Monday, November 26, 2007

Road Trip Rehash - Part I

I was a bit worried about this trip as I have a strange fear of breaking down on the side of the road. I also dislike not knowing where I am going (Note to self: next time buy a GPS) Prior to this, my longest road trip was cross country from LA to Miami. I relocated from LA in May of 1991 making the trip with my 2 cats in a Toyota Tercel SR5. We traveled for 6 days along Route I-10 - with military like precision; Drive 8 hours, find motel before dark, sneak cats in, eat, sleep, drive 8 hours, find motel before dark, sneak cats and so on. With 2 cats in the car there was no real ability to linger and sight see along the way. I recall the only exception to my 'drive during daylight' rule was when I got stuck in the Louisianna swamps and was desperately tailing a very fast car as if my life depended on it!. So, for this trip I was quite glad Gianinna decided to join me. It was because of G's last minute decision to go, that I made some changes to the itinerary. I nixed going to Blue Springs State Park in favor of St. Augustine. A favorite of mine, and a place I was sure she would enjoy. Ultimately we were headed for Brunswick GA, where we were to sleep in a treehouse (yes, you read that right!). Here are some pix from St. Augustine:

Cute old house..


Another..

Lovely boat in the harbor...

The Fort (Castillo de San Marcos)...

Cobbled streets..



Charm just oozes out of St. Augustine, I highly recommend it...
Even if it is a bit touristy....

And there's that lunch I just mentioned...

Alas, we didn't have as much time to spend in St. Augustine as it deserves.. I, of course, had an agenda - get to Brunswick GA before sunset!

Aha, the Hostel in the Forest
(Gianinna's favourite part of this trip), good food (vegan though), good company, (thank you John from Colorado for pumping up my bike tires) and an altogether great experience!

Here is the campfire where we stood in a circle holding hands giving thanks for the day, before dinner.. (try it - its good:-)

This is the near freezing lake that we swam in.. okay, a little truthfulness here, (the following may be TMI for some of you, so feel free to skip ahead). G and I took the canoe out to a platform that was floating in the center of the lake, and the two of us trying to get out of the canoe onto the platform was so funny, we (alright, I) peed my pants laughing:-(
In my defence, there were no bathrooms... only a sawdust receptacle for 'deposits' only - something about ammonia disturbing the PH balance.
Anyway, now you know... we had to swim. Besides, the mosquitoes were KILLING us.
I do hope you will revisit this blog again someday....
Here are the chickens.. they have a grand life (oh, except for the 3 or 4 minutes when a hawk came a visiting... damn, they can move fast in a hurry! Luckily, no chickens were hurt in the ruckus, although it did seem to excite the rooster terribly, as one poor hen got a really good lay right after!.. *cough cough* True story!
This was our 'room' for the night.. its a tree house called the peacock. We stayed in the top part (good thing there's no alcohol there) with 2 screened walls, and 2 solid walls, a single bed as well as a bunk bed (which G fell out of.. again, perfectly true). It was quite lovely...


And the 'world-famous geodesic dome' (Apparently, Geodesic means built with triangles.. and here I was thinking it was something fancy and geothermal like.
See, its getting dark too, we got there just in time;-)

Good night all,


Next stop.. Savannah.
To be continued....

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

hahahaha Dear Jane you are missing important details, such as our striptease in the middle of the lake and how we served as a buffet to all those mosquitos!!

Anyway so far I love the pictures that you have posted!

Jane Llewellyn said...

Gianinna! I am glad you like it:-)

I kinda felt maybe I was giving TMI already (don't want to drive anyone off now) Anyway, I had all but forgotten the mosquitoes in my love of that lake!! xx

Minicapt said...

Tsk! Geothermal indeed!
http://architecture.about.com/library/ucdome.htm
Not to mention the US Pavilion at the '67 World's Fair.

Cheers
JMH

Jane Llewellyn said...

Hi JMH - It's good to see you again:-) Thanks for the link.. very informative.

Electro-Kevin said...

Glad you had a nice time. The pictures are beautiful - especially the one of the lady. Is that you ?

Never be scared of exploring. It sounds like you would benefit from a good Satellite Navigation system in your car.

Jane Llewellyn said...

Hi E-K - the pix is of Gianinna... I was the photographer (just the way I like it;-)

P.S. You're right.. a satellite navigation (preferably one with a HELP button), is EXACTLY what I need!!

Patriot said...

Have fun in Georgia! Those pics look fantastic!

Hi! I just came across your site tonight. Just wanted to let you know about my blog - I host a new giveaway every Monday! Come check it out! Thanks!

Patriot said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Tuscan Tony said...

Looks like you had a wonderful trip, I especially liked the yacht and the rooster!

Jane Llewellyn said...

Yeah, you would TT;-)

Anonymous said...

I am so glad you had a nice time. The pictures look great! They make me want to take off and go on my own adventure.
BTW.. I love your blog!

C-ya :)
Dee

Jane Llewellyn said...

Dee.. I am so glad you visited!

Dee, also known as Dorothy, is one of my beloved co-workers and is one of the smartest, funniest gals I've ever met.

'C-ya' Monday!

Anonymous said...

Gianinna: Amutí, ;)