Christmas 2014

Dec. 21, 2014

The final leg of our trip to the beach...Anna Maria Island.  Easy ride to our friends home on AMI.  The Lark just fits, 3' to spare in the drive.  We embarked and Eze was happy to see his cousin Cairo (for you not in the know, Eze and Cairo are Abby Cats).  

Hugs and kisses and unloading the rig.  We will spend several weeks here on the island including Christmas and New Years.  Our next blog will be the continuation of this winters' trip sometime in mid-January.

We have our bikes and plan to explore the island and walk the beach.  AMI is, for us, the most amazing place to be lucky enough to spend part of the winter.  We will be house and cat sitting and enjoying our good friends.  Lots of canasta and pinochle!

Merry Christmas!

Dec. 17-18, 2014 Heading for the Swamp

Our route plan including driving right through downtown Atlanta in the Lark.  This seemed preferable to the mountains and WV Turnpike in always threatening weather. Until of course, you need to turn the key and head into the worst traffic on the East coast.  When our Jason and Michaela lived in Buckhead in N. Atlanta we experienced  the crazy traffic and it has only grown worse. 

Ed had done the research on a guidance system for the Lark.  We invested in a Garmin (Satellite) system made specifically for RV's. Worth it's weight in gold.  The little bus on the BIG screen travels along, routing you, telling you when speed limit changes, warning of school zones, sharp curves, downhills, uphills and low bridges.  Seriously.  When highway traffic slows in front of you, a mile or so, away, you get the warning. When traffic clears you get an announcement the traffic is "light" in your path.  Getting on and off ramps is a task.  We are slow to climb and merge  even more careful to slow, as stopping 14,000 lbs can be a trick. Garman shows you the lanes to approach and where to be when.  I have a feeling that in a few years, a Garmin will be called the beginning of automated driving, we'll remember that old thing we used  in the Lark!

Back to Atlanta, we got up steam and headed straight through, all indicators said "do not use bi-passes" they are worse.  We waited until 9AM, followed Garmin directions and orders  and did really well.  Came to a total stop a couple of times going in...and breezed out the south end  on I75.  Did all this while driving in 6 lanes going each way! 

Speeding on: (65MPH) is our preferred speed, good gas mileage and  power to step on it if needed.  Headed for the Okefenokee Swamp... Foster State Park, Ga. in the middle of a National Wildlife Refuge.  The swamp is 700 SqM of protected habitat and the road in  is 62 miles from the highway.  Two lanes of pole pines and logging trucks.  The longest "dead end" road ever! Ed is pleased to announce Home Depot will never run out of 2 x 4's. Certainly not in our lifetimes.

This spot is known as the best  "stargazing"  east of the Mississippi. No light pollution.  No nothing.... made sure we had enough gas to turn around, if that became an option, and continued full steam ahead.  Ed was muttering something about the "adventure" and we soon found ourselves giggling, wondering what could be at the "dead end".

A beautiful Georgia State Park. Nice people, well run,  wooded private sights, utilities and no cell connection.  Can't have everything.  The Garmin book talks of "bluetoothing" through my IPhone, but have not explored that possibility. The quiet was rather nice.  Oh the quiet and sweet air.  The quiet was deafening.  No planes, trains, machinery of any kind, boats, waves...no nothing, including no stars...overcast skies :(  Again, out of season).


We were so taken with the place and only three other campers, we stayed two nights.  First night a bear tried to enter a tent....exactly why we have solid walls and a door with a lock.  Great birding and photography and hiking.  The second day we got a private boat tour out into the swamp that was a very special experience. Swamps are not dark and scary, but lovely and alive and quiet and old...we saw a tree estimated  to be 900 years old. We saw no "swamp people"..thank goodness.  No Ivory Billed Woodpecker, either.

Deer and wild turkeys walking though our campsite.  Time to move on to Florida.  Ed was ready to stay longer.



No Kayaking for me in these waters!!!!!!

