On the Road Again!

Friday December 28th, we left North Carolina heading south for Florida. We drove into Georgia down 95 past Savannah. We had hoped that we would have been able to spend some time there sightseeing and learning about the area but, got in to town much later the we had originally thought we would. We had taken the time earlier in the morning to pack up and do a few chores rather than push to get out early. Are uploads are getting much faster already.
We also had taken the time to repair a nagging house battery/solenoid issue that has been going on since we either caused or noticed it back in CT. With the very generous assistance of my brother over the phone and Internet, a couple of hundred times, we finally resolved the issue. At least it seems like it and tests out as if it is resolved.
We made it some 300 miles yesterday and landed in Brunswick, GA. The very big deal of the day was that Megan hopped into the drivers seat in Shallotte, NC as we were about to leave and drove us all the way to Brunswick. Driving this whole loaded, almost 50 foot rig, for the first time ever. She drove on small roads just big enough for us and the oncoming trucks and I95 south. It is in wicked condition in some places with tires ruts and grooves that push a vehicle like this all over the place and usually have the added game day features of no shoulder and Jersey (Georgia) Barriers added in on your right and left, just for excitement. Then she continued to drive it under the same conditions through the Savannah go home, weekend of a holiday traffic, which was as heavy as I have seen it on 95 so far, as night fell. She looked as though she had been doing it for years and was less stressed than me by far and for sure, when I drove for the first time. Plus, she didn't hit anything!
We spent the night in a Passport America affiliate campsite which is a camping club we joined for the express reason of saving money. It costs us only 10 to 15 dollars per night at the campsites. Some are just big sparsely wooded parking lots with all of the amenities that we require for a nights stay. (Electric, Water, Sewer and Cable hook ups all provided on site) You should see how quickly we are able to set up camp on site and be ready for the night now, it is amazing! Others are more elaborate and pretty, which is what we will be looking for when we stay in a place for an extended period. For the overnights we just want inexpensive, clean and easy in and out and for the most part that is what we have found.
Today we are pulling out for the final leg of this weeks journey down to Orlando, Florida. All of the kids are flying down today with their significant others to spend a week with us designed to close out the old year and celebrate in the new one together. We also intend for this to bring some closure and settling to our family that you may guess occurs when the parents leave home. It has brought things up that you may have guessed but that could not be looked at and dealt with until they actually came to the front. We hope to be "Real Americans" and spend New Year's eve in Epcot Center having fun and celebrating our many blessings and abundance, together.
We are enjoying the trip so far and are looking forward to settling in for a while in Florida. We will be visiting with Megan's family there as well as heading down to the Everglades and Keys for some wintertime water sports and experiential, educationally geared activities like air boat rides, swimming with the dolphins and snorkeling around the reefs. We are spending a good bit of time each day increasing Jasper's math, geography, social studies and science knowledge. Yesterday we talked about the cotton crop here in the south. A bunch of aspects about it came to light. ie: slavery, he didn't know it grew on a low bush, a reference to how it is processed and how it is grown. We also spent some time listing all of the states on the East Coast. Do you know how many there are, without listing and counting them? Then we found out how many there are on the West Coast and totaled them up and had Jazz do the math to determine how many states we had to travel through to see them all. We are very much enjoying designing and playing out our educational travel time. It has been great fun! Jasper also spent a good deal of time making up songs yesterday and singing them to us. But, the highlight of his day by far was the moment we pulled into the campsite. A 12 year old with a bike and a skateboard rode up and saw Jasper riding his Rip Stik. A friendship, that lasted for several hours and entailed them sharing all about their lives in a short period of time, ensued. It gave us a wonderful time alone together and Jasper some much desired kid time. He has been a bit homesick and missing his friends and his family time and all things known, back in CT.
There have been adjustments for all of us to date. We miss our friends and and we also miss knowing where everything is at home. We have spent a good deal of these first days trying to put stuff in some logical order where we can find it when we need it but also have it out of our way when we don't. We are making progress. I know where the banjo is but have not had a single moment to take it out as of yet. Settling in a place will allow for that, too.
If any one wants to come and meet us in tropical southern Florida in late January, just call us. Maybe we can swim or take a small boat to Cuba for the day and pick up some cigars!