I was elected to the Treasurer's office for the Indian River Genealogical Society at the December General Meeting. The December meeting was different this year in that several members brought in family heirlooms and had them on display for everyone to look at. Pam Cooper, who retired from being the Archives Director at the Library, took the information about the heirlooms and made very attractive signs for everyone.
I brought in a silver spoon from the mid-1800's owned by Mike's 2nd great-grandparents, a photo of Mike's great-grandmother and a Chinese soapstone vase owned by his grandparents. I had a bisque doll head that was my mother's sister's and a tintype of my 2nd great-grandfather taken about the time of the Civil War.
Our neighbor Barbara treated Mike and I to dinner on the 22nd at Mulligan's Beach House in Sebastian to thank us for helping her.
Santa brought Tinker a new toy for Christmas (which Santa always does) and Tinker's keeping it close.
Christmas Day we drove over to my sister-in-law's for Christmas dinner and her daughter and her family
The weather forecast was right - it was 44° this morning and the wind chill was 39°. Since we had a longer drive today than yesterday's, we were up a little earlier than usual. By the time we had breakfast and broke camp, it was 9:15 when we left Madison Campground.
We drove east on I-10 until we reached Lee, FL at 9:30 and stopped to get gas at a Love's Truck Stop and paid $2.999 a gallon for premium. Then back on I-10 east to Jacksonville and south on I-95.
We stopped for lunch at a Wendy's at 12:30 at the Outlet Center on I-95 at St. Augustine. The temperatures had been getting warmer the farther south we went and it was now 50° when we stopped for lunch.
Our final stop for gas was at the Flying J at Cocoa at 3:00 and we paid $2.839 a gallon for gas - just 52 miles from home. Our total mileage for today was 305 miles.
We arrived home about 4:00, backed the trailer up the driveway and went in the house to turn on the heat. Mike and I unloaded the frig and some things we'll need for tonight. Tomorrow we'll bring in the rest of our stuff from the trailer, level it and unhitch the car.
Then there's the laundry to do, vacuum the rug and mop the trailer floors and do some cleaning after we've unloaded the trailer.
A couple of days ago we had had a lot of wind that was the forerunner of a cold front moving down to Flroida. This morning when we got up it was 41° with a wind chill of 34° - Brrr!!
By the time we broke camp and dumped our tanks at the dump station, it was 9:15 when we left Big Lagoon State Park. We retraced our route north to I-10 and then went east.
We stopped at Exit 142 near Marianna, FL at 12:30 and got gas at the Travel America Truck Stop ($3.019 a gallon for premium) on the south side of I-10 and then we drove up to Burger King on the north side of I-10 for lunch. By the time we finished lunch and got back on to I-10, it was 1:20.
We arrived at Madison Campground at 4:20 this afternoon and checked in. They put us in the same campsite that we had on our trip over to Big Lagoon - site F4. We drove 269 miles today from Big Lagoon. I didn't take photos of our campsite here, since they would look the same as the ones I took on Dec. 2 when we were last here.
We paid $22 for tonight's stay, which is the price for Passport America members instead of the full rate of $44.
It is still chilly here and the forecast for tomorrow morning is for the low-40's. Since we had hamburgers for lunch today we didn't want a big meal, so we just had sandwiches for supper.
We stayed at the campground yesterday and just relaxed. We were having wind gusts up to 28-32 mph for most of yesterday - no rain just really windy.
This morning we drove over to Fort Pickens on Perdido Key which is 33 miles from the state park. We took FL-292 east to US-98 and then south crossing Pensacola Bay through Gulf Breeze and then south to Pensacola Beach. Then we went east on Fort Pickens Road to the Fort.
We got to Fort Pickens just before 11:00 and drove around taking photos. Construction for Fort Pickens was started in 1829 and was completed in 1834 and built in the shape of a pentagon.
It was still cloudy and overcast today, so the photos aren't as clear as I would like them to be.
We drove over to the campground and only one loop was open for campers. They are still making repairs
This morning the rain let up and I was able to take a couple of photos of our campsite here at Big Lagoon State Park.
As you can see by the photo, the electric and water hookups are up near the entrance to our site. It's a good thing we have a long water hose and and electric cord.
