First Full Day at Camp LeJeune

   It was chilly when we got up this morning...47 degrees!  We had to turn the heat on.  After breakfast we headed to the nearby Air Station to check out the RV storage area where we will be storing Harvey for Nov and Dec.  The storage area is located by the marina which is gorgeous!

On the way out of the CG we got stopped on the
drawbridge to let this sailboat go through.

 

This drawbridge is different in that it doesn't raise up
in the middle like most.  The road way pivots in the
 middle and turns 90 degrees.  This is the edge of the
roadway coming back together.

 

 

This is the main docking area.  The sign below is posted there.

 

We didn't see any... that's a negative and a positive!

 

The year old office building is gorgeous!

 

This was painted inside on the wall.

 

Lots od Adirondack chairs are set up to view the water.

 

It's a beautiful setting! (No, that's not the Loch Ness Monster
in the water.  There was something on the lens of the camera.)

  We spent about an hour there and then went to their PX and commissary to get a few things.  We also had lunch at Subway.

These are called "Osprey" airplanes.
Notice how perfectly they are lined up!

This was a parking area full of helicopters.

This was just inside the Air Station.

  On the way back Alexandra sent us a few pix from Penn State.  She and her boyfriend, Todd went up for the game.  We are big Penn State fans, so it was nice that she thought of us!  She kept us posted on the score. When we got back we changed into our beach wear. At about 2:00 I headed down to the beach to look for sharks teeth and John stayed back to work on a couple of things in Harvey.  He joined me later.  He walked much farther up the beach to get his steps in and we met up again at about 5:00.

It's a really pretty beach!  Unfortunately, a lot
of the dunes have been washed away during October.

The clouds look like cotton balls.

This looks like some e sort of Puffer fish.  He was dead :(

  He headed back and I stayed out because I have a hard time stopping.  I didn't find very many nice sharks teeth, but I found a lot of shell pieces for Bonnie to use for her jewelry making.  I did find a penny, some sea glass, and some shell casings which kept it interesting!  

My treasures from today.

I finally came in about 6:00 because it was getting dark and I still had my prescription sun glasses on.  When I entered the CG I could see that my wonderful husband had strung up the froggie lights around the screen house and hung the light in the middle.  It really looked neat!!

John did all the decorating himself... what a guy!

  John grilled hamburgers and mini meatloaves.  They were so good especially since we finally found Martin's potato rolls at the commissary!!  After supper we played 2 games of Five Crowns...I won them both.  We watched a little TV and then went to bed about 11:00. 

Travel Day to Camp LeJeune, NC

   We got up at 6:00 to do all the final preparations to leave Jekyll by 7:30.  Well, "best land plans"... we didn't leave until 7:45.  (I think John always leaves a little "wiggle" room because I have some trouble sticking to schedules)!  We stopped for gas at Shell near I-95 because we had $.18 off per gallon thanks to Winn Dixie purchases.  We paid $1.74/gallon, but we could only get 20 gallons.  We'll fill up in SC where gas is even cheaper!  We needed to return the table we bought at Camping World , so we headed toward the CW in Savannah.  Well, that was a mistake!!  It was very small and the flow of traffic was awful!!  We had to wait a half an hour just o move because of a traffic jam. Don't ever go there with your motor home... it's impossible to maneuver!!  We stopped for gas at a Flying J at Exit 77.  They had pumps off to the side just for RV's...gas or diesel!  They even had long-handled squeegees to wash your windshield!  It was so easy!!! And gas was only $1.81...$1.78 with our Good Sam $.03 discount.  And the best thing of all...Cinnabons!!!!!  John's coffee was good, too.  Back on the road and we really didn't hit any traffic until about 3:30 in NC.  I talked to Mom and Bonnie.  Everyone is doing well!  We pulled into the Camp Lejeune CG at 5:00..about an hour later than we had hoped.  And guess what... our steps would not come down.  We just had them replaced about a month ago.  UGH!!  I guess it could be a lot worse.  We DO have a ladder we can use to get in and out.  It's just so darn inconvenient!  We had hoped to go over to the beach to look for sharks teeth after we got here, but it took a while to check in and until we got all set up it was almost 7:00.  The sharks teeth hunt will just have to wait until tomorrow.  We were also disappointed that Claudia and Larry weren't here.  I actually hadn't heard anything from them the last 4 days, so I was a bit concerned.  I texted her and she said they were considering buying a new motor home and had spent the last few days working on that.  But in the end they decided to keep theirs.  She said they were coming but it wouldn't be until Sunday.  We are looking forward to spending time with them and getting to know them better!  We planned on having spare ribs for supper, but they were spoiled, so we had a ham slice, mashed potatoes, and veggies for supper.  It was yummy!  We watched just a little TV and then went to bed.  We were both exhausted!  Sorry, no pix today.

