Thursday, January 12, 2012—Little Talbot State Park, Jacksonville, FL Woke up to blue skies and 57 degrees when we left at 9:30. Drove south along A1A back toward the way we had come from Jacksonville. We stopped at a boat ramp/park area that we had spotted on the way up. It was a bonanza of birds. The pictures of birds included with this entry are just some of the ones we saw. There were lots and lots of fishermen out along the coast fishing from old overpasses and old bridges left over waterways when the new roads were built. It was a pretty drive. We headed further south to a large National Park: The Timucuan Ecological Historical Preserve (http://www.nps.gov/timu/index.htm), which is 46,000 acres and displays evidence of over 6000 years of culture. The area was first ... read more

Friday, January 6—Paynes Prairie State Park, Florida This morning we took a three mile bird walk along the Bolen’s Bluff area looking for birds. The tour leader was quite knowledgeable about birds and we saw several different species. She knew what level in the trees to look for a particular bird and knew them by their call. We decided we would never be that sophisticated in our birding, especially with our hearing problems and poor ability to mimic. She was disappointed in the lack of sightings as she has guided this group several years before and had seen many more species. She also attributed it to the drought and the cold. After walking along the bluff for awhile, we dropped down onto the prairie where we saw some of the wild horses on the Preserve and ... read more

Wednesday October 26th, 2011 Starting mileage 19083. Overcast and cold at 53 degrees. Up early to be a RV dealers by 8:00 am. Headed up Interstate 81 just over the border in PA to get Rosie II's generator serviced. We stayed at dealers all morning and into the afternoon. Left about 2:30 and headed for my daughter Christina and her husband Paul's home in Columbus, MD. Pulled into their complex and waited for Paul to get home and let us in. Said hi to their cats, had dinner, talked awhile, and settled into their guest bedroom. Thursday, October 27th to Monday, October 31st. + ­Picked up Christopher at Dulles International Airport at 11:30 after driving in crazy and heavy DC traffic. + Christina took off work on Friday and Monday so spent time shopping, visiting other ... read more

Thursday, October 20th. Left for Gallipolis, Ohio from the Waverly Wal-mart. Starting mileage was 18517 and it was still raining. Traveled back down highway 35, a very nice 4-lane, toward Gallipolis and turned off to Bob Evans Farm to check if they had found my shirt. No luck. Continued on from there on a narrow windy farm road to enter Gallipolis from the north. Gallipolis sits right on the Ohio River and has some interesting old historic buildings. The town was originally laid out by a party of French aristocrats known as the "French Five hundred." They were escaping punishment after Bastille Day. However, the French were swindled in the deal by an American Company and G. Washington had to send men to help them out by building log cabins and setting up a town. We ... read more

Sunday, October 16th. Bob Evans Farm. Overcast and windy. Cleared up during the day but was still very windy with strong gusts. Up fairly early and caught the shuttle service to the entrance to the fair on the other side of the road. We walked to the Bob Evan’s restaurant and had a big breakfast. After breakfast, we began to look at the many arts and crafts housed in colorful tents set up in rows all over the front part of the property. There were some really nice crafts, but the tents were divided such that you had to go down one side, return to the front of the tent and then go down the other side. They did not allow room to circle at the back of the tent so that traffic flowed smoother. The ... read more