4 days of Family Reunion in Sequoia

We had 4 wonderful days getting together with Ned's family, including his 95 year old Aunt, his cousins and his sisters. All in all there were about 20 of us. We took over several campsites, but basically made Aunt Kay's site headquarters. Dang, does this family know how to do cookouts American style! We ate for 4 straight days, and them some. It's a good thing we are heading home because after our 5 week journey and then the week reunion I'm lucky to fit into the van! We had such a great time seeing the usual sights, such as the General Sherman Tree, and telling stories around the campfire, but the highlight was when the kids went on a hike and saw a bear. Or as 9 yr. old Wyatt likes to say, "survived a bear attack"' haha. Troung also ran nightly Blackjack tournaments, both 9 yr. olds came out the big winners. For years Ned has been telling me stories about his cousins and it was so much fun getting to know them better and hearing about their childhood shenanigans. Aunt Kay, a spritely 95, still rules the roost and had everyone towing the line. She had a hand in every meal preparation and made sure there was always a festive tablecloth adorning our camping meals. To all my Nevada City friends, yes, the entire Russell clan is just as nice and thoughtful as Ned. When we finally departed, Ned and I decided to take the long way out of the park and visit King's Canyon. I especially liked the tunnel tree, which I remember seeing with my family as a little kid. We are finishing up the final leg of the journey with Ned's sisters in Arroyo Grande. We kicked off Ned's 60th birthday celebration in style. Tonight we had a steak dinner at the outrageous and very pink Madonna Inn dining room in San Luis Obispo. Looking forward to playing with the great nephews tomorrow and I swear never, ever eating again...Pics from the reunion - Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Sequoia National Park

California Here We Come...

Right back where we started from. Okay, not quite, but we did cross back into the home state. We spent most of the day exploring the Southern Sierras. Our end destination was Lake Success in Porterville and we could have taken the interstate thru Bakersfield. Alas, that is not how we roll. Instead we took some very, very windy roads over several passes and were treated to a diversity of terrain. We drove through high desert, saw a couple of ghost towns, miles and miles of Joshua trees and then finally came upon the Sierras that we know and love. We rolled down the windows and made sure we enjoyed the aroma of the cedars. Ahh, almost made me homesick. Once on the other side of the mountains we dropped down into golden rolling hills with lots of Oak trees. We've been all over the US and there is nothing like the California hills. We loaded up on provisions at the coolest upscale Hispanic grocery store. Geez, what I'd do to have a store like this in Nevada City. The produce was abundant (papayas, mangoes, cherries, tomatillos, peppers, plantains, melons, cactus to just name a few) and piled higher than anything we've seen. There were more cuts and variety of meat than I even knew existed, and displayed so beautifully. The dulce pan section was colorful and vibrant. There was also a whole section devoted to just making tortillas. Maybe this is how they do it in the Valley, but it sure was new to me. We drove through acres and acres of Orange trees before settling down at Success Lake. We were going to swim, but opted instead for a Scrabble game. Tomorrow we head for Sequoia National Park where the Russell family is having a big reunion. I'm looking forward to hanging out in one place for 4 days with Ned's sisters, cousins and 95 year old Aunt. Let the partying begin! - Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Success Lake, Porterville, CA

A Day of Many States

And I mean the title both literally and figuratively. We crossed in and out of States seven times today, mainly going back and forth between Utah and Arizona before finally settling down at an RV Park in Las Vegas. We drove thru some really remote areas, including doing a drive thru Colorado City, known as the home of the polygamist FLDS sect. We arrived there at about 2:30 in the afternoon and all the streets were completely vacant and the town was eerily quiet. We eventually drove by the church where there were hundreds and hundreds of vans and pick-up trucks lined up. Ned wanted me to take a pic, but by this time we were being watched and followed from two different pickups so we thought it best not. The town has absolutely no facilities for visitors, no gas stations, restaurants, etc. They do have enormous houses with high compound fences surrounding them. We made several other stops along our rather long day in the car including a visit to the Glen Canyon Dam and Visitors center. It's situated on Lake Powell and is one of the system of dams regulating the Colorado River. Quite impressive. We also stumbled upon Pipe Spring National Monument, an infamous spring where the clash of several cultures over many years occurred. This would be the Paiute Indians, early Mormon Settlers and US Gov't. The nearby town of Moccasin, still in existence, houses the descendants of the original Mormon Settlers. We also decided to do a drive thru there. Needless to say it was our day for polygamy and I told Ned not to get any ideas. (He says not to worry one of me is plenty enough!). We didn't want to stay at another rather barren state park so we decided to head for Vegas. Thus, the other end of the spectrum. Instead of early pioneer culture we are now immersed in Sin City. This RV park is not the usual way we roll, but we are embracing our inner Vegas. We enjoyed the rather ostentatious pools, including the sand beach and water falls. Poor Winnie is lined up in a sea of behemoth RVs. We are still really proud of the ol' girl as she has taken us across the country and back.Today's pics - Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Oasis RV Resort, Las Vegas, NV

