Osceola National Forest

Monday morning we arrived in Florida! 

It didn't take long as the state line was only 16 miles or so south of Valdosta. Prior to leaving Valdosta we once again stopped to stock up at Walmart, have lunch and check the internet since we were parked beside the Sam's Club.

Once in Florida we stopped in at the large - and very busy - Florida Welcome Center. The reading material I walked out of there with was quite ridiculous - but - we are here for at least a month and want to see all we can see. Since Cassia was napping and Derek was standing watch with Roofous, I was able to take my time and enjoy my little cup of Florida orange juice. 

Although the wifi connection there was slow I was determined to get the Valdosta blog post up. I did but it took a lot of time and patience. Good thing we had a nice place to park and Cassia was happy playing with her toys.

Once that was done we headed to our destination - the Ocean Pond Campground in the Osceola National Forest. The campground is 13 miles east, 4 miles north and 1 mile west of Lake City. The linked page said that the sign was hard to see on route 90 but we found it no problem.

The entry sign into the campground.

The campground has water/elec sites for $18, water for $12 and primitive for $8. Being the thrifty people we are we took the primitive. I notice now that we didn't take any pics of the hook up sites which were paved and nicely landscaped. The primitive sites were well - primitive - but that suited us just fine. We liked being tucked in the back by ourselves.

The road into the primitive zone.

Our site - the last one #67.

We were thrilled to be back in the forest especially since Ocean Pond is away from the road and very quiet. We were also happy to be back to a campfire at night and outdoor cooking. 

Just behind our site was a trail. So first thing Friday morning we were on it. 

Roofous was so happy for the chance to run......

and so was Cassia! Mom in the back can barely keep up!

Roofous was so hot from running we came around the corner to find him cooling off in the puddle - he was pretty muddy when he got out!

Ocean Pond Campround sits beside well - a pond I guess - but I would call it a lake. It is very nice and I imagine that many that camp here do so for the fishing. For Cassia and I it meant spending some time on the beach. The sand was ok to play in - filled with grass and branches - but Cassia's first chance to get her shovels and sand castle equipment out. It doesn't look so good in the picture but we had fun. 

On the way we were also telling Cassia there was a playground. We are going to have to stop doing that until we actually SEE the playground. In this case it was a bit of a stretch to call it that but it had a slide and so it was enough for lots of fun. 

All aboard Matey!

The ship and slide. Mom and Dad also had to go down.

We really enjoyed our stay at the Ocean Pond for the few days we were there and would definitely recommend it.

We decided to head out today because our propane was low and didn't want to chance running out. We are finding it difficult to find propane while traveling - we wonder why so few gas stations sell it. 

I'll have to wrap up this post since my battery is almost done.

Thanks for visiting! 

Teresa

Today's Interesting Link: I don't really have a link lined up tonight and don't have much time and so I will give you the link for to BC Parks where we are during the summer months. Although we are seeing some beautiful places we know that we come from one as well - take a look!

Valdosta, Georgia

Well, what can I say! Valdosta! The last few days have been great! While we were in Montgomery I learned of the Grace Fellowship Bible Church through a facebook friend. I thought I was seeing things because I knew that we were planning on driving through Valdosta - and what do you know there is a Rightly Dividing Church there! 

A few facebook messages later and Pastor Lou was welcoming us to stop by and park at the Church! 

So glad we did!

The Church had a nice - and large - lawn area in back.

Our neighbor - a praying mantis - he was on Derek's coat and hand but those pics were blurry.

Pastor Louis with wife Lisa and daughter Imani.

We weren't there long when Pastor Lou arrived to greet us. He was soon followed by Maude. Maude - one of our new bestest friends! Maude treated us to a meal at Bojangles (Chicken & Biscuits) - yum! 

Thanks again for everything Maude - you are welcome to travel along with us anytime! 

Teresa and Maude.

Cassia showing off Tigger with Pastor Lou.

Cassia sure has enjoyed all the church playrooms. At the GFBC she was even able to sit in on Sunday school with other children - a first!

