Fort Caroline National Monument

The weather was beautiful March 10th. We packed some snacks and headed to Fort Caroline National Monument, the site of a short-lived French settlement on the bank of the St. Johns River. It is located in north Jacksonville and is part of the Timuquan Ecological and Historic Park.

The French explorer Jean Ribault first sailed up the St. Johns River in 1562 looking for likely sites to establish an economic foothold for France in the New World. The colony was founded in 1564 by a group of French Huguenot settlers who were seeking religions freedom.

The Timuquan Indians lived in the area for over 4000 years before the arrival of Europeans. They initially befriended the French colonists, assisting with construction of the fort and providing food to keep the colonists from starving.

When the Spaniards, who had already settled in Florida, heard of the French settlement, they attacked. Jean Ribault's fleet was wiped outn and the settlement was destroyed in 1565.

The Timuquans fared no better than the French. The Spanish demanded tribute from them and attempted to convert them. From a population spread across north and central Florida and southeast Georgia before the European invasion, they dwindled to less than 550 people by 1698. There are no Native Americans that identify themselves as Timuquans today.

We walked the mile-long Hammock Nature Trail and visited the monument to Jean Ribault, then headed to Neptune Beach for a short walk on the beach.

North Florida Beaches

On February 27, we took a drive along northern Florida A1A, stopping for snacks at the Sandy Bottoms Grill in Fernandina Beach, then at a state park location on Amelia Island. We finished up with a walk across the dunes to the beach at Little Talbot Island State Park. It was definitely sweatshirt weather, but still nice to be on a beach.

Everglades National Park

We spent 10 days in January in Ft. Lauderdale at an RV "parking lot" where we were packed in like sardine cans. Starr joined us for 5 days to see if three people could live in the rig without killing each other. The day before she arrived, Bill got hit with the cold and cough he must have picked up at my brother's house. Starr and I disinfected every surface, but I finally came down with it the day she left. It hit her a few days later back in Minneapolis. We all survived, but nobody is completely recovered yet.

Since Bill was down sick, Starr and I took a drive down to Everglades National Park, somewhere I have always wanted to go. Every time Bill and I came down to the Florida Keys in the past, we never had enough time for the Everglades.



The best part of the trip was the Anhinga Nature Trail. We saw tons of wildlife. Anhingas don't have oily feathers like ducks. They dive under the water to hunt fish. They spear the fish with their bills, then swim to the top, toss the fish in the air and swallow them head first. When they get out of the water, they spread their wings to dry.

Bill finally felt good enough to get out, so we went over to Ft. Lauderdale Beach for a couple of hours. After Starr left for the frozen North, Bill and I went back to Everglades National Park and took a back-country boat trip, where I got the picture of the Great Blue Heron.

Made it to Florida!

We finally got out of Georgia, but not till after the snow started last Thursday. Since we were too late to get into a campground, we parked in front of my brother Ed's house in Jacksonville at 2AM Friday to hook up to electrical and keep our pipes from freezing.

The last few days have been quite eventful, the scariest part being intermittent problems with the trailer brakes on our way to Florida Thursday evening. We spent Friday at Rivers Bus and RV, where it was determined that the problem is the truck. They didn't charge anything for the troubleshooting, and even let us use their campground for free Friday night. We have an appointment with a Ford dealer to get the truck fixed Monday.

With all my years of RV'ing (over 30, counting the pop-up), I committed a rookie mistake Saturday - forgot to put the TV antenna down. It snapped off within the first half mile.

We are now at Flamingo Lake RV Resort in Jacksonville, a really nice place with full hookups and a view of the lake. We stay here till January 17, then head down to Ft. Lauderdale for 11 days. Starr will join us there for a while. After that, we will come back up to Jacksonville for about a month, then head back to Lake Lanier as soon as the weather improves so that I can have my knee surgery. Plans have not yet been made for this summer - Alaska will have to wait until my knee heals.

Colorado National Monument

Colorado National Monument is just west of Grand Junction, CO. It is stunningly beautiful. You can enter from the north off of I-70, or you can enter from the southeast as we did. We had little time to do anything but drive through and take a few pictures. Some day I am coming back with Bill to spend more time.

Curecanti National Recreation Area and Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park

We spent the night in Canon (pronounced "canyon") City on US 50 west of Pueblo, CO. The motel has been used by many movie production crews. Signs on the doors of some rooms named a movie star that had slept in the room. Some names we saw: Goldie Hawn, John Belushi, and Jack Elam.



From Canon City, US 50 winds through the Curecanti National Recreation Area. The Blue Mesa Reservoir is formed by the dammed up Gunnison River. The picture to the right is of the Dillon Pinnacles on Blue Mesa Reservoir.




After leaving the Curecanti National Recreation Area, we took a turn north onto Colorado state road 347 to visit Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park. We drove the truck down a 16% grade to get to the bottom. The next day we went back and drove along the rim of the canyon. It is called Black Canyon because its sides are so steep that the sun does not reach some parts of it. It was not navigated until 1901.

Capulin Volcano National Monument and the Continental Divide

The adventure has begun. Starr and I left Atlanta on Tuesday, September 1, in a rental truck loaded with the family heirlooms, abandoning Bill to his own devices. Our destination: Boise, Idaho.

The first couple of days were just to make miles, but by Thursday we were ready for some sight-seeing. We pulled off the main road in northwestern New Mexico to see Capulin Volcano National Monument, the site of a 60,000 year old volcanic cone.

The next day we crossed the Continental Divide at Monarch Pass on US 50 in Colorado - 11,312 feet!