Day 1: on the road

Good morning friends and family,
Day one of our trip. There was a beautiful white dense fog lying in the low places as we set out at 6;20 a.m. The tops of some short palm trees were sticking out the fluffy layer of white. It reminded me of the Carl Sandberg poem

 "Fog"
                     
The fog comes
on little cat feet.

It sits looking
over harbor and city
on silent haunches
and then moves on.

the sun has "burned off "most  the fog

Tonight and tomorrow night we're camping near Atmore, AL at the "Magnolia Branch Wildlife Reserve (not Preserve)" which is owned by the Creek Indians.  We have a nice site by one of a dozen or so lakes.  It's amazing to sit by the lake and hear nothing, and I mean nothing except nature sounds.  Insects, geese, a frog and the gurgle of small ripples of water onto land.  We got to enjoy the sliver of a fingernail moon peek through the clouds and cast light over the wavy water.  Beautiful.

Vernon and his first wife Ruth and their young family lived in Atmore for 6 years doing 'home missions' with the Mennonite church.  Ruth had befriended 4 young Creek Indian sisters 2 of whom visited them in PA after Vernon's family moved back.

We will be visiting with a couple of the sisters and also a couple from PA who moved here permanently.  I got to see the house where they were living when Anita was born!

setting up camp

a peaceful quiet setting

We spent $135 in gas to drive 528 miles to get here -- about double what it would have cost if we were not pulling the trailer.  With the money we would have saved, we could have stayed in a motel.  But then, would we have been able to enjoy God's glorious creation?  To my way of thinking, it's worth it.  And there's always staying over night in the camper at Walmart parking lots some of the time to save money!!!

our route to Santa Clara, CA

Bradenton, FL to Atmore, AL:  528 miles