Trip Home (Early part) Nov. 3, 2008

After we left Disney World, we headed north. We stopped at a national monument named Fort Matanza. It is just south of St. Augustine, FL. We tried to see the spanish fort in St. Augustine but their parking was for cars only. We couldn't find a place for the motorhome. So, after driving very narrow streets in St. Augustine, we headed north again. We had to drive past Jacksonville, FL because the Florida gator fans and Georgia bulldog fans were coming together in their annual bash of football at the Jaguar Stadium. We drove into South Carolina and stopped at the Congeree National Park. Its 11,000 acres comprise the tallest deciduous tree forest in the world. Many were over 130 feet in the air. We walked a two mile boardwalk through the swamp. We stayed at a state park just up the road and near Columbia ,SC. The park is named Sequicentenial State Park. There were very few campers. We stayed an extra day so we could watch some NFL football. The Packer game was on because the Pack was playing the Tennessee Titans. On Monday, Nov. 3rd. We drove through a part of southwestern North Carolina into Tennessee. The colors are great. We stopped at Carl Sandburg's home in Flat Rock, NC. Then we drove through the Smoky Mountains Nat. Park. We saw snow along the side of the road leftover from last week. The Blue Ridge Parkway is still closed because of ice. Again the tree colors are really outstanding especially at the lower elevations. We are camping in Gatlinburg, TN tonight at a campground we stayed in 10 years ago, Our next stop is the Cumberland Gap. The cheapest gas I saw was $2.079 in Columbia, SC, today (11/3). Gas is higher in Tennessee.