2-20-10

SUWANNEE VALLEY CAMPGROUND

LIVE OAKS AND PALMS AND RIVERS OH MY

FIRST CAMPING OF 2010

DOUBLE DOG DARE YOU


Don't be fooled by Florida. Sure it's pretty far south, but northern Florida in February is still cold. Last night we built a campfire to keep us warm, but the moment we climbed into our tent, we were chilled to the bone.

Before we embarked on our trip, we made a list of necessities. Two items on our list were: (1) sleeping pads (2) pillows. We were generously given a free inflatable mattress before the trip started, so we decided we didn't need the sleeping pad. We tested the mattress in Washington DC and after a few minutes, it slowly but steadily deflated. After sleeping on it all night, we woke up with rug burns on our chins.** Since we never got any pads or a replacement mattress, we used our spare blankets as bedding support. In retrospect, we should have used them as blankets. The other item we also never purchased were the pillows. Sharing one airplane sized pillow between the two of us on a 35 degree night translated into poor sleeping.

We left Florida feeling like zombies, but hot coffee en route helped us regain our focus and putting the heat in River Jumper on full blast helped us regain feeling in our toes. After lots of driving, we made it to Alabama. There are only two notes worth mentioning during the drive. The first was witnessing an Alaska state license plate. We are determined to video record a license plate from as many states as we can during this trip. When Aaron spotted the Alaskan plate, he didn't hesitate to drive 85 mph and swerve across three lanes of traffic, exit the highway, drive through a hotel parking lot, and blatantly follow the driver down several side streets to get the shot. It worked out though - we got the shot, got no tickets, avoided accidents, and even sort of made a friend.

The other noteworthy occurrence was eating lunch at Sunny's Home Cook'n. According to "State By State: A Panoramic Portrait of America" Alabama ranks #2 on the list of US States for having the most obese citizens. They came in at 61%. (West Virginia is #1 at 61.2%) Judging by the clientele at the restaurant, we'd say 61% is lowballing it. Granted, our presence lowered the average obesity rate down to around 80%, but if you take away us, and the mexican bus boys working the all you could eat buffet table, the rate was more like 90%. Yikes.

We safely and happily arrived at Moore Farms just before sunset. Lori and Will Moore run a CSA and supply Atlanta based restaurants with produce. We will help them for the remainder of February on their farm.


**Aunt Carolyn, not literally about the rug burn but truthfully about the mattress.