June 30 - Last Day

Papa Dave really did only get a few hours of sleep. He woke up at 12:30AM, and by 1:00AM, Mother Hen was moving.

Papa Dave says gas prices varied as much as 50 cents from a low if $3.25 in VA to a high of $3.79 in FL. 

Breakfast was at a rest stop between Richmond and DC. Papa Dave was really making time! However, David had mixed feelings about this type of travel...

Last Quote of the Day: "It's good we are almost home, but while we were sleeping we missed out on part of our trip!" ~David

Our last meal of the trip was at a Wendy's. Emily was happy. 

We got a lot of ketchup. 

Arrived home around 2PM. That was a long day of driving! But Papa Dave made it the whole way. (Being a tour bus driver helps.)

But we didn't go straight home. We took a little detour, trying to find an Amish buggy to take a picture of. We probably looked like tourists! Little did the people in the cars behind us know, we lived just down the road! 

Hi again, dear pickle man! 

Yay for Amish countryside! 

Hey, they put new horse pavement on these roads! 

Those buggies were elusive! The people in the one we finally did get a picture of weren't cooperating! The boys in the back out their heads down, cause they saw Emily taking the picture. Oh well. 

Unloaded the RV. Everyone had to unpack before they started playing with their Legos! (bought from Legoland) 

Home sweet home

Our garden is doing well! 

Was going to close the blog with that picture of the buggy. But not sure about that. Jenna had a better idea. Here is everyone's favorite part(s) of the trip.  

Papa Dave: David making record time up Vintage hill: 5:49, crossing lake Santee on Rt. 301 (this was probably one of his favorite parts because he broke David's max speed record while going down the other side of the bridge), riding with Emily in the rain, 1 mile race to the FL line, all 10 riding together into Pinecraft, time with family in renovated house

Grandma Rose: being and camping with grandchildren for three weeks straight, Knox hotel and Dairy Queen in Nahunta, GA, and church on the beach the on Sunday the 22nd. 

Darrell: getting to eat 5 meals one day

Ladina: visiting Family in SC. Not having to set up camp, seeing Louella and Susan again, relaxing by the beautiful setting, enjoying dinner including blackberry pie, van pulling in with Doug, Rochelle, Janie, Lil, and Josiah. 

Doug: Riding to FL with his parents... AGAIN! 

eating biker breakfasts, black water tubing, and learning his wife enjoys cycling (as long as it's flat)!

Rochelle: Learning to draft, conversations while biking, Aunt Janie's air-conditioned house, card games, and various moments of laughter

Emily: riding in the rain 2 different times. Also the arrival to Florida. 

David: being in Aunt Janie's house and playing card games learned from Doug and Rochelle

Jenna: spending time with Natalie and getting showed around their little farm. Getting to milk the cow. The Legoland ski show. 

Ellie: Legoland water slides, rollercoasters, and ski show. Visiting in SC and the watermelon smashings. 

Oh, and one more thing. Exactly 25 years ago on this day, the adventure really started. References have been made to the previous Florida trip. How fitting that the two journeys ended and began on the same day, 25 years apart. 

This is the first crew. 

Ladina, her friend Pam, Grandma Rose, Doug, and Papa Dave. 

It was only once we got home that we realized one other similarity between the two trips. Out of all the places, we entered Florida at the same place. Compare these pictures:

Thanks Lord for blessing us with such great adventures. 

June 29th

Checklist before leaving the Kampground.

Papa Dave got up early and started driving while everyone else was still sleeping at 6:30 AM. 

Ate breakfast in the camper partially at a truck stop. 

Kept listening to Adventures in Odyssey, and ended up finishing the series shortly after lunch! That's nice, because it keeps us busy. 

We found a nice park for lunch. By the looks of it, it used to be an old ball field. 

Quote of the Day: "Welcome the little things for one day you may look back and realize they were the big things." 

~ sign at the park for lunch 

We got out of the camper and were surprised that it wasn't so hot. Looked at the weather, and it said, 83, feels like 90, 70% humidity. Wow! It felt nice almost (even to Grandma Rose) compared to what it was like yesterday. 

Darrell, Janie, and Ladina arrived home around noontime today. They had driven straight through. 

The RV arrived back in Blackville, SC, once again, around 1:15 PM. 

We got to visit Sokhan and Susan's house, as we had not seen their house on the way down. Then we headed back to the river to do some more "southern style swimming". 

The River was a lot lower this time!

