Stop #2: Bald Ridge Creek Campground

On Memorial Day, we checked in to Bald Ridge Creek Campground on Lake Lanier in Georgia. This is definitely the most beautiful campground we have stayed in to date. Our site was right on the lake and the boys wanted to go swimming immediately. Our friends, Sandy and Imelda joined us for some ribs and burgers on the grill. That evening, we enjoyed the serenity of the park and met some new folks on the site next to us. It is so cool how we meet great people everytime we camp. That would not happen in a hotel. We had a curfew of 10:30 pm at the park which was funny. They actually lock the front gate and no one gets in or out unless there is an emergency during the night. No Braves game for The Ham family :(

The next morning we had visitors behind our camper. 10 baby ducks and their mom were wanting some food. All I had handy was some animal crackers which they loved. SamBob and Wesley fed them in their pajamas.

After Jason Jr and Nathan finished their school lessons on Wednesday, we went for a visit to Inspirational Smiles which is the dental practice of Imelda Crews DDS. It is located in the downtown, historic area of Cumming. (shameless plug)  We couldn't hang out inside for long since we have four rowdy boys that need to run around and be loud. At lunch time, we all walked to a local authentic italian restaurant a block away. Everything was yummy! SamBob especially liked the big pizza and the spaghetti. 

 

Our last night in Georgia was spent hanging out with Sandy and Imelda at the campground. After dinner, we went for a hike and enjoyed some quality adult time skipping rocks on the lake shore. Obviously an invaluable skill I didn't learn as a child! Jason and Sandy challenged each other and Jason was the winner with 9 skips. Imelda and I could only manage to get two in. Thanks for showing us that you are never too old to skip rocks!

Thursday morning came way to soon! It was time to pack up and move on in our adventure. We are on the road again and headed for Nashville, TN.

KABOOM!

Once we hit I75 into Georgia, we blew a trailer tire without warning. The damage was significant. We were pretty 
disappointed since we had planned to trade the 5th wheel 
in on a motorhome soon. Jason put the spare tire on and 
we got on the road again. Fearing that all tire and auto 
places would be closed on Memorial Day, we stopped at 
a Walmart to get another tire mounted. It was 6:08 pm 
and they didn't want to help since the auto center was 
supposed to close at 6:00 pm.








Driving carefully for the rest of the way, we finally made it to Atlanta around 10:45 pm. The state park was closed so we stayed at Sandy and Imelda's place.
As expected, the tire and auto places were all closed. No repairs being done today either.

Stop #1: Beverly Beach Camptown

We pulled in to the campground around 8:00 pm. Everyone was exhausted from the stress of packing and the long ride to the campground.  Friday morning everyone was up early for beach time. Jason and Nathan had to do a few school lessons first which didn't go over well.  Being residents of Florida, you would think we would know to reapply sunscreen. SamBob got the worst of the burn. That evening, we took a trip to Sally's Ice Cream which is our favorite place to go in Flagler Beach. The boys decided to wear their ice cream as usual.




 

Saturday was pretty much a repeat of 

Friday except the wind really picked up 

due to tropical storm, Beryl off the coast. 

We enjoyed an outdoor potluck dinner 

with The Meredith and Ramirez families 

despite the weather. It turned out to be a 

beautiful evening after all. That evening

the kids flew kites, rode bikes and walked 

on the beach looking for crabs.

 

Since the path of Beryl was so unpredictable, we decided to leave a day early

 on Sunday. We said our goodbyes and headed north....

You want to do what?

Many of our friends and family have heard by now that our family has embarked on a long road trip in the camper. It started a few weeks ago with Jason dropping subtle hints about leaving for the Summer. I quickly dismissed them as crazy talk. Then came our State Championship weekend of BMX which meant non-stop racing mode for our boys and team FORTRESS RACING. Our boys did great, all placing in the top 5 for their age/class.
 SamBob was definitely the star of the show getting a perfect in his races for the day and securing his first place position for the State Season in the 5 and under Novice class.

On Monday morning May 21st, Jason informed me that we were leaving on Thursday for Memorial Day weekend and not returning until the end of the Summer vacation. Me, being the planning type immediately went into panic mode thinking of all the stuff that had to go with us and all the things that had to be wrapped up before we could leave. I was in tears before the end of the day!

A list was made and items were repaired, purchased, cleaned, packed, etc... I quickly came to realize this was reality! 3 months in a 28' fifth wheel with my family, no house, no minivan, no fenced-in yard, no washer/dryer, school on the road, a very small selection of clothes and all of us in about 300 square feet. We had just reduced our living space by about 2700!

Our goal was to leave by 3 pm on Thursday which quickly came and went. There were so many "little" things that had to be taken care of. By 5 pm, we pulled out saying  temporary goodbyes to our friends and family. We closed the gate behind us and all I could say was "I think I'm gonna throw up".....