Final Updated 2015 Itinerary - And Last Blog Entry

On October 23rd, I sketched out my anticipated, planned itinerary south beginning January 19th and returning February 22nd; a total of 35 days and a drive of 3,263 mile.  Well, it is now as complete as it's going to be with all reservations made and deposits paid.  All reservations complete, that is, except for one stop (2/12th - 2/15th) that I cannot reserve until December 1st.

I think I will make this my last post as tomorrow is my last day.  I will introduce a new blog post on the evening of January 21st, 2015.  It will contain this same chart below and we'll go from there.  Have a safe and warm winter; stay healthy and happy and let me be the very first to wish you and yours a Happy Thanksgiving, a holy Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

DATE	DAY	CAMPGROUND & ADDRESS	TRAVEL TIME
1/19/15 1/20/15 Leave 1/21	Mon Tue Wed	Cherrystone Campground 1511 Townfield Drive Cape Charles, VA 23310	From Cross River: 369 miles - 6+ hours
2 days
1/21/15 1/22/15 Leave 1/23	Wed Thu Fri	Lanier's Campground 1161 Spot Lane Holly Ridge, NC 28445	From Cherrystone: 261 miles - 4 hrs 41 min
4
1/23/15 1/24/15 1/25/15 Leave 1/26	Fri Sat Sun Mon	Hilton Head Harbor RV Resort 43 Jenkins Road Hilton Head Island, SC 29926	From Lanier's Campground: 327 miles - 5 hours
7
1/26/15 1/27/15 Leave 1/28	Mon Tue Wed	Nova Campground 1190 Herbert St. Port Orange, FL 32129	From Hilton Head Harbor: 268 miles - 4 hrs
9
1/28/15 1/29/15 1/30/15 1/31/15 2/1/15 2/2/15 Leave 2/3	Wed Thu Fri Sat Sun Mon Tue	Elite Resorts at Citrus Valley 16246 Citrus Parkway Clermont, FL 34714	From Nova Campground 85 miles - 1 hr 30 min Ray & Kathy Craig & Trish Vicki & George
15
2/3/15 2/4/15 2/5/15 2/6/15 2/7/15 2/8/15 Leave 2/9	Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat Sun Mon	Del-Raton RV 2998 S. Federal Hwy Del Ray Beach FL 33483 Enterprise Rent-a-Car across street 2805 S Federal Hwy	From Elite Resorts: 194 miles - 3 hours Jim & Missie Scott & Kori Norma
21
DATE	DAY	CAMPGROUND & ADDRESS	TRAVEL TIME
2/9/15 2/10/15 2/11/15 Leave 2/12	Mon Tue Wed Thu	Key Largo Kampground 101551 Overseas Highway Key Largo, FL 33037-4546	From Del Ray Beach 112 miles - 2 hours GPS=Samson Road, Key Largo FL
24		Return Trip
2/12/15 2/13/15 2/14/15 Leave 2/15	Thu Fri Sat Sun	Carefree RV at Daytona Beach (OR Nova if not available) 4601 S Clyde Morris Blvd Port Orange, FL 32129 (OR Emerald Shores Hotel)	From Key Largo: 311 miles - 4 hrs 45 min Make reservations 12/1/14
27
2/15/15 2/16/15 2/17/15 Leave 2/18	Sun Mon Tue Wed	Roger & Wendy 11 Orchid Lane Bluffton, SC	From Port Orange, FL: 259 miles - 3 hrs 45 min
30
2/18/15 2/19/15 Leave 2/20	Wed Thu Fri	Lakewood Camping Resort 5901 S. Kings Hwy Myrtle Beach, SC 29575	From Sun City, SC 178 miles - 3 hours 30 min.
32
2/20/15 2/21/15 Leave 2/22	Fri Sat Sun	Holiday Trav-L-Park 1075 General Booth Boulevard Virginia Beach, VA 23451	From Myrtle Beach, SC 358 miles - 5 hours 45 min.
34
2/22/15	Sun	Winnie Storage 853 Rte 35 Cross River, NY	From Virginia Beach, VA 429 miles - 7.5 hours
34 days		Four States	3,263 miles driven

Yes, I know.  Lot o' Luck.  I am not thinking (yet) of the variables and unforeseen circumstances that go with this detailed planning.  I do know they exist so I'm going into this blind:  Weather (beginning with January 21st), Road Conditions/Detours, and Breakdowns just to mention a few.  Perhaps I should entitled this post: "Suggested Itinerary" and not tempt fate or Murphy.....but then we shouldn't go through life with that negative thinking with its "what if's" and "supposin's"; we'd never accomplish anything.  Better to go with the flow and hope for the best but anticipate the worst.  Simple.

