this guy decided to get a closer look.  He almost lost his hat.   It’s a bit hard to make out but his hat is probably 8 – 10 feet above him. 

I also went back to Seal Rock.  It was high tide, so I didn’t go tide pooling, but the waves were spectacular.

During one of my walks I sat on some of the rocks, ate my lunch and enjoyed the show.  What a great show it was!!

When I started these “catch up” blogs, I didn’t realize I had missed so much.  I think there will be at least one more catch up blog and then one for my drive back across the country.