Arrived in Starke, FL November 1....This will be our Winter Home til end of April 2011....will travel from our home base to various locations around Florida during the winter.....

         Brunswick Landing Marina...Brunswick, GA....another frequent stop n Intercoastal Waterway...

                                            St Simons Island located East of Brunswick, GA....

         Upon leaving Shawboro, NC headed South retracing our route along the Intercoastal Waterway

        Swing Bridge North of Barefoot Landing, a shopping centter/marina located in N Myrtle Beach, SC

       Standing on Boardwalk over lake at Barefoot Landing stocked with carp and turtles....other wildlife

                                              Don & Janet leaving to return to Pittsburg, PA

                                                      Day after they arrived in Pittsburg.....

Sand Dunes....view toAtlantic Ocean on Outer Banks Highway headed to Cape Hatteras...

                                        Kitty Hawk National Monument....Wright Brothers Flyer

                 Wright Brothers Monument...Sand Dune from which they launched their Aircraft

                                               Linda & I at Cape Hatteras Lighthouse Museum

                                                            Cape Hatteras Lighthouse

 Enroute to Shawboro, NC approaching Edenton, NC located on Abermarle Sound....

We passed thru Elizabeth City several times during our boating trips South/North....exiting the Dismal Swamp Canal you travel down the river to Elizabeth City, then, ut\\out into Abmermarle Sound....

Headed East from Asheville, NC to Shawboro, NC located near the Dismal Swamp.....Visit Dismal Swamp Canal....Outer Banks...Kitty Hawk, etc

Tunnel in route to Shawboro, NC

Linda & Janet in front of Biltmore Mansion located in Asheville, NC...Tour of mansion took over 1.5 hours...very interesting....enjoyed lunch in what was the horse stables....walked thru a portion of the exstensive flower gardens adjacent to the mansion...property continues to be owned & operated by the Vanderbilt family...

 On to Townsend, TN and Pigeon Forge...Gatlinburg....to attend Dolly Parton's Dixie Stampede Show...drove, by auto,  to Clingman's Dome, the highest point in mountains...Don was only one of group able to walk the last 1/2 mile to the observation tower at the very top....

Don & Janet Leech, sailing friends who recently sold their sailboat and purchased a new Class A RV arrived in Medina and accompanied us on a trip to Cave City, Ky to see Mamouth Cave....

 Stalagtites in cave....                                                           Deer plentiful all around park grounds

Visit from sailing friends Norm & Linda Passmore, currently wintering in Guatamala aboard their Island Packet Sailboat and summers at their new farm located near Corning, NY.

Traveled back to Morgantown, WV.....WalMart overnite....On to Pier - Lon Campground located ner Medina, OH.....Here for the month of September....RV maintenance....etc.....

Left St Michaels, MD for Chestertown, MD located on the Chester River....
Campsite adjacent to river....nice view......

River cruise with our boating freinds Walt & Sharon.....
Returned to marina to find out that Hurricane Irene was headed our way
& boats needed to be secured....
While in process of securing the boat...we experienced an Earthquake....
BBQ that evening & all departed the next day to get out of the way of Irene.....

Arrived St Michaels, MD....Invited to park RV at friends condo....interesting manuevering...
Neighbors all toured RV....Quite a novelty to them.....
Dinner at the Miles River Yacht Club.....

Next day....River cruise & lunch aboard their new trawler.....

Departed Virginia Beach, VA...off to St Michaels, MD....
Traveled over/under the Cheasapeake Bay Bridge & Tunnel.....

At the toll booth....required to pull over & turn off our propane tank to proceed.....
Exiting one of the tunnels.....

From Ruthers Glen, MD....headed for Virginia Beach, VA.....
Passed through Hampton Roads, VA.....

Transited thr Hampton Roads Tunnel.....1st time in RV....

Visited with our nephew Jeremy, his wife & new baby....
Jeremy is in the Navy....stationed at NAS...Virginia Beach, VA

In route to Ruthers Glen, MD....note rear view camera which acts as
a rear view mirror for traffic & checking on tow vehicle.....

Excellent view of traffic & scenery from windows..... Arrived Ruthers Glen Flying J TC evening......
Dinner at Denny's in TC....
Truck stops are good overnite stops except for constant truck traffic & roar of diesel engines.....

Left Milan, OH headed for Pilot TC Morgantown, WV....Arrived Morgantown to find TC too small to park easily....informed of parking at WalMart on top of mountain......

Proceeded to WalMart....Parked for the eveneing....dinner at Sam's Club adjacnt to WalMart.....

Great View from parking lot for Free....
Shopped at WalMart in the evening....
Topped off with diesel fuel the next morning at Sam's Club......
Off to Ruthers Glen, MD.....

Spent lass 30 days here at Milan Travel Park on 250S by turnpike....nice park except for NO LEVEL SITES.....had to invest in leveling blocks to address problem....leaving here Sunday for Virginia Beach, VA to visit our nephew , then to St Michaels, MD to visit with some boating friends....return to Ohio around the 1st of September.....staying in Medina, Oh to complete RV warranty issues and installation of a satelite dish...can't live without TV....Leaving in October for KY, TN, NC, VA with boatig friends who recently sold their boat and purchased an RV....Arrive in Starke, FL...November1st....  for the winter season....

Returned to Vermilion, Ohio...Still trying to sell condo.....Horray....Sold condo mid July....Moved into RV full - time....Selected a campground near Amherst.....Arrived to find electric power to be lacking.....Exited campground.....returned to condo for night...found another campground south of Sandusky, Ohio has good electric....full hook - up...ONLY defect is that they have NO level sites....living on an angle is interresting....

April 3, 2011

Traveled back to Ohio over last three days.....
Encountered 15 - 20mph crosswinds during trip....
Plan to complete RV organzation and prepare for summer travels.....

March 30, 2011

Starke, Fla KOA Campground....
Well maintained park in small town just 30 minutes from East Coast....
Wal-Mart just down the road....Stocked up for trip back to Ohio....

Departing for Ohio Thursday AM.....
Stopping to visit with Mark & Lisa &
 Grand Daughter Emily, in West Milton, Ohio,
 on way back to Vermilion.

March 27, 2011

Traveled to Hudson, Fl on Gulf Coast....Hudson is a stop described in
 cruising guides when cruising around the Big Bend area of the Gulf...
As usual, access to the water is limited from the land side unless you
 have a boat at one ofthe marinas....
Community heavily canalized and mostly dated real estate...

March 26, 2011

Traveled to Cedar Key, Fla which extends out into the Big Bend Coast of NW Florida.
Huge Indian Shell Mound built over many years of depositing clam shells
Indians camped on top of shell mound as this was the only "High Ground" in the area....





View from top of shell mound looking out to Gulf of Mexico....

March 25, 2011

Traveled to Homosassa, Fla to take River Boat Tour....
Tour conducted by Captain Bob who move to area 16 years ago from
Washington State.
We where only customers for tour, had boat and Captain Bob all to ourselves.
Captain Bob gave us a wonderful tour of the area...

Monkey Island....Created in 20's from dredging spoils....
Later, Spider Monkeys adopted from early defunct tourist attraction
and relocated to island.
Monkeys are fed and cared for by locals and Florida DNR.

Osprey nest with mother and two chicks....

Many nest in this area, mostly undeveloped and protected land....
Great area for Birding.....

Canal leading to past home site of a Mr Levy who came to Homossa
in the early 1800's and built a large sugar plantation.
Plantation was burned by the Union Army during the Civil War and
Mr Levy was imprisoned for two years for having slaves...

Linda enjoying the Boat Tour

Pelicans waiting to feed on fish cleaning scraps....