Light Chaser

On the Road again

After about 5 weeks in Tallahassee with the grandkids, we are off again!

Farewell Johnson clan! We had so much fun with all of you!

Fort Pickens State Park (February 3 to 9) On the Gulf Island National Seashore near Pensacola

We were on an island sandwiched between a bay on one side and the gulf on the other side. We loved the beautiful white sand beach and enjoyed some invigorating walks!

When I walk past places like this, I think gators 🐊 😳

Rugged coastal terrain has its own beauty.

We saw a lot of these nests-maybe an osprey nest. 🤔

Just walking along the trail anticipating that first glimpse of the water!

Look. That’s Pensacola over there across the bay.

Almost at the gulf beach. You can just see the sparking water in the distance and the helicopter flying by in the center of the photo.

Lots of Pelicans flying by in flocks, but we only caught this loner flying low.

“Me and my shadow are loving this gulf coast experience!

I picked up this water bottle in North Wales PA. It too is enjoying seeing the USA. It also reminds me of my gracious hosts in PA back in July. Thanks Mark and Heather!

Always ready for a yummy lunch back at camp!

We are experiencing some great thunderstorms! Sunny always shakes in fear as the thunder rumbles. He wants to be close to us, so here he is getting some lap time with Roger.

Roger holding down the Fort! Love the alien looking shadow. 😊

Goodbye Fort Pickens!

New Years Fireworks

We took the two oldest boys to watch the early fireworks! In Oregon we could celebrate New Year’s Eve on New York time and go to bed early. Guess we went to bed early anyway, We just had no excuse!🤔

The fireworks were short and sweet!

This Christmas we decided to give each of the kids a special day with Roger and I instead of more stuff. It seems important to build relationships and create good memories. They were all so excited to have their special date with us! We love our grandchildren!

Eamon’s Christmas gift Trip to Challenger Museum

We saw three different fun planetarium shows. In two of them we were the only ones at the show.Notice Eamon’s silhouette with constellations in the background.

Super delicious burger for first born grandson!

Star Wars in the IMAX theater!

G-Top says to do something fun so here we are! ( Don’t you love my pink cast?)

Myra’s Christmas gift Trip to the Gulf Specimen Aquarium

We had a quick lunch before our trip to the aquarium.

Be careful of this gators teeth, Myra Girl!

Fun touching these little critters!

Remember thatvsome tanks are looking tanks. Don’t put your fingers in the water.😳

One last pretend animal ride before getting back in the car to head home.

Thor’s Christmas gifts Outing to Lake Ella to Feed the Ducks

We waited until after nap time to let Thor know that it was his turn to go on an adventure! Smart grown ups!!!!!!!

Just a little excitement here!😊

This little 2 year old is Off and running!

Come on G-Top and G-Mom! Can’t you keep up with me?

Humm🤔! Do you think I can climb this tree?

Yay! I did it! Let’s do it again! (“G-top, G-mom doesn’t like this!”)

Knox’s Christmas Trip to Wakulla Springs State Park for a jungle cruise.

Here we go! The trail starts here. Walking stick #1 of about 5.

Oh my! The Creature From the Black Lagoon was filmed here!

Wakulla Springs lodge built in 1937. Yes, there are gators in there.

The jungle cruise begins. Looking for those gators. 🐊

Hello Mr. Manatee! Thanks for poking your cute little face up to say hello!

Loved cruising along the river listening to all the jungle sounds! Tarzan was filmed here back in the 50’s.

Whoa! Look at that gator swimming across the river!

Another gator soaking up the warm sunshine! Knox and G-top say the gator count was 47!

Eamon’s 5 Day Adventure With G-Top

Eamon practiced his cursive on the driveway with the pressure washer.

Light Chaser nestled in amongst the trees at Little Talbot. We stayed here on the way to Tallahassee and then Eamon and G-Top stayed here too!

Eamon learning to play scrabble with G-Top.

Eamon trying out G-Top’s metal detector!

Taking the ferry across the river to eat lunch at Safe Harbor. Eamon ordered gator bites.🐊 😳. He says now that’s his favorite seafood.

There was so much to see at Kennedy Space Center on Cape Canaveral.

Thanks Eamon for sharing such a fun time with your G-Top!

Christmas in Tallahassee with the Family

Love these g-kids! 💕 Lots of reading time with G-Top and G-mom!

There was fierce competition in this family game of Risk!

Mission Control we have the final countdown for liftoff —-Five-Four-Three-Two-One! It is a successful launch! Way to go future NASA engineer.

After a very competitive gingerbread house building competition, the partners eagerly await the judges final decision.

It’s Christmas Eve and time to take a look at what’s in those Christmas stockings.

Okay…open the stockings!

Best Christmas Present Ever

Jackie and I slept in the living room on Christmas Eve. Sarah was in active labor and planning a home birth. We were eagerly awaiting the midwife’s invitation to come into the room and participate in the birth Early Christmas morning, with tears in our eyes, we joyfully welcomed baby boy Johnson!

