Airstream wonderers

The weather was very warm and very very humid with a lot of muscuitos. We had fun anyway. Did a lot of bike riding. We took snake bight, meaning a body of water not bite, trail. Very spooky back in there. The trees, water, and creatures all make some alarming sounds.

we took another ride the next day and saw some interesting things

we stayed in pelican campground. The marina feeds into the florida bay which feeds into the gulf of mexico

On one side of the marina you will see crocodile and the other side manatee

I have better pictures of crocks on my camera and will show you when I get home.

We saw alligator, snakes, rose spoonbill, manatee, all kinds of birds, diamond back rattle snake, crocodiles and enough bugs to last the rest of my life.

interesting, not sad to leave!!

Don and I spent two days playing in the parks until AM and AF came to join us for a week. What fun it is to spend time in DW with your nanadaughter and her bestest. AM got a kick out of flying without an adult!

We rode rides, ate a lot, saw lots of annimas, fire works, the aquarium, laughed, went swimming, played in the rain, screamed on rides, enjoyed.

In the picture above, you can see where disney built an overpass for the boats to float over the roads.

Now it is time to say goodbye to DW. What an excellent way to celebrate 40 years of marriage, at the happiest place on earth.

We head to the parks in the morning!!!

Over three thousand miles!

Tybee Island, Georgia. A small island just off Savannah. We left the beach on the 23rd of September and arrived at the east coast on October 8th. We had fun riding all around the island and enjoying the warm humid air.

There was a red fish competition here, although this is a huge fish, it was not the winner. The winner was 41.5 inches long.

There was also a pirate festival, we did not go. Looked like a drunk fest.

We also went to Savannah and took the historic trolley tour and had lunch, fried green tomatoes blt with hush puppies.

Not as cool as the one we stayed in, but still fun to see them. There was one in Hannibal, MO as well.

On our adventure to the Smokey Mountains we drove through the rest of KY, Virginia, Tennessee, then North Carolina. We stayed for 3 days at the smokemont campground. The trees were so bright orange, red, brown, and all colors in-between, the air and sky even seemed beautifuly tinted.

This area, before it became a national park in 1926, had roughly 1,2000 homesteaders. Little farms where they were able to eek out a self sufficient life. All the trees in this area, 5 mile radius, are second growth and the families were displaced; part of the Hillbilly Hwy. Of course, that was after the Cherokees were displaced. Here is the grist mill the farmers used

Not but a short walk from our camp is the old church

shibo liked it!

We then road up Balsam Mountain. I can’t even explain how gorgeous it was.

Don went fishing on the Oconaluftee River and caught a trout!

Kentucky is a place I have always wanted to visit. Now I understand why this is your favorite state dad. After I watched the series Justified, I really wanted to go to taste the bourbon, eat fried chicken, try “Apple Pie”, travel up a holler, see the beautiful fall, and go to harlan. We did all that. For years I have read people’s tellings of living in the hollers up in the appalations and of the coal wars. Infact, I am now reading “Hillbilly Elegy”. His life story, the Hillbilly Hwy and a culture in crisis, all started about 20 miles from where we stayed.

In Corbin we toured the Harland Sanders Cafe and Museum, the birthplace of the original recipie. In a picture below is his original deep fryer where it all started.

We have now traveled through OR, ID, UT, WY, NE, IA, MO, IN, IL, KY and fall is getting more beautiful. KY is amazing; green,lush, warm, the trees leaves are turning into the color of a campfire. Our first stop in KY was Bardstown where we had fried chicken with fried green tomatoes at Mammys, and toured the Lux Row distillery

We stayed at the Holly Bay Campground on Laural lake in the Dannial Boone NationalPark. We did a lot of biking and hiking on the Sheltowee Trace, a three hundred miles long trail.

We then did a gravel ride up a holler outside of London Ky. It had some tough spots and we also saw a couple arches.

So, umm, I left out Nebraska. After driving through ID,UT, and WY, I was glad to get to Nebraska, the corn husker state, with green grass, trees, and rolling hills of corn as far as you can see. As we drive along we look up interesting facts about the area we are in. Well, one fact was that Runza is only in Nebraska, and it is very popular. Infact there are 86 Runzas vs 77 McDonalds. So, I had to try one of these cabbage, meat, and spices rolled onto fresh dough and baked things. Loved it. Had a traditional Runza with an order of Frings.

From there we drove on to Indian and toured the boyhood home of Abraham Lincoln and the resting place of Nancy Hanks Lincoln, the mother of the president.