Heading North

 Days 23 and 24: Dunedin to Jacksonville and then to Savannah.

On Tuesday the 16th we got busy! I took Poppy to get a bath while Punk was at the spa. We worked hard to pack up and get Poppy organized again. We left mid-afternoon, after a couple other errands and appointments.

Punk joined the crew. 

We headed north, made the relatively short trip to Jacksonville, and arrived at dusk to Kindred Kitten Rescue, where a pack of donkeys greeted us. 

Punk wasn't too sure about that big dog!

Most of the rescued kitties were too skittish to visit, but a few let us give them scritches. 

In the morning, the host gave us a nice yogurt parfait breakfast and some gum!

 I said goodbye to the donkeys, who were now in their pasture, waiting for the album-cover photographer.

And we hit the road again! I drove Trish to visit an aphasia group in Jacksonville, and I found a Trader Joe's a few blocks from the beach. Not only was I able to visit my happy place, Trader Joe’s, I was able to enjoy a wonderful walk on the wide-open, white sand beach. It was beautiful!

Toes in the Atlantic!

That evening, we drove up to Savannah, Georgia, where we picked up a pizza and took it to Debellation Brewing Company, where we relaxed with pizza, beer, board games, and a lemon crepe from the food truck. Yummers!  

We retired to the back lot, among a half-dozen other RVs. We felt dwarfed! 

Little Poppy among the monsters!

This was our least-favorite Harvest Host so far. Being so close to RVs who fired up their generators was icky. The noisy I-95 ran just behind. The beer was “meh.” They were celebrating their third anniversary, and it showed. They need more practice.

Somehow we got out really early the next morning, and had time to visit Blue Sky Preserve for a short walk before making it to the National Mighty Eighth Air Force Museum in Savannah.

Little Sister Adventurer also has a blog called “Jack’s Cache,” where she scans and transcribes the letters that her dad, Jack, wrote home during WWII to his mother and to his sweetheart and future wife. Jack was a member of the Mighty Eighth Air Corps, and visiting this museum has been on the bucket list for years, since the last time Trish and I traveled this road and saw the sign (it was closed that day). 

It was a good museum. They displayed a B-17, which is the bomber that Jack served in as a ball-turret gunner. I’ve been up close to a B-17, but it is still shocking and sobering to see that ball-turret and imagine Jack balled up in there, cold and vulnerable, on the belly of the plane for hours and hours. Not to mention the 60% mortality rate of that particular crew member. 

It is a tiny space! And there was no room for a parachute. The ball-turret gunner's chute had to be left up above, separated from the airman by a locked hatch!

They had plenty of exhibits from all over the European theater where the Mighty Eighth served.

Library patrons in London.

This was a poignant story:

What wasn’t fun: the hordes of teenagers from 4-5 school groups who all arrived at the same time and who literally ran amok through the museum with their clip-boards and scavenger hunt worksheets.

What was fun: Meeting Jerry, another Travotan, in the parking lot, who had also arrived early and was waiting to get in. On a multi-month trip from Washington state, he had a beautiful 2019 rig. Travato owners are the best!

After the  museum, we put on our safety belts and steered Poppy west, to Andersonville and Plains. 
Stay tuned. 

Eclipse Addendum

I'm trying to catch up. AT&T informed me that I was using a lot of my hotspot data, plus there have been long days of driving, so I need to catch up now that I have wifi and a sofa!

But first, a few more notes about the eclipse.

This 2024 eclipse was definitely different than 2017 in Wyoming. That one, which we experienced out on the plains, was incredibly amazing. This one, with the clouds and extra humidity in the air, we did not have the Purkinje effect that was so striking and other-worldly that we experienced so magically in 2017. With the landscape around us, we did not see as much of the sunrise/sunset colors, nor the moon's shadow approaching. But totality was sill amazing and very moving. 

One thing I don’t remember last time: The sun's plasma clouds, which appeared as little red dots around the edge. It was stunning!

I was able to visualize Venus, but did not see any other planets, and there were too many clouds to see the comet. It would’ve taken away from the experience to try to find the comet anyway. Maybe there are photos out there?

The 4 1/2 minutes of totality went by in a flash. 

Last time I audio recorded and Trish video recorded our experience, which I edited into a movie. This time, I did turn on the audio but really only captured 4 1/2 minutes of "Wow!" and "Oh my God!"

Here are just a few photos to share. I'm sure my readers have seen (or captured!) plenty of excellent photographs.

This one was from one of the fellow Travatoans at the meet-up:

Photo by Tom, a Travato owner

I saw this one on Facebook, taken by an amateur photographer. What a shot! See the Facebook post here, with links to her media coverage as well as her store. 