My Season Will End with a Howl & a Brrrr

Whoa!  What a night for Winnie and me as we were buffeted with 35 mph winds that sent the wind chill temp down to 30 degrees.  Inside?  Cozy warm.  I turned back the clock one hour, slipped into bed to read, and finally dozed off.  I awoke well rested as the winds shook the RV only to find I napped for two hours.  It was 1:15 am and I was wide awake.  With my new Retiree's Clock and Vicki's motto in mind ("When the day of the week is more important than the hour of the day.") I got up and sort of started the day disregarding the time.  I've learned early in my retirement that you don't have to "fight" to get to sleep; there'll be time to "catch up".  Hot coffee and oatmeal with raisins hit the spot as I checked the depressing news on line, played games, and checked financials and email.  Then about 4:30 am or so, I got drowsy, crawled back under the covers and slept till 7:30; now it's business as usual.

First thing I wanted to do was capture Mother Nature doing her thing.  I seem to remember each year, near the end of the time when leaves change, there's always a few days of high winds.  I think Mother Nature pushes along those straggling dead leaves still attached to branches to clean up and prepare for the snow that will cover those very same branches.

And today?  Weather statement says:

..

STRONG WINDS TODAY AND COLD TEMPERATURES TONIGHT... 

WIND ADVISORY IN EFFECT UNTIL 6 PM EST THIS EVENING... 

FREEZE WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM 3 AM TO 8 AM EST MONDAY 

* HAZARDS...STRONG WINDS TODAY AND FREEZING TEMPERATURES TONIGHT. 

* TEMPERATURES...AROUND 30 TONIGHT. 

* WINDS...NORTHWEST 20 TO 30 MPH WITH GUSTS UP TO 50 MPH. 

* TIMING...STRONG WINDS TODAY. FREEZING TEMPERATURES LATE TONIGHT INTO MONDAY MORNING. 

I am not optimistic about the video above playing as it should nor was I with the video of the goslings chasing their "mommy" in yesterday's post.  No one has mentioned whether it did or it didn't so I don't know.  Another thing noticed about this blog site is that folks who use Internet Explorer to read these posts see a much different view than those using Chrome.  Any feedback would be appreciated.  Thanks.  

More Views of Croton Point Park

"While strolling through the park one day......."

No extra charge for the beauty

My outdoor autumn carpeting

As mentioned in an earlier post, there is a bathhouse situated along the main road into the park that has fallen into disrepair and no long in use.

MicroMacro Mural on Bathhouse

What catches the visitor's eye are the four murals painted on the road facing side of the abandoned building. At first I thought they were composed of inlaid ceramic tiles forming the mosaic.  Upon closer inspection, however....

....they're paintings on squares of wood.  There must be some type of treatment that has preserved the surface all these years.  I researched the origin of the murals and found that Mariah Fee is the artist and the murals were created in 1997:

About Mariah Fee

"The site of the Micro/Macro Mural is the Hudson River, Croton Point Park, New York.  The project began as a collaboration between two artists and was funded by the Westchester Arts Council.  The early states of the mural were sponsored by the Council for mural work in the Westchester schools; therefore, a curriculum-inspired theme of the plant ecology and the geology of this stretch of the Hudson River was the original source for the imagery.  Research by the artists deepened and diversified the visual narrative.  The four panels juxtapose micro close views with macro birds eye vistas." 

Source of Information

From website

This is how they appeared when I photographed them Thursday.  I've cropped and enhanced the photos.  Thank you Chuck for the Canon G7 (and Picasa) both of which have been doing a good job with my photographs.

"The far left panel is the river’s macro view; an almost aerial aspect, a mapping, the Shad life cycle, indigenous plants."  

"Next, the microcosm of the Hudson’s water: plankton, water fleas, diatoms."

"Then, a macro vista shows the great river curve, the grand presence of the rock’s ancient earth formations."

"Finally, the geological micro panel of the native rock, patterned sections of Palisade’s basalt, quartz and crinoids, fossils found in calcium carbonate deposits of marbles and limestone."

Does this remind you of one of Windows XP's desktop themes?

Imagine traveling all the way from Elizaville to greet me?
How nice was that?

November 1st and our trees are not all changed.

                    

Well, that's it for today.  With blustery winds trying to clear the trees of the already dead leaves, the temperature of 47 is creating a wind chill of 37 degrees.  Next to the pitter-patter of rain on the roof, (almost) "howling" winds are my favorite sounds...not to mention the rocking motion of Winnie now and then.  Love it!  Time to start dinner.  Tonight, it'll be hot French onion soup with rice (from leftovers) topped with shaved Jarlsberg cheese and a glass of Cupcake Chardonnay.  You'll have to go without the visual.  My reading for this week has been the third novel of Brandon Sanderson's Trilogy, Mistborn: "The Hero of Ages."