Day 34 - The Order is Given

Just got the word. We are leaving for Maryland tomorrow!!! So excited. We'll be 40 min from Ocean City! (That's where the Atlantic lives). And enjoy a pool at this hotel. Personal game plan for the 4th? Uh, fireworks at the Capital!! We'll see if it materializes. Haha.

Must continue with my packing. There is a bit more now, after our trip to Savannah this past week. :) I'll share those stories soon. Love.

Day 28 - Tybee Island

We finally made some time to go on the long-anticipated trip to Savannah! I was unsure whether to be ultra-stressed or excited, not knowing what to expect. I mean, three kids, a minivan, in a tourist city I haven't researched since Gone with the Wind.... Once we made it, both sentiments were compounded, but I realized this was going to be awesome! Not having a plan (at all) I meandered down to the river, thinking that we wouldn't get lost down there. Surprise! We didn't. But we did discover River Street, which is a joy to be explored later! Cobble-stoned trolley street and a bazillion vendors. That's all I can tell you right now.

The 15-year-old suggested that we find a hotel by the ocean, and I was all like 8-O' '| (that's me drooling into a puddle). Tybee Island, known as Savannah's Beach, is 20 minutes out so we headed that-a-way. I got a room for us for two nights. We literally bathroomed-up, changed into our suits and walked down to the beach immediately.

Oh my gosh! I can kinda see the OCEAN!!!

There are no words. It stole my heart.

Swimming was super fun. The waves! So huge! The sheer power was just awe-inspiring. I felt like I could never be unhappy again and not another moment would pass that I did not praise God for my life. *Spoiler alert: Humanity took over, like, the next day. But it was the most magnificent time just watching the Atlantic.

The next morning, we checked out a surf shop, stocked up on boogie boards, towels and sundresses. Back to the waves, which were considerably smaller in the AM.

For supper, we went the Crab Shack, just outside of town.

It had a kind of a clean, swampy feel. If that's possible.

Angela and I split the fresh catch sampler. By default, I got all the mussels. Win.

Shrimp aren't as cute or appetizing in the shell. It felt like I was cracking open a bunch of bugs. When we'd eaten all we could take, we had some fun with our ugly food.

Chilling in the butter hot tub. Oh yeah.

Anywho, back at the beach, the waves were slowly growing (were crazy huge by the end) and we boogie boarded for a few more hours. Caleb got tired, so here he is all rolled up for a nap in the sand.

Oh, I forgot to say that we saw dolphin top-fins in the water! :)

Love.

Day 25 - Wild Adventures in Valdosta, GA

Finally we had a moment to enroll the kiddos. Back on the road for a few hours to Florida (drove through Tallahassee this time). I am so glad I checked in with the schools before we got there; as is custom, nobody had called ahead and see what documentation we needed. :) Needless to say, there was a list that we were in no way prepared to achieve that day, so I got the necessary info, bypassed that stop altogether and turned around towards Wild Adventures theme park in Valdosta instead. Ha ha! It was pretty cool.

After a couple kiddie rides, Caleb and I checked out the zoo portion.

Koi pond

Great Horned Owl

Lazy Lemurs

Busy Turtles :D

Not-so-busy turtle

Porcupine

Alligators

Albino Alligators!!

Feral Hogs aka Wild Boars

Kookaburra

"The laughing kookaburra gets its name from the loud, territorial sound it makes, which can be mistaken for the sound of humans laughing. As they make this call, they tilt their heads back, much like a person would while laughing." I'd never seen one before. And yes, I sang the song to myself.

Garden area for shade and relaxation

 On the other side of the park, we found a little train giving tours of animals native to Asia and Africa. Well, technically the staff on the train were giving tours. You know what I mean.

 The only thing separating us from this giant rhino was the steel cord that you see. I think he'd parked on the tracks a couple times so they designated him space. The rest of the Asian animals were free-roaming and could have hopped up in the train with us had they taken the notion.

The baby Fallow Deer were so cute!

Water Buffalo and Llama

Sacred Cows

On to Africa, where the animals were safe behind...fence. 

Ostriches and Zebras

Scimitar Antelope (I think that's what he said)

These are Addax Antelope, an endangered species. They estimate something like 250 still existing in the wild. The zoo started with only two or three and now has nine. What caught my attention is their ability to survive with no water whatsoever; THEIR ENTIRE LIVES. They live in the Sahara and get all necessary fluids from grass and plants!

Asian Elephant - I think her name is Shelly?

There is also Splash Island water park on the waaay other side but we didn't take time to check it out. Angela was bummed after she lost her phone on one of the rides and we were pretty much fun-ned out at this point. Many more opportunities and Valdosta is only 90 minutes from Hawkinsville; we'll go again for sure before we re-locate.

But our day did not end yet.

Heading back up to Hawkinsville, I get a call from Julie, asking where we are. Uh oh. "On I-75 North coming to you. What's up?" Two drivers were transferring to Bainbridge (where we just were this morning, remember?) and ran into a snag. As in, the Georgian driving got pulled over, didn't have insurance and his vehicle was politely removed from his possession. They needed to be in Bainbridge by 11pm to help the midnight shift. You see where this is going. Could we pick them up on our way by? Yep, we can do that. But wait, there isn't a free vehicle that can make the trip down. Except ours. Sorry kids! We're just gonna make a big circle, okay? :) 7 hours later, we made it to our final destination at 1:45am. Yay!!!! And then we slept.

