Winter 2006 Heading South

The good news is that the temperature here in Maryland is twice what it was in NH this morning. Bad news is that it is still only 34 degrees here and the forecast is for 4 to 6 inches of snow tomorrow. The 440 mile drive was uneventful except for traffic in Waterbury, CT. We will play it by ear tomorrow; we will see what the road situation is like and leave later in the day if needed.

We awoke to 2 inches of heavy wet snow and bright sunshine. We spent a quiet morning walking around the campground and having a leisurely breakfast. The snow was not a serious problem but our refrigerator does not work. Carl called the local RV repair place and after describing the symptoms, decided it was probably the controller board, a part that would have to be ordered. Since we didn’t want to wait in northern MD for the part , we got a cooler chest at WalMart and decided to wait until Jacksonville for repairs. We drove about 250 miles down I-95 which brought us to Emporia, VA just north of the North Carolina border. Finally we are getting away from winter.

Thermometer reads 22 degrees! So much for getting away from winter. After a brief struggle with stiff power cables and a frozen water hose, we headed further south. By 2 PM we arrived at Huntington Beach State Park, SC where it was 60 degrees. Once settled on to the site, we went for our first “Bird Walk” of the trip. The causeway in the park separates a fresh water pond from the salt marsh. It is a very rich habitat with lots of herons, egrets, ducks, including the handsome hooded mergansers and many juvenile brown pelican. We counted almost 20 different species and had a delightful walk. Although it cooled off at night, it was still warm enough for Carl to grill the tuna steaks on the barbeque.

We gathered up binoculars, bird books, cameras, tripods and some snacks and headed for a hike along the beach. Even though we could see the high rise buildings of Myrtle Beach, SC to the north, this beach was almost deserted. We hiked a couple of miles along the firm sand, stopping to admire, photograph and identify the shorebirds we saw along the way. We then walked the length of the jetty in search of purple sandpipers but the tide was too high. We spent some time wandering through the salt marsh behind the beach before heading back to the campground. We had hiked between five and six miles and were very leg weary. After lunch we stayed in to relax and catch up on photos and journaling.

We were up early to check out the birds along the causeway. We saw many of the same species as Saturday plus large groups of Tree Swallows and Greater Yellowlegs. Back to the coach for breakfast and packing and we were on the road to Folkston, GA, gateway to the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge. It was an uneventful trip with stops for lunch and at a truck wash. The coach and car were loaded with road salt from the “snow zone”. It was a long wait but the coach and car are now shiny clean. We are camped at Okefenokee Pastimes, a small campground across the street from the refuge entrance road.

We are eight miles north of the Florida border and it still got down to 34 degrees overnight. Shorts and sandals will have to wait a while longer. We drove into the refuge to look for wildlife. There are seven life birds for us that are present in winter on the refuge and we hope to see two or three, particularly the endangered Red Cockaded Woodpecker. Although we never saw the birds we were looking for, it was a wonderful, serendipitous day. After a brief tour along the wildlife drive where we saw Pied Billed Grebes, Pine Warblers and Red Headed Woodpecker, we went to the Administration building for our appointment with the Refuge Volunteer Coordinator.

We have decided that after this winter tour of the southwest and Baja California, we want to spend next winter volunteering in a National or State Park or National Wildlife Refuge. We identified several within an hour of Jacksonville and plan to visit them this winter to check them out. This was our first stop in this regard. We met with the delightful volunteer coordinator, Gracy Gooch and learned about the different roles their volunteers play in the refuge. She then took us to the volunteer village, a set of refuge owner trailers and four RV pads for volunteers with their own rigs. If we volunteer here we get to stay free with water/electric/sewer/propane and laundry. Pretty neat. Gracy mentioned they were having a pizza party and sunset cruise on the swamp that evening for all of their volunteers and she invited us to attend so we could meet and talk to other volunteers. We met five other couples who volunteer at the refuge and spent a beautiful evening out in the swamp watching the sun set and seeing the ibises, egrets and sandhill cranes fly in to roost for the night. When the boat got back to the dock, one of the couples invited us back to their motorhome for coffee. This is a beautiful place with wonderful people that is a strong contender for our next winter’s home.

We were up early for one more chance to see the Red Cockaded Woodpecker (or RCW as the staff call them). After a pleasant but unproductive walk along the boardwalk to the observation tower, we headed back to the campground to pack up and move on. Along the refuge entrance road,a a woodpecker flew in front of the car and we stopped to check it out. It was a Red Bellied Woodpecker, very nice but not the endangered one. Less than a mile further down the road, Sandy spotted another woodpecker and there it was, our first RCW. We admired it for a while as it ripped big chunks of bark from the tree. Just as this bird flew away, we heard tapping noises in a nearby tree. It was a Yellow Bellied Sapsucker to complete our woodpecker triple play.

We hit the road about eleven and drove to the RV dealer near the Jacksonville airport. The service technician took one look at the refrigerator mechanism, pointed out the yellow-green ammonia residue and declared that we needed a new cooling unit. The bad news was $1400 plus $360 labor. The good news was our extended warranty. The bad news is that for such a large claim, they want to send an inspector which will take 24-48 hours. They can probably get the repair done by next Monday or Tuesday.

We won’t be able to use our internet satellite system at Hannah Park due to the trees so today’s report is ending a little early while we are in a supermarket parking lot.