A Monumental Day

Before we left the park we decided to partake in the all you can eat pancake breakfast offered at the park's outdoor cafe. We usually plan one breakfast out on our road trips and this was it. The Indian woman who made our pancakes was very sweet and told Ned that the reason they were so good was because they were made with lots of love. awww. We decided to take a small detour and see the 4 corners. Yep, all 4 states; Utah, Arizona, Colorado and New Mexico do meet up. We got the obligatory shot of us straddling the states, but I must admit that the Indians hawking all their wares at the marketplace was much more interesting. I even picked up a pretty necklace, thanks Ned. The drive between Mesa Verde and Monument Valley was jaw dropping. We drove along the San Juan River and were awed by view after view of different rock formations. Part of the time the sky was hazy from the nearby Arizona wildfires, but by the time we reached Monument Valley Tribal Park it had cleared up. We are camped at Goulding's, a private campground, hotel, park, dining, tour guide, and trading post. Their big claim to fame is that John Wayne made 4 movies here, along with a bunch of other movie stars. We both felt a little old and a little sad when a young boy, seeing all the John Wayne posters and memorabilia asked his mom, "So who IS John Wayne." sigh. The campground plays a John Wayne movie every night, tonight is "Stagecoach", we passed on the opportunity. Instead we opted for dinner at The View, the restaurant at the tribal park. We decided to go native and eat two of their Navajo specialties. Ned had pork green chili stew and I opted for the pozole. Both were accompanied by the biggest pieces of blue corn Indian fry bread and tortillas known to man. Dinner was so so, but maybe I'm just dying a slow death of carbs today. Seriously...The sunset view after dinner was pretty remarkable. It's definitely a bucket list item. As we watched the light slowly change the color of the rocks we tried to count all the different languages passing by. It's now dusk at the campground, and we have a gorgeous view through a canyon of the rocks turning purple. today's pics Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Monumennt Valley, Az

Exploring Mesa Verde National Park

Ned here again. We made a casual departure from Lathrop State Park this morning, heading for Mesa Verde National Park. This is one of those locations that neither of us had ever been to, so it seemed appropriate to finally get it on our schedule. The drive over the San Juan Mountains, the southern tip of the Rockies, was spectacular. It was fun to see snow covered mountains again for the first time in a month. The lush green of the aspens, mixed with darker green of pines which lines the mountainsides is really beautiful as we drove over the highest pass today of 10,500 feet. We stopped at a mountain village for lunch and sat outside on a deck overlooking the river. It was fun watching the kayakers and paddle rafters make their way past as we ate. Soon we arrived at Mesa Verde and we were both blown away with how amazing this place is. Somehow we had imagined we would drive up into an arid little canyon and look up at some cliff dwellings from below. Instead we drove up to the top of a very impressive green mesa with unbelievable views in all directions. Our favorite view was from the highest point in the park looking down across the Mesa with the snow covered Rockies in the distance. We also had a great time walking down the trail at the Spruce Tree House, as the sun sunk low in the sky, exploring an amazing 800 year old stone cliff house of the Anasazis. When we returned to our campsite and started making dinner, the sun was beginning to drop behind the hills. We checked the van thermometer and saw that it was 62 degrees. We both ran around and got on sweat shirts as fast as we could, because it felt really COLD to us. We are amazed that after a month of staying in places where the overnight low is in the low 80's, our bodies now consider 62 degrees to be a veritable cold snap! We're off to snuggle down in our sleeping bag, and expect to sleep well tonight.see today's pics - Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Mesa Verde National Park, CO

