Time to Hit the Road Again

April 25th we hit the road for this year's adventures.  We left the Tampa, FL area & headed toward Pensacola, FL.  I've never been there so I was looking forward to our 2 weeks there. 

We stayed at Oak Park RV site at Pensacola Naval Air Station.  It's the home of the the Blue Angels.  That was good & bad!  They practiced every Tues & Wed mornings.  We got to see them flying, but of course they were really noisy.  Many evenings for about an hour, you would hear planes coming in.  One of the weeks we were there, it was Naval Aviation Week so they had an air show out over the  gulf.  We really enjoyed it.  I took my camera, but realized as I got ready to take my first picture, that my memory card was in the computer. 

 That was a really nice park.  We could see the beach & water from our site #48.  that was not the best of sites because we had to work around 3 huge trees getting into it.  We were able to get satellite on our spot, where #49 couldn't because of the trees.  I think 50 & 51 were probably the best. 

View from our campsite

View from our campsite

 There was a huge National Aviation Museum there.  It was very nice & free.  You could spend a day there with out any problem. 

Aviation Museum

Collins at Museum

Aviation museum

Collins enjoying Destin Beach

We also made a trip to Destin one of the days we were there.  It was very pretty. 

They had a nice gym on the base, so we got back in the every other day trip there.

View from campsite in GA

May 9th we left for the Atlanta area.  We stayed at Robins AFB, which was just outside Macon.  We stayed there because it was kind of in between several places we wanted to visit.  The camp ground was small but very nice.  There were a lot of trees so we couldn't get satellite.  We were able to get a few channels with the antenna.  There was a small lake there.









 They also had a nice gym so we were able to keep up with the exercising there.

 One day we went to Calloway Gardens in Pine Mountain.  Unfortunately, we just missed all the azaleas in bloom.  It was really hot, close to 100 almost every day the first week we were there.  The gardens were in the mountains, so it was a little cooler there.  They had a fabulous Butterfly Garden, the best we've ever seen. 

Calloway Gardens Butterfly Conservatory



This butterfly was at least 5" across

 I'm including some pics of the ones that sat long enough to photograph.  They had butterflies from all over the world.  They had Blue Monarchs, but they wouldn't land long enough for pictures.

Blue Butterfly Blends in the Plant

We also went to Franklin D. Roosevelt's "Little White House".  It was his getaway- kind of like Camp David.  There were warm springs in the town & he like to swim in them to relieve the symptoms of his polio.

Little White House

 

Guest quarters on left, White House in Center, Maid's Quarters on right

Collins guards the "White House"

  They also had a museum on the property, which was pretty interesting

FDR's Car

 

Collins went to New Jersey over the weekend we were there.  One of his nephews was having a surprise 50th Birthday Party, so Collins thought it would be a good way to see a lot of his relatives.  Doug went from Chicago & they met at the airport.  He said he had a great time, got to see places where he grew up & see a lot of family.

Paul & Suzy Hos & Collins



Collins & Paul Hos-  Paul passed away in July 2011

 P  We also had a chance to visit with one of Collins' best friends from High School & his wife (Paul & Suzy Hos).


 It's really nice to catch up with old friends.  We also wanted to go to Stone Mountain, just outside Atlanta.  We drove all the way there (just under 2 hours) only to find out there was only 1 thing open there & it wasn't worth the money to go in for that.  It was kind of disappointing & a long drive for nothing. 
May 19th we headed to Wateree Recreation Area in Camden, South Carolina.  This is a really nice campground.  It is located on a huge lake & there are lots of pine trees.  Luckily, we were able to pull all the way to the front of our site #5 & get our satellite.  Collins is a happy camper!  There is a small beach on the lake & boats for rent here, but it has been soooo hot - around 100 everyday & no breeze, so we haven't been on the lake.  There is no gym here, so we've braved the heat & gone for a 2 mile walk everyday.

View from our RV

View of our Campsite

View from our campsite

We acquired a new member to our family this week.  Yes, we got a dog!  She's a 10 lb poodle/shih tzu.  Ever since we started RVing, we've watched people walking their dogs around the park & gotten the itch.  Our biggest holdup was what to do when we went to Punta Cana for the winter.  We can take her on the plane with us there.  She's very well behaved & has been no trouble at all.  She's very lovable, so we named her snuggles.  So far all is good.  She's housebroken & sleeps in a crate.  She seldom barks, but does when a stranger comes in the door.  Right now she's on her back on the couch with Collins scratching her belly.  She loves to be petted.

Snuggles

We'll be here thru Memorial Day.  We've been told this place gets packed with tents in every bare spot.  Right now, it's very peaceful.
Made it thru Memorial Weekend without much inconvenience.  There weren't as many tenters as usual because we had Thunderstorms Friday night.  it rained a lot.  I would not have wanted to be in a tent.  We went to the beach for awhile on Sat, but it was so hot we only stayed about an hour then came in. 
Our new dog has been great.  She's very quiet & well behaved.  Hardly barks at all.  She does like a lot of attention - getting in our laps & being petted.  She's so small & quick about it, she's there before you notice.  She does make us smile, tho.
Tomorrow we're off to Camp Lejuene Marine Base near Jacksonville, FL for 2 weeks.  The campground is supposed to be very nice & on the beach.  Hopefully, we'll get to enjoy it.