December 4, 2016 - Fernandina Beach, FL

Both of us were still tired upon arising, even though we went to bed very early last night. It may be due to exhaustion from traveling so many miles for almost 4 days.

We decided that we were not going anywhere today, just stay put and do what each of us wanted to do.

For most of the day we sat outside with Erwin reading a paperback and Edith editing the blog and pictures.  Edith finally finished and published September 3rd and 4th posts. Long overdue! It was hard keeping up with the blog when we spent two months with the family in Montana.  Always busy and on the go!

In the early afternoon we were playing cribbage when we discovered we had company in the yard.  It was an armadillo sniffing around for bugs/grubs.  Of course, Edith had to pause the game, went to get her camera, walked up to get close-up shots of the armadillo.  It was not fazed by Edith's close presence.  Eventually, the armadillo got tired of the "paparazzi" it walked away.  Of course, Edith went back to the game and Erwin won the first round, but it was a close game!

Late in the afternoon Edith made two video calls to friends to make arrangements to get together for a visit while we are in town.

A lazy day, but we needed it!

December 3, 2016 - Fernandina Beach, FL

Even though we had a good night's sleep we were still exhausted from our long drive from Montana, but we wanted to go off today.

We wanted to do the laundry and we found one not too far from the state park. After the clothes were washed, dried and folded we went to Great Clips. We were  in need of haircuts badly.  Erwin started to look like a mountain man with scraggly beard and long hair.  Edith's hair was somewhat out of control and she had a hard time styling it.  There is Great Clips in Amelia Island/Yulee.  It did not take long before we were called in for haircut. Erwin had his beard trimmed, also. Coming out of the salon we felt so much better and lighter..

Before our haircuts

Edith shopped at JoAnn Fabrics that was not too far from Great Clips.  She wanted to see if there was Christmas fabrics she could find for Keri.  Keri wanted to make Christmas placemats, but did not find the fabric during recent Black Friday sale in Bozeman.  No luck! 

We went to Home Depot across the street from the shopping center to take a look at custom and vintage cars.  Santa and Mrs were there to greet the visitors.  Looking at the '57 Chevy brought back good memories for both of us.  

He was one of the idols Edith adored when she was a young girl

Traffic was terrible in Yulee, FL.  The town has gotten bigger and more businesses are building up . And we must admit, the town is going to be very crowded and traffic congested, once completed.

We drove by to check out Amelia Island Lighthouse, were surprised to see that the gate was open. We drove in to get a close-up look of the lighthouse.  In the past the gate was always closed each time we come to visit Fernandina Beach.  The lighthouse was built from bricks re-used from the Cumberland Island Lighthouse in 1839 on land purchased from Mary. Fernandez.  It is 67' tall with walls four feet thick at the base tapering to two feet at the top.  The light is now a third order Fresnel Lens made in Paris and visible from 15 miles away.

See how nice we look after the haircut
Oh yes, the lighthouse looks nice ;-)

After sunset photography at Fort Clinch beach area Edith fixed lemon parmesan chicken (first time she tried this recipe). It came out very delicious and she will definitely cook it again, but next time she will add more fresh parmesan.

Around 7:00 pm we drove to Fort Clinch Fort that is inside the state park for its annual Christmas event.  In lieu of admission fee of $2 we brought two canned goods. A guy, dressed in 1864 Army uniform, was telling stories about Christmas 1864 to the crowd at the entrance of the fort. He then led us to go inside the fort where there are demonstartions.  There was a bonfire where there are people singing Christmas songs with the spectators sitting around the fire.  There were two cannon fires, one at the time after we walked in. Then the second was at 8 pm closing time.

 

December 2, 2016 - Columbus, AL to Fernandina Beach, FL

We were up at 6:45 am, decided to get breakfast at Chick A Fila that was not far from Walmart. We did not enjoy breakfast from Chick A Fila and they did not taste as great as they used to be.  At least, our tummies were not empty.

 The morning was foggy when we hit the road.  The fog soon cleared up and the clouds were gone. We crossed the Georgia State line, but there was no state sign.  We used US 280 then to 520.

One more diesel fill up before we arrived our final destination.  There were lots of Christmas decor in Sylvester, GA.  

We made it to Florida State line at 12:45 pm.  While it was good to be back in  Florida we do miss Montana very much.

We finally arrived Fort Clinch State Park at 1:55 pm.  The ranger asked if everything was alright because we were supposed to check in here yesterday.  We got site #46.

It was easy backing the LH in the site. After setting it up we pulled out patio rug, chairs and a table.  We rested a while before going out to do errands.

We took the Jeep to a touch free car wash in Fernandina Beach.  It did not do a great job of removing the dirt, but at least the windows were much cleaner.