A trip out for ice cream after our Sunday Bible Study.

We truly enjoyed the fellowship and edification we received from the Grace Fellowship Bible Church and Pastor Lou's Sunday teaching. To watch Pastor Lou visit the Church's YouTube Channel.

More new friends to add to our list on our 'Grace Trail of Fellowship' so named by our Sister Pamela. We just can't get over how truly blessed we have been by the Church's we have been visiting!

Thanks again to everyone at the Grace Fellowship Bible Church - see you later!

Thanks for visiting! 

Teresa

Today's Interesting Link: We are headed to the Osceola National Forest for a day or two - we are in need of another 'nature break'. I am sure Cassia is looking forward to the playground and Roofous to the trails. We are looking forward to a quite evening. 

Thomasville, Georgia

Thomasville, Georgia

"Plantations, museums and historic home sites are located throughout Thomasville and offer glimpses into the grand Victorian Era, during which Thomasville was known as the 'Winter Resort of the South'".

We got an early start this morning and headed down Jackson Street to the Historic Downtown of Thomasville. As we always do we stopped in at the Visitor's Center. Following a signing of the register and gathering our information we headed to the street - Broad Street was our first destination.

Ready to go - Derek and Cassia in the Visitor Center's cozy courtyard.

This is the first time I have seen the listing of businesses this way - very effective.

Broad Street is lined with old buildings filled with beautiful little shops - all decked out for Christmas. I could NOT go past this shop - Relish - without a trip inside - it looked like my kind of place.

Seriously - Derek and I could have spent all the money we have in this shop! (Unfortunately our travel budget is always on our minds)

If I ever got back into the retail business again - which I won't, been there done that - this would be the kind of shop I would love to own.

They have EVERYTHING.

As you many have noticed from previous posts - no downtown trip is complete without a stop at the local coffee house. In Thomasville it is Grassroots.

Our names are Teresa and Derek and we are coffee addicts. 
Yup - that's us. We have sampled our fair share.

Grassroots Coffee is a five star coffee as is Oso Negro Coffee in Nelson, British Columbia, Canada. Have you ever been to Nelson? It is a great little town - one of our favourite places in SE British Columbia.

They roast their coffee on site.

We walked north along Broad Street to our next destination - The Big Oak. This is the third old and large Oak Tree that Derek and I have visited. The other two were both in Texas - near Goose Island and in Landa Park, New Braunfels.

With all this walking it was time for lunch. We had many choices of restaurants downtown - all sounding good from Jonah's Fish & Grits to the Old Mexico Mexican Restaurant. Our love for pizza took us today to Moonspin Pizza.

Now first let me preface this by saying that Derek and I eat A LOT of pizza - A LOT. So much so that I make it regularly just so that we can continue to enjoy it without the cost.

Moonspin's pizza is THE BEST PIZZA WE HAVE EVER EATEN!

An exaggeration you say - you know where the best pizza is?

Nope - it's here in Thomasville, Georgia!

Everything was right about the pizza - I don't even think we could tell you why it was so good - it just was. Obviously it has something to do with the dough being made fresh each day and the local ingredients - they have partnered with local farms.

We have had a few more perfect moments on this trip then we deserve but I will have to add this one to the list. Great pizza - great companions and Lionel Richie singing Sunday Mornings - ahhhhhh.

Cassia is looking like such a big girl in the picture isn't she?

After such a wonderful meal we were ready to take on Dawson Street. This street is lined with beautiful trees and landscaping and many of the noteable houses in Thomasville. The picture below do not do the houses justice and I took many many more pictures then I show here. Just like Natchez! Each one we passed we liked more then the one we just passed - they were all so nicely restored - most date back to the 1880's. Here is a sampling.

The Charles Watt House - originally built in 1885 and sold for $4,000 in 1887. 

The Lapham - Patterson House. Built by Chicago shoe manufacturer Charles W. Laphan circa 1885, this Queen Anne style home is one of the first winter cottages built. It cost $4,500 to construct - 19 room home was ahead of its time with hot and cold running water, gas lighting, and built in closets.

