Author Archives: Sparky
Thanksgiving buffet
Jett and I have twice done Thanksgiving via Cracker Barrel. They offer a take-out Thanksgiving dinner for about 6 for just over $70 – a pretty good deal. You get a hefty portion of turkey, a lesser portion of ham, dressing, mashed potatoes, gravy, vegetable and dinner rolls. A hearty feast. This year we wanted … Continue reading
“Gideon’s Corpse” by Preston and Child
Grand Central Publishing, 2012 This was my first Preston and Child book featuring Gideon Crew, a nuclear physicist on loan to the FBI. I may have read another Preston and Child book from their Pendergast series (Jett tells me I have), but if so I can’t recall it. Preston and Child are one of Jett’s … Continue reading
Ellie Schiller Homosassa Springs Wildlife State Park
On Sunday, Oct 13, the day before our final TTS hop, Jett and I visited the Ellie Schiller Homosassa Springs Wildlife State Park which was just a mile from our RV site. We almost didn’t go as it was competing with a large annual seafood festival in Homosassa Springs, which also sounded interesting. But I … Continue reading
TTS Hop 10: Homosassa FL to Ft Myers Beach FL
214 miles via US 98 (with a truck route detour around Brooksville), I-75 and county roads to the destination. Cumulative tow miles: 2,263. We have done this route several times before, so there were no surprises. US 98 is always a pleasure. I-75 is always busy. But they are both relatively smooth and flat, so … Continue reading
TTS Hop 9: Carrabelle FL to Homosassa FL
200 miles via US 98 and US 319. Cumulative tow miles: 2,049. This hop was more difficult than it should have been. Yes, the navigation was a breeze: just turn right out of the RV park and keep going until we were within 3 miles of our destination. But is was complicated by the fact … Continue reading
Carrabelle FL
I don’t usually blog about small towns that I visit just once, but our trip into and through Carrabelle, FL (pop. 2,778) was interesting enough to warrant its own post. First, we, quite by accident and more due to laziness than an actual plan, headed west into Carrabelle just in time to catch the sunset. … Continue reading
TTS Hop 8: Douglas GA to Carrabelle FL
196 miles via GA 32, US 221, US 41, GA 31, FL 145, FL 14, I-10, US 19, FL 59, US 98 and US 319. Cumulative tow miles: 1,849. Does that route sound complicated? It was. This was arguably the most complex route we have had on any hop in any of our trips. The … Continue reading
TTS Hop 7: Charleston SC to Douglas GA
216 miles via US 17, I-85, GA 196, US 84, GA 203 and GA 32. Cumulative tow miles: 1,653. This was a 4-hour trip with a midpoint lunch stop – no fuel, just lunch – mostly on roads that we had not taken before, except for I-95. I was expecting the roads to be narrow, … Continue reading
TTS Hop 6: Asheville NC to Charleston SC
266 miles via I-26, I-526 (around Charleston) and US-17. Cumulative tow miles: 1,437. This was a pretty straight shot down I-26 to Charleston, with a lunch/refueling stop at the midpoint. The NC portion of I-26 was hilly, but not as hilly as the approach to Asheville from the north. And once it crossed into SC … Continue reading
Blue Ridge Parkway – Pisgah section
On our free day in Asheville, I was looking for some way to explore the area further and discovered that the very southernmost section of the Blue Ridge Parkway – the “Pigsah” section – ran very close to Asheville. And, in fact, very close to our campsite. That was all the encouragement I needed to … Continue reading