Our Last Full Day on Jekyll

   I woke up early this morning at about 7:30.  John was just getting ready to go out for his walk.  I did my exercises and got up and got busy.  I sorted laundry to take down to wash, cleaned and oiled some shells, made tea and readied the beach bag for later.  Then I cooked bacon and got pancakes ready to make for when John got back.

The spoon bill showed up again...

 

...I guess so John could say, "good-bye"

 

 

This big deer posed for him...

 

...and so did this neat mushroom!

 

These were 2 of the paths he had to take today,
because his regular ones were still closed for clean-up
from the flooding.

 

Our plans for the day were to drive our bikes down to the historic district to check out the bookstore and ride along the bike trail that we saw Wally the gator on last year.  After our yummy pumpkin pancake breakfast we headed "downtown" at about 11:00.  We parked and then hopped on our bikes.  First stop, the bookstore.  I bought something to use for the annual Frogette (my girlfriends from home) picture we always take while at Ocean City, Maryland.  (I can't say what because some of them read this.). Then we hit the trail in search of Wally.  We didn't see him at first, but then I spied him across the marshy water.  Just call me, "eagle-eye" or more appropriately, "gator-eye."

Heeeeere's Wally!!

We headed back to the car, loaded the bikes and drove back to Harvey.  On the way there were some cops and several people in fluorescent vests along the road.  There were also many vans and a car equipped with some sort of boom type camera on the top.  We were just too curious and finally asked one of the cops what was going on.  He told us that the new Ben Affleck movie, "Live By Night", was filming a scene along the marsh on this stretch of road.  I had heard that there was a movie set in downtown Brunswick for filming this week, but I didn't know about Jekyll!  When we got back to the CG I asked John what he did with the bag from the bookstore.  He said he had put it on the back fender of the Jeep and he thought I had picked it up.  Well, I hadn't.  So I got back in the Jeep and high-tailed it back to the shop.  But I couldn't get thru because of the filming and had to turn around and go back the other way.  By the time I got back to the parking lot, which we figured was where it probably fell off, the package was gone!  I checked at the nearby Turtle Center and the Admin Bldg lost and found, but no luck.  Then I drove back over the road we took back to the CG to see if it was along the road, but, again, no luck.  So I drove back to the bookstore to buy another one and guess what...I had bought the last one!  Shucks!!  I was really disappointed, but decided it wasn't that big a deal.  I can probably find it on line.  So I checked and I did find it on Amazon.  Problem solved.  On the way back I'm sure I caught a glimpse of Ben Affleck and some actors in costume.  I guess you'll have to just take my word for it, because I couldn't stop to take pictures.  By the time I got back to the CG John had already been up on the roof of Harvey to clean off the debris and hose it down,  cleaned up all the chairs, and packed up all the other stuff we had outside.  I helped him hose down the big rug, take down the lights, and gather up all our "lawn ornaments".  Needless to say, we never made it to the beach.  Oh, well, we'll have Camp Lejeune to satisfy our beach cravings!  We cleaned ourselves up and went to Sonny's Barbeque for supper and then to Home Depot for a new toilet seat.  Mine cracked in half yesterday for some reason.  OK, OK, enough with all the things you're thinking right now!!  Cooper called while we were there.  When we got back Sandy and Sadie, the pug, from the RV across from us were taking a walk past our RV, so we said our chatted a bit and said our good-byes.  Then we went down to the laundry.  I took a shower when we got back and John finished up outside, emptying tanks, etc.  He worked really hard!!  He went down and switched the laundry into the dryers.  I cleaned up inside.  Then I went down and finished the laundry.  John came down to help me bring it back. Thanks, Honey!!  We watched some football and then went to bed.  We are in real good shape for our 7:30am departure tomorrow morning!

Finally a Beach Day!

