We popped into the Okefenokee Swamp NWR today for a glimpse of an area we had heard about all our lives. We initially looked for the area in Florida which was unwise because most of the swamp is in Georgia. However, we found it where it has always been and went there and took a boat ride into the swamp which was great.
Quite a bit of the boat ride is in the Suwannee Canal which is a big excavation made last century by land speculators who believed they could drain the swamp and sell the land to idiots for farmland. Fortunately for everyone, their venture went belly-up after four years of digging and losing money and they went away leaving a several miles long canal that is filled with water, abundant vegetation and lots of turtles and gators. Our boat pilot / guide was a guy named Bill who used to be a school teacher so he was able to explain what we were seeing in a way that even ignoramuses like us could understand. I would recommend the boat ride to all especially since it only costs about $20 a head and lasted almost two hours. The swamp is a strange place with truly bizarre lifeforms that seem fascinating to me.
Inside the park is also a loop drive that we took and we spotted several gators and some turtles lounging right next to the road. Some of the other folks on the loop apparently are not too savvy on spotting turtles or alligators because they would drive up behind us and then appear to pass Charlotte but instead would stop their vision-obscuring vans between us and the fauna or flora at which we were gazing. Blind, obnoxious twits that, fortunately, were very happy to continue on their way after blocking our view for a while because they still seemed to be unable to see what was plainly evident to us.
Barbecued steak and Caesar salad for dinner tonight. Boy, this traveling is tough.

Our trip for today was taking the Invader to Laura Walker State Park near Waycross, GA. Northern Florida and southern Georgia have beautiful roads with ample conifer and hardwood forests lining both sides. Our Garmin tried to send us down a dirt road into the park but we outsmarted it by ignoring it’s advice and making it take us by an alternate route. I am a big chicken about taking a 51 foot, 10 ton monster down roads that I am not sure lead anywhere since getting stuck or turning around may be impossible and backing up is problematic if required to reverse for more than the first straight section.
We ultimately made it into the park and the spaces are bordering a lake that was intentionally lowered for some type of construction but there was still water in the lake. We were notified in advance that the lake was going to have a reduced volume but we went anyway and we were not disappointed. The campground is very nice with water and electrical hookups that were more than adequate. We met some folks along the lake that had dogs and they let us play with them. It is nice to still see doggles when ours are so conveniently remaining at home in San Diego.
We drove into Waycross after we set up the Invader in the campground since it was only about 5 miles away. Waycross (at least the part we saw) has an abundance of old, formerly beautiful houses that seem to be falling apart from neglect or extended vacancy and it seems a pity because the variety of architectural styles is amazing with a good mix of Craftsman and Victorian styles. I don’t know what happened in this community but it seems to be falling apart. Maybe some factory closed down or industry failed.
Peg found a fabric store which made her happy although I was smart-assing in the store so she got me away from there pretty quickly. We also noted that the weather seems to be unusually warm and there seemed to be a substantial fly hatch so we were able to keep ourselves busy executing flies with my Bug-A-Salt, a gun that shoots table salt like a shotgun that makes killing flies sporty.

On this, our last day in Florida, we went to Kingsley Plantation which was pretty interesting. Old Zephaniah (no shit) Kingsley was a pretty progressive plantation owner. Although he had slaves, he married one of them, Anna, and she ended up being basically the plantation operator and owned some slaves herself. It was a different era, then.
Anna Kingsley ended up with 350 acres of the plantation because she engaged in a scorched earth policy when the land was going to be overrun by the enemy and was awarded the land as compensation. She was able to defend her interests against suits filed by some of Zephaniah’s scumbag kin who thought they should get her land despite being unworthy. She was no slouch and basically ended up being about the best asset Ol’ Zeph ever had. The plantation house is not too big but the lands around it were extensively farmed for cotton. Most of the land, except that portion at the plantation house, is now overgrown with magnificent Florida flora. The roads are all covered with a shady canopy of trees. The brush on either side of the entry road (all 3 miles of it) is impenetrable unless armed with machetes or chain saws.
We left Kingsley and drove up the road to Amelia Island which is covered with high-end housing tracts with names like “The Enclave” and stores in upscale mini-malls with names like “The Shops at Amelia Island.” It is nice if you are rich but it definitely cuts down on coastal access for mere peons. Almost the entire beachfront is privately owned, probably so you folks can’t see or walk on our beach.
At the very NE corner of Florida we went to a pre-Civil War fort called Fort Clinch. It is a masonry fort from the early 1850s that is remarkably good condition and has a terrific views over the St. Mary’s River and the Atlantic. Maybe one of the reasons that the fort is in such good shape is because absolutely no battles were fought here although the North and the South both occupied the fort at different times during the Civil War. Robert E. Lee told his troops to desert the fort when the Union Army got close because, like future far-sighted military leaders, he believed fixed fortifications were a testament to military stupidity.
From the fort we headed back to the Invader to prep for our journey tomorrow into Georgia.
Florida has been a great place to visit with plenty of stuff to see, abundant wildlife and pretty good roads despite the fact they seem to be working on all the roads all the time even though we were rarely able to see any highway workers on the job. We did see lots of detours, hundreds of thousands of delineator cones and barrels, many cautionary signs and lots of road construction equipment but no workers doing anything ever. Stay away from the beaches and Disney World and you will be okay.

