Tiffin Service Center, Red Bay, Alabama

We are in Red Bay, Alabama at the Tiffin Campground and Factory Service facility. Red Bay really is pretty isolated from any metropolitan area and the nearest Wal*Mart is 26 miles away. If you are bored, you can go to the canned foods outlet store or to the Coon Dog Cemetery. We didn't manage to make it to either, but heard about them from our fellow campers here at the Tiffin Campground. We've decided to hang-out in the bus while repairs are going on, managing to bob and weave between the technicians while they try to do their work. I'm sure they appreciate the micro-management. So far our service team is plugging away at the list of issues. We should be on our way to Indiana in a day or two. Everyone has been pleasant and helpful. We hope to have all our questions answered and repairs completed soon.

May 25, 2007, Magnolia Plantation

We suspected the plantation tour would be all about cotton but we were wrong, South Carolina grew rice. It's fascinating how the crops were grown and harvested - it was very labor intensive. Rice production ended after the Civil War because plantation owners couldn't afford the labor required to grow the crop

We enjoyed touring the home and gardens. They are unimaginably beautiful! Live Oaks over 500 years old, Palmetto Palms and Cypress trees too. Lots of aligators, flora and fauna. A wonderful day, fascinating to see!

For our pictures of the Plantation Click here.

May 24, 2007 Charleston, SC

We completed a walking tour of Charleston and didn't realize how much history is here. It is really fascinating and we've enjoyed ourselves. To see pictures of the historic district, the wharf area and a few of the historic homes that have been restored Click here.

Water Fight! Tybee Beach Bum Parade

Over two decades Tybee Island has enjoyed an annual Parade, held the weekend before Memorial Day. It is a celebration, the "Last Locals Weekend," prior to tourists taking up residency in Tybee for the summer. If you weren't wet, you didn't attend the parade! We really had a good laugh at how much planning folks put into their water fighting. The parade was so large local officials couldn't accurately estimate how many folks attended. Never have we seen so many having so much fun with WATER! To see our photos from the parade click here.

Just Another Day at the Beach

Tybee Island is only 15 minutes from downtown Savannah in an area commonly referred to as the "Low Country". The beach is great for walking, swimming, fishing and sun bathing. While the sand isn't chalky white, it is a very popular place and there is still much fun to be had. To see pictures from our beach walk click here.

Our Calendar

Where to next you ask? Here is a list - come join us!

May 23 through May 28 - Oak Plantation RV Resort, Charleston, South Carolina

May 29 through 31 - Tiffin Factory, Red Bay, Alabama

June 1 - Travel to New Castle, Indiana

July 21 - Fly to Seattle, WA

July 22 - Board the Holland America Ship Noordam for Alaska Cruise

July 23 - At Sea

July 24 - Glacier Bay, Alaska

July 25 - Juneau, Alaska

July 26 - Sitka, Alaska

July 27 - Ketchikan, Alaska

July 28 - Victoria, British Columbia

July 29 - End Cruise, return to Seattle, Washington

July 30 through August 4 - Tour Seattle, Washington

August 5 - Back to Indiana

Smoke Gets In Your Eyes

We experienced our first brush with smoke from the region's wildfires. A change in wind direction brought the smoke our way, but thankfully by evening a cool front brought much needed rain and cleared the smoke. Let's hope it doesn't return as one day was enough.

Tybee Island - Colorful Blooms

On our way to the Beach this morning we passed a residential neighborhood that had some of the most beautiful landscaping I've ever seen. The neighborhood was perfectly charming and you could see the spectacular color from a block away. To see more blooms click here.

Historic Savannah!

We arrived in Savannah on Monday and have settled in nicely at River's End RV Park, a quaint little Park on Tybee Island. It's located about 15 minutes from downtown Savannah, so history and great food are close at hand.

We enjoyed taking one of the hop-on/hop-off bus tours today to get a feel for the city. We enjoyed lunch at The Pirate's House, but as we suspected, no visit from the resident Ghost. However, we did enjoy way too much of the buffet. With too many restaurants to choose from, we are planning to visit Lady and Sons for lunch or dinner while we're here. If the name doesn't ring a bell, it's Paula Dean's restaurant. Nancy is a huge fan and enjoys watching her on the Food Network. She has one of her cookbooks, but we try not to use it too much because every recipe calls for a stick of butter and a cup or two of sugar. We enjoyed dinner last evening at Uncle Bubba's Oyster House on Tybee Island. You see, Uncle Bubba is Paula's brother. The oysters and fish were very good, but after Lady and Son's were planning to sample some other good cooking in the region.

We promise there will be more on Savannah later. In the meantime, take a look at some photos we took down on River Street and in the City Market area. Click here.

TPC Sawgrass, Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida

Wow! What a week and what an absolutely gorgeous golf course. It has been completely redone, including an fantastic new club house. It is huge, it is spectacular and it will absolutely take your breath away.

For some time we've wanted to attend a major golf tournament and watch Tiger Woods play golf. It was a great experience. To see so many pros play golf in person is just fantastic. We really had a great time. The weather certainly cooperated, and although Tiger wasn't in the running for the trophy, we still had an exciting finish!

To see the pictures we took during the practice rounds click here.

Meeting New Friends

You often hear the best part of RVing is meeting new friends along the way. There is no more true statement. We enjoyed meeting our "camp neighbors" Jim and Maxine last evening - sharing travel stories, life experiences and grilling steaks.

Jim and Maxine are from Palatka, Florida and have retirement in their sights. Maxine is in real estate and Jim is a Barber. They just took delivery of a new 5th wheel and were getting familiar with the way everything works. (Boy can we relate!) They were in Jacksonville visiting their son (Matt, a Jacksonville policeman) and their daughter (Melissa was in town for a friends wedding, she lives in Los Angeles and works in HR, her boyfriend is also a policeman).

Even though Jim was on vacation we put Jim to work cutting Joe's hair Sunday morning. We keep an emergency pair of clippers on hand for "buzz cuts" when we can't find a barber. Joe looks much better - thanks Jim!

Free haircuts aside - we had such an enjoyable evening getting to know each other, teasing the kids and sharing laughs. We have to get together with Jim and Maxine again...I'll get to work on that!

Touring the Port in Jacksonville, FL

There were some interesting festivals going on this weekend in the Jacksonville area. Shrimpfest in St. Augustine, and Tall Ships were in port at Jacksonville Landing. Newspaper and TV reports were encouraging folks to get out experience all the happenings, so we took their suggestion and headed for the Tall Ships.

Saturday was a great day - lots of sunshine and puffy clouds. Jacksonville has a port on the St. Johns River for commercial and personal use. As in most major cities there is much to see and do - lots of people milling about and enjoying the festive atmosphere, arts and crafts and food, as well as re-enactments of early settlers arriving by ship in the area. A live band was playing and we took a "free tour" of the port on the local river boat. It was a nice way to spend the afternoon.

To take a look at pictures of the boats/ships and the area surrounding the port click here.

It's a Jungle in the City

When you're in Kathryn Abby Hanna Park you feel as though you're in a jungle. Located in Jacksonville and city owned, the park is 450 acres in size and has 293 sites for tents and RVs. Rustic cabins, over a mile and a half of beach access and a 40 acre fresh water lake, not to mention 20 miles of biking and hiking trails, a water playground and several dry playgrounds provide for a variety of activities. The beach is very different from the white sand in Destin as it consists primarily of broken shells of every type. It's easy to walk or ride your bike for miles and we've spotted dolphins in the water every day since we've been here. To see more of the park and the beach Click here.

To see our photos CLICK HERE.