Savannah, Georgia

 Friday December12:  Red Gate Farms Campground, Savannah, Georgia

Formally the oldest Jersey dairy farm in Georgia, Red Gate Farms is now an equestrian and event center that includes a small RV Park.  Red Gate has a rich history which you can read more about HERE.  It is a quiet and very relaxing park yet close to Savannah's sights and shopping.  Savannah is the retirement home of very good friends Charlotte and Robert.  Char taught with me at Potsdam HS and we have maintained our connection even after they "abandoned" the north country for warmer climes.  When we travel south, we always try to catch up with them, and they are great hosts showing us around the vibrant and historic Savannah.

We crammed so many activities over the 3 days, where do I begin?   We went shopping at the Forsyth Farmers Market, which is held every Saturday all year round. We had never been before, and it was an amazing display of food and craft vendors.  

Robert took us to a local shrimper friend where we bought some fresh shrimp.

We picked fresh lemons from Robert and Char's back yard, and then had a late lunch at the fabulous  and historic Pirate’s House. The Pirate House Restaurant dates back to 1753.  Their WEBPAGE has a great history of the building.  

We spent another afternoon along River Street in Savannah's Historic District . 

We became friends with our next door campers, Bob and Karen who are from Gulfport, Mississippi.

And then we finished the weekend with a locally sourced grouper seafood dinner at the camper.   It was a wonderful weekend in Savannah spending time with Robert and Char.

And not to forget Maggie and Parker, they are LOVING their back porch and the warmer weather.

Next stop, St. Augustine, Florida for a week to catch up with more retired friends, Mark and Charmaine.

Time to Find Warmer Weather

Our First Winter Away From Winter

 Having grown up and lived in in Northern New York my whole life, I thought I was immune to cold weather.  Well, my nearly 80 year old achy and arthritic bones are not!!!!   So for the first time, we are abandoning the North Country winter and are going to try "Snow-mading",  which is our transient version of Snow-birding.  Towing our RV allows us to move around to visit friends and search out new places.  We will linger longer at campgrounds with  stays of a week and two weeks.  And with no desire to need sunny and 75 everyday, we are avoiding southern Florida. Instead we will stick to the Florida Panhandle, coastal Mississippi and Alabama, and are even going to try a month long February stay in the Texas Hill Country.  So Northern NY, see ya midway through April 2026!  😀

Monday December 1:  We're off!!!!    

We waited until after the Thanksgiving Holiday to leave.  BIG MISTAKE.  

Thanksgiving snowstorm.

Hitched and ready to leave on December 1st.

With possible snow in the forecast, we scheduled the Jonestown KOA stay for 2 nights.   

First night, December 1st.

We arrived to a cool but pleasant evening.  However, the next morning was a different story!!!!  Good thing we had scheduled 2 nights because we had to shovel 4 to 5 inches of wet snow off our roof, as well as help a couple others do the same with their roofs and slides.

Wednesday December 3rd:  Harrisonburg KOA in Broadway, Virginia.

 By Wednesday morning much of the snow had melted in Jonestown, so we hit the road south.  The Harrisonburg KOA campground was nearly empty but for a few diehards like us on our way south.  The park is very wooded and I bet it's a busy place in the spring and summer.  It was nice to start to see Holiday lights and decorations at campgrounds.

Thursday December 4th:  Statesville RV Park, Statesville, North Carolina.

 We arrived in Statesville for a one night stay to cool, but dry weather.  Again, the park was nearly empty.

Friday December 6th:  Oak Plantation RV Park, Charleston, South Carolina.

We finally found some warmer weather when we reached Charleston, SC.  We were even able to start enjoying our back porch.  Oak Plantation is a nice park.  However, it is located on an extremely busy US Highway 17, making it almost impossible to make a left turn out of the campground.  And is almost as impossible to make a left turn returning to the campground.  There is development surrounding the park, so who knows what the future for the campground is.  That's too bad because inside the park there are dozens of beautiful live oak trees that make it very pleasant to walk the pups and enjoy.  As nice as the park was, we probably won't be back because of the annoying left turn issue in and out of the campground.

Nice long pull-thru sites.  There was another Brinkley 2 spots from us.

So, after traveling for 2 weeks, how are we doing with the new camper?   Well, just like moving into a new home, we are still figuring out how everything works and “Hon, which cabinet or drawer did we put the sugar in” or “how do we turn off the outside lights on this new fangled iPad thingy because there are no switches anymore”.  But we keep telling ourselves, it’s all part of the adventure”!!!  We love the floor plan and the pups are really liking the back porch.  Life is good.

From here we move on to Savannah, Georgia for a few days to catch up with friends.  Stay tuned.