Trip South, Jan - Mar 2021

Ohoopee River in GA

I was nursing a painful knee and Pat was recovering from thumb surgery, but come Jan 9, we decided it was time to pack up the RV, leave our AirBNB in Savage, MD and head south for a couple months. We decided to take the canoe even though I felt canoeing might present some interesting challenges, but since I could not hike, it was my only alternative to easy biking. At Congaree NP in SC, we paddled up and down Cedar Creek and explored the rest of the park by foot or bike. I found canoeing was not too bad on my knees, as long as I didn’t knell. Getting out of the canoe proved a lot more difficult. When we arrived at Hunting Island SP, we found out that our reservation was at Huntington Beach SP, only a 5 hr drive away. Apparently, I was hardly the first idiot to make this mistake, and they accommodated us as best they could. We found some outstanding southern restaurants in Beaufort, SC. and good biking on the Spanish Moss Trail.

On our way to another river

We proceeded northwest to Magnolia Springs SP in GA and canoed on Brier Creek where we saw two river otters. As we were leaving the park, we saw a sign for COVID parking. The vaccines were by appointment only, but they had a few cancellations so they gave us a shot. From Jack Hill SP, we canoed the Ohoopee River. We needed to replace our 6-volt RV batteries, so we headed into Brunswick and pick up new ones. Oddly enough, we were in Brunswick 3 yrs. ago when we needed to replace our last set of RV batteries. We found GA to be somewhat spotty in terms of COVID compliance, we hoped to see improvement in FL.

Last year on 3/14/20 we pulled into Hanna County Park just east of Jacksonville. Despite our reservation, we found out they had just closed the park due to COVID. Now, 11 months later, with COVID much worst, the park was open. We got to our reserved site and found it under 4 inches of rainwater. We were able to transfer to another site until the water finally drained away three days later. The Park was well suited for biking the roads and hiking the trails. From here we headed west to Lake City, FL. We were disappointed with the nearby Osceola NF. Most of the trails were flooded out. We did find that Alligator Lake Park had some nice trails. We kept heading west past Tallahassee to Torreya SP. We canoed the Juniper Creek and the Chipola River and Pat had plenty of hiking in the park. We found businesses and restaurants in FL took even less COVID precaution than GA, so we felt safer returning to GA.

Callaway Gardens Pine Mountain GA

 

FDR home in Warm Springs GA

We headed up I-75 and camped at Reed Bingham SP. Pat took me to the put-in for a solo paddle down Buck Creek. There were several interesting trails in the park. Pat took a walking tour of Calloway Gardens while I biked the paved trails. Nearby was FRD ‘s Little White House Historic Site. FDR came to Warm Springs, GA hoping to find a cure for polio. He did find relief in the 88-degree waters, but no cure. We drove to the NW side of Atlanta and found two impressive museums. Booth’s Museum of Western Art, which has the world’s largest exhibition space for Western Art, and the Tellus Museum of Science with rooms of minerals, fossils, transportation technology, and hands-on exhibits.

Buffalo Nickel, Booth Museum of Western Art, Cartersville, GA

The time for our second COVID shot was approaching, so we proceeded east to the Hard Labor Creek SP. We visited the towns of Rutledge and Madison and toured the Madison-Morgan Cultural Center. Back to Magnolia Springs SP for our second COVID vaccine on 2/18. 

Falls near Highlands GA

We drove up to Sky Valley timeshare in Dillard, GA. From this base we were able to explore Highland, NC, a cute, touristy town; Helen, GA a German theme town; and Clayton, GA. Pat did some hiking at Unicoi SP, Moccasin Creek SP, Black Rock Mt SP, and Whiteside Mt. Due to the mountainous terrain, my biking was restricted to a boring loop at Sky Valley. Next, we stayed at a timeshare in Boone NC in a log cabin. Boone has a Greenway Park which was perfect for biking, and I went there almost every day. Pat did hikes at the Moses Cone Center and other hikes along the Blue Ridge Parkway.

Little Germany

Falls near Highland GA

We drove to an Airbnb just east of Roanoke. From here we traveled to Bedford, VA, and took a tour of the National D-Day Memorial. We spend a day catching up with Bob and Wendy whom we had not seen in 30+ years. Roanoke has Greenway trails, so I biked there and Pat found nearby hikes. We took a day trip out to our place in WV so we could organize the stuff that we wanted to move to MT. We meet up with Bob and Wendy at Liberty Station for dinner before we left the area.

Wendy and Bob