On this trip, we decided to do a loop from Birmingham to Charleston, SC to Pensacola, FL, and back to Birmingham. We were only home one night, then left for Baltimore, MD to visit kids/grandkids.
10/3/10
We left Birmingham on I-20 Sunday at 2:30 pm CT. (It took us longer than usual to pack the RV.) Our beginning mileage was 50,385.7. We were headed to the SELD get together at James Island County Park in James Island, SC right outside Charleston. Our goal was to get through the Atlanta area on Sunday. We drove until 7:30 CT where we stopped in at Hard Labor Creek State Park in Rutledge, GA. When we arrived, our mileage was 50,582.
10/4/10
We left Rutledge at 1:00 ET. Rutledge is a beautiful, quaint, town very worth a visit. It has a famous 4 way stop sign that is in a barrel located in the middle of an intersection, featured in quite a few movies. We visited their wonderful old hardware store and ate lunch with famous buttermilk pie for dessert. Down 278 is Madison a larger town with many charming southern homes. We rejoined I-20 out of Madison.
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| Beautiful Downtown Rutledge |
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| The Famous "Barrel Stopsign" |
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| Rutledge Hardware, a Must See!! |
We arrived at James Island Campground in Charleston, SC at 6:15 ET. Our mileage was 50,867.7. We were one day early for the SELD GTG but several rigs had already arrived. It was fun getting reacquainted.
10/5 – 10/8
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| SELD Members that Attended the GTG |
James Island County Park is a wonderful spot for a GTG. Seventeen rigs attended. It is located very close to Charleston so lots of folks took day trips in on the JICP shuttle for $20. There are lots of bike trails; so many that we actually got lost biking. We enjoyed very much the camaraderie with our SELD friends. They are such a great group of fun people. And most are certainly willing to help out any way they can. We met Mike Coachman, owner of a 2010 LD. He shared his many improvements to his rig with the group during the tech talk. During our evening campfires, Mike and his wife also talked about their love for Newfoundland and encouraged everyone to travel there. We were sorry to leave, but knew we needed to get away pretty early on Friday because we were headed to Gulf Breeze, near Pensacola, FL to visit our Wyoming friends Harry and Mary Gottwals.
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| Carriage Rides |
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| 22 New Street B&B where we spent our first anniv! |
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| Sweetgrass Basket Weavers |
Charleston, SC to Pensacola, FL
10/8/10
We left James Island CG at 10:30 ET. We drove to Valdosta, GA (284 miles) arriving about 3:30 ET. We stayed at River Park RV Park in Valdosta. Our mileage was 51,155.4.
10/9/10
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| Fort Pickens |
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| The Big Cannon! |
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| Our Campsite |
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| Gulf Islands National Seashore |
We left the CG at 11:00 ET, drove until 3:00 ET, when we arrived at Gulf Islands National Seashore. Our mileage was 51,452.7. Scarlet, our GPS has been great on this trip. She gave us excellent directions! The CG is on the Gulf Islands National Seashore on Foley Road. A peninsula of sand with Fort Pickens at the end. Very nice. We will definitely camp here again.
10/10/10 – 10/11/10
Enjoyed biking to the fort, touring, walking to the beach to collect shells. Drove our car with Gottwals into old Pensacola on Sunday. Unfortunately, everything was closed to tours, but very pretty. Enjoyed our visit.
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| Our Friends from Wyoming, Harry and Mary Gottwals |
10/12/10
Departed Gulf Islands at 10:10 am. Scarlet says it is 265 miles to home. Arrived home at 2:40 pm after 4½ hr with final mileage of 51,452.7. Odometer says our mileage from Hoover to Charleston, Pensacola and return was 1325.5 in 9 days.
Birmingham to Baltimore, MD
10/13/10
Stopped to see Mom and left nursing home at 12 pm. Arrived at Rippling Waters CG off route 66 off I-40 near Sevierville, TN at 4:15 pm CT. We stay at this CG during most of our trips. Convenient. Mileage 52,383.3 miles. Drove 293.7 miles today.
