Hello from your road weary traveling quilter!
I left Columbia SC around 6:30 am and spent the day on the road, working my way south on I-26, cutting down onto I-95 and going all the way down --- Past the turn off to Hilton Head ((Oh, I have such fond memories of times spent there when I lived in SC!)) and on through Savannah…..down through the marshy terrain of South Georgia, and finally crossing into Florida.
But just because you crossed the state line, don’t think you are any closer…it was HOURS to go yet before I would reach Brandon!
And from south Georgia…a bit past Savannah….all the way past the other side of St Augustine on my way toward Orlando…I saw and smelled smoke. Lingering leftover forest fire type smoke. You know the kind? It gets in your car and doesn’t leave. And as you breathe it, it gets stuck in your nostrils and makes you sick to your stomach. If you’ve ever been around a forest fire or its aftermath, you know of what smell I’m talking about!
I took this picture as I passed Jacksonville….EVERYTHING was hazy!
This is out my side window while I was not watching…I was blindly aiming and shooting, and yes my eyes were on the road in front of me! Can you see the haze? It was an otherwise bright blue non-cloudy day!
See the hazy smoke ahead of me? This is south of Jacksonville going toward St Augustine….I left I-95 at I-4 going west toward Orlando/Tampa and left the smoke behind.
I got to my hotel around 4pm, dropped off my stuff, asked to be pointed in the direction of the nearest beach, and off I went!
I was on the beach by 5pm! Kindle in hand, sunscreen on…..water bottle by my side! THIS was worth that 9 hour drive!
Dipping my feet in to the Gulf? OH YES!! The water was perfect….I swam a bit, read a bit, closed my eyes and basked in the evening sun….a lot!
I watched children build sand castles, watched swimmers and walkers, watched birds swooping and diving, and just slowed down for the evening.
Behind us….thunder rolled in this cloud formation. I wondered how long it would be before it gathered over us and would start dumping rain….but it never did.
I found a great little Island grill for dinner…they even had live music out on the patio.
Back to the room, a shower, some unpacking, some getting ready for tomorrow’s workshop and I’m done in!
Tomorrow is another day…….this girl is headed off to bed!
Drove through the mountains of Montana a few years ago when they were ablaze. It was like driving through fog at times, the smoke was so thick. As I read your post it all came back to me--even the smell. Ahh, but those beach scenes. That would make up for it. Enjoy!!
ReplyDeleteEnjoy! I lived in the Brandon area for a few years when the boys were in middle school. Tampa -- on the water -- is one area I've told Keith I'd move back to! We'll be in Cocoa Beach the week of the 4th, I can't wait wait to get back to the beach.
ReplyDeleteI Love how you take us traveling with you! Sometimes I miss those East Coast beaches! Of course now I have the Mediterranean! Have a graet time!
ReplyDeleteHadassah
Oh, how I love and miss the beach. Wonderful to see your toes in the sea! Would love to be dipping mine and to just be relaxing, reading and being near the sea. Have a wonderful and safe trip.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, can you post where you got the foundations for the paper-pieced blocks you did a while back?
ReplyDeleteAnd I'm jealous...today in Germany it's only going to be in the 60s and cloudy/rainy all day.
Glad you had a safe trip. Can't wait until tomorrow when you select me to win the Australian quilt magazine.
ReplyDeleteJudy
jc469273@gmail.com
Yay you made it!! Glad you were able to catch some rays at the beach.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the preview of the weather conditions in the Florida area. My family and I are driving to the St Augustine area and then to Orlando for a vacation next week. Glad you had a safe uneventful drive South. The beach looked wonderful.
ReplyDeleteOh Bonnie, you do have the life! What I wouldn't give to travel and do what I love to do, but the icing on the cake is the beach! I've only been to the ocean once in my 50 years of life and, oh, how I yearn to go back! The place you ate sounds so nice too. I'm wondering how you ever get time to sew, lol! I've read about you sewing in hotel rooms though so maybe that's how! Have a great time and I hope you get more time on that beach after your workshop!
ReplyDeleteOOOooo...reading that was F-U-N! I love going to the ocean and you captured it in words as best could be done. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteLucy~
Glad that you made it, and it looks like it was well
ReplyDeleteworth the trip. What a way to end the day, thanks
for sharing.
I lived in Florida for 13 years......I do miss its fantastic collection of beautiful beaches.
ReplyDeleteYou are lucky you didn't have to drive through one of the famous afternoon downpours that only Florida can deliver.
Have a great time spreading your joyful quilting teaching on those lucky ladies!
Hey have you ever had a man come to a workshop to sew?
Happy Sewing and safe travels
Glad you got some beach time...well deserved!
ReplyDeleteAh, the sunny beaches of Florida! We had planned to get down to Florida for a vacation, but looks like that's not going to happen this year....maybe next year. In the meantime, thanks for sharing your beach trip with us. It's almost as good as being there! Have fun in your workshops!
ReplyDeleteLook at those tootsies in the water...have fun, Bonnie!!
ReplyDeleteGood looking beach scenery, but I'll match your Florida beach to our Michigan beaches any time. I think ours are the best and we don't have any jelly fish or sharks to contend with!!!
ReplyDeleteHave a great time!
PS - I would love to see the finished paper piecing project and a hint on where to get the pattern.
Jeanne
jlgrabowski@gmail.com
I live in Albuquerque, NM and we are getting smoke rolling in from the fires in AZ. I just stay inside for that. Loved your beach pictures, the perfect way to unwind after a long day of driving. Enjoy your workshop!
ReplyDeleteI live in Albuquerque, NM and we are getting smoke rolling in from the fires in AZ. I just stay inside for that. Loved your beach pictures, the perfect way to unwind after a long day of driving. Enjoy your workshop!
ReplyDeleteThe smoke was from here, I'll bet:
ReplyDeletehttp://chronicle.augusta.com/news/metro/2011-06-09/smoke-wildfires-seen-area?v=1307668245
Ahhhh, a great way to unwind after such a long drive. After days of gloom, chill and rain, it's finally a perfect day here today. But, alas, no beach!!
ReplyDeleteIt looks perfectly delightful.
ReplyDeleteThere is nothing like getting to your destination after a long trip, looks like heaven. We have rain, so fun outdoors, this weekend.
ReplyDeleteDebbie
What a great way to end a long day's drive!
ReplyDeleteRe: fires. Years ago,DH and I drove for miles down a FL highway one evening with flames raging through the trees on both sides of the road all the way --and not a sign of fire fighters/equip anywhere. Very little traffic. It would have been the opposite in fire prone N. CA, where we grew up. It seemed very strange and other worldly to us at the time.
HOpe you have a wonderful trip!
Thanks for a great post. I live in NE, hundreds and hundreds of miles from any ocean beach, so I took a little cyber vacation via your photos. Enjoy your trip.
ReplyDeleteLeAnn aka pasqueflower
http://pasqueflowerponderings.blogspot.com
The beach after a long drive... Yes, Yes, Yes, a thousand times Yes, to make up for the fatigue and bad smoky smell of the trip. Lucky you !
ReplyDelete