Return to the Sunshine State!

From Ormond Beach, FL … Today’s high temp: 70 degrees!

Thursday, December 29, 2011

We left home yesterday, bound for yet another winter adventure. It was 12:30 before we got on the road though since I had to go to my hair appointment and to Verizon. Our house sitters came by the house for some last minute instructions. We finally got both vehicles packed and crossed everything off our checklists.

We had a beautiful sunny day for traveling. Traffic on the roads wasn’t too bad until we got to I-95 at Florence, SC. That was another story! The traffic was heavier than we had ever experienced on 95.

We finally reached our destination for the day around 6:30pm. We had reservations at a Hampton Inn in Walterboro, SC. It was a good thing we had a reservation because the signs on the front doors of the motel read “SOLD OUT.” There were lots of people coming in and being turned away too. We learned that FL State was playing Notre Dame in Orlando on Thursday night, so this may have accounted for some of the traffic.

We were so tired that we opted to just pick up a pizza and have it in our room. That suited us just fine, and we were out pretty early in the evening.

Today (Thursday), we got up around 7:30. We had a light breakfast offered by Hampton Inn and then were on our way. The traffic on I-95 was once again very heavy all day today. It did help some when we crossed into Georgia where the four lanes became six.

We stopped in Georgia for a quick bite of lunch at Steak and Shake. Again, it was sunny and beautiful. I hate to think how much “more frazzled” my nerves would have been if we had to drive in rain.

We arrived at Chris and Walt’s home just before 3:00pm. Driving into their development is such a refreshing and welcome change after driving on the interstate all day. The grounds are green with lush vegetation and blooms, and the lakes and fountains are refreshing and beautiful. We always love being here. After hugs and hellos, we parked the truck at their house and then drove the Honda to New Smyrna Beach to check on Ali’s Cat. You may recall that we put the RV in storage there back in November before we headed back home for Thanksgiving.

I must admit we were a bit anxious to see how the RV had fared while we were gone. Well, I am happy to report that everything was just fine.

Charlie hooked up the RV battery, and I turned the refrigerator on to the propane setting. This way when we return tomorrow morning, the fridge will be cold enough for us to put our cold items in.

As soon as we returned to Chris’ house in Ormond Beach, the four of us drove over to the beach for a very nice supper. We chose a great table at High Tides at Snack Jack’s on the screened porch overlooking the ocean. It was so beautiful as we watched the ocean waves lapping on the cinnamon tinted sand.

It’s great to be back in our “winter home” in the land of palm trees and water birds. And it will be even better to get our things settled into Ali’s Cat once again tomorrow as we head even further south …

Dec 29, 2011

Show all 8 photos