2020 Wrap Up

Well, we made it thru what has to be one of the craziest years on record (and 2021 ain’t looking much better right now!). What started as an enjoyable stay in Florida during the first few months of 2020 (pre-COVID) turned into a long time hunkered down in NE Georgia and NC mountains followed by 3 months in the panhandle of Florida. Not exactly covering a lot of miles or seeing a lot of new areas of the country. We managed to avoid catching COVID while limiting visits to immediate family and a few friends (socially distanced!) and now looking forward to an interesting 2021.

Let’s start with an update on the last part of 2020 since our last blog. We took a trip to Milton, FL to visit the site of a once thriving mill operation called Arcadia Mill. The main sites here include a reproduction of the original mid 1800’s home and original furnishings as well as an elevated boardwalk around the original mill works area, although most of this had been reclaimed by nature, just a few footings and low walls remaining.

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Sometimes, we get questions about how we handle mail and shipments (what would we do without Amazon!?). Luckily, almost all the campgrounds where we stay allow shipments to be accepted and then it’s just a matter of going to the campground office and picking up our shipments. Prior to arriving in Navarre, we had been at several parks where shipments were not accepted so we had a lot of shopping/shipments to catch up on once we arrived in Florida. In most cases, we have no problems whether it be via Amazon, Chewy, meds, etc. But once in awhile, we get something that just makes us scratch our heads. Two cases in point.

Jill requires a medication that requires us to go thru a specialty pharmacy each month. This medication requires refrigeration and thus we always want to make sure we’ll be available when it arrives. Each month, Jill must call to initiate shipment and since the medication is an injectable, they usually also ask if she requires alcohol swabs. As usual, we request some additional supplies. During our last shipment, we requested “2 units” which in the past has always resulted in two boxes of swabs. This time, we received a slightly different amount.

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Another shipment was related to some picture frames we ordered to help personalize our space inside Lola. With grand babies, you can never have enough pictures! It’s always nice to order thru Amazon because you know the products are guaranteed and returns are easy if something isn’t right. But this product packaging caused a few concerns…

Closer to home, holiday decorations and gifts were definitely on everyone’s minds. We were excited to be looking forward to holiday times with family in Atlanta in late December. And of course, the local Walmart was full of wonderful gift ideas for every age. But there was one item in the toy department, we just couldn’t figure out…

As the holidays neared, excitement built. December is now a crazy month! Chris’ birthday is December 5th, the grand babies’ is December 18th, and then Christmas one week later! We started shipping a few presents ahead of the holiday and our arrival in Atlanta. This included a very special form of transport for Savannah and Skylar.

All aboard the Radio Flyer!

On December 17th, we packed up the car with the dogs and left Lola behind as we headed north to Atlanta for a holiday trip. We were staying in a rental house in Cartersville with plans to visit the kids and babies as well as Dan’s mom. We had a one year birthday party to attend as well as plans for Christmas if COVID would permit. First up was another early present for the girls – their own ball pit and maze to help them burn off energy while crawling around!

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Next up was the official one-year birthday party. This included something Dan had never heard of – the purchase of two “smash cakes”. As the name would imply, these are not necessarily ordered with the intention of eating them but more for letting the little ones have at them, smashing or otherwise. And of course, balloons are also part of the fun!!!

One more surprise was in store for the family. Unfortunately, they had lost their van in the wonderful Atlanta traffic a few weeks earlier (rain, night time, bad traffic = totaled van). Since the kids and their babies need a safe and reliable vehicle, we were able to help out with getting a replacement RAV4 which everyone seemed happy about.

Unfortunately, our good luck with COVID finally ran out a few days before Christmas when a family member tested positive. This put a stop to plans for Christmas eve and Christmas day which was disappointing. We had to be happy with the time and memories we had before we all had to go back to isolation. But it really was a nice holiday overall, even with all the concerns about COVID. And happily, no others tested positive so we appear to have made it thru all of 2020 safe and healthy!

And, since we had down time on Christmas day, what better thing to do than play some games, including an old favorite, “The Game of Life” board game!

The dogs enjoyed a fenced in back yard to roam and sniff, something they haven’t had since we sold our house. Although Adele seemed to settle in well, Brandy was a little bit more unsure where she should hang out…

We returned to Florida to very cold/freezing temps. Luckily, some friends at the park had turned our heat up so that no pipes would break but this, in turn, burned most of our diesel supply so that we barely had enough to get to the fuel station to refill before the next move. And that happened on January 1, when we turned Lola east, traveling about 160 miles east along the Florida panhandle. We’ll stay there for the month of January, doing more exploring along the “Forgotten Coast”.

As a wrap up for the year, here are the places we visited as well as some other pertinent facts:

• Started and ended the year in Navarre, Florida
• Spent the months of January, February, part of March, part of September, November and December in Florida
• Spent 4 months in one campground – River Vista in Dillard, Georgia
• Lola traveled a total of 1,933 miles, burning $1,331 of diesel fuel (some of this was for heating, not all due to traveling)
• Spent an additional $619 in gas for the car due mainly to long drives into Atlanta from NE Georgia for doctor visits and family
• Sixteen nights spent sleeping somewhere elsewhere than the RV (two in a hotel in Atlanta for some doctor visits, 5 nights outside Atlanta with Jill’s BFF, 9 days in VRBO rental in Cartersville for Christmas)

We are hoping that 2021 will bring back some level of normalcy (if there is such a thing). We are also hoping to make a trip west in 2021, aiming to visit New Mexico and Colorado over a 3 month period. But, that’s down the road. Still things to see and explore in Florida over the next couple of months.

Stay safe, healthy, and warm!

Jill & Dan