Florida to Tennessee
March, 2006
While waiting out the winter up north, we continued to explore Florida. This blue heron was at the Audubon Society's Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary in southwest Florida
We also went to Sanibel Island ...
... where a National Wildlife Preserve protects the mangrove swamps
In Homestead we visited the Coral Castle built by hand, alone, about 80 years ago by man from Lativa in honor of the girl back home who refused to marry him
Along the way to Key West, we shared our picnic lunch with another new friend
In Key West we first visited to famous Hogsbreath Saloon in the middle of a Harley gathering of some sort ...
... then went by Ernest Hemmingway's home ...
... as far as we could go ...
... and then returned to the main part of town for the famous Key West sunset celebration
Returning to the mainland, we went to Miami Beach ... not something we will ever attempt again while pulling a trailer
Hoping winter was prtetty much behind us, we headed north to Georgia and spent the night at this state park south of Atlanta
In Atlanta we were reminded of things we thought we had left behind
North of Atlanta we camped in a state park where we unexpectedly encountered this sign when we arrived after dark. We made it up the hill, but when we came back down later, we took everything heavy out of our vehicles and took the heavy items and the trailer down separately
While in northern Georgia, we visited the southern terminus of the Appalaichan Trail on Springer Mountain. This is the first shelter on the trail when heading north. It sleeps six at the lower level and six more in the loft over the porch.
We met these three enthusiastic young ladies when they had just completed the first mile of their 2,150 mile trip to get to the northern end of the trail in Maine. We wonder if they will make it!
We next went to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and spent three days
While in the Smokies we encounterd an area at about 5,000 feet where clouds and fog had coated the trees with frost. It was beautiful ... and reminded us that we still may be in for some winter weather before spring arrives
