Trip Update Nov-Dec 2011 Part 1

Petersburg battle defenses
Tom, Pat and Julie touring Savannah
Christmas Boat Parade
Broken tow arm

After our return from Africa, we spent three weeks in MD/PA visiting friends, relatives and doctors. We did celebrate my father’s 89^th and Pat’s father’s 84^th birthday with our families. On Nov 21^st, we picked up our canoe trailer that Randy and Marti stored for us and headed south. We stopped at Petersburg Battlefield and took the driving tour of the battlefield. Grant said, “The key to taking Richmond is Petersburg.” A nine and a half month siege proved him right and led to the Confederate surrender seven days later at Appomattox.

We canoed 3 rivers on our route south: the Lumber River in NC, and the Little Pee Dee and Lynches River in SC. We enjoyed a private tour of Rivers Bridge Battlefield, a little known Civil War battle where a small band of confederates in SC tried to slow Sherman’s advance north. After Thanksgiving, we meet Tom and Julie in Hilton Head and shared a very nice timeshare with them for a week. We took a day trip to Savannah and took a bus tour of the locations where many movies were shot (Forest Gump and Glory for example).

Trip Update Nov-Dec 2011 Part 2a

Gator in the Okefenokee
Ft Clinch, FL
Bulow Creek State Park, FL
Pat on the trail

Trip Update Nov-Dec 2011 Part 2b

Heron on Merit Island
Mrs and Mr Clause
Jacobs Family
Christmas gathering at Linda and Rick's

After Hilton Head, we camped for a few days at beautiful Hunting Island State Park in SC and watched a Christmas boat parade in Beaufort. We had a few trailer problems when we got to Georgia. The tow arm failed and we had to get an emergency road side repair. Now the tow arm is stronger than when it was new. I gave up dealing with the unreliable Yakama bike rack, recycled it and found a way to carry the bikes on the trailer without the bike rack. We canoed in the Okefenokee Swamp, and got drenched on the Tomoka River in FL. On the 17^th we parked the RV and flew to BWI from Orlando.

Our first stop was Carol and Cordale’s annual Christmas party which we always enjoy. We spent the next two weeks running back and forth between Laurel, Baltimore, York and Philly. Tom and Julie, Phil and Connie, and Floyd and Lauren were kind enough to share their homes with us. We spent Christmas Day with both of our families. We continued our tradition of New Years Eve bowling with Pat’s family.

The year ended on a sour note when my prostate biopsy came back positive for cancer. I guess I’ll be seeing more doctors in 2012!