Pella, IA

Stopped for the night at the Walmart in Pella, IA. We are about 45 miles from DesMoines where we went to get the oil changed in the motor home tomorrow morning before we go to the lake. We unhooked the Jeep when we got here and went to the Jarsma bakery. Then we took the bikes and bike rack off of the motor home and put them on the Jeep so they will be out of the way for the oil change.

Bowling Green, MO

We stopped for the night at the Cozy C RV Park at Bowling Green, MO. We have stayed at this park several times before and enjoy it. The owners are like old friends which makes it very relaxing. We took a different route starting out this morning on some back roads and ran into a with a bridge with a weight limit that was well below the weight of the motor home. This resulted in a long detour on some narrow country roads. Good thing that Mom is a great driver.

Paducah, KY

Stopped for the night at a Walmart In Paducah, KY. Had a 5 mph headwind today, and a lot of rough interstate. Cooler weather today, wearing sweatshirts to go outside.

Carrollton, GA to Cabela’s in Huntsville, AL

We spent Wednesday through Sunday in Carrollton, GA at the Little Tallapoosa Park. Our days were spent at Janice’s moms house visiting her and Janice’s family. We had a good time there and hated to say goodbye again, but we left this morning and stopped for the night at Cabela’s in Huntsville, AL. I spent some time checking out the store here. A little rain passed through this evening.

Janice feeding a duck in our campsite at Little Tallapoosa.

Some of Mom’s flowering trees.

Us with Mom in her kitchen.

Tifton, GA

We are on the road again, we originally planned to leave Ordway at the end of March, but we decided to stay until after Easter. We really enjoyed our winter there and hated to leave the work, the people, and the quiet there.

The volunteer couple next to us there (Bob and Pam) left a month or so ago. Pam is a clown and so she made Janice some balloon flowers! They are good friends and Bob is great to work with. He is also a serious campfire builder and we were always welcome at his fires.

There are many of these beautiful old live oaks growing around the station and this is the one right next to our campsite.

One of the projects there is to restore some wire grass areas. Seed was collected last fall and we planted the seeds into these starter trays last week. They will be watered and cared for until they are planted in July.

Me and my fellow workers there. 


Bob and I spotted this sunrise  one foggy morning on the way to work and he took this picture. 

I had it printed and put it in a frame for our supervisor, Tracey.

We are stopped for the night at a Walmart in Tifton, GA

Snake

Another volunteer, who is also named Bob and I were repairing boundary fence on Wednesday and stopped to fix a section. I got out of the truck and started toward the fence and luckily looked down just before I stepped on this diamond back rattlesnake. He didn't rattle at all. I backed away and took these pictures.

He was about 5 feet long when he stretched out.

Boat Tour on the St. John's River

 

Early in January, one of our grandsons was delivering a car to south Florida and stopped by here for a visit. Always a treat to see our grandkids, especially in the middle of winter.

February was a quiet month, we spent a couple of days visiting some nearby towns for a quilt shop hop.

Janice then took a couple of quilting classes on two Saturdays in Palatka, FL.

Saturday, we and the other volunteer couple here went down to Astor, FL and had lunch at this restaurant on the St. Johns River. After lunch we went across the bridge to take a river boat tour of the St Johns River.

 While waiting for the tour to start, we watched them open the bridge to let a sailboat through.

We went up the river past several river front houses, both small and large.

We also saw a lot of boats, both small and large.

We detoured off the river and up Blue Creek. That was the best part of the tour, with a lot of birds, turtles, alligators and even a couple of manatees.

It was fun seeing a couple of manatees swimming along side of us.

Looks like someone is enjoying a fish meal.

On the way home, Janice and I stopped at the Salt Springs Recreation Area. There are seven springs under the water in front of Janice that produce 59 million gallons a day at 72 degrees. Many of the manatees winter near here in the warm water.

Gas, here, went form $3.59 to $3.99 on Friday. Hope diesel prices go down before we head north.