Pacific to Atlantic and back - Part 5

We left Tybee Island near Savannah and headed south hoping to follow the coast of Southern Georgia. We actually stayed inland a ways on US 17, a good highway that roughly parallels I 95, simply because we soon discovered that time would not permit us to explore and stop at all the island spots along Georgia’s Southern coast. We had a destination in mind. The Golden Isles of Georgia include several small islands that are bounded on the west by the Intercoastal Waterway and on the East by the Atlantic Ocean. These include St. Simons Island, Jekyll Island and Cumberland Island. We chose Jekyll Island as our next stop because of its beautiful beaches, wildlife, historic summer homes and its quiet, laid back feeling. We found the Jekyll Island Campground on the north end of the island, close to beaches and nature areas. Bicycle paths are as busy as the roadways this time of year and we were ready for a few days of just taking it easy. The campground is heavily wooded, a short walk from the fishing pier and only minutes from golf and shopping. Izzie again got her fill of sand and sea as we walked the long expanses of smooth, fine sand beaches. The smell of wood burning fires in the campground, the big trees and the friendly neighbors, one of which offered us their bicycles in order to explore, helped us to understand why people from all over come here to winter in the peace and quiet of this beautiful island. Just to the South, Cumberland Island is Georgia's largest and southernmost barrier island. Pristine maritime forests, undeveloped beaches and wide marshes whisper the stories of both man and nature. One could spend weeks exploring and enjoying this beautiful area of our country.

After some well-deserved R&R we now had to make a decision whether or not to continue south to Jacksonville, Florida and further to St. Augustine and the Golf Hall of Fame or to start working our way back westward. We had decided that we needed to get home by a certain date due to obligations and quite frankly having been gone for over a month we were beginning to get a little homesick. We made our decision to head west and did so from Brunswick west through Waycross, Valdosta and eventually joined with I10 just to the east of Tallahassee, Florida. We had to draw the line somewhere. We were passing up more time in the islands, the Golf Hall of Fame, Okefenokee Swamp National Wildlife Refuge, The Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and key Civil Rights memorials in Atlanta but the list can go on and on. Our hope is to return someday to this beautiful and historic area with its fascinating and educational wild life areas. We will park the trailer in a central location and take many day and overnight trips to see more of this inspiring area of our beautiful US of A.

We continued west on I10 spending yet another KOA night near Pensacola, Florida. Sorry to say this, but unless you get off I10 and make an effort to get to the Gulf Coast area of the Florida panhandle, there is not a lot to report. A short drive the next day took us past Mobile in the narrow Southern finger of Alabama and into Mississippi. We drove past Biloxi and Gulfport and were just minutes from Pass Christian before entering Louisiana. We had visited New Orleans several times before and didn’t feel a compelling need to stop this time around. Along the route there were signs everywhere of the destruction wrought by Katrina. Whole areas of forests with their still broken and missing limbs are a grim reminder of the devastation the area experienced. New Orleans, co-incidentally, was experiencing a rash of brutal crimes and murders that were in the news as we approached so we quietly pulled our hats down over our eyes, kept looking straight ahead and took the I12 New Orleans bypass.

All along the route from New Orleans to Lake Charles, the highway takes you over elevated freeway that cuts through hundreds of miles of bayou and swamp area. It is eerily beautiful and mysterious. One can only imagine what lurks in those black waters. Past Baton Rouge, Lafayette and into Lake Charles we go.
On this trip we drove over 7,000 miles but nowhere did we have worse road than 50 or so miles of I10 on either side of Lake Charles, Louisiana. Freeway section joints jarred us and I was constantly evading the sharp edged and deep “chuck holes” that were everywhere on this concrete roadway. There were several choices for RV parks in and around the Lake Charles area but we chose to stay at the Yogi Bear Jellystone Park. We live just minutes from a Yogi Bear Jellystone Park on Cobb Mountain in Lake County, California. It was a delightful place, clean, well equipped and picturesque with trees a lake and very friendly and slow talking employees. They recommended Steamboat Bills for the best Cajun food in the area. We weren’t disappointed. A delightful manager, looking and sounding a lot like James Carville, American Political Consultant and pundit, AKA the “Rajun’ ‘ Cajun” in shorts, greeted us and he could tell immediately we had no idea what we were doing. He introduced us to Crawfish with a complimentary tray and a class in Crawfish Eating 101. We purchased 2 lbs. of Crawfish, bowls of Gumbo, Red Beans and Rice and two beers. There were no doggy bags this night. We ate the whole thing! It was a fun and entertaining evening we will long remember.

Tomorrow, after we cross the Sabine River, we will again enter Texas, this time through Beaumont and continue our travel home. We will have some anxious moments as we begin this, the last leg of our trip, so tune in for Part 6.