Playing Cowboys in Dodge City

We were woken up in the middle of the night by howling winds gusting up to 45 mph. We thought for sure the Eurovan was going to picked up and blown away. When we entered the park we noticed a large RV trailer was lying on it's side and was smashed. We now understand, it was probably caught in the latest tornado or winds. We had visions of this happening to poor Winnie with us in it. Needless to say we had eyes the size of saucers and didn't sleep much the rest of the night. By early morning things had finally settled down, and two bleary eyed campers stumbled from the van. Today's big adventure was playing cowboy in Dodge City. We did a quick run thru Wichita and then headed to Boot Hill. Having seen Tombstone, Az a few years ago we thought this would be an upscale version. Boy, were we wrong. Tombstone is sooo much better. It's a real town that you can walk around. You feel like there's a "there" there. Dodge City is basically an industrial working town with a one block touristy Boot Hill that you have to pay to see. The tone was set by the intro movie called, "Relive the Legend". Everything is a replica, and frankly our own Rough and Ready is a lot cooler. None the less, we paid our dime and had a few laughs yukking it up. Ned also treated this cowgirl right by buying her an honest to goodness Kansas rib eye steak. We originally were going to spend another night in Kansas, but after driving thru the rather bleak Western side of the State we opted to keep them doggies rollin'. Eastern Colorado wasn't much better so after a long day in the saddle we finally set up camp in the foothills of the Rockies. Ahh, to be back in the West again. For the first time since New Orleans I put on a very light sweater and haven't had to battle the mosquitos or flies. We can see a glimpse of snow on the mountains from our campsite under the Pinion trees. We might even have to do a little snuggling to keep warm. Oh what a change from living in our bathing suits! See today's pics Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Lathrop State Park, CO

Digging thru the Russell Roots

We were pokey leaving this morning and took our sweet time getting to Garnett where Ned's dad (Oak) was born. It was fun driving thru some of the small towns and I have to admit I was surprised by how green and pretty Kansas is. This is our 4th cross country trip and we always managed to miss Kansas thinking it looked like the panhandle of Oklahoma. Tomorrow we head to western Kansas so that still may be true, stay tuned. Once in Garnett, we visited the Clerk Recorder's office to see if we could get a copy of Oak's birth certificate. Unlike Calif. the County office does not issue birth certificates. You can only get those thru the state. (guess we're not in Calif anymore, yuk yuk). Ned brought along some family documents and an old map from the County that showed which tract of land his grandfather had purchased in 1916 for $1000. Ned's dad was born in a stone house that used to reside on this 120 acres. Our mission was to find this plot of land. Armed with the township map and modern day google maps on the iPad, we drove down several gravel roads until we finally located the property. It's still a beautiful undeveloped piece of prairie. His grandfather was never successful in farming this plot and sold it in 1919 for $1. Ironically, it is now dotted with oil wells! Ah, hindsight. After this fun adventure I really wanted to bike the Prairie Spirit Trail. As you probably know, I'm a fanatic about biking the Rails to Trails. Ned did some further puttering around in Garnett and I rode about 10 miles to the next town of Richmond. It was really pretty biking thru the prairie and seeing some spectacular wild flowers, but dang was it hot! Maybe doing it at midday wasn't the best plan of action. I was originally going to ride further on, but I was relieved to see Ned in Richmond waiting with a picnic. God Bless that man and air conditioned cars. It was about 95 degrees and just baking hot. Tonight we are in another Kansas State Park campground which leaves a lot to be desired. The showers are without a roof and have no doors, the campsites are on mowed grass with very little tree cover, but thank goodness the lake is cold! Tonight at 6:30 we were the only people floating in it. What do they know that we don't know? Currently there is a 25 mph dry wind, which sure beats the still and muggy weather in the South. today's pics - Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:El Dorado State Park, KS

