Travel Day

Sunday, May 4

Because I have some work obligations I'm making this a one day drive.  My least favorite type of travel - interstates and straight through.  10 hours to do about 580 miles.  The truck did great on the narrow mountain roads and steep grades and I loved the engine braking in tow/haul mode.  My overall mileage on the way back was 14.3 MPG, better than I expected.  It's been a great couple of weeks!

On the road again...

Rest stop with Judy and her T@B

Now to clean up the Airstream (you can tell she's been traveling with bugs and camped under trees) and the truck and get ready to go again...

Friday at the Blue Ridge Rally

Friday

Started with a caravan to The Shatley Spring Inn in Crumpler, NC for breakfast.  Discovered in 1890 by Martin Shatley, the Springs were known for their curative powers and people come to drink or bathe in the waters.  Flowing out of the Little Phoenix Mountain, the water contains numerous elements and is considered one of the purest springs in the world.  But we were there for the food...

Served family style - platters of everything you could think of for breakfast and very good.  Did a little site seeing after breakfast.  Friday night was Trivia night and a campfire which I skipped in favor of some extra sleep :-)

Where to begin... Blue Ridge Rally 2014

I gave up trying to post from the mountains... after struggling with an internet signal for work some of each day, I didn't have the energy for posting photos :-)  Besides, I was having a great time!  I'll try to catch you up,,,

Wednesday...

was the official start of the Blue Ridge Rally and our last rainy day.
I attended my first rally last year with my T@B, but this was the 7th year for this T@B rally that has evolved to include R-PODs,  MyPods, Teardrops, T@Gs and several Airstreams (including Breezin').   Incredibly beautiful country, and one of the best organized rallies ever.  Judy and I started the day with lunch in Jefferson for some North Carolina Barbecue at When Pigs Fly.

Meet and Greet

Wednesday ended with a meet and greet with everyone in their favorite Life is Good t-shirt and the nightly campfire

Thursday...

morning we started off with SUNSHINE and breakfast at Rodie's Parkway Restaurant.  Eggs, bacon, waffle or biscuits and gravy, and coffee for $5.  Next door is a fabulous craft store where I spent way too much money.  Next stop Blue Ridge Parkway for some sight seeing...more to follow!

Breakfast with friends

Catching up

Monday

(Yes I know it's really Tuesday) I'm catching up on blog posts since my data month started over today and I have a signal here!

Monday was a rainy day but allowed me to catch up on hours at work.  I'm in North Carolina for my second T@B Blue Ridge Rally, which officially starts on Wednesday.  Not in my T@B this year but there are going to be three other airstreams here so I still feel at home.  Sharon of Postcards From the Road blog puts on this rally every year and it's such fun... I can't believe how much work she puts into making sure everyone has a great time.

A Florida friend I met through the T@B group (Judy) and I braved the rain in the afternoon and wandered around West Jefferson to look around.

Main Street

Theater

From the car window - beautiful drive

Travel Day

Saturday

Travel day.  Beautiful day for a drive and I'm on the road before the storm system gets to Nashville.  Following Garmin to West Jefferson, North Carolina.  Sometimes Garmin is my best friend...sometimes, not so much!  Looong drive - not many miles but took forever through the mountain roads... up into Virginia and back to NC.  Pretty sure this wasn't the fastest way but at least it was scenic :-)

Small Towns

Wednesday

The week is flying by... after a day at the computer and a bit of rain yesterday, today was warm and sunny again.  Took Grace and Dillon on a long walk around the camp, trying to convince Grace to leave the ducks alone.

 


This afternoon I drove over to Bell Buckle Cafe for lunch with my daughter (and some strawberry cake).  I love this little railroad village - downtown is about a block long with the cafe and art, antique and gift shops. (Click on the link for more info about this town).

The Bell Buckle Cafe - Bell Buckle, TN

Downtown Bell Buckle

What's Wrong with this Picture???

Okay - who didn't get the memo (you know, the one about the SUNSHINE state)?

It's freezing here... maybe not compared to the rest of the country, but by Florida standards it is cold!  My friends in the north have no sympathy - they would be wearing shorts and fist-bumping about the warm weather while the rest of us, used to higher temps, are pulling out the parkas to deal with the 40 degree weather.  I'm a little south of the freeze line so I didn't have to make the mad dash to turn the furnace on in the airstream.

It was a rainy dreary day, so I spent some time in front of the computer browsing for things to see and do in Florida.  Everyone knows about Disney World and the tourist attractions but there are a lot of out of the way, off the beaten path, places to go and things to do.

