Happy Thanksgiving!

Every winter for as long as Dorcas and I have been retired, we have made an annual migration to sunny Florida. During most years we leave during the week of Thanksgiving.  Last year we had planned to leave the week before Thanksgiving, but dealing with the aftermath of our crushed motor home set us back a week or so.  You can read about that setback HERE.  This year we made up for that and left home on Friday before Thanksgiving. Our first stop was at my brother's house near Angier NC where we spent 2 nights, exhibiting brazen contempt for CDC guidelines against holiday travel during the COVID pandemic.

Camp Little Brother

Our next stop was at the Circle K RV Resort where we spent a night in the cul-de-sac of friends Mark and Diane K who live near Savannah.  This is a favorite stop, not in small part because it is convenient, about half way between NC and our winter home in Florida. 

Parked in our usual site at the Circle K RV Resort

We hit the Florida Welcome Center on I-95 shortly after noon on Monday November 23.

About 4:00 on Monday we arrived at our winter home at The Great Outdoors near Titusville FL

It wasn't long before I was back on the pickleball courts.

Pickleball Paradise

TGO is for the birds!

Mr. Gator wants turkey for Thanksgiving too!

We snagged the last one!

We had several options for Thanksgiving dinner.  1) cook something from scratch. Dorcas said no way!  2) Go out to a local restaurant. Not the most intelligent choice during a global pandemic,  or 3) get a prepared take-out meal from a local restaurant.  We chose option 3 and reserved a dinner and fixins to feed 6 people from Cracker Barrel.  We love leftovers!

After a few hours of pickleball in the morning and an afternoon nap during NFL on the tube, we enjoyed our Thanksgiving feast.

Dorcas preparing our Thanksgiving dinner

Dorcas enjoying our Thanksgiving dinner

These are the ones that got away:

Dorcas and I are very thankful for our health and good fortune.  Life is still good!  

Gobble. Gobble. 

Pals, Pups, Pilots and Pushers

When Dorcas and I drive the coach I-95 through Georgia we usually stop and spend the night at our friends Mark and Dianne K's house near Savannah.  On all previous trips we have parked in the cul-du-sac at the Circle K Motorcoach Resort.  This year we decided not to block the road and not to impede the mailman, so we parked in the driveway.  The Circle K Motorcoach Resort has all the necessary amenities: 50A electric, water, sewer, lakeside parking, paved sites and all the southern home cooking you can eat. 

Pals, Pups, Pilots and Pushers

For those who may not understand the 4 Ps, the Ks also own a Honda Pilot and a diesel pusher, as rear engine diesel motor coaches are often affectionately called.

Bird's eye view of the Circle K Motorcoach Resort 

We spent Friday and Saturday nights at the Circle K on our way home from Country Coach Rallies in Savannah and Brunswick.  We will be back here in November on our way to our winter home in Florida.

Tonight we are parked at Camp Freightliner in Gaffney SC.  Hopefully we can get a few chassis service items checked off tomorrow or Tuesday.

Friends are good.  Life is good.

Rallies Galore

On Wednesday October 14 we left home and headed south to attend 2 back-to-back rallies in Georgia.  The first rally was at CreekFire Motor Ranch just south of Savannah.  This was a gathering of members of Country Coach International (CCI) the national club of Country Coach owners.  While we no longer own our Country Coach, we are allowed to remain as grandfathered members, and attend in our SOB (Some Other Brand).   Country Coach is no longer in business and the make was last produced in 2010.  We won a prize for having the coach in attendance with the least number of miles.  It really wasn't very fair, but who would turn down a chocolate bar?

Our site at CreekFire Motor Ranch

There were 34 coaches registered for this CCI Rally, which started October 14 and ended October 19.  Click HERE to view my drone video on the venue.

Rallies are hard work!

The Savannah rally had a number of planned activities and for most we were chauffeured on a private tour bus or trolley. On the first full day of the rally we visited Tybee Island.  After a visit to the Tybee Island beach and pier we had a nice lunch at the Crab Shack.

Beach watchers on Tybee Island Pier

A sunny day at the Tybee Island South Beach

Finally we boarded a boat for Captain Dereck's Dolphin Adventure Tour.  The captain promised we would see dolphins, and we were not disappointed.

This was the first dolphin we saw

A small pod of dolphins off Tybee Island Lighthouse and North Beach

This guy was just showing off

Dorcas and Cockspur Island Lighthouse

We took a trolley tour of historic Savannah.  Savannah is the oldest city in Georgia,  established in 1733 on the Savannah River.  Savannah's downtown area, which includes the Savannah Historic District, the Savannah Victorian Historic District, and 22 parklike squares, is one of the largest National Historic Landmark Districts in the United States. Downtown Savannah largely retains the original town plan prescribed by founder James Oglethorpe.

Our motley crew on a chartered trolley

Cathedral of St. John the Baptist

The renovated Plant Riverside District contains an amazing museum of huge geodes and a steel brontosaurus skeleton.

Brunch at Huey's featuring their World Famous beingets

We were provided a private tour at the National Museum of the Mighty 8th Air Force. 

Immediately following the Savannah CCI rally approximately 16 Country Coachers relocated 66 miles south to Brunswick GA to attend another rally hosted by the Southeast Country Coachers (SECC).  SECC is a regional chapter of CCI.  This was a less structured rally, with more time on our own to explore Georgia's Golden Isles at our leisure.

Our home at Coastal Georgia RV Resort in Brunswick

Click HERE to view another drone video, this one showing the SECC rally venue in Brunswick.

The weather in Savannah was perfect.  The weather in Brunswick, not so much.  But that didn't keep us from enjoying a trolley tour of historic Jekyll Island,

The Jekyll Island Club

Driftwood Beach

The MV Golden Ray capsized September 9, 2019 in St. Simons Sound near Brunswick.  The vessel was carrying brand new Kia and Hyundai cars manufactured in Mexico for delivery to the Middle East.  The the vessel listed 100 degrees in about 20 minutes.  All 23 crew members were rescued.  The cause for the capsize has not been determined.  The ship and over 4000 automobiles were declared a total loss.  Salvage operations are underway. 

St. Simon's Lighthouse

Kitchen in lighthouse keeper's house

Parlor in lighthouse keeper's house

Our visit to St. Simon's Island ended with a visit to Fort Frederica National Monument.   From Wikipedia: "In the early 18th century, Europeans called the land lying between British South Carolina and Spanish Florida the "Debatable Land". Today's state of Georgia was then the center of a centuries-old imperial conflict between Spain and Britain. After the philanthropist James Oglethorpe founded the colony of Georgia in 1733, to provide a place where poor debtors could settle, colonists from England and Scotland, and refugees from the German Electorate of the Palatinate built Fort Frederica in 1736 to defend their new territory. They named Frederica for Frederick, Prince of Wales, (1707–1751). The name was feminized to distinguish it from Fort Frederick in South Carolina."

On Friday October 23 our rally fest ended.  Our plan is to spend Friday and Saturday nights with our friends near Savannah, then on Monday drop in for some chassis service at the Freightliner Service Center in Gaffney SC.  The next available appointment at the Gaffney service center wasn't until after Christmas, but they told me they might be able to work us in on a standby basis in a day or two.  Wish us luck.