Jonnie saw a water moccasin sunbathing on a log while we were floating down the river on our tubes. He made sure not to say anything until everyone was safely passed it. 

Smashed another watermelon!

The only disappointment was that the Miller girls were taking a trip to Indiana and couldn't be there with us. 

After another great supper provided by the Kems and Millers, the RV pulled out around 7PM. The kids continued to listen to Adventures in Odyssey. 

Arrived in Santee at 8:15 PM. We had stayed in Santee on our trip down, but this time we stayed at a different campground. (This was actually the one that Darrell and Emily went into first by mistake while trying to find the correct one two weeks ago!)

Passed gas for 3.31 here in SC. A lot cheaper than in FL and PA!

We will pull out early early tomorrow morning after Papa Dave gets a couple hours of sleep. 

June 28th

Today we left Florida. It's hard to believe that we left 22 days ago, rode for 15 days, and now we left. We will have a lot to catch up on when we get back home! 

Getting water from the laundromat this morning

Ladina made delicious French toast and smoothies for breakfast. Kind of a last Hurrah. 

Packing up

Mother Hen and her brood of six (Papa Dave, Grandma Rose, Emily, David, Jenna, and Ellie) pulled out of 1580 Kaufman Ave. around 9 o'clock this morning. The other three (Darrell, Ladina, and Janie) stayed to do some final work. (And go to the beach) When they left at 5PM, they decided to drive straight through. They will actually arrive home before the RV, if all goes as planned. 

The six made a long stop at the Tampa Zoo. The pictures summarize the neat time we had there. A little too hot, though. 

Quote of the Day: "I'm ready for winter!" ~ Grandma Rose

Wallaby 

Emily is sad because she got kicked off her manatee because the buckle was too small. What merry-go-round makes the riders wear buckles?!?

The children In the RV have been listening to the Green Ring Conspiracy, an Adventures in Odyssey album. They are almost halfway through it. The girls in the camper listened to it on the way down too. 

Had dinner at a Subway. 

Arrived at the KOA Kampground in Starke mid-evening. This was one of the campgrounds we stayed at on the way down too. Good memories, good memories...

The other three stopped by at the Kampground! Hey! Long time no see? 

Kids went swimming. That should not surprise you. 

Prayers for traveling mercies are appreciated! 

We are coming home. 

June 27th

Our highlight of today had to have been the Red Barn. Although we only stayed about an hour, it was worth the time we spent there! Even David bought things there!

Sleepyheads in the morning 

Everyone went. The shoppers found nice bargains. Ladina had lost a pair of sunglasses and her watch both on this trip, and found both replacements here. 

We also found a lot of stuff we didn't know we needed previously. 

Back to the house for a very fruity lunch. 

Grandma Rose and Emily went to a store to use the wifi to look up places to stop by on our long drive home tomorrow. Ladina and Aunt Janie went shopping. The others hung out, playing games and looking at the Tour de France magazine. 

On their walk back to the house, Grandma Rose and Emily secretly dropped in for some ice cream at Olaf's. However, everyone found out because Papa Dave and David rode through while on their way to Siesta Key beach for the afternoon as Emily and Grandma Rose were leaving the ice cream store.  They got caught red-handed! 

Everyone besides the two David bikers and Grandma Rose, who stayed back at the house, swung out around by Detweiler's for some 54 cent (tax included) IC. This treat was followed by heading to Siesta Key as well. Emily decided not to tell anyone that this was her second ice cream treat in 1 hour, but that eventually got found out too. 

But what didn't get found out until now is...

Sneaky Grandma Rose sneaked to Big Olaf's for a second sneaky helping while everyone was at the beach! Wonder how long until everyone sees this...

The beach excursion didn't last long. You can see why. 

Papa Dave and David biked back when they started noticing how the storm was coming closer. They beat the rain! 

It continued to thunderstorm throughout the afternoon and evening. 

On the way back to the house, the riders in the van took some detours through side streets where there were elaborate vacation houses. They were interesting to look at. 

Grandma Rose was preparing supper when the crew arrived back home. Emily and Ladina decided to go for a 30-minute jog before supper when the rain calmed down a bit. The rainy weather would be quite nice to run in more often, because the rain certainly cooled things down! 

The motivation of pie for dessert kept the runners going. 

Played more card games before and after supper. 

Tonight everyone packed up! The RV with Grandma Rose, Papa Dave, and the grand kids is pulling out first (Lord willing). And the other three adults will follow after doing some closing up.