On the Road Again

After 5 months spent mostly in Barbara's daughter Jennifer's yard in Gainesville, FL (broken up by rallies with our Florida Manatee's chapter of the Newmar Kountry Klub), we are again traveling with Shelby.
Last Wednesday we went south to Ocala to finish the towing set-up for our new-to-us Saturn Vue, then headed north to Monticello, FL just northwest of Tallahassee. The first part of the trip was uncomfortable, as the smoke from brush and forest fires in central Florida was so thick that visibility was down to 1/4 mile in places. Our eyes burned and our noses were sore for days.

The small town of Monticello is centered around a classic county courthouse, which sits in the middle of the road in a traffic circle. Many stately old homes sit on the tree-lined streets. Five miles north of town, we turned into a half-mile long dirt driveway leading to Golden Acres Farm, one of our Harvest Hosts overnight stops. It's fun for Tom, who was raised on a small family farm, to visit places like this and chat with the owners.

We were a little dubious about the trees arching overhead, but had no problems slowly wending our way up to the farmhouse, where we were warmly greeted by the owners, Bobbi and Fred Golden. They raise goats, sheep, chickens and guinea fowl, and sell lamb, goat meat, eggs, and jellies. They also have a dog boarding operation. We bought some very pretty (and tasty) light turquoise eggs.

Bobbie walked the grounds with us and said we could park wherever we'd be most comfortable - we ended up in a nice level spot at the edge of the woods.If you increase the size of this photo, you'll see little black spots all over the front of the motorhome - these were the stickiest bugs we've ever run into - instead of squishing like most bugs do, they just stuck to the motorhome intact. After I moved my tomato and basil plants from the shower stall to a sunny spot near the motorhome, we went for a walk back out to the road to stretch our legs a bit. The goats were very curious and watched us carefully as we passed by their pasture. The sheep didn't acknowledge our presence. Walking in the shade was very pleasant, but out in the sun we were very warm. Shelby was very interested in all the new smells along the way.

The next morning we had a leisurely breakfast, and departed for Vernon, FL (just south of I-10 north of Panama City). The drive along US 90 between Monticello and Tallahassee was like driving through a park - crepe myrtle trees were planted years ago along both sides of the road, and even now when they are not in bloom the peeling pale trunks and fresh green leaves are very pretty. We stopped at the Costco in Tallahassee to do a bit of stocking up before heading on to Three Oaks Winery in Vernon, another Harvest Hosts site. In contrast to our previous stop, here there was no driveway per se - we had to pull wide to the left of the parking area and make a u-turn close to the tasting room in order to park on the grass.

A motorhome with a larger turning radius than ours would have had difficulty getting into this spot. The site was level, my tomato plant had sun, and the winery actually had some interesting wines, so we weren't unhappy. The wine maker George was unlike any other winemaker we've encountered - most are very eager to talk about their operation, their wines, and their vines. George countered our questions with the most vague of answers: "How many cases of wine do you make a year?" "Some." "Where do you grow your grapes?" "Out back." Tom walked a mile back through the property, past the motocross course George built for his son, and never could find any grapevines.

On Friday the 13th we made the short trip to Orange Beach, AL, where we stayed two nights with Newmar friends Ginny and Jack Pitts. They have a lovely house on a canal that leads to Perdido Bay and thence to the Gulf of Mexico, a driveway long enough for us to park, and 50 amp power. Jack and Ginny were wonderful hosts - they drove us on a tour of Orange Beach, and treated us to a lunch of some of the best fried shrimp I've ever had at the Sea-n-Suds in Gulf Shores. Saturday morning we all went for a long walk on a pedestrian/bike trail near their house, then that afternoon they drove us over to Pensacola and treated us to lunch again, followed by a visit to the biggest fish market I've ever seen, Joe Patti's Famous Seafood Market. Even though it was late Saturday afternoon, the place was mobbed, but they've got so many people manning the counter that we didn't have to wait long at all. They had all kinds of fish I've never heard of, and also have a little gourmet market and bread bakery. The fish are very reasonable priced, but the gourmet stuff was not.

Sunday morning we said our farewells to Jack and Ginny, who were heading to their principal home in Lowndensboro, AL. We surely hope to see them again, as we had a great time getting to know them better, talking genealogy and our own histories, enjoying wine and good conversation.

Later that morning we packed up again, and drove over to Biloxi, MS, where we will be until Thursday. We are at Cajun RV park right across the road from the beach - haven't been out yet, as it's really warm and windy. The sand on this long beach is blindingly white. This morning was clear, but now it's cloudy and windy with a chance of rain. We actually had to close up and turn on the A/C, it's so hot and humid. We are clearly here at the end of the season - the park is only about a third full. Nice manager, and Tom met one of the work campers when he was up getting coffee this morning who is from McLeansboro, IL, where his sister lives. They had a good time talking about growing up in southern IL.