It’s hard to believe that we have been home for 9 months
now. We have already planned out our
next adventure so it only seems appropriate that we finally post our last blog
from our 2018 trip before we start out on our “new,” 2019 trip….
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| Our last trip with our HiLo |
From Miller’s Ferry in Alabama, we headed southeast to Hardridge Creek Camp, an Army Corps of
Engineers campground, near Abbeville, Alabama, on the Alabama/Georgia state line. We took a day trip from there to visit
Providence Canyon State Park in Lumpkin, GA.
Jean’s sister, Janet, and her husband, Tim, highly recommended that we
visit this park and we’re so glad we took their advice. What an interesting place. Nicknamed “Georgia’s Little Grand Canyon,” it
was formed by poor farming practices during the 1800’s when farmers did not
take steps to avoid soil erosion. It’s
considered one of the Seven Natural Wonders of Georgia. The sunlight hitting the walls of the red
clay canyons is stunning. If you’re
anywhere near there and are driving through Eufaula, Alabama, don’t miss the
buffet of Southern Comfort food at Michelle’s Restaurant……. the food is
wonderful and the price can’t be beat!
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| Providence Canyon State Park |
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| Jean stopping to take a picture |
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| Jerome checking out one of the old cars |
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| 'just a tidbit of history |
Maybe you can remember way back to the beginning of our last
trip when we had the tire blow out near Marianna, Florida and then we couldn’t
stay at the Florida Caverns State Park like we had planned.
Well, we were so bummed when all that
happened that we decided to try staying there again, but this time we made
sure that we had reservations.
We really
enjoyed our visit here this time and we loved the caverns tour… it was like a
miniature Carlsbad Caverns.
There are
several caverns here but only one is open for tours.
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| cave tour at Florida Caverns State Park |
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| colored lighting highlights a few of the areas on the tour |
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We returned to Manatee Springs State Park in Chiefland,
Florida for a few days, just because we really like this campground. Then we headed down to Hillsborough State
Park, in Thonotassassa, Florida which is near Jean’s sisters, Barbara and
Nancy, for “sister time” before returning home. The night that we got there, we found out
that Barbara’s husband, Jon, was in the hospital and might not make it through
the night, so we didn’t spend much time at the campground. Plus, it was rainy and very wet with many of
the campsites partially flooded so we didn’t get a chance to really appreciate
the beauty of this park that so many people rave about. Jon pulled through and we finally returned
home on July 31st. The
very next day, we went to see one of our rentals that had just been vacated and
started the arduous process of cleaning and gutting the whole place so that we
could get it on the housing market and get it sold ASAP. The tenants pretty much destroyed it so we
spent the next 5 weeks getting it ready to sell. Thankfully, we were able to sell it in less
than 24 hours.
We patted ourselves on the back and gave a sigh of relief
that was short-lived. Jean got a summons for Federal jury duty
selection in Tampa and while she was there, got the notion that we should go to
the RV show at the Tampa fairgrounds.
Well, one thing lead to another, and before we knew it, we were taking
our HiLo (which we had just put into storage, out of storage) and had traded it
in on a brand new 2019 Jayco JayFeather trailer.
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| Our first (short) trip with our new Jayco JayFeather |
Now Jerome had a new “toy” to keep him busy checking
everything out and making all kinds of modifications to his specifications to
make it our own.
We decided to take a
maiden-voyage camping trip to Stone Mountain State Park near Atlanta, Georgia
to visit family and try out the “Polar package” on our JayFeather for the week
following Thanksgiving.
Sadly, while we
were there, we got a phone call from Jean's sister, Barbara, telling us that Jon had died
unexpectedly.
We made a quick trip back
to Tampa and spent some much needed time with family there.
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| it's always good to be home again |
Looking back, December was a blur. During that time, we also re-claimed
possession of our last rental house and got it ready to sell as well. Luckily we had already made an agreement to
sell that property to the mother of one
of our neighbors, so the first week in January, we finally sold the last of our
rental properties and are just now being able to work on our own house and
yard. Whew!
Memorial Day we will be heading out again, but this time
with our new trailer, to see the East Coast rather than out West. We plan on heading North to the Jankowski
family reunion in Michigan, then to the East Coast see Acadia National Park in Maine,
before heading South again. We hope
you’ll share our fun and our bloopers with us again. ‘Until then, thanks for your friendship and your
encouraging words!
Jerome & Jean
(and Carly, too)
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| Carly |