Dec. 15, 2014 Atlanta, here we come.

Said goodbye to Kentucky, crossed through Tennessee and into Northern Georgia. Another 500 mile day.  Have come to appreciate Cracker Barrel Restaurants.  Great food, reasonable price and double pull-through parking spaces.  Did I mention fresh baked bread and a Georgia Pecan Pie to go.

Cracker Barrel even lets you spend the night in their lot.  We are welcome at K-Marts and Costco's too.  Not the prime RV locations, but you can shop easily!  

Our destination was Altoona Lake;  McKinney Campground.  This is a Corps of Engineers camp.  My cousin, Rene Berberich, has been running the Berlin Dam  and campground for the Corps in Ohio and put us onto the Corps for good places to camp.  With our America Senior Pass all days are 50% off regular price.  Good thing to know!  We play the "senior" card as much as possible!

We planned for one night, but was so nice, we stayed two.  Beautiful campground with privacy and fragrant pole pines and lakefront lots.  We understand from March 1-Oct. 31 it is reservation only and first come, first served.  We quickly have become appreciative of traveling in the "off" season.  We pulled our rig into a lakefront spot that was amazing!  Cool, not quite southern enough, but the view and park were  delightful.  So cool, in fact, on the water, the second night we moved up into the woods.

Our camp hosts had the infamous South Dakota plates on their rig. We knew what that was all about.  If you go to a certain town in SD and stay 3 days, register your rig, get a PO Box and mail forward  you become a resident of the State...great tax benefits.  You only have to return every two years (sure would do that in the summer).  They are full timers and work at parks for their parking space and utilities.  An interesting way to live...not ready for that commitment.  

I have not mentioned Eze.  He is quite amazing. He loves the RV road life.  He has always loved to ride in the car and is experienced, been on the Florida trip twice.  He has freedom to roam in the Lark while we are underway.  He picks a fav window or pillow or jacket to curl up in and sleeps like a baby.  He has most of his meals with us and seems quite content to wait in his carrier while we partake of rest stops and restaurants.  He likes to stay up at night listening for the sounds of the wild in the dark.  He also is glad to curl up with us to stay warm and snuggly.  Give that cat 3 squares and a clean box  and he will follow you anywhere!

I look at the Lark as a travel "Glamper", Ed more so a "camper".  He couldn't wait to build a first camp fire in McKinney.  It was a sunny but cool day when he saw his first opportunity.  I watched with a cup of coffee from the window as he gathered firewood and carefully built a perfect teepee fire with only kindling and a match.  Boy Scout style.  There he was in his hiking boots and flannel shirt and just the elements.  I realized in a moment of sentimentality, I have watched him do this for over 50 years.  I choked up with love, grabbed a blanket and went out to sit with him by his fire.

Dec. 14, 2014 Winter Trip in the Lark

We are off...Ed and I and Eze (the cat).  The adventure begins. We have never driven the Lark more than a couple of hours away from home base in Strongsville Ohio.  If all goes well, we plan on putting about 3,000-3,500 miles on in the next two and one half months.  

If all goes well, we will not experience snow, ice or hail.  Heading dead south to reach a minimum above freezing temp.  We have only tested the furnace, do not want an unpleasant cold surprise.  Our first night out is about 480 miles to just south of Lexington, Ky.

We zoomed through Ohio, crossed the Ohio River bridge at Cinci and arrived at Ft. Daniel Boone State Park, Ky. for the night.  Not memorable.  Cold dreary park in a "hollow"... do remember we are way out of season.  So empty it was kind of creepy.  I suppose a nice summer day would have improved it.  Anyway, electric is our source of power and we had that.  Made dinner, furnace working and took off immediately in the morning.