Departed departed St. Augustine and drove up to Jacksonville, FL where we checked into Big Oak RV Park. Since it is the time for spring break, all the campgrounds in this area were booked solid for this weekend and a good part of the week. Fortunately, Peg was able to secure a reservation for us in this park at 7:00 PM last night which surprised both of us. Most parks do not even answer the phone after 5:00 PM and some parks rarely answer their phones any other time, either. Peg talked with Mike, a young park owner, and he said that he could get us in for two days, no problem.
The park is pretty small but their wi-fi works well and their restrooms are clean and the roads are pretty good so we were completely satisfied. There are nice trees with Spanish Moss on them and squirrels and dogs so we are happy.
We arrived pretty early and decided to go shopping. We got a look at one of the parks Peg contacted (they were full) right up the road called Flamingo Acres or something and noted that they were indeed full – with about 2000 spaces right next to each other with no trees . I’m glad Peg booked us into Big Oak. We hit a Costco and a Trader Joe’s and after spending about $250 on supplies we returned to the park to stock our shelves for our trip into Georgia.

Today we went to see the Castillo de San Marcos, an historic fort on the waterfront in St. Augustine. It is the oldest standing fort in the U.S. and, since it is a federal site, we got in free using our good old access pass again. It is a very well-built fort with great views of St. Augustine visible from the upper gun deck even if it is a testament to the folly of fixed fortifications. It changed hands between Spain, England and the U.S. About 10 times but only two battles were ever fought there that resulted in the changing of possession. All the other changes were by treaties that were hashed out in Europe or other remote locations. Again, they are a little short of artifacts with the exception of cannons and mortars and they have a bunch of them. We arrived just in time to see a gun crew dressed as colonial Brits fire one of the cannons although they really aren’t shooting at anything because they use 5 slices of white bread as the projectile. The local pigeons, however, are well aware of what comes from the cannon’s muzzle and they all gather to eat the toast that sprinkles down on the beach just outside the fort after each discharge.
We then headed for the oldest house in the U.S. which was near some other buildings that are the oldest somethings in the U.S. From there we went to some other oldest stuff in the U.S. There seems to be quite a bit of old stuff here.
From there we popped down A1A to Fort Matanzas (Spanish for “slaughters”) down the coast a bit. There is a free boat ride available to get out to the island where it is located but the next available boat ride (45 minute wait) was sold out and the ride after that (1 hour and 45 minute wait) may be canceled because the weather looked like it was going to get ugly and the Feds were not skookum on flatboat rides in choppy seas. We begged off and went instead to look for seafood. We noticed on the way north that there are places called Matanzas Chiropractic (Slaughters Chiropractic) and Matanzas Restaurant and we happily let those slide past as we drove by. We found a place that had good seafood for me but nominal Caesar salad for Peg. Unfortunately, since they do not put their name on their receipts and my memory is doo-doo, we are unable to remember the name of the joint. I do remember that it was on the beach highway named A1A but all other bets are off.
I spent the rest of the day prepping for our departure tomorrow while Peg attempted to make a reservation for us tomorrow near Jacksonville. When we leave there for points north, we will have driven the entire length of I-10 from Riverside, CA to Jacksonville, FL. It is a great road.