After lunch we drove into Pensacola to visit with our friends Ann and Lance and Tinker came with us.The last time we were here was in September 2015 and they were having their house rebuilt after a fire
We slept in this morning and woke up to overcast skies and the feeling it was going to rain any moment. We called our friends Ann and Lance and arranged to visit with them Tuesday.
Big Lagoon State Park is near the Pensacola Naval Air Station which is the home-base for the Blue Angels.This afternoon after lunch we drove onto the base and stopped at the post gas station to get gas ($2.779 a gallon). Then we drove over to the National Naval Aviation Museum.
The museum is open every day except for Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's days and it is free. The first thing you see when you walk up to the museum is this F-14A Tomcat.
We had to go through a security check, showing our ID and I had to open my purse for the security person to see what I had in it. Then we received a brochure that showed the floor-plan of the museum and what exhibits were in each area.
We started in the South Wing which had the WWI planes
and early aircraft and early Cold War aircraft on display.
This morning after breakfast and after putting things away inside the trailer for our drive today, I took photos of our campsite at Madison Campground.
We left the campground this morning just before the check-out time of 11:00. We got back on I-10 West and stopped at a Burger King at Exit 142 at Marianna, FL at 12:30 for lunch. After lunch we stopped at the Murphy station near Burger King for gas ($2.759 a gallon). While Mike was pumping gas, I walked Tinker and fed him his lunch when I got him back to the car and we were back on the road by 1:30.
We drove through Pensacola and exited I-10 at Exit 7 and got on to FL 297 South to FL-173 South then on to FL-292 West to Bauer Road and then south to the entrance to Big Lagoon State Park.
We arrived at Big Lagoon State Park at 4:00. After registering and getting a map of the park, we drove out to our campsite. We are in site 24 and we have water and electric hookups, except they are up at the entrance to the campsite. Fortunately, we have a water hose and electric cord long enough to reach. Our rate for the site is $10 a night which is half of the full rate of $20 since we are Florida Senior Residents.
By the time we had setup camp it was getting too dark to take a photo of our campsite, so I'll take some tomorrow. We drove 269 miles today from Madison, FL and gained an hour when we crossed into the Central Time Zone.
We left the house this morning at 9:45 and stopped at the Raceway just before getting on I-95. While Mike was pumping gas ($2.989 a gallon for premium), I went in to the store and bought a couple of bags of ice for our cooler. Then we got on I-95 North until we reached St. Augustine.
We stopped at Exit 318 at SR-16 to have lunch at Burger King and then got gas and paid $2.799 a gallon for premium - $.19 cheaper than this morning at Sebastian. We were back on the road by 1:45 and got on I-295 at Jacksonville and then west to I-10.
Another stop for gas at a Love's Truck Stop at Lee, FL at 4:30 where we paid $2.999 a gallon for premium.
We arrived at Deerwood Inn & Madison Campground at 4:40 and checked in. We are in site F4. It is a pull-through with full hookups. It is a Passport America member, so we are paying $22 a night instead of the full rate of $44. So with tax our fee for tonight is $24.31. We drove 306 miles today from home.
Since we are only stopping here for the night, we didn't unhitch from the car. We did put our jacks down to stabilize the trailer for tonight. I've done it again - or rather, I didn't do it. I forgot to take photos after we got set up here, so I'll do it in the morning.
When we full-timed in our motorhome, part of my routine after we got set up at a campground was to take photos of our campsite. I have gotten out of that habit and I need to add that to my "Things To Do" list the first day at a new campground.
This morning I took Tinker to Canine Design to be groomed before we leave on our trip up to Pensacola tomorrow.
This afternoon I met with Gail the current Treasurer for the Indian River Genealogical Society for lunch at C. J. Cannon's Restaurant at the Vero Beach Airport. Gail had never eaten at C. J.'s and really liked the restaurant. After lunch Gail went over the treasurer's duties and what all is involved with the position.
We're driving up to Big Lagoon State Park which is south and west of Pensacola. It's 547 miles from the house, so we're going to be stopping at Madison, FL to spend tomorrow night.
We're looking forward to seeing our friends Ann and Lance in Pensacola. We have been friends since we moved in next door to them at Hunter Army Airfield at Savannah, GA in 1970.
We've loaded up the trailer and hitched up the car this afternoon, so that in the morning we'll have that already done.
