Sleepin' with the Boomers!

Evenin' Campers! It's me, Silver Cliche' again and back on the road with you tonight from Crooked River State Park in St. Mary's, Georgia.

Normally, I send out this e-mail a few days before we hit the road and let you all know to be on the lookout for posts to start nightly at our usual home on blogspot (http://silvercliche.blogspot.com) and pictures at our site on Flickr (https://www.flickr.com/photos/131457232@N02/ ). Those sites are active and if you missed any posts or pics from our trip to Arizona and Utah in April-June you can find them there. However, this email isn't an alert, it's my first post from the road on our latest adventure. Why? That's easy... after 7 weeks on the road ending in early June we had a whirlwind time in Florida including catching up with maintenance on houses and vehicles, getting reacquainted with our volunteer ventures at the VNA/Hospice and the Red Cross and most significantly a visit from our daughter and her three great kids from Maryland. That meant that for two weeks we had all five "grands" in Vero Beach. The oldest two guys even used the Airstream as their club house and bunk house. We celebrated the 7th birthday of our one and only granddaughter the night before the crew returned to Maryland. Here's a shot that's worth 5 grand to me from that night:

Anyway, after that we had three days to prep the house and trailer and keep our schedule to depart today. That's normally a week or more of work so guess who didn't have time to send the customary "get ready" email. Who knows, this approach might actually work better.

This trip is a lot different from the last one. There are no canyons on the itinerary, no Navajo sandstone features, no Native American ruins and no snow. Instead we are moving at a quick pace to get to Maryland. While there we will get more grand kid time and help our daughter with some decorating projects. After that, another first, we're bringing a grand kid on the road with us. No, not any of the three Marylanders on the left side of the pic above. I'm flying back to Florida, meeting the guy on the far right at the airport and flying back with him to Baltimore. He will join us for the trip home to Florida.

The first stop of the trip is tonight at St. Mary's, Georgia. "Where's that?" you ask? Well, if you were in Florida and heading north on I-95 and you said "I want to be out of Florida... get me to the first State Park I can reach" you'd be here at Crooked River State Park. The Florida state line is just a few miles south of us. However, between here and there is a national asset many of you have never heard of. The US Naval Submarine Base at King's Bay, Georgia. It's just a few miles downstream from where we are camped on Fancy Bluff Creek. Here's a view of the Creek immediately behind our campsite which is in a stand of mature Georgia pine trees:

The mission of Kings Bay is simple. This is where the strategic ballistic missile submarines of the Atlantic fleet call home. In today's Navy these are Ohio class subs which are 600+ feet long with a crew of 100 and something and head out from here to perform their "deterrent patrols" in whatever patch of ocean they choose. Each carries enough nuclear firepower to send a strong message by return mail to anyone who chooses to send the US their calling card. Of course, this mission means there are plenty of the world's most powerful weapons just down the road. It also means that any government who subscribes to the "MAD" doctrine (Mutually Assured Destruction) in which any nuclear attack would be met with an even stronger nuclear response has weapons targeted at this place. If through some amazing combination of a nuclear accident and poor timing on our part there was a nuclear release tonight you could certainly say "At least they didn't have time to suffer".

The beauty of this place as shown in the pic above is not diminished in any way by the presence of this vital and deadly mission just a few miles away.

After our stop in Maryland we will make a side trip to Pennsylvania to visit my parents. Stopping to visit family and friends has become a favorite activity for us on these trips. This one is overdue since "the folks" have followed us along on each trip. Plus, we are the guests who bring their own guest house... what could be easier?

When our northern business is done we will start to trip back to the Southland. With an active 10 year old on board we are carrying extra amusements this trip. In addition to the x-box we've got puzzles, games, reading material for the younger reader and two bicycles. Although those are mine and his, they are really for Mrs. C' who I suspect will say at least once "My bike isn't here, but why don't you boys go for a ride and I'll stay here at the trailer".

So, that's it. I'll post this one on Blogspot and the river sunset pic on Flicker. Starting tomorrow I'll just post the day's activities and not send an e-mail every day. I hope you'll follow along with us!

Later!

SC'