Driving day today. We left the Canaveral area and drove up I-95 to St. Augustine where we pulled into St. John RV Park. The nice reception lady spoke a form of English that may mean something to someone but was completely unintelligible to me. Her funny pronunciation of what may have been English words was only slightly hindered by the complete lack of upper front teeth. I believe she was trying to be very nice but she may have been calling me disparaging things without my knowledge since I could not understand anything she said. Her smile was half spectacular – the lower half.
We took a spin a couple of miles down the road to St. Augustine and ultimately ended up at the historic St. Augustine Lighthouse and Museum which cost Peggy $9.95 to see but only cost me $7.95 because I am so ancient. It is very lighthouse-like and is made from a shitload of bricks but I can’t remember how many. I would speculate is is between 1 and 2 million because it is a big Jose and you can see it from all over town. Like numerous museums we have seen in the South, it is high on admission fees but low on artifacts but it was okay nevertheless.
We left there and headed into the main tourist attraction part of St. Augustine which was quite horrible. Traffic is terrible, everything costs loads of money and there were no good places to eat that we could identify. They even have something called “Historic Parking” but we did not investigate that particular attraction. We just tried to leave and head back to the Invader albeit slowly considering the traffic. Just as we arrived home, we were again blessed with another Florida downpour and the skies were open for business. Despite living in Oregon for ten years I have never seen rain like they have here. In 20 minutes the streets become long linear lakes such that the lines painted on the highway become invisible because they are obscured by water and the miracle of refraction. The downpours are such that watching the TV in the Invader becomes impossible if one wishes to hear the sound track because the drumming on the roof is so loud.
Peg & I toughed it out in the Invader during the evening watching The King and I, a musical created in the ’50s and I am surprised to write that I actually enjoyed it despite the genre. The costumes were spectacular and the music was pretty good, too. I can’t believe I said this.

Kennedy Space Center Tourist Complex was our destination today. The KSC part was okay but expensive and an inordinate amount of standing in line was required to do anything – see the IMAX show, ride the tour bus, return to the original destination on the tour bus or eat and the food was nominal at best.
However, there was a launch of a Delta IV rocket with a GPS satellite on top that went off at precisely the time specified and it was spectacular. Despite having multiple family members that worked for JPL/NASA, I had never seen a launch, other than on TV, and found it was a lot like a NASCAR race. You just can’t appreciate a TV version of something after you have seen it in real life. I had no idea it took so little time for something to get out of Dodge when propelled by big rocket engines. You see the stream of hot fire coming out of the launch vehicle, then the noise starts about the time the column of fire starts getting smaller and a minute or so later all you can see is a really hot-looking dot in the sky and then it disappears. It is much better than the skyrockets I have had and I admit I have had some really big ones.
On the way back to the KOA and the Invader, we took another pass through the MINWR and again spotted tons of wildlife. Today we saw three more armadillos and a Glossy Ibis was added to our list of identified birds. Even if one was to omit the KSC debacle, Merritt Island and Canaveral Seashore are worth the trip to this part of the world.

Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge and Cape Canaveral National Seashore were our destinations for today. Both are just chock-full of animals and during our journeys today were spotted armadillos, alligators, manatees, javelinas, roseate spoonbills, herons, cranes, red=winged blackbirds, grackles, ibises (ibi?) and other birds we have not seen previously but were too slow to positively identify.
At Merritt Island, our federal access pass was again unleashed keeping us from having to pony up six bucks twice since we went into and out of the refuge twice. Today was a spectacular day for wildlife viewing and Peggy and I agreed this may have been one of our best on this road trip.

Today was a driving day. We left Peace River and drove through the Orlando area which is an almost homicide-inducing nightmare of traffic. Near the wonderful Disney area, traffic comes to a standstill as out-of-state tourists and deranged Floridians vie for insufficient roadway space. To make the drive more interesting, there were some nice Florida downpours which release water from the sky in almost biblical proportions. Sometimes during the downpours drivers can actually see through the windshield as long as they keep their speed below about 35 mph.
After clearing the Orlando area, traffic returned to merely chaotic instead of downright insane. We ultimately made it to a KOA in Mims, FL, which is close to Cape Canaveral. Of course, it was raining when we arrived so I only got moderately wet as I set up the Invader for a three night stay.

We started out the day going to download some ishkabibble for TurboTax, which should be called normally-aspirated tax. Peg needed to make sure the tax poop for 2015 TurboTax was up-to-date which is strange because we only bought the thing about a week ago. It is interesting that the IRS can make nonsensical changes to the tax code that take effect even after you have done your taxes for the year. I suppose it is so the IRS can tell you they want more of your money no matter when you file. Peg tried to operate the program to do this little favor for the Fed but was stymied by not having full info about tax year 2011. It seems that is the only year out of the last 10 years that she does not have the records for which is about 9 more years than I have. I hate the IRS for seeming to believe we should carry the documentation for the last 200 years even when living on the road. Turdfondlers all.