10/14/10
Left CG at 8:30 am CT. Arrived at Creekside Campground in Edinsberg, VA at 4:15 CT. We drove 374 miles today so it was a long, tiring day of travel.
10/15/10
Left Creekside at 10:00 ET. Scarlet the GPS tells us it is 138 miles to daughter, Ann's. We arrived about 12:30 ET where we found little 4 year old Andrew home with Ann. We both rode with Ann to pick up the girls. They were just as excited to see us as we were to see them!!
10/15 to 18
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| Campbell age 6 |
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| Andrew age 4 Dylan age 5 |
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| Alex age 3 |
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| Kiley age 7 |
We had a wonderful week-end with the children and grandchildren, celebrated Butch's birthday, visited farmer Toms to buy pumpkins, and experienced lots of love and welcomed chaos. Time flew by too fast, so next visit we will stay lots longer and visit each in their home.
Baltimore, MD to Birmingham, AL via PA, WV, and KY
10/18/10
We left Ann's at 10:00 AM, visited the outlets on the way to Gettysburg, PA. We arrived in Gettysburg at 1:15 pm. We were surprised that Gettysburg is located only about 45 minutes from Reisterstown, MD where Ann lives. We were very impressed with the Visitor's Center and the offerings at Gettysburg. We bought the full Monte; shuttle tour, museum visit, and film. The museum is quite impressive, gives lots of information regarding what led up to the Civil War. The film was very impressive and informative. At the end of the film, we went upstairs to visit a huge circular painting with many special effects. The shuttle stop is just outside the Visitor's Center. Our tour guide, John, was wonderful. He shared lots of information as we traveled the battleground that one might get only in Civil War text books, pointing out where all the state's monuments were located, when and where the battles took place, and names of important figures and dates of the battles.
We stayed at Artillery Ridge Camping Resort very near the battleground. It was very pedestrian. We thought it was fairly expensive at $43.48 for E/W/S but no cable or wifi. Although site 93 got good satellite reception.
10/19/10
We departed Pennsylvania headed to Harper's Ferry WV, we think. It was a beautiful drive on small country roads through small quaint towns. The fall foliage was spectacular, popping with color. We arrived at Seneca Rocks USFS CG (on state hwy 55) at 5:30 ET. $15 with electric. It was a beautiful campground. The host stated that the weather had been too dry for the trees to pop, but we thought it was absolutely beautiful. We drove 185 miles today in 3-1/2 hours. Our mileage today was 52,742.2.
10/20/10
We left Seneca Rock, WV at 9:30 ET. The rocks bring in lots of climbers, but we didn't see any. Today was a day of driving through beautiful fall foliage. Ed checked the foliage report before we left so we could take the most scenic route. And boy did we. It was gorgeous driving through the Monongahela National Forest. We drove to Salt Lick, KY (yes, there is really a Salt Lick!!). We stayed at the Outpost Campground. We think we were the only non-full-timers there. The fee was only $23 for full hook-ups so we didn't complain too much!
10/21/10
When we left the campground, we headed over to the Woodford Reserve Bourbon Distillery off the Bluegrass Parkway. It was an amazing drive over to the distillery. Scarlet the GPS took us through the most beautiful, back road, horse country that we have ever seen! The barns were HUGE!! We arrived at the distillery just in time for the film and tour. We got a real education about how the yeast is mixed, how it the bourbon is barreled and when it's ready to be bottled. We stayed at the Glendale Campground in Elizabethtown, KY. The worst part of this campground was that all the sites were unlevel. The good part is that when we were having a problem not getting all the cable channels, the owner came over and helped us with our TV settings and fixed it. Yeah!
10/22/10
Today, we left the campground at 9:00 CT and arrived home at 2:30 CT. Our mileage was 53,547. The whole trip was 3,160 miles in 19 days. Too fun!
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