Some great resources if you're planning a trip to Florida are:

• www.floridarambler.com
• http://unknownflorida.blogspot.com
• floridastateparks.org
• http://gardenandgun.com/article/best-hidden-florida
• www.floridasecrets.com
• www.floridahikes.com

Now if it would just warm up a bit....

Silver Springs State Park

I had the opportunity this week to meet some friends at the Silver River State Park near Ocala for a few days.  

Actually, Silver River State Park, combined with Silver Springs Nature Theme Park late in 2013, and is now known as Silver Springs State Park.

The Silver River is a short spring-fed river located east of Ocala, FL. Fed by Silver Springs, it connects the springs to the Ocklawaha River, passing through a pristine woodland environment.

The River Side of the Park...

The campground is on the river side and offers spacious sites with water and electric and is well maintained. 

Breezin 

I had 4 bars here with Verizon.  There is also a primitive group camping area, picnic area and a playground.  The River side of the park is home to a pioneer cracker village and the Silver River Museum and Environmental Education Center. There are approximately 15 miles of trails and the ones I hiked were well maintained and marked.  Be warned -- you need to book early, this is a popular state park for snowbirds!

Entrance to trails

Trails are beautiful and well marked

Swamp trail bridge

Cypress knees

River view from the end of Swamp Trail

Palm reflection in the water

Taken from about 6' above the water, this guy was swimming about 4' below the surface

The Spring side of the park was very quiet the day we visited

Entrance to what used to be Silver Springs Nature Theme Park

The main attraction of Silver Springs is the glass bottom boat ride that has been in operation is the late 1800’s.  The boats run hourly from 10am - 4pm. 

On the Spring side you can view the spring head from a covered viewing deck, walk along the river on the paved trails and see the ornamental gardens. There is a canoe and kayak launch and you can rent a canoe or kayak or bring your own. 

Original settlers - Timucuan Indians

Horseshoe Palm - it's supposed to be lucky to take your picture here

Kayakers paddling into the headwaters

A little bit of Hollywood Trivia - Six Tarzan movies with Johnny Weissmuller were filmed here. The old 1950s The Creature from the Black Lagoon was also shot here at Silver Springs Florida.  My favorite... Sea Hunt with Lloyd Bridges filmed more than 100 episodes here.  In the 60’s the TV show “I Spy” filmed here as well and is responsible for the underwater statues you can still see here.  Other movies filmed at Silver Springs include 

The Yearling --- Gregory Peck and Jane Wyman

Distant Drums --- Gary Cooper

Underwater --- Jane Russell and Richard Egan

Blindfold --- Rock Hudson and Claudia Cardinale

Legend --- Tom Cruise

Never Say Never Again --- Sean Connery

Smokey and the Bandit 3 --- Jackie Gleason

The park also has a population of Rhesus monkeys... Brought in by one of the concessionaires in the 1930’s, we didn't see any during our visit, the best way to see them is by kayak.

Photo "borrowed" from Wikipedia

This is my favorite Florida park by far and I will definitely go back.

Princess Place Reserve

Since Breezin is still sitting in her RV-port waiting for life to slow down enough to travel, I thought I'd take advantage of a beautiful day and visit a local park for some light hiking.

Located in the Palm Coast/Flagler Beach area is the Princess Place Reserve.  The 1,500 acres bordered by Matanzas River and Pellicer Creek was originally purchased in 1886 by Henry Cutting and known as Cherokee Grove.  It passed to his widow upon his death, who later married an exiled Russian prince and took the title of Princess.  Cherokee Grove was renamed  Princess Place in honor of her.

There is a lot to do at Princess Place.  You can hike, camp (primitive tent camping only), fish, bird watch, picnic, canoe or kayak, or just enjoy the scenery.  Best of all - it's free!

Matanzas River as seen from the trail

Walking along the salt marshes

There is a lodge with a porch facing the river

complete with rocking chairs to watch the sun set over the water...

The requisite live oaks dripping with spanish moss

a launch for canoe or kayakers

and a small dock for fishing...

There is a old livery stable to explore, along with Florida's oldest in ground pool, fed by an artesian well, and several other buildings.

The trails are short and packed sand at Princess Place, each about .5 to 1 mile, but you can connect to get in about 3-4 miles.  If you need more walking than that - Pellicer Creek Conservation Area is right next door with another 10 miles of marked trail.

On the way to or from these two preserves, you also pass the Florida Agricultural Museum.  Definitely worth a day trip if you are in the area.  I will be going back again to explore.