Perhaps the most interesting aspect of the house is that there are no square rooms or right angles in the main structure as required by Mr. Lapham.

(Info taken from the 2012 Thomasville Visitor's Guide)

One of our favourite houses we could see ourselves living in.

Having worked off our pizza with all that walking we were ready for dessert. Once again Cassia was promised an ice cream which we had seen back on Broad Street at Izzo's Soda Fountain.

This site has been the home of a drug store, Izzo's Pharmacy, since the 1920's.

Cassia enjoying the dutch chocolate ice cream!

Thomasville, Georgia - who knew? Well, now YOU do - we highly recommend a visit to this beautiful city with it's well preserved historic downtown. 

Thanks for visiting - now on to Valdosta.

Teresa

Today's Interesting Link: You may have noticed comments coming through from The Good Luck Duck - well here is the link to Roxi and Annie's blog! They are in Texas (ahhhhhhh Texas) right now having come straight across - in seemingly record time - from Florida. They have been blogging for a few years now - so veterans I'd say. Also, they have a huge list of links on the left side of their blog.

I thought I was dreaming......

You may know - or you may not - that Derek and I have been pining for a Class C Motor home for some time now. We were going to work on selling our truck and trailer to buy one last summer but we dragged our feet and it didn't get done. Oh well we thought - we'll get one more tour out of them and get on it first thing next spring.

Well - as we have been traveling around our desire to switch has been increasing with every mile. Soon we were asking ourselves - WHY WAIT?! Let's just do it! So - here I am with some very exciting news! 

YUP - we took the plunge!

I would like to introduce you to - our new home!

There she is - isn't she a beauty? A BTouring Cruiser by Gulf Stream.

Cassia getting settled at our new kitchen table. Look at those skylights!

I can't wait to get cooking in here - an oven - finally.

Look at all that floor space for Cassia to play!

Endless amounts of closet space.

All the moving in and sorting out - what goes here - what goes where - was going well until Derek interrupted me. Huh Huh?

I was DREAMING! ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

You didn't actually think we bought it did you? :)

I guess Derek and I have been talking so much about looking for a Class C next spring and how we were going to deal with the animals and such that I dreamed about it! 

The truth is today started much like all the others. We had breakfast and packed up. Cassia and Roofous visited together for awhile beside the Sam's Club parking lot where we spent the night.

We did stop at Camping World just down the road - we had a look around at all of their expensive stuff, we bought some liquid for our tanks, we did drool over the rigs and we visited the sani dump. Then a quarter turn around the Dothan Loop and we were back on US 84. Ahhhhhh the 84 - the same highway we took through Mississippi into Alabama. We left it to venture north to Montgomery, but here we are again - and still - NO REST AREAS! a shame for such a nice road. 

We passed over the Chattahoochee River - alas - no where to stop there either.

As such we lunched at the Bainbridge Visitor's Center. Although we are not in Georgia for long I still wanted to grab some info just in case. Glad we did since I noticed that Thomasville - just up the road - has a great historic downtown.

Was that me that said we were downtowned out last night?

Cassia with her beloved sticks in the cup - now on to berries. Barefoot as usual.

Derek taking pictures of trees.

LOOK at the length of those needles! The Longleaf Pine we believe.

Since we didn't have to go far - 35 miles or so to Thomasville, we spent the afternoon in the VC parking lot - doing dishes, playing with sticks and play-doh, hanging out on the internet. 

We had decided to go straight to the Walmart and get a full day of touring in tomorrow and so here we sit wedged between Dollar Tree and Walmart. This has to be one of the busiest Walmarts we have slept in - missing our Sam's Club tonight. I probably should have looked up the location of the Home Depot instead. Oh well - it has quieted down a bit - all is well here with the Wood Clan.

Expect some great pics of downtown Thomasville soon - hopefully tomorrow night.

Thanks for visiting! 