   John got up and did his walking, but he still couldn't use his regular route due to flooding.  When he got back at 9:00 I was still in bed.  I really didn't sleep well last night... maybe the rain kept me restless.  I watched some TV and did some of my prayers and exercises.  John was outside doing some pre-departure work and at about 10:15 he opened the outside door and asked if I was dressed yet cause he could use my help.  I was still in bed so I high-tailed it out and by the time I was dressed he yelled in that he didn't need me after all.  But I went out anyway to help.  He had already taken the sides off of the screen house and washed off the bottoms.  He had also lowered the frame and washed off the roof.  He also washed the gray rug that we use in addition to the big brown rug.  He had gotten a lot done while I was being lazy.  I felt bad about that.  Oh, and by the way, we decided that our small 4 ft. rectangular folding table will work inside the screen house, so we're not going to get the folding round table for now.  We finished outside and I came in to eat breakfast.  A few minutes later there was a knock on the door.  It was the Vicki and Paul from Manheim.  They wanted to swap info so we could stay in contact.  We chatted for about a half hour.  They are really nice people and we hope to get together after we get home.  One thing about the camping lifestyle... you sure meet a lot of nice people!!  I finished my breakfast and the sun came out!!  YIPPEE... let's get to the beach.  They were calling for thunderstorms around 3:00, so that gave us about 3 hours.  That will work!!  We went to the main beach but stayed to the CG end of it for something different.  It was beautiful... about 78 degrees and a moderate breeze.  John went walking and I started a new book by Max Lucado, "You Will Get Through This".  I read 3 chapters and decided to do some searching for shells/sand dollars.  I wasn't finding anything by the water, so I went up toward the shoreline and, low and behold, there was a large white baby ear shell laying on the beach.  I was one happy camper!!  Later I found either a stingray barb or a horseshoe crab tail.  I'm not sure which one it is.  I met up with John and he had found a medium size conch shell. 

We pretty much had the beach to ourselves!

 

 

There's today's treasures.

 

Some of the clouds were real wispy...
They looked like feathers.

 

 

Others looked like a horizon with snow covered
mountain tops in the background!

We walked back to our chairs and I did some more reading while John took a nap.  A barking dog woke him up just in time for us to realize that storm clouds were rolling in and we better high-tail it out of there.  It was right around 3:00 like the forecast said.  When we got back we folded the sides and the roof of the screen house and brought the gray rug in under the awning to finish drying.  Just as we got done it started to rain.  Our timing was perfect!  We went inside and John  said, "OK...what will it be?"  He was challenging me to a game.  We picked the word game, "Upwards" and he creamed me!!  We had supper, John got a shower and then challenged me to "Hand and Foot".  He got pretty far ahead, but I won the last round and almost beat him.  At least it was respectable!  Then we took a walk around the CG.  We figured out next Fall's camping schedule and watched the World Series the rest of the evening.  Then we went to bed.  John fell asleep by 11:00 and I stayed awake to work on the blog. I got done about midnight, played some "Word Twist" and went nighty-night.

A Rainy Day on Jekyll :(

   We woke to rain this morning, but John did manage to get his walk in.  It Started to rain just before he got back, but, luckily, he did have his umbrella!

We didn't get a whole lot of rain, but there was
Widespread flooding along the coast. 

 

John was unable to take his normal route because the water was
across one of the bridges near the pier.

 

 

Even the path by the road was starting to flood!

  We had breakfast and I watched some TV while John played on the computer.  Then we decided to give Kylie a much needed bath.  John took one of our pink totes out back and used the outdoor shower on Harvey to clean her up.  She always looks so pathetic when we give her a bath! 

My poor baby girl isn't having a very good time,
but she behaved well!!

We brought her back over to the picnic table and toweled her off and then dried her with the hair dryer.  After we were done with Kylie I worked on yesterday's blog and John got a shower.  I got a text from Claudia with our picture attached saying that they miss us.  I texted her back and told her that they should join us in MC at Camp Lejeune when we leave here.  And guess what... they were already planning on it!!  We are looking so forward to spending more time with them, because we had so little time the first time!   I whipped up some home-made chicken noodle soup and finished the blog while the soup cooked.  We ate lunch about 2:00.  I got a shower and we decided to go shopping just to get out.  We had things to return to Home Depot and then we went to the Glynn Place Mall.  I got some clearance jewelry for my pins at Belk and Sears, and John got lots of steps toward his Appalachian Trail hike.  It was after 6:00 by now and we were getting hungry, so we stopped at Five Guys for a burger and fries.  They are always so good!!  We got back about 7:30 and I uploaded the pix from today and started working on today's blog while waiting for "The Voice" to start.  Cooper called and we talked to him for about a half hour.  I watched "The Voice" and "Chicago Fire", finished the blog and went to bed.  The weather is looking better for tomorrow, so, hopefully, we'll get to the beach!

