Santa rides in on a swamp buggy.

[majorairhead]

We've been thinking about warmer weather for some time, you know, getting away from old man winter. I've moved enough snow. Ford Tractor with front end loader and 7 foot push blade, no canopy, say anywhere from 15 to 29 degrees, maybe freezing rain, maybe blowing snow, for a couple hours, uh, no thanks, not anymore.

So the goal was go south until the 'bridge freezes before road surface' signs disappear.

Towing it with a classic truck would be nice. This one's sitting on Hilton Head Island. We spent several months on the island over the past couple years. The beaches are wonderful. The traffic is horrendous.

Heck, I bet even my riding mower will 'tow' it. Just not very fast, not very far, and not for very long.

Pedro's campground, nope, not south far enough. If you've never been to Pedro's South of the Border, well, you never sausage a place!

Sitting on 95 southbound for 5 and 1/2 hours isn't a good place to park it either. Yeah, it was REAL nice having that kitchen and bath right behind us. Others stuck there thought so too. I mean, how often can you get out and walk around on Interstate 95? Think about it. Over 5 hours sitting there. Moms with infants, old folks on medications, people not prepared, no water, no bathrooms.

So we settled on a little place in Florida, with a couple palm trees, and where, lack of snow and a sleigh prompts innovation for Mr. Claus.

[jeffmc306]

Majorairhead, great post! You did you great job telling the story; I thought I was reading a Ray Eklund post (that’s a compliment).

Seems like as we get older the snow and winter is not the fun we once knew growing up. If we didn’t have the grown kids living so close we’d consider a warmer climate. Maybe sometime in the future…

[majorairhead]

Originally Posted by jeffmc306

Majorairhead, great post! You did you great job telling the story; I thought I was reading a Ray Eklund post (that’s a compliment).

Seems like as we get older the snow and winter is not the fun we once knew growing up. If we didn’t have the grown kids living so close we’d consider a warmer climate. Maybe sometime in the future…

Well thanks for the kind words!

I tell ya, I"m not used to the wildlife in Florida, being from Pennsylvania, yeah, maybe a rattlesnake, or a copperhead, but nothing like this bull.

Now, my lovely wife wanted to return to PA for the holidays, and so, I got a taste of 19 degrees this morning. We have 7 grandkids, and other family that we'll be hanging out with. They're still ok with old man winter I presume. But in my mind, I know come the first week of January, I'm heading back down 95.

Since I'm in PA, I decided to get the metal detector out. I stumbled on a little civil war activity. I presume it was Slocums contingent. My research indicates a possible slaughter site for beeves. Did ya know a full-strength division of three brigades (i.e.,12,000 men) consumed a minimum of twenty-four beeves per day? Or maybe they were doing a bit of target practice. All lead was found in an area the size of a quarter of a football field or less. It's the three 'drops' mixed in there that have me confused

And then, there was this little group of white tails scoping me out, as if they were hunting or something!

The Florida setup is sweet. We are truly blessed.

And lastly, for now, some of the best advice a towing fool could heed

[jeffmc306]

That’s really something about your Civil War find. They say an army marches on its stomach so that makes sense; 24 beeves a day for 12000 men means no one got “seconds”.

Hey, I had to Google Henry Slocum and found a dissertation you might like: "STAY AND FIGHT IT OUT': HENRY W. SLOCUM AND AMERICA'S CIVIL WAR”

I don’t know if I could get used to those critters that go bump in the night but your photo of the camp site does look great.

Enjoy and have a great holiday!