Teresa

Today's Interesting Link: Florida - I am now back full force researching Florida. Last summer I came across this site by Florida native Robin Arthur Draper - Authentic Florida. It is such a beautiful site to look at isn't it - makes you want to go there right away! It looks like a great resource - now if I could just find enough time, a full battery and a strong wifi signal! If you can't make it to Florida this is a good way to feel like you have.

Dothan, Alabama

With such warm temperatures and a shining sun this morning, we decided to do some cleaning on the trailer while we were getting it ready to travel. Having a fridge close at hand I emptied our fridge yesterday in order to de-ice our freezer. So with putting everything back today and Derek vacuuming the rest and opening the windows we were thrilled to be leaving with a clean trailer.

Since we took our time this morning we didn't leave until around 1:00 following a leisurely and enjoyable lunch with Pastor Steve. I was even able to squeeze in the making of rice krispie squares for us to enjoy along our trip.

Route 231 one is a nice 4 lane divided highway through more rolling hills and beautiful trees. We rolled through Troy in no time.

We decided to stop in Ozark - it was around 2:30 and we had lots of time to make it to Dothan before dark.

I read to Derek out of our Alabama Official Vacation Guide


'Kidzone at Steagall Park - Community built playground valued at more than $250,000 but costing only about $10,000. Built spring of 1997 by more then 2,000 volunteers.' 

WOW! I thought.

It must be some kind of playground at that value - Cassia is going to LOVE this. We did have her pretty couped up in Montgomery and we were sure she would want to get out and run.

Of course - we had no idea how to get there!

We drove into Ozark off the highway - when we reached the downtown we knew for sure that we had better stop and ask. Well - I knew for sure that we had better stop and ask. Since the downtown looked quite nice we decided to take a stroll around at the same time.

Memorial to the fallen Confederate Soldiers provided by the Stonewall Jackson Chapter.

Nicely decked out for Christmas, downtown Ozark isn't big but it has charm. Once that was complete we asked a lady for directions. Good thing we were both standing there because it was a 'take that road - turn left at the grocery store - then turn right - then it is on the left - you'll see it' - all very clear looking back.

We found it with no problem but I have to say my heart sank at bit as we drove up. It was all one colour - grey! Boy - I feel for all of those volunteers -  I am sure this playground was A LOT of work. I think the Playground Building Committee missed a step though - I think they forgot to ask the kids about what they like. There is a lot of wood to this place but not much else. Thankfully they didn't actually spend $250,000 on it!

We are becoming quite the playground connoisseurs and this one just doesn't do it. The wood was nice because all the donators names could be carved in the wood - but so can everyone else's. And can you say SPLINTERS! Oh well - Cassia took a few tours of the place and a couple of slide rides. As usual Derek stood with Roofous and spoke with all of his fans - Roofous's fans that is. Plus we had time for a coffee and snack.

 Surrounded by beautiful trees though.

We are now nicely situated at Sam's Club after a much needed shopping trip to Walmart. Although we are practically parked on top of the building our connection is rather slow and I am looking at a battery charge that is quickly disappearing. A little girl I know wanted to watch Winnie the Pooh and the Bear in the Blue House while waiting for dinner. This is the second time we have parked at Sam's Club - we are pretty impressed - it is just after 9 pm and only 7 cars in the parking lot - quiet!

I don't think we will get a chance to see downtown Dothan - I think we are totally downtowned out right now. I few days ago I was considering it - I was wondering what the 'World's Smallest City Block' would look like. But that was solved by Glenn's recent post on To Simplify - he was here a few days ago and posted these pics. We could have also been talked into the Dothan Area Botanical Gardens but I have a feeling that there won't be that much to see.

Although I might be wrong - have you SEEN our temps! We are sitting here in a comfortable 51F right now with into the 70s tomorrow I think!

Night y'all - thanks for visiting!

Teresa

Today's Interesting Link: Newschool Nomads is my latest favourite site. Jenn, Brent and their two boys Thing 1 and Thing 2 - and their animals - are traveling around in their RV for a year. A nice looking site - designed by Brent and Jenn's posts are fun to read. She also has a link to her other blog Girl Heros.