(I was thrilled when the midwife asked if I wanted to catch the baby. What an awesome experience to meet this little guy and hand him to his mama! ) The midwife later called me a “Thatcher Catcher!”)

Welcome beautiful boy!
Thatcher Simeon Johnson
9 pounds 5 ounces

Christmas morning the 4 oldest grandkids get to meet their new baby brother!

Nice work mama Sarah! You and the baby are looking good!💕

We are adoring this beautiful Christmas miracle!Little Thor is cutely photo bombing the picture!

Little Thatcher says, “ G-Top, I hear you tell great stories. I’m a little tired right now from that whole ordeal of being born, but save a good story for me. Okay?”

Thor man is busy playing with his cars. He is a delightful little two-year old!

Beautiful Myra full of Christmas energy!

Myra playing Mary and “reading” the Christmas story!

Uh oh! I blocked the soccer goal but lost my balance! Ouch for my wrist!

I got to choose my cast colors. I chose pink for Myra and yellow for Thor—their favorite colors!

I get to enjoy this beautiful little boy in spite of my broken wrist!

The annual Johnson hula hoop competition was a fun and competitive event!

First was the timed event. Who can keep that hoop going for the longest time?

Go G-Mom with the broken wrist!

Not too bad G-Top!

Gold, silver and bronze medalists! Minus Tatcher of course!

The second event was the most artistic performance with the hoola hoop.

Way to go Knox! Looking good!

Sarah draws the others in to enhance her artistic routine. You go Sarah! Wait! Didn’t you just have a baby??

Around the neck with Eamon.

Nice try Darren!

Dancing Myra makes a good showing!

G-Top surprises us all with his sultry routine!
😳

Jeanie responds inviting Roger to participate in her routine!😁

It was a very full and wonderful Christmas here at the Johnsons. Our Christmas presents to each of the grand kids was a unique special day adventure with G-Top and G-Mom. We are excited to spend individual time with these beautiful children!

Little Talbot State Park Florida

This was our last camping site before returning to Tallahassee for Christmas with family.😊

We loved this beautiful park with lots of private campsites. Our Alto is cutely nestled in among the tropical foliage. (A first experience for our alto)

Ah, the sound of seagulls, crashing waves and the fresh salty air! Love the beach! Poor Sunny was banned from this beach!😞

Kingsley Platation

This plantation had a very interesting history. An African princess was captured by slave traders and she ended up here at this plantation. She eventually became Mr. Kingsley favored wife and had responsibilities running the household and supervising the work of other enslaved people.

Slave quarters lined up in a circular formation
intentionally like houses in an African village. (In
our travels down the southeastern coast, we’ve been more exposed to the history of slavery in our country. It is hard to imagine what it was like to be snatched from your home and then endure the cruel ship transport across the ocean
only to be bought and sold like cattle. Thinking about the loss of freedom, the humiliation and cruelty endured is really heart wrenching! The stories of endurance and bravery by enslaved people remind us that there is dignity in the human spirit that can’t be taken away by the cruelty of others.)

Beautiful walk around the Little Talbot Park.

The Spanish Moss creates an exotic jungle atmosphere.

Following a recommendation for a great place to eat, we hopped on a ferry to cross the river. To take our vehicle would have cost us 16 dollars. To walk on it was only a dollar each. Guess which one we opted for?

We made it to the other side of the river!

Safe Harbor Restaurant was only a 10 minute walk from the ferry.

Waiting for a very fresh delicious seafood meal! 👍

Next stop: Tallahassee for Christmas!💕

Ellabell Georgia

This was our second HipCamp experience. We had a relaxing quiet spot on someone’s property. We didn’t spend a lot of time at camp, but it was a very convenient spot for a couple of trips into Savannah.

Eating an Italian theme lunch and sampling our Savannah blueberry cider.

Savannah Georgia

Savannah is another beautiful southern city full of history. I love the many park squares located throughout the city. We visited Savannah a few times with our daughter, Sarah, when our son-in-law was stationed near here at Fort Stewart. It was fun to revisit some places that were full of good memories.

Forsyth Park

Historic Monuments

Statue of John Westley. His American ministry was here in The Georgia Colony.

Statue of Haitian soldiers who fought with the colonies against the British in the American Revolutionary War.

Interesting history on the young drummer boy represented in this statue and his rise to kingship (See plaque below).

Historic Buildings

We thought this bridge over the stairway was very interesting and unique.

Food and Fun

Breakfast at Two Cracked Eggs Restaurant.

We were looking out the window of the restaurant when suddenly the view was blocked by this HUGE cargo ship!

Christmas at the Cathedral

Saint John the Baptist Cathedral

A Feast for the eyes! The architecture, stained glass, and paintings were stunning!

We happened to be in Savannah the day of this musical cantata. The church was full of people and the choir and orchestra music was moving. We were delighted when we had the opportunity to join in singing familiar Christmas carols.

We were happy to get a seat for the music program in this very full house!