A Hitch in Ned's Gitalong

Before we left on the trip, Ned was having problems with his knee. He had it checked out and was told it was a Baker's Cyst (fluid behind the knee) and it should eventually heal. Things have been going fine for several weeks, but about a week ago it started acting up again. He's been icing it and I've picked up the majority of the driving the last several days to give it a rest, but the leg and foot continued to swell. So, we thought it best to get it checked out again. I did a little research and found a medical clinic in Fulton, next to Westminster College where the Winston Churchill museum is located. First thing this morning we made a bee line for the clinic and waited...the doc scheduled a sonogram for later in the day to check for blood clots. So, we spent the interim time perusing the very in-depth exhibit about the life and achievements of Winston Churchill. (thank you Polly & Eric for this tip). Churchill gave his famous "Iron Curtain" speech at this college, with Truman in attendance. We were quite impressed with the museum and famous Wren church that was brought over from England and rebuilt stone by stone. Still having some time to kill, we visited the historic little town and had lunch. After a trip to the hospital lab and back to the doctor's, the good news is that there is no blood clot. Ned does have a popliteal cyst, which means a lot of fluid has built up in his leg and foot, but he'll be okay until we can get home and he can see an orthopedist. Fortunately, he's not in much pain...or maybe he's just being macho and telling me that. So, no more bike rides for my biking buddy, but lots of swimming was encouraged. Mmmm, I asked him if perhaps he didn't take a big enough swig from the Fountain of Youth springs! We weren't able to visit Truman's library, museum and home, but did manage to make it across the state line into Kansas. This is our 4th trip across the country and each time we managed to skip Kansas. Since Ned's dad was born here we thought it only appropriate to further explore his family's roots here. Ned had some family documents from the county recorder's office and we think it will be fun to do some sleuthing tomorrow and see if we can locate his dad's boyhood home or plot. Now, we are camped near a lake, or more like a flooded prairie, sipping on sangia and enjoying the drier heat. Even though it was another scorcher day, it sure makes a difference when it's less humid. Ned says he might be walking like Grandpappy Amos, but he really does feel fine.See today's pics - Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Hillsdale State Park, Paola, KS

Having a Great Time in the Show Me State

We left the shrill of the cicadas for the hustle and bustle of the big city. It's always such a big transition going from pokey back roads to the "pedal to the metal" attitude of most interstate drivers. (Does that sound like an old fart?) First up in St. Louis was visiting the arch. We were both so impressed with the elegance and simplicity of the design. The pictures really don't do it justice. The grounds, especially the tree covered river walk was very much appreciated, especially since it was in the high 90s. We had no idea there was so much going on inside the arch. The themed "Western Expansion" museum was well done and included beautiful photography, fun audio-animatronic historical figures and interesting stories. We took the very claustrophobic tram up to the top and had great views of the city and Mississippi River. Who knew this was the highest national monument at 630 feet?! We also really enjoyed the IMAX film on Lewis & Clark, narrated by Jeff Bridges. We braved the stifling heat to tour the Old Courthouse where the Dred Scott decision was handed down. Again, saw an interesting movie about the decision and its ramifications on the Civil War. The frescos on the ceiling were really cool too! I was toying with bike riding the river walk, but it was just so darned hot that we decided to go in search of a late lunch/early dinner instead. We wanted to eat at Sweetie Pie's, a Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives suggestion, but it was closed. Instead we found a great Soul food/Jamaican place called, "M I hungry?" Between the two of us we had, Jerk chicken, BBQ rib tips, red beans and rice, candied yams, greens and corn cakes. The owner was an adorable young woman who was so sweet and inviting. She was very generous with her portions and kept bringing us samples. Do not be fooled by the pics of this place, it's a little gem and one of the reasons we love road trips so much. By this time the temp outside was almost reaching the triple digits and we decided enough sight seeing time to find a body of water, any water, to soak in. We checked our Missouri State Park guide and headed for Graham Caves State Park. It was a beautiful park, but the so-called river was more like a muddy ditch so instead we opted for a private rv park we spotted earlier. We both had longingly looked at the rather expansive pool and agreed it was calling to us. Another upside is that wireless internet is provided, which gave us an opportunity to try out the video conferencing feature on the iPad with my folks. It was a blast to see them and they got to hear the deafening roar of the cicadas. After a l-o-n-g soak in the pool, a great soul food meal and a fun sightseeing trip I can see why they call Missouri the Show Me state. Tomorrow more history calls and we plan to see some Churchill and Truman exhibits. See today's pics - Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Kan Do RV Park, Danville, MO