Photo by Kendall Rust

And here is one that my friend Sue, a high school chum captured. You can find more of her work here. 

Photo by Susanna Gross

Here's NASA's coverage of this amazing total solar eclipse.

Winnebago was kind enough to chip in for the meetup, and we had a catered BBQ dinner. Since there weren't many veggies, I helped vegetarians Christine, Tom, and Amanda make a "cowboy caviar" for our catered dinner. We chopped and chopped and made a nice salad, which was a big hit for the crowd!

Christine, Little Sister Adventurer, and Amanda

It was a kick meeting other Travatoans – there were about 40 Travatos and 70+ people at the meetup! Big shout-out to Marilyn for organizing the event. She made it great!

Here we all are:

We came from all over!

A drone shot of a portion of our venue, shot by Duke, another member of our Travato group:

I don't think Poppy is visible in this pic.

The venue was expansive. It hosts weddings, so it had all we needed, from a kitchen to a restroom, covered and uncovered gathering spaces, and friends such as these:

Mama was protective of her baby (the black guy behind her)

"I moooooved so you can get my cute face!"

Coming up: we move on down the road. More time in Texas, then we head east. Stay tuned. 

Texas Hill Country

 Days 11 and 12? 12 and 13? Something like that. It's getting hard to keep track.

Last time I wrote, I had just spent the night in Houston at Fortress Beerworks, an out-of-the way spot in the big city. Had a glass of beer, walked to my rig, and slept in a pasture. How great is that?

That Friday in Houston was a catch-all day. I had a yummy breakfast with Kate, one of my GISH (Greatest International Scavenger Hunt, which sadly has dissolved) teammates. Kate kindly pointed me to the places I needed, a laundromat and a Target. It was great to have Poppy outside the laundromat door. I got to make a cuppa and work on my blog!

After errands, I got in a shower in at a Planet Fitness on the way to Houston Hobby airport!

I picked up Trish mid-afternoon on Friday, and we made our way to LaGrange, Texas, where we stopped at a family farm/tasting room/restaurant. So cool! Parked in a wildflower-filled pasture and had many neighbors, including guinea fowl, goats, donkeys, cattle, a guardian dawg, and roosters off in the distance. 

Livestock guard dawg greeted me in the morning

Morning view outside the sliding door.

Blissful Folly Family Farm had really nice food and good beer and mead. We tasted a little of everything. We had a restful night and took our time with coffee, tea, and brekkie before we hit the road. 

And hit the road we did! With the app called "Roadside America," Trish found some must-see roadside attractions and she led us to The World's Biggest Gingerbread Man in Smithville. 

Smithville, Texas is a cute little town. Two blocks long and two blocks wide, with about a dozen antique stores. And a nice coffee shop, The General Store.

Find a nice spicy chai in The General Store!

Once we hit the road again, we visited Ms. Pearl the Giant Squirrel in Cedar Creek. And left with $60 worth of pecan goodies. It happens.

Even Ms. Pearl is ready for the eclipse!

All that before we even got to Austin! Once there, we had another set of wonderful adventures with Sister Adventurer Anne! She took us on our own Mystery Tour of Austin, where we visited art installations and the coolest public library in the nation. 

Photos below are Ellsworth Kelly's installation at UT Austin. Super cool to commune with the sun in this way on an eclipse weekend. Photos are inadequate. Go visit when you visit Austin.

Lots of critter art along the public walking mall near the State Capitol building. But I took a photo of just this guy:

Here's your unsolicited Willie pic.

Near Austin City Limits

And the Austin Public Library.:

View from the top floor of the library.

We got 1-, 3-, and 5-minute short stories from a machine at the library. We read them while we waited for a table at a yummy N'Orleans restaurant, Cypress Grill. I had boiled crawfish! Yummy!

We had a comfortable night in Anne's driveway, and the next day, breakfast tacos and a drive to the eclipse venue. 

Thank you so much, Anne, for your wonderful hospitality!

We hit the road and more roadside attractions on the way to Lampasas.

A stop at Dead Man's Hole. Sobering.

Some dark American history. Don't forget the people who died. 

Can you have too many wildflower photos?

A stop in Marble Falls's Blue Bonnet Cafe for PIE! Thanks, Anne, for pointing us there!

Roadside attractions snapped by Trish!

World's Largest Spur? Of course it's in Texas!

drive-by roadside attraction. Is that Nessie in that pasture?!

We made it to the eclipse venue mid-afernoon and set up our spot among dozens of Travatos. It's our first meetup! We'll be for two nights. Seven years of anticipation: it  is happening!

(I know; this is published after the actual eclipse! I'm having trouble keeping up!  More soon!)