OKEFENOKEE SWAMP 101.
From the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, Jan. 2018: “The Okefenokee Swamp is a mystical and primeval place. Its wildness is preserved by the National Wilderness Act. Nearly 354,000 acres of the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge are designated as a National Wilderness Area. It provides outstanding opportunities for solitude & undisturbed recreation. Okefenokee is one of the rare and wild places where one can retreat from civilization and reconnect with the Earth.”
SUNDAY AT THE SUWANNEE RIVER SILL.
Day 58 – It was 62 soupy degrees this morning at 7 a.m. and mostly cloudy. We are supposed to get thunderstorms some time tomorrow, and today will get pretty warm & humid. We found out it was Daylight Savings Time today, and that we were losing an hour; I hate when that happens! It was warming up rapidly. We had the awning out and the shades drawn to keep the sun out, hoping to keep the RV cooler longer. And by the way, it did work to keep the RV cooler during the day! We spent the morning in the screened tent. There was a slight breeze out there, and with so many campers packing up & leaving, it was easier to be in our own little world out in the tent.
SATURDAY AT THE SWAMP.
Day 57 – It was 54 degrees this morning & sunny. It was quiet in the campground, so before people were up & around Rob took a long walk from our campsite to the boardwalk behind the Ranger’s Station & Camp Store. Meanwhile, I stumbled around in my usual morning stupor. It takes me awhile to wake up.
TRAVEL DAY – WE’RE PLAYING CATCH UP NOW; WE’VE HAD NO INTERNET CONNECTION FOR A WEEK.
Day 56 – Rob was up at 7:15 a.m., me at 7:45. It was 44 degrees when he got up & quite overcast. Rob had called his mom & texted his brother last night and I texted my relatives this morning, letting them all know we could be out of touch for a week. This also means we can’t send out the Blog daily. We’ll have to send it all out in a big lump when we have a connection again. Today we leave for Stephen C. Foster State Park, deeper in the Okefenokee Swamp of Georgia.
85 miles, (1:40), 35392-35477
Day 55 – It was 33 degrees this morning & sunny. We both slept well last night. We tend to do better when it’s cold. When it’s hot & humid, neither of us sleep well. The kitties seem to sleep well not matter what the conditions are.
Day 54 – It was 31 degrees this morning, but you wouldn’t know it was that cold out when you looked through the windows. The sky was clear & the sun was out & it was still a little windy. Around 11 a.m. we left for Waycross to run some errands.
KAREN – OUR POSITIVE THOUGHTS ARE BEING SENT YOUR WAY!!!!!
Day 53 – It was a rainy night last night and quite cloudy, cold, & windy this morning. We watched the mist blow over the Lake. The sun came out for awhile later in the afternoon & the skies cleared. The high was 50 degrees & it was quite breezy, making it feel even colder. We stayed inside all day, caught up on some things, and basically relaxed. There’s a freeze warning for tonight.
Day 52 – Well, last night just before dark the winds increased & it started raining. The phone kept sending alarms about the lightning strikes north of us. The campground hosts visited each campsite to warn visitors of high wind warnings – tie things down if they are loose outside. We’ve certainly seen worse storms, but this morning we got up to news of 23 people dead from tornadoes near the AL/GA border. That’s not near to us right now, but it did remind us that we are entering different weather areas. In 2017 we had a near miss with a tornado in Mississippi.
Day 51 – SO humid this morning, it takes days for towels to dry. That’s the South for ya! 64 degrees at 7 a.m. & cloudy. We’re heading into Georgia today; we’ve loved South Carolina. We couldn’t check in at our new campground until after 1 p.m., wo we weren’t in a big hurry to leave. The trailers & RV’s were lined up leaving this morning. We stuck around & relaxed, watching the mass exodus.
136 miles, (2:50), 35256-35392