Cannonball Express

Ned here again. We headed out of Davy Crockett State Park this morning with out sites set on Jackson, Tennessee, the home of Casey Jones. Debi had warned me for several days that she thought the Casey Jones Village might very well be a serious tourist trap, and that I shouldn't get my hopes up. I assured her that I liked trains, and that a trip to a silly museum sounded like fun. I even researched the ballad of Casey Jones for her, which is why Casey is still known today, and we offer the best rendition here for your listening pleasure.click here for the balladWe noticed a theme, however, in the personalities of the three folk heroes (Ty Cobb, Davy Crockett, and Casey Jones) whom we had seen honored in the last three days. Like the other two, Casey seems to me like a very head-strong sort, with an aggressive streak that bordered on psychotic. The museum makes a big deal about what a hero he was to have died while saving the lives of all the passengers during his famous 1900 train crash, while he was at the controls. What is obvious to even the casual observer, is that the damn train never would have crashed in the first place if he hadn't been fanatically driving it way too fast to make up for lost time. The side benefit of the museum stop was that we ate lunch at one of the little cafeteria style buffets in the cutesy little store across from the museum. This included very authentic southern cooking items of fried chicken, black-eyed peas, turnip greens, and corn bread. This being a Sunday afternoon, it turns out that LOTS of locals eat here after church, so we were treated to some excellent people-watching of everyone parading through in their Sunday finest. Soon we were headed out of Tennessee and across the Mississippi River, into Missouri. We were interested to see how the "boot heal" of Missouri looked, but found it to be very flat agricultural land, covered with rice, corn, or wheat fields, and looking very much like some of the farm land in Central California. One surprise in this area was to drive into the little town of Kennett, which proclaims itself to be the hometown of Sheryl Crow, the singer. Heading north toward our present location, we enjoyed the rolling and heavily wooded hills as we entered Missouri's Ozark region. We're camped tonight in a really nice campground where we we able to cool off this afternoon in the rather shallow, but refreshing clear creek that runs through the park. Our campground is being serenaded by tree loads full of cicadas with their sometimes almost deafening roar. Debi is a bit grossed out by the hundreds of dead cicada carcasses that liter the ground. The Ozarks are never boring! See today's pics - Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Sam Baker State Park

Hanging with Jack and Davey

Our big destination for the day was the Jack Daniels Distillery in Lynchburg, TN. Basically, it's in the middle of nowhere. We took some really off the beaten path roads to get there, driving thru a mountain range and then over gorgeous rolling hills. When we arrived we were a little surprised at how many people were there since we hadn't seen anyone on the roads on our way. Our tour guide was great, not only informing us of the brewing process, but telling amusing anecdotes in his charming Tennessee drawl. Our biggest disappointment was there wasn't any tasting of the brew after the tour since Lynchburg is in a dry county. Don't worry, we managed to find an ice cream shop in town that served Jack Daniels cones! Yeah, it was pretty tasty, albeit a little soft given the high alcohol content. We're camped tonight at David Crockett State Park. We've been completely spoiled by camping on a lake the last several nights and were a little disappointed that even tho there's a lake, no swimming was allowed. The campground is amazingly empty for a Saturday night and we're fortunate to have an entire loop to ourselves in a gorgeous wooded area. We enjoyed the many bike trails in the park, but given the heat and humidity we didn't knock ourselves out. It was a delightful surprise to see the fireflies out tonight. It's the first ones we've seen on this trip and it really does make you feel like it's summer and you're a kid again catching them and putting them in old mayonnaise jars. today's pics - Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:David Crockett State Park

Summer in Appalachia

We left Bobby Brown State Park and headed for the Georgia Mountains. Our big surprise of the day was unexpectedly stumbling upon Ty Cobb's home town of Royston. I knew my mama would be mad at me if we didn't take this opportunity to poke our head inside the Ty Cobb museum. It's located in a medical office building, which at first seemed a little odd, until we learned how much Ty Cobb donated toward healthcare. This museum is quite a little gem. We saw a 15 minute movie and there was lots of memorabilia to peruse. We just knew Nana would love this place. Mom, check out today's pics, especially the photograph I took of Ty Cobb in an A's uniform. Even tho he played with Detroit for most of his career, his last two years were with the Philadelphia Athletics. We continued further into the mountains stopping for lunch at Chuck's BBQ, a very, very local joint. Ned dined on Chuck's speciality of "pig wings" - don't ask, while I had a plate of pork, with a side of Brunswick stew. Only in the South can you get meat with a side of meat...After our carnivorous lunch our big planned stop of the day was the town of Helen. Admittedly we had been warned that it was a tourist trap. Well, they weren't kidding. It's a very cheesy Bavarian village where people can float down the Chattahoochee River in day glo pink tubes, otherwise known as "tubing the Hooch". Think of it as a low budget Solvang with the Truckee River running through it. We decided to keep on trucking and had a wonderful drive through the Appalachian Mountains of North Carolina and Tennessee. This area is just incredibly beautiful and reminded us a lot of Smokey Mountain National Park, with it's dense broadleaf woods. We rolled into Harrison Bay State Park around dinner time on a Friday night, knowing that our chances for a campsite were slim. Even tho the park is pretty filled up, we completely lucked out by nabbing a spot on the lake! We're loving this spot so much we're putting it down as a possibility for next Memorial weekend. (what me plan ahead?) It was so fun watching the sunset from our floaties in the lake. See today's pics - Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Harrison Bay State Park, TN

