Heading South for a Few Months

We returned to Cove Lake State Park campground for 10 days after visiting Cades Cove. We spent that time puttering around and fine-tuning a few things on the motor home. Now we're ready to head south for a few months. This means we're finally getting on the road!

Our final destination is Key West, Florida but we'll be making several stops along the way to visit friends and see some points of interest.

Our first stop will be Dreher Island State Park, a few miles north of Columbia, South Carolina. We're looking forward to visiting friends and expect to spend a week here - it will be fun!

Then we'll make our way to Joint Base Charleston RV Park and stay for just a couple nights... we want to visit the Angel Oak Tree, one of the oldest living trees in North America, and eat some delicious Charlestonion "low country" cooking.

After Charleston, we'll continue to Jacksonville, Florida and stay at the Naval Air Station's Jacksonville RV Park. We are looking forward to catching up with our friends, Fran and John, who are also heading to Key West for the winter. And we also hope to visit my longtime friend, Kevin, in St Augustine.

Then it's on to Bushnell, Florida for just one night; we have an appointment at the Escapees Sumter Oaks RV Park in Bushnell, Florida to have the Dolphin weighed.  I *think* we are under the manufacturer's recommended maximum weight by approximately 400 pounds but we need to make sure we're not overloaded as this would stress the engine, transmission, and braking system, and pose a safety risk.

After Bushnell, we will head to the Cocoa Beach area and stay at Manatee Cove Campground at Patrick Air Force Base. A loooong time ago, when I was a young airman new to the Air Force, this was my first duty station. I still have friends in the area and we always stop at Patrick Air Force base when we are in Florida.

Then it's on to Marathon, Florida where we'll stay a couple nights at the Marathon Coast Guard Station. We want to visit the Turtle Hospital and the Dolphin Research Center.

After stopping in Marathon, we'll drive about another hour south to the Naval Air Station Key West Campground (Sigsbee). This will be our third visit to Key West in an RV and we just love it down there! Tropical weather and foliage, great old architecture, lots of interesting history, fabulous food, and plenty of partying opportunities! Friends Fran and John will be there also and it's always fun to spend time with them.

We expect to stay in Key West until the end of November, at which point we'll head back to Tennessee for about a week (I have a medical appointment at the VA) before going to Houston, Texas to spend Christmas with my family.

Stay tuned!