Visited St. Simon Island Again

   We had checked the weather yesterday and knew that today was going to be a "gray" day, so we decided to go over to St. Simon for breakfast on a recommendation from Wanda and Wally.

  Sandcastle Café and Grill is located just off the pier on the main drag in St. Simon.  Their breakfast buffet (which we just discussed we weren't going to do anymore) is pretty unique.  For $10.95 you can order eggs any way you want them, pancakes, French toast and/or waffles. You can have as many of those as you want. Then there is 3 kinds of sausage, bacon, hash browns, corned beef hash, plain and cheese grits, sausage gravy, biscuits, muffins, fruit, yogurt and juices.  It also includes coffee and tea (hot and iced).  It was very good and we did good, too.  We both only had one trip to the buffet, some eggs and each had 1 piece of French toast (me) and a waffle (John).  When we were just about finished Claudia (the gal and her husband, Larry, who we met our first week here) called.  She said they have been thinking about us and just wanted to check in.  It was so wonderful to talk with her and catch up a bit.  We are definitely going to try to hook up in Florida.  John went to find a bathroom and I went into "Tonya's".  There was a beautiful home-made "corn hole" game sitting up against one of the display shelves.  It caught my eye right away because we have been talking about getting one.  But the good ones are pricey and we decided to let the kids go together to get that for us for Christmas if they wanted a suggestion.  So I kept on looking around and John came in the store.  Right away he said to me," did you see that corn hole game... it's really neat!".  He doesn't usually get that excited about a game and it was expensive, so I was surprised.  We decided it was so unique and well made that it would be our birthday and Christmas gifts to each other this year.

 

 

Pretty neat, huh?

  John went out walking.

This a female grackle.  The male is all black.
They are very "verbal" birds!

Love when the sun glistens on the water!

You can see Jekyll Island from St. Simon's

Pretty lighthouse!  Don't know the history... shucks!

This pelican posed for John.

"You are getting sleepy... very, very sleepy"

Mommy and baby whale sculpture in the park.

 I went to "One of a Kind" to get more boxes of cheese dips and to "Nature Gifts" jewelry store.  I had bought a bunch of things there the last time we were on the Island and I just had to look again.  Of course, I found some more things, but I wasn't sure if they matched what I had gotten before. 

Albert, the pig was going for a salad with his owner.

We left about 2:30 and the plan was I was going to come right back with my previous purchases to match them.  I was back on St Simon by 3:45 and took care of business.  I stopped at the Winn Dixie on the way home for a few groceries.  There just happened to be a Tuesday Morning next door. I hadn't been in one of them since I lived in York, so I felt a calling.  I found a few things, but nothing major.  While I was there Arlena called and we chatted for a while.  Both babies are breech right now.  Hopefully, they will turn in the next couple of weeks.  If not she will most likely have a C-section on or about Dec 3rd. I got back about 5:30 and started to make supper.

This is the toll booth about 2 miles from the entrance to Jekyll Island.
It costs $6 per car to get in daily, but there is a weekly discount ticket for $28.
Interestingly, you can get a yearly pass for $48, so that's what we got.  They
put a sticker on your windshield that has a chip.  Of course, you have to figure
out how much you will leave the Island in a week to have it pay off!
 

Saw these deer on my way home.

Here they are all together.  Never get tired of their beauty!

   My phone rang and it was Tori, a gal I used to work with at UAL.  I was even in her wedding!  We had lost touch for the last 10 or 12 yrs.  And I have tried numerous times to find her, without any luck.  About a week and a half ago TW texted me to tell me that he saw her on Facebook.  I asked him to contact her for me, but he forgot.  I asked him again and WO-LA she contacted me.  It was neat to hear from her after all these years and catch up a bit.  We're going to get together when we get back.  She is still in York Co.  I finished up supper, we ate and then it was time for "The Voice".

We finally got some pix of the new screened house.
It works really well for us.  It was so great to watch
football on Sat and Sun without getting all bit up!!

  John went into the bedroom to watch TV.  He went to bed right after 10:00 and I watched more TV while uploading the pictures from the camera.  I was going to work on my blog, but I was too tired, so I went to bed about 12:00.  Tomorrow looks like another rainy day :(, so I'm not sure what we're going to do.