Tom and I got a late start to Georgia, but we finally made it on January 9.  It was one of our easiest trips down.  By leaving a week later than usual, we didn’t get stuck in the usual awful traffic jam going from South Carolina to Georgia on I-95.  We missed all the snowbirds heading south the first week of January.  I’m not saying anything bad about snowbirds – we are snowbirds ourselves since we retired – but there are a lot of them heading south all at once.

We left Ohio after the big cold and storms of Christmas.  The roads were good, for the most part.  We did encounter an ice storm on our first day, which made us a little nervous.  As we climbed to the top of the Blue Ridge in Virginia on I-77, we could see the ice droplets on the trees.  By the time we got to the top of the mountain, the ice was clinging to the grass.  Fortunately the road had enough traffic that it was staying dry.  We were glad to get to the bottom of the mountain with temperatures above freezing.

Statesville KOA in North Carolina is the place we always stay when we head down to Georgia.  It is a good enough campground, convenient to the interstate.  A pleasant surprise awaited us when we got there:  the entire campground has been renovated.  All the roads are redone and widened.  All the sites had new asphalt and were more level than they had been.  When Tom mentioned the dip in our usual spot, they put us in one of the large, very level sites at the top of the hill.  By heading south a week later, the campground wasn’t nearly as crowded.  And the price was only $8 more per night with all the upgrades.

As we continued our drive to Georgia, we were reminded of why we come here every year.  The temperature increased every hour and it grew increasingly sunny.  We don’t come because we like Fort Frederica so very much: we come because the weather is so beautiful.  Since we arrived, most days have been in the 60’s or 70’s and it has only rained on Sundays.  The rest of the days are gorgeous with as much blue sky as we could want.  The azaleas are blooming in the gardens and we take a long walk on the beach every week.  The rest of the time we enjoy the sun setting through the Spanish Moss over the Frederica River and the marsh.

Although I am only getting around to writing about Georgia now, we have been here for a month.  Every day when I walk around the park, I am thankful for the blessing of this beautiful place.  It is a joy to be here and I am not taking any of it for granted.