Bought gas with GetGo discount for $1.98Gallon.  WooHoo

Ibis in a Pear Tree

Why we chose our Lark

Our Lark chose us. We did all the usual studying and reading and watching every YouTube about RVs.  We compared size and weight and extras and length and power and what kind of fuel.  We compared cost and value which was a big consideration for us.  We have always been liberal thinkers and lean towards liberal politics but we've always been conservative in how we handle our money.  No debt, but ready to spend some hard earned savings-carefully.

1. Lark

   Bird
2. Larks are passerine birds of the family Alaudidae. All species occur in the Old World, and in northern and eastern Australia. Only one, the horned lark, is native to North America. Habitats vary widely, but many species live in dry regions. Wikipedia
4. Scientific name: Alaudidae
5. Higher classification: Passerine
6. Mass: 0.015 – 0.075 kg (Adult)
7. Rank: Family
8. Length: 12 – 24 cm (Adult)
9. Clutch size: 2 – 6
10. Lower classifications: Eremopterix, Mirafra, Pinarocorys, Galerida,More

That is how we turned camping into "glamping" in the Lark. We knew we were looking for a few years old, low mileage and about 25 ' length. If you think of the "Cruise  America" rentals on the highways, that seemed to fit our needs and wants. A permanent bed with a great mattress, a usuable kitchen and bath and regular gasoline. OK, Ed wanted a diesel for sure, but cost didn't balance need.  We would have had to drive until we were 101 it pay off the diesel cost.

Every once in a while we were finding ourselves on a RV lot...just looking, of course.   On one of those trips last summer, there she was, just waiting for us.  A bit bigger, what's an extra 5 feet and with a super paint job. She was sleek and sassy. Came with a modern marvel, 3 slide outs. Slide outs let you convert an 8 foot wide camper into a 12 foot wide apartment and you can walk around the bed. Seriously!  She had a convection oven, microwave and a serious cooktop. A leather or leather-like (not sure how much you can trust an RV dealer) couch, dining table, full sized shower, full bath, queen bed (always a queen short-who knew).

Her former owners license  plates were still on, low mileage and we owned her in record time.  Made the RV salesman's day.  So we went from camping to glamping...def.  glamor camping!

Why an RV?

Why an RV?  I know it beats tent camping. I know it is better than a boat v berth at a dock. You can have a lot of your stuff with you. You can get up every morning in a new and interesting location. We like to eat out own food and sleep in our own bed. Eze is with us: where he always prefers to be.

When our son, Jason, was little we had the opportunity to take several vacations in an RV. We never forgot how much fun it was. Now we have, thanks to Jason, and his lovely wife, Michaela, two beautiful granddaughters who can't wait for a trip with us.

Rylan and Savana

We are of that age to have the time and money to have an Adventure.  We are of the age to know adventure time is not unlimited.

Baby boomers have coined a new use of the word Transition. Transition is the new word for retirement. We are equipped on the lark to continue our transition (I guess to old, very old age). I hope.   I'm doing this blog on my IPad with laptop, mini printer, scanner and IPhone with hotspot aboard. Cellular keeps us connected.  I do have a hotspot on my phone,  but have yet to figure on how to use it.  I can also write my blog verbally, then proof.  Way cool.

Back to the question of why an RV?  If you've lived in Cleveland all of your life you would be pleased to be going south for the winter.  We are known as "snowbirds", a term highly offensive to Eze.  Sun and the beach and adventure calls us.

We considered a condo purchase last year in Florida, but decided we were not ready to put down a second set of roots. There is some gypsy in all RVer's.

What is a Lark?

The Lark is the name of our RV.  Lark is also a bird, which works, as we are birders. Our Lark is also a transitional way of life for us. The first step from full time employment to a lifestyle of travel.

The Lark is an adventure.

" to do something on a lark".  Look it up.

The Lark is technically a 2010 Forest River Lexington 283GTS.  Our Lark is not what we intended to purchase. That is another story.  This blog is intended for our families' journey.  Our family includes: Ed, husband, Diana, wife-me, and cat, Eze.  We are also known as Sull-Mates.com in our professional life.