After a bowl of cereal, we commenced our pack-up routine...Steve taking care of the outside stuff and me inside. The neighbour across from us came over to apologize to Steve as he thought that his barking wiener dogs were the reason why we went back inside the trailer the night before as they were setting up. Actually it was because he left his diesel truck running with his headlights shining in our faces for about 20 minutes! He said that he drives a commercial truck for BP and they always leave them running so he never thinks about it. They had just spent 6 months in Alabama cleaning up the BP oil spill. If you are a BP employee down there it is very dangerous. Some have been shot at and if you want to go to a store you had to have 2 body guards with you. Yikes!
It was just after 11:00 a.m. when we were all ready to head out...but first Steve wanted to check the air pressure in the tires. Air is needed so we have to stop at the Shell Station just outside of the campground.
Well, “Murphy’s Law” would have it that we would pick a station with no air...we have to go either next door to the Marathon station or across the highway to the Exxon. Of course, being as long as we are makes it interesting trying to conveniently get into the station...let alone, get close enough to the air hose. So I knew it was just too good to be true that we had lots of room at the Shell station only to find that their air did not work! The Marathon station would have us going in the wrong direction on the highway, so across to the Exxon station it was. Well, this Exxon station has a McDonald’s Restaurant attached to it...so guess how busy that parking lot was! Thank goodness the air hose was on the other side of the lot and with a break in the number of vehicles at the pumps, we were able to manoeuvre the rig over there. The next issue was the type of connection on the air hose...it would not fit all the valves on the truck tires. Okay, at least we can do the trailer tires. So, after plugging in 75 cents...the first time we’ve had to pay for air...the hose came alive. But what a farce that was! There wasn’t a lot of pressure, it took a long time and Steve still wasn’t able to get the right pressure into the tires but it was going to have to be good enough. Now we had to do the other side...but the hose wasn’t long enough. So Steve moved the rig up, got a bit closer to the curb and we managed to stretch the hose just far enough to reach the other side...and after plugging in another 75 cents, pumped up the tires as best he could. The whole ordeal took over 45 minutes but we were finally done and heading south on I-75 towards Savannah.
We weren’t travelling far today...only about an hour and a half to Fort McAllister State Historical Park which is about a half hour south of Savannah. There was another State park closer to Savannah but it was fully booked for the weekend. So Fort McAllister it is...and it’s only a half hour drive back into Savannah.
We stopped at the Georgia Visitors centre for a “rest” break. It is a lovely spot with lots of grass and picnic tables and a big visitor’s bureau. It was fairly busy today, probably due the Veteran’s Day holiday. We picked up a bunch of information on Georgia...some spots that host, Jim, recommended and if we mention his name, we’ll get a discount. As we wandered back to the truck, I wish I had remembered to make a lunch for us. It was another, warm beautiful day and it would have been nice to sit out at a picnic table and have a picnic lunch...besides, we were starving! Guess a granola bar will have to do until we get to our campsite.
We arrived at the park at about 1:45 p.m. and after registering at the park office were told we could pick any site. The actual campground is quite a ways from the office. After entering a security code at the gate, it opens to let us drive through and the road took us through a salt marsh to the heavily treed campground on an island. We soon learn that their idea of pull-through sites is a loop off the road...some with such tight turns that it is impossible for us to make it in...not to mention the trees lining either side of the road. After driving around the outer loop—we couldn’t make the sharp turn into an inner loop—we decided on a large site that we had passed. Our only problem was that when we went to find it, we accidently turned into a much smaller site just before it. So, after slowing manoeuvring the truck and trailer between 2 trees that lined either side of the exit, Steve had to drive around again while I stayed to ensure no one else took the site we wanted.
Site #17 is huge (lots of room for 2 RV’s) and even has 2 electrical outlets and water hook-ups...no sewer, though. By the time we got parked, levelled off, unhitched and the sliders out it was almost 3:00 p.m. The first thing I did was make us sandwiches. There, that’s better...now we can finish setting up. Unfortunately, again, we have picked a campground completely enclosed in the trees, so a satellite signal would be impossible...sheesh...that means no TV at all...good thing we have all those movies that my brother, Dennis downloaded for us (we restocked on our recent trip home)!It was just after 4:00 when we were all set up and decided to go for a walk. We went down to the boat ramp and fishing pier. The campground is completely surrounded by salt marsh...very cool...
After a walk all the way around the campground, we settled in our chairs outside by the campfire. Yes...finally, a campfire! It had been a long time since we had been able to have a campfire. We had been hauling the firewood in the truck since we left Gilbert, West Virginia (and the Hatfield-McCoy trails). We enjoyed sitting by the campfire and chatting so much that we ended up staying out there until about 8:00 p.m. Hmmmmm....guess we should go in and have some dinner.
After dinner, we settled in bed to watch a movie...well...Steve watched a movie, I was fast asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow!
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