US Trip Part 21 March 1 - March 9

Day 200 Thursday March 1
We left Hawaiian Isles RV park and headed North on I-75.  Stopped for lunch at a rest stop.  We spent the night at Casey Jones RV park at exit 423, near Lake City,  taking spot 57.  Huge RV spots. 
Drove 191 miles today.

Day 201 Friday March 2
We took our time getting ready to leave the park.  We drove North on I-75 into Georgia taking exit 18.  We spent the night at River Park RV park.  After lunch we went to visit a shirttail relative Charles and had a very nice visit Had chili for dinner.  After dinner Judy went to TJ Max just over the freeway.
Drove 67 miles today.

Day 202 Saturday March 3
Well today was exciting and sometimes a little scary.  We were under a tornado watch for much of the day.  There were tornado warning to the southwest and north and north east of where we were staying.  We are at exit 18 and tornadoes were spotted by the weather service between exits 22 and 29.  We did not have much wind during the day but lots of rain.  There was an inch in about an hour and then got 3.4 inches over night.

Day 203 Sunday March 4
We went to the Okefenokee Wildlife Refuge by going to the West side and  a nice paved road into the Steven C. Foster state park.  The ditches along the road were fill with water from yesterday’s rain.  When we entered the park, the rangers were removing a group of trees that had fallen across the road. We went to sign up for the 1 pm ranger led boat trip but because of the wind and falling trees, they cancelled all trips and boat rentals.  It was very windy today and temperature was in the low 60‘s..  We went on the nature walk and found part of the elevated wood loop trail was destroyed by a fire that started last April.  The ranger said they think it is out now.  There were alligators there but no wading birds.  Still in Southern Florida I guess.  I was here in 1975 and all that there was a dirt road from Fargo into the park and a small boat launch.   On the way home Judy wanted to stop at a house built in 1898 by a US senator in downtown Valdosta.  It had thirteen columns representing the original 13 colonies. 

Day 204 Monday March 5
We left Valdosta and went to I-75 exit 18 and drove South to exit 16 and took 84 West to the town of Quitman.  There we went South on 221 to I-10 West.   We drove to exit 85, the city of DeFuniak Springs, and went North a ways to Sunset King’s Lake RV Resort.  Before dinner we walked down to the lake which is down about 3 feet due to the draught.   The humidity was 26%, the lowest we have had for a while and the afternoon temperature was 75 degrees.  Ahhhaaaa!   There was some strong gusty headwinds most of the day.
Drove 215 miles

Day 205 Tuesday March 6
We went to the Gulf beach today.  Went South on 331 to Grayton Beach state park. It was different here than down by Tampa in that there were sand dunes which we had to stay off of.  Bright white sand, very few shells.  We walked the beach and sat for awhile. Then ate lunch in a nice picnic shelter overlooking a fresh water lake. We left there and went West to the city of Destin where we went to a city beach and watch life guards practicing while sitting on the beach.  Then we continued West to highway 85 and headed North to I-10 and back home.  Most of the drive along the beach was crowded with expensive homes, high rises and lots of businesses. Made spicy Mexican soup for dinner.

Day 206 Wednesday March 7
Left  Florida heading West on I-10.  Stopped at the Alabama visitors center and the lady convinced us to spend some time here.  So we got off the freeway at Exit 53 and drove about 0.8 miles to  Hilltop RV park taking spot 2.  We made lunch then headed South to the beach.  Really windy, red flag warnings so no swimming allowed, but fun to eat and watch the surf and the few people playing on the sand.  We left there and headed to the Bon Secour wildlife refuge.  No birds because of the wind but a very nice mile loop hike. We drove to the headquarters to get more info and the man directed us to another hiking spot.  There was a horned owl’s nest and an osprey nest by the edge of a lake.  Came home and had rest of soup and a salad for dinner.
Drove 110 miles today.

Day 207 Thursday March 8
We left Alabama and headed West again stopping at visitors centers in Mississippi and Louisiana.   We decided to go into Louisiana and stay there for a while.  We stopped for the night off exit 263 on I-10 at :Pine Crest RV park taking spot 8.   Very hot and humid today and we had rain showers after dinner.
Drove 143 miles.

Day 208 Friday March 9
We were going to go into New Orleans today but the weather was not suppose to be good for walking around so we decided to go bird watching.  We drove to the Southeast Louisiana regional wildlife refuge headquarters on the Northeast side of Lake Pontchartrain to check out access to local refuges.  We went to Big Branch Marsh NWR and did a board walk trip.  Not many birds or critters but we did see some cardinals and a couple of egrets.  Light rain and some wind but ok to walk.  We then headed South of I-10 to see some of the flat lands Southeast of New Orleans.  You can still see some of the Katrina devastation.