After 2 weeks in San Diego it was time to make "the turn" and start heading east for the first time in this journey. We made our way back through California, then Arizona where we spent one night in Tucson, then we passed through New Mexico and into Texas. We stayed just off I-10 out in the middle of nowhere before heading into San Antonio for two nights.
We belong to a great group called Harvest Hosts that keeps a list of places you can stay for free. In San Antonio we parked at the Texas Air Museum. Bob was in heaven watching the planes come and go at the airport and we took a really interesting tour of the museum that. houses a lot of old aircraft and memorabilia!
That evening we took a nice walk along the famed San Antonio River walk and enjoyed a steak dinner overlooking the river. The next day we rode bikes along one of their many multi-use trails. This one followed along the river and was very scenic.
Our next stop was Corpus Christi. We stayed at the Corpus Christ KOA last year and enjoyed it so much we wanted to go back. We ended up staying one week and loved the area once again. The weather was perfect. We just rested and relaxed.
While in Corpus Christi we enjoyed one day at the Padre Island National Seashore. It's the longest stretch of undeveloped barrier island in the world. Really beautiful and Scooby had a ball running up and down the beach. We brought the grill and Bob cooked some awesome bratwursts for lunch. We love going to places like this midweek and having the place to ourselves.
While in Corpus Christi, the World Series was going on. It was pretty fun wearing my Atlanta Braves t-shirt while in Texas! We cheered them on every night watching the games on our outside TV. It was very exciting when they won!
We also were in Corpus Christi for Halloween and Scooby's spider costume was a big hit.
Sadly, our week came to an end and we continued on our eastward trek. Our next stop was in Port Levaca.
We stopped here for the night so we could make the short drive to Victoria, TX to visit our good friends, Laura and Clayton Lopez. I think we were having so much fun we forgot to take a photo. But it was great to visit their beautiful home and then go out for some tasty Mexican food!
We used our Harvest Host membership again the next night at a beautiful place called Vermillionville Living History Museum in Lafayette, LA. What a pretty place to spend the night and the next morning we toured the grounds and ate lunch at their restaurant.
That evening we made it to Amite, LA the town where my mother grew up. I still have 6 cousins/spouses along with their kids and grandchildren in the area. My cousin Dina was kind enough to open up her home for a sweet time of fellowship and catching up on each others lives. The area had been hit by a hurricane at the end of August and you could still see plenty of signs of damage but thankfully my cousins were all spared of any major damage.
Our next stop was for 2 nights at Topsail State Park in Florida. A beautiful campground with nice trails and access to a wonderful white sand beach. We enjoyed a beautiful paddle near our campground. We would love to come back here for a longer stay but we are keeping on schedule in order to be home for Thanksgiving!
From Topsail, we stopped next at Ichetucknee State Park for 2 nights. We paddled down the spring feed river and it was one of the prettiest paddles I have ever done! And the best part was we went downstream the entire way and hardly had to even paddle! Once we pulled out of the water, we boarded a shuttle van that took us back to our car. The river was so quiet, a weekday in November, and we had the river to ourselves!
We are now headed to our final stop before arriving home in Cashiers. Our plan is to stop by the lot we purchased in Hilton Head and leave the RV there for the winter. I will write another blog once home to recap our trip but will finish this one by saying it is very strange to be near the end 3 month trip. Like so many things it has flown by. But it has been everything I thought it would be and I look forward to writing the next blog sitting in front of my fireplace and preparing for Thanksgiving and Christmas!