BEFORE

AFTER

Edith had planned on cooking supper when we get back from errands.  However, Erwin suggested that we eat pizza at The Loop restaurant that was near the car wash. Erwin was concerned about Edith's head colds, wanted her to have a break. We had a large artichoke/pepperoni/mushroom pizza.  It was so good. Erwin had to be very hungry because he ate 4 slices. We brought the rest home.

On way back to the state park we stopped at Publix (Edith's favorite grocery store).  There is no Publix in Montana  :-(  We picked up what we will need for rest of the week.

What a good rest we had tonight after driving a long way for three and half days.

Miles from Three Forks, MT to Fernandina Beach, FL: 2,381  
Three nights of rest stop 

December 1, 2016 - Warrenton, MO to Columbus, AL

Erwin got up quite early, started the engine, left Walmart at 5:15 am, then stopped to get diesel full up at Thoele Conviencence ($2.09 per gal) near Walmart.  

We got "lost" in St. Louis, MO, went on the wrong interstate. The GPS kept telling us to go to St. Louis downtown and we did not want to. We wanted to continue on the interstate, so Edith had to redo the information on GPS.  We had talked about getting a new GPS  (maybe it is wrapped and tucked unter the Christmas tree?).  We went past the St. Louis Cardinals stadium and the Arch.  It was still dark, so Edith was not able to get pictures.

We finally got on the right way to get on I-55 for Memphis, TN. The morning sky was clear, no clouds. It was not as cold or windy as it was yesterday.  We arrived Tennessee State line at 2 pm.

Edith took over the driving and drove for almost 100 miles.  Her confidence has gotten little better.  

We picked up lunch in Jackson, TN, rest a bit. We did not want to take long breaks because if we did we would not make it to Fernandina Beach tomorrow.

After getting another diesel fill up ($2.19 per gal) at Jim’s Best Stop in Selmer, TN we continued our trek until we entered Alabama State line at 2:25 pm.  

Traffic was TERRIBLE in Birmingham, AL. The GPS could have given us the shortest/fastest route, BUT instead led us into the heart of the city.  It took us over 45 minutes to finally get out of Birmingham.

Erwin was feeling tired, needed to stop somewhere for the night, so we went to Phenix City Walmart in the suburb of Columbus, AL. There were many semis parked at the parking lot. Erwin checked with the store manager to be sure that we could park our LH here.  The manager advised us to park at the very far end of the lot, so we don't hog the parking spaces near the store.  We had no trouble finding a space long enough for the LH and the Jeep.

November 30, 2016 - Scottsbluff, NE to Warrenton, MO

Erwin was hoping to get started at 5 am, but it was not until 6:25 am when we were up and about. We left Walmart parking lot at 6:45 am. 

We tried to find cheap diesel in Scottsbluff, but the gas station was out of the way from where we were going. Erwin said we had enough left for about 300 miles before we get to get to the next town/city. 

It was 21˚ and the wind was not blowing strong like it was last night.  The sun has not risen up, but it left pretty colors at the horizon.

From Walmart we got back on Highway 26.  We stopped to get diesel fill up at Sinclair in Bridgeport, NE. It was $2.29 per gallon (credit price).  We picked up coffee because we did not have time to make a pot of it this morning. A guy, filling up his truck at the next pump, asked Erwin if he was going South for the winter. Erwin replied that he was and the guy said "good luck and happy travel".

Water tower in Broadwater, NE

Edith had few missed photo opportunities along Highway 26 : old water tower, cowboy boots on posts, rundown house and cemetery.  We may be back to that area another time.

We went through the town of Ogallala, NE where there is a water tower with painted flag on it.

We were getting hungry, wanted to find a place to eat now, but it was still too early and many places were closed. We proceeded to get on I-80 East and hoped to find something to eat at one of exits.

We pulled into a rest area at 159 mile marker off I-80 because Erwin wanted to make a pot of coffee and to get a short break from driving.   Edith was not ready to drive the LH because of the strong winds. She wanted to wait til it dies down. 

The sky started to turn cloudy.  The winds started to calm down a bit.  We picked up lunch at Wendy's in Kearney, NE. 

At rest area 49 miles from the exit Edith finally took over driving.  We exited at #397 to get on NE-2 toward Nebraska City, NE.

We were still in NE when we went to Casey's Market to get diesel fill up.  It was Edith's first experience at pulling into a gas station. She was very nervous and was worried about hitting obstacles.  Erwin had to explain how to pull away from the pumps.  She did pretty good.

We made it to Iowa State line at 4:35 pm and then to Missouri State line at 4:50 pm.  There was a beautiful sunset along the route while we were in Watson, MO. 

We decided to go to a truck stop in Mound City, MO to take a break and for Edith to fix supper.  After supper we resumed our trip toward St Louis. MO via I-29 and I-70.  We exited at #14 to get on I-435 E , then I-70 E.

We spent the night at Walmart in Warrenton, MO.