Savannah gets a thumbs up!👍

Edisto Island SC

Here is LightChaser nestled in amongst the trees.

We had easy beach access on this path right next to us. The beach was a wonderful walking beach.

I love looking out at the ocean and the beautiful clouds and breathing in that salty ocean air!

My husband is the best! Almost always hands me my morning cup of coffee in bed!

All Things Whaley

Whaley’s Market Restaurant was recommended to us as a local place to eat by Ali Wimberly. How could we not give that a try?

We passed Whaley Street on the way to the restaurant. Sunny is not impressed!

Had to take a picture of this handsome Whaley before going inside.

Couldn’t resist buying Whaley t-shirts!

Botany Bay Plantation

Beautiful oaks line the entryway to this historic plantation.

We took a half hour walk out to a Barrier Island with front beach. The beach is decreasing every year just like many other places.

Taking time to enjoy this unique rugged beauty.

The beach was wild looking with so many jagged uprooted trees sticking out of the water.

After walking to the beach, we explored some of the old buildings still standing.

An old brick well with bricks made by slave children since the adults were needed for farm labor. 😢

Amazing that so many decades later some of the bricks shows signs of the children’s fingerprints.😢 it is sobering for Roger and I when we get in touch with some of the more horrible aspects of our great country’s history. It is hard to imagine what these poor enslaved children had to endure.

Charleston SC

Charleston was just 30 minutes from our cool Camp On The Creek spot we mentioned in our last post. We both enjoyed the history in Charleston, but especially Roger, for instance, who gets so excited standing in front of a house where George Washington dined.

Fort Sumter

We took a ferry boat ride out to this historic fort where the first Civil War shots were fired.

We were at the fort at the end of the day and Roger was quick to volunteer to participate in the flag lowering ceremony.

Lots to See in Charleston

Cool painting on the side of a building.

Love the old buildings and history here in Charleston.

Roger contemplating all the history of this city.

Hayward Washington House. George Washington dined here on a visit to Charleston.

We spent a long time in this old cemetery reading the very old dates and tributes on the tombstones of those buried here.

We couldn’t help but remember our little Russell as we looked at this gravesite for Little Robbie.😢

This is the oldest liquor store in the USA—established in 1686.

The beautiful and famous Pineapple Fountain.

We love to eat outdoors whenever we can.

Having fun together in Charleston.

We give Charleston a thumbs up.👍

Camp by the Creek Wadmalaw Island SC

This was our first HipCamp experience, and it was a good one! HipCamp is like Airbnb for camping. We weren’t sure what to expect but we loved our spot by the water and the pier stretching a long way out over the beautiful saltwater marsh.

Sunny made a new friend, Stella. They had fun chasing each other around the property.

We never tire of beautiful sunrises! I love being awake early enough to embrace the beauty of a new day! Awake, but not necessarily up. The windows in Light Chaser allow me the luxury of taking in a sunrise while drinking my coffee in bed. Coffee brought to me of course, by none other than Mr. Whaley! 💕

We love the wonderful reflections we get in our Alto windows. Isn’t that pretty?

Days are short and dinner and dishes are often done in the dark!

We made some new friends and enjoyed our last night chatting around the campfire. Our host said that Roger had passed the “hip test”. We are hip enough and welcome back anytime.😀

Angel Tree

Just down the road from our Hip Camp was an amazing 400 year old tree (Roger says to make sure to say that this tree is a Southern Live Oak)We stopped to see this on our way to our next camp, so we had our Alto with us. Lots of other people we’re waiting for the gates to open. Many were curious about our Alto. We got in to enjoyably conversations with a number of people which was quite fun!

If there is a tree worth seeing, Roger always wants to stop!

Meeting new friends and answering questions. About a dozen people stopped to see our Light Chaser.

Huntington Beach State Park SC

We really enjoyed this beautiful state park with easy beach access. The beach here is beautiful and wonderful for long walks. There are not many people on the beach this time of year, so we could let Sunny run like the wind!

Didn’t see any gators, but it looks like gator territory.

One of our friends referred to Sundance as “a snack on a leash!” 😳 We kept our canine traveling companion close by our side when walking on this path!

We love to watch Sunny run! We have him sit and stay and then we walk a long distance. We then give him the release command and he is off and running towards us….(Watch how far we have walked away from him by how long it takes for him to come into camera view!)

We really enjoyed the interesting terrain on a hike we took near the campground.

I reconnected with a friend from college. It’s been almost 50 years!😳 She lives a half hour from the Huntington Beach Campground and made the drive to see us! Pert and Kathy were our first sit down guests in our Alto. It was cozy but we fit at our little table to catch up on decades of life. We continued our conversation during dinner out at the Dead Dog Restaurant. Great choice Kathy!

Smiling faces at The Dead Dog! I love reconnecting with old friends.💕

Thanks Pert for taking these pictures of Roger, Sunny and I in our Alto.

The quilt in the background was made by our good friend Alta. We love carrying something with us to remind us of all the time we shared with her before she passed.