The Next Leg - Day 1409 (Year 4, Day 315)

Augusta, GA

We made it here safely and without incident (thank you, G-d, who hears prayers).  We actually did decide to push ourselves and arrived yesterday, as the thought of setting up in torrential downpours and thunderstorms was worse than the long drive.  We were on the road for 10 hours: left at 9:00 am and arrived at 7:00 pm.  We didn't have a chance to stop to meet our friends as we didn't feel we had the time to spare -- wanted to get here before dark.  Mostly the drive was smooth, except for 1 little traffic jam (construction), and then a pocket of rain.  No mountain driving.  It should have been a 7 hour drive non-stop, but we stopped at pretty much every rest area along the way -- approx. every 50 miles -- to change drivers and stretch our legs (about 15 mins) and 1 stop to eat lunch at the picnic table at one of them (1/2 hr).

Although this campground doesn't have any amenities (not even a place to seek shelter in severe weather), it's a fairly pretty park.  Due to the rain, I haven't had a chance to walk around yet but driving through it, it had some aesthetic appeal.  The sites are very spacious, the trailers are well kept (many with lovely lawn decorations), there's nice landscaping and many trees, although it's not in the woods.  Only drawback so far is that there are hundreds of ant hills - fire ants!!!  We were warned not to go outside barefoot or even with sandals without socks. So much for wearing flip flops all summer 😞.  Next trip out to the store, we'll see if there's something we can put down on the ground.

Anyway, so much for the torrential downpours and t'storms today which were forecasted with 100% chance, all night through the evening...  it rained pretty hard for about an hour this morning and now it is bright and sunny, with the rain chance at 20%.  You'd think that nowadays the forecasters could get it right!  We needed to pick up some groceries.  The rain had let up around 11 am, so we decided to run out at that time.  By the time we finished the the aisles (about 1/2 hr later), it was pouring.  By the time we got back to the campground 5 minutes later it was down to a drizzle.

I think this will be a pleasant place to stay for a while.  There are even bike lanes that run a few miles down to the shopping area.  Perhaps I'll be able to invest in that foldable electric trike I've been eyeing....