And so it begins again!

Past editions of the Dispatch

Welcome to the 2016 Dispatch from the Road. This is the fourth year of the Dispatch in it's present form. Before Blogspot.com it was posted for one year on GetJealious.com. It had become a blog after its inception as an email newsletter, who's purpose was to let my family know I was alive as I'm not much for talking on the phone. Slowly the distribution list of the email Dispatch grew to include friends and people I met while out on the road.

After the second or third time Millie and I crossed paths on the beach I got up the nerve to ask for her email address and she became a recipient of the Dispatch. For a year or so we got to know each other thru emails, yes we started out as an internet friendship. I still had a house in Maryland to tend to when I wasn't wandering the roads. Millie lived in Myrtle Beach but always seemed to be at her daughters in New Mexico when I passed through town. By the time we got to spend some time together we were well acquainted and it didn't take long for our friendship to evolve into the love we share today.

Nowadays Millie and I write mostly for ourselves; that's not to say we don't like sharing our travels with you all, we hope you enjoy traveling along with us. Since going to blog format we've had each year printed into a hardback book. We enjoy looking back on our adventures and frequently use them as a reference when trying to recall a particular location or RV Park.

So here we are, it's January 2016 and we're starting what will be the fifth book in the Dispatch series. The coming year promises some exciting adventure for us and hopefully some interesting reading.

Our two day Journey from Myrtle Beach to Titusville Florida

December 31 2015

The past couple years we haven't left Myrtle Beach until the middle of January and both years I regretted the late departure when the weather got cold. This year we had a site reserved for the month of January so we left at the end of December with temperatures at home in the 80's. I guess that's nothing to complain about, especially with my dislike of the cold.

We drove state road 17 south out of Myrtle Beach and didn't get on the interstate highway until near the Georgia border. Highway 17 is a relaxed mostly four lane route through the South Carolina Low Country. The only congested area is Charleston but there is a beltway that goes around the north side of the city. Like beltways everywhere it is a few miles longer than the route through the city, in this case 18 vs 12.5 miles. I've traveled both routes many times, but never taken a stance on a preferred route. I was thinking about this as I neared the city and decided to stay on 17 so I could count traffic signals. There are twenty five signals between the entrances of the 526 beltway. The signals plus reduced speeds of mostly 35-45mph with some areas as low as 25mph are a compelling reason to take bypass. The only reason to take the city road is there are many stores and eating places but nowhere to park an RV so none of that does me any good. Plus taking the beltway eliminates 25 chances of having to brake hard for a fast changing light and/or getting hit in one of those intersections.

Going south in eastern Georgia means driving on I-95, there simply is no good local route. The good news is Georgia did it right; three lanes in each direction, pretty near perfectly flat and it does not pass through any city's. I don't ever remember being in a traffic tie up when traversing Georgia on I-95.

We got a call from Wayne and Mary Ann Wingard today, they are Chrysler retirees and RV'ers. They are in Florida on their way to the Keys for three weeks. They have to go home to Delaware at the end of the month so we will not cross paths this year. Hope to see them when we pass through Delaware this summer.

The Florida Welcome Center on I-95

The Florida Georgia line is about 300 miles from Myrtle Beach and about as far as we planned on going on our first day. All the reasonably priced campgrounds were full with snowbirds traveling south for winter so we decided to stay at the Florida Welcome Center. It is posted with signs prohibiting overnight parking but I had been told they don't enforce it. Just to be sure I asked at the information desk and was told it was OK to stay over. I slept pretty well, Millie was awoken by trucks and RV's coming and going all through the night.

Our home for the month of January

January 1 2016 Happy New Year!

On New Years day we drove the remaining 170+/- miles to our destination, Manatee Hammock county park and campground near Titusville. We first visited this campground last year when we delivered an aerial rocket to a friend who lives near here. For the uninitiated, I had in my possession a military rocket for about forty years. I must omit some details but the rocket had been deactivated and converted into a floor lamp. It stood next to the drafting table in my shop all those years, a few of you have seen it there. 

"C"  model gunship like the one I flew on in Southeast Asia

I gave it to a local VFW when I left Maryland, but when the club unexpectedly closed my son got the rocket back and delivered it to me in South Carolina. My friend and 195^th Assault Helicopter Company alumni who lives in Cocoa found a suitable home for it in the Merritt Island Veterans Center Museum. It was on that delivery mission that we stayed at Manatee Hammock. We liked the park and it's location on the Banana River across from the Cape Canaveral Space Center and reserved a site for January 2016 and here we are.

Our site in Manatee Hammock CG

We've been here for two days and are settling in. Most of the campground is under a canopy of Oak and Palm trees, but our site is in a partial clearing. This gives us some sunlight, which is desirable in the winter months. It's also on a corner which provides a little more room between RV's. We really only have one neighbor, to our left which is our blind side. 

The waterfront at the campground

Maggie is still a little insecure about our new location and is staying close to Millie and I. She'll settle down and soon will think she's the mayor of Manatee Hammock. We miss Dixie, she would have run off all the squirrels by now and from her dashboard post would be barking at every dog that walked by but that would be ok. We've found the Camper World store, the Big Lots store and Little Caesars Pizza, life is good!

campground map

Just the facts.

Mileage at beginning of 2016's adventure=70549

Fuel=70879, Kingsland Georgia, 12/31/2015, 46.575 gal, $1.93, total $90.31

Manatee Hammock site cost for month of January=$604.89

Total miles Myrtle Beach to Manatee Hammock=500 miles