Day 24 - Trip to Missouri

As it turns out, I got to drive to MO after all. With this trip, I added Alabama, Mississippi and Arkansas to my been-there-done-that list. Only 27 more states to go. Whaaaat!

I really love early morning drives. Once the dawn broke it was so peaceful, just taking baby highways in the mist and fog. Alabama country felt like home. Oh yeah, the kids stayed back at the hotel, hence peaceful (the oldest is 15, for anyone who feels concerned). About 7:30am (crossed back into CDT at the Georgia border) I started making my personal calls for the day. Yes! Reception!

It was a pretty standard trip for most of the way. Had crazy downpour across the MS and AR border. Re-crossed the Mississippi River. We have one of those back home. :D Here is a pic of a little bug that somehow got in the van. See his cute little camouflage leaf wings?

Got to Arbyrd, MO about 2pm CDT, picked up one driver and waited an hour and a half for the second one to show up. I filled up on fuel, stopped along the way for supper and made it back to Bainbridge about 3:30am EDT - I may have taken the wrong exit and and may have gotten us a little lost while attempting to find the right highway. Fortunately, the drivers knew what it was to drive 21 hours in a 24 hour period, so they didn't grumble one bit. They even seemed to be understanding of the woman-driver thing. Haha! By the way, I am a great driver!! Just a little iffy on navigation it would seem. Ways to grow!

Day 23 - Father's Day in Florida

On Thursday we went to Florida again; this time to register the kids at their new school(s). The family is moving to the Panhandle this summer, in case I didn't mention it. So they got some quality dad-time and we all got a healthy amount of pool time. This trip done learned me a new lesson. Always pack for at least two days more than anticipated. Plans in the potato world change on a dime. :) Mike had a couple trucks break down so we went to the school office on Friday. We found that they work four tens and it were closed. No biggie; we got to check out the Florida farm on the way back (I'll have to post pics of the operation in Hawkinsville to give you an idea. It's quite the setup). It was the last day in that farm and plans were a-brewin' for the next move. Three drivers headed to the Missouri farm that afternoon and one went to Hawkinsville. Initially I was going to drive up with the Missouri crew and shuttle them back for more trucks, but we shuttled them to the Bainbridge, GA farm instead on Saturday (it's 3ish hours away). We got them all moved in only two trips so there was plenty of time to  swim with the kids when we got back at 6:30.

Bainbridge is a cute little town with one major downside; no reception. None. I couldn't call, text or use GPS. This made me crabby. I'm sure a lot of it is my che--inexpensive phone. Regardless, we found our way to a Wal-Mart to grab provisions for a few more days; it just made sense to stick around til the schools re-opened on Monday.

After Mass on Sunday, we went for a boat ride to Lake Seminole. More lovely scenery!

Caleb was proud to drive Daddy's boat.

We did see a few alligators but they went underwater before I captured the moment. Every. Time.

A swimming stop relatively safe from alligators. 

Here is the top of the beach slope. Feels kinda drastic, huh? 

Happy Father's Day! Much love to all the Fathers (and Frs.) in my life. Especially Dad and Nate. Between the two of you, my male support is rock solid. Also, you're awesome.

Day 16 - Atlanta, GA

I was able to cross paths with Matthew. Yay! Still wrapping my head around the providentiality (not a real word) of his being in my immediate area. Coinkeedink? Anywho, I picked him up Sunday morning and we boogied to Atlanta. Did I mention that the minivan has been in the shop for the past few days? We got to take the Avalanche. Let me clarify this. The hot pink Avalanche...with silver flames. Brother was not impressed. All the more because said vehicle had been taken on a mudding expedition the night prior. Despite a quick run through the carwash, the wheel wells were completely packed with mud. The whole 4+ hour round trip was mind, hand and bum-numbingly bumpy. woof.

After Mass, we drove around looking for a place to eat and settled on Oak Street Cafe. Soon after we were seated, an argument arose at the table next to us between the server and the patrons. Fun times for sure! We ate fast.

A trip to the Capitol building was in order. It was beautiful!

The horseman you see is John B. Gordon, a Lieutenant General in the Confederate Army. He later served as a Senator and then Governor.

It rained off and on in the afternoon.

This isn't a real cannon.

This isn't a real cannon.

Stone Civil War Battles 

An odd tree

This is the quote at the bottom of a statue of Eugene Talmadge. He was Governor of Georgia for three terms and was elected for a fourth a few years later but died before the term began. Interesting history if you want to look into it; he ordered auto licenses to be lowered to $3 (in the early 30's) without the support of his State legislators and declared martial law during a strike. And yes, he was a Democrat. :)

Memorial for soldiers of WWI, WWII, Vietnam and I think, Korea.

Judicial Building

Agriculture Building

It has a cool door.

 

Views from the Capitol Building

It was a fun day and good to catch up with my big bro. He's doing well, by the way. And looking studly as ever, as you can see. Love.