Florida In Two Days!

It was a chilly night in Ashland, Virginia. When we awoke this morning, there was also the excitement of snow. A couple of inches, which we did not expect, had fallen overnight. It was also in the mid-teens when we got up. They don't really do much plowing or salting in the parking lots and side streets in Viginia, so it was a bit of a slippery start.

After a stop at the local Starbucks, a couple of blocks away, and a fuel stop (where the temperature sign said 17 degrees), we were back on I-95 heading south. The road was just a bit wet but we still saw a car being towed off the side of the highway. It appears that they do salt the interstates in Virginia. We'd noticed a sign on I-95 last night about construction in Richmond. The manager at the Cracker Barrel where we'd spent the night confirmed that they were rebuilding bridges on I-95 through the city, so we took the recommended detour, I-295, which avoids both Richmond and Petersburg, but only adds a few miles and there was no traffic. The snow line seemed to end at about Richmond and the highway was clear and dry from there. We were out of Virginia pretty quickly.

After stopping at the North Carolina Welcome Center for breakfast (breakfast in Speedy, not the Welcome Center), Ellen took over for the drive through North Carolina. We had lunch at the South Carolina border and swapped drivers again. Finally it was getting warmer, probably in the 50s.

By the time we reached the Georgia border and Ellen took over again, it was pretty obvious that we were going to make it to Florida today. After about an hours drive through Georgia, I took the wheel and we arrived at Fort Clinch State Park on Amelia Island at 7 PM ... but the gates were closed and locked. The park closes at sundown.

I found that I could walk around the gate and I noticed lights on up the park road at the entrance station. I walked up and, fortunately, a ranger was still there. I explained our late arrival and he gave me the key code to open the gate, checked us in and sent us on our way to the campground. If we'd been even a half-hour later, he wouldn't have been there.

After a quick dinner in Speedy and writing this journal entry, it's time to call it a night.