Georgia Camping

Between the Kennedy Space Center and discovering St. Augustine we had a whirlwind couple of days with a lot crammed in. It sure felt good to kick it down a notch and have last night and today be all about the journey and the camping. We were the only people in the campground last night and we very much appreciated the solitude. We were seriously thinking about going for an evening swim, but when the ranger came by to collect our fees he advised against it. Or how he put it was, "It's probably not a good idea, we have a couple of baby gators that have wondered in." Okay, enough said that worked for me! Instead we thoroughly enjoyed coffee on the lakeside swing and taking an early morning walk next to the lily pads. We continued our journey sticking to the Georgia backroads until we reached Augusta. Our plan was to bike along the "river-walk" which sounded great on paper. In reality, we found Augusta to be a bit mundane and not very charming at all. It's entirely possible that we missed the quaint part, but mostly it seemed like Augusta was just one big strip mall sprawl with a couple of downtown blocks. The mercury was really rising by now and a picnic lunch in 97 deg weather next to the unimpressive river was no longer appealing. We opted instead for salads in an air conditioned cafe. We continued our drive on the backroads enjoying the groves of stately pecan trees. Several years ago, we followed this same route, but on the South Carolina side of the river. This side seems more developed. After checking out several state campgrounds, we settled on Bobby Brown State Park. As luck would have it we have another campsite right on the lake, but this time there are no gators. It was still in the high 90's and thick with humidity, (To my Nevada City family and friends, sorry to be whining about the heat when you've had rain, hail and tornadoes!) so we spent the next several hours floating in the lake trying to get cooled off. As I write this, at 8:30 pm, its a nice 85 deg. with not a lick of breeze. The sunset on the lake and the peacefulness of another quiet campground does the soul good. Today's pics - Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Bobby Brown Stare Park

The Fountain of Youth - We Made It!

After our whirlwind tour yesterday, we were a bit pokey heading out this morning. Looks like we might need a taste from the Fountain of Youth waters none too soon! Anastasia State Park has a beautiful campground and we'd love to come back to spend a little more time. Unfortunately, we didn't make it to the beach. We did however have time for a tour at the Whetstone Chocolate factory. Priorities, priorities. We've done lots of other chocolate tours on our travels, but this one was my favorite. We had a very engaging tour guide named Chauncey, who is also a local pastor. He was quite knowledgeable on chocolate and what I especially liked was the detailed history he provided. There were quite a few visual aids and lots of chocolate sampling too. Ned, Mr. Chocolatier, wasn't quite as easily bribed by chocolate as I was, but he thought it was a pretty good tour as well. Turns out they don't roast their own cocoa beans, the mark of a true chocolate maker. Nonetheless, they had some pretty darn good samples! Next on the agenda was riding our bikes thru town and visiting the Castillo de San Marcos, the oldest fort in the US. The highlight for us here was seeing the beautiful ornately decorated bronze cannons some of them still in working condition. After a little more bike riding we finally made it to The Fountain of Youth Park, a mere 4700 miles to drink the magic elixir!! (crowd roar). We spent several hours roaming around seeing the Indian Diorama displays, the 1950's state of the art audio visual presentation complete with a 32 ft. diameter glowing globe of the earth, and strutting peacocks. After toasting to our youth with the magical waters, I can honestly say we found the secret to staying young...it's going on road trips and stopping at goofy roadside attractions. It definitely helps to have a sense of humor and appreciate the quirkiness of local folklore. In the late afternoon, we sadly bid adieu to Florida and crossed into Georgia, turning Winnie oh so slightly toward the West. We will never forget Florida, but for now we have Georgia on our mind.today's pics - Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Gordonia Alatamaha State Park