Spoffords Travel

October 25, 2023 Day 18 Thomasville Georgia 72.6 miles

Another partially cloudy day. We have a short driving day today. No rain overnight so that is good.

Most of the way to the first stop was roads we covered yesterday. In some ways that helps. Our first stop today is the Four Corners Cotton Gin. They only had one tour guide and he was late. Not a good start. Luckily we were in the first group. This plant is where they bring in the cotton from the field and remove the debris and then bale it in smaller bales to be stored for about one year. Then it is taken to the thread makers. The removed debris is made into cottonseed oil, cotton meal and other things. The cotton meal is fed to cattle. They really like that. The processing plant is extremely noisy due to the many machines. They charge $100 an acre to cut and bale the cotton. To extract the debris cost $0.06 per pound. Some of the fields look whiter because they have most likely been irrigated. The company also processes peanuts in another corner of the property. We didn’t see that process. The brown bales that we saw yesterday are the remains of the peanut plants after they are harvested. It was difficult to hear the guide and he took too long. Some people gave up the wait and left. Too bad because it was interesting.

Our next stop was the coffee break at an antique store. It had some beautiful merchandise. Rob bought Connie’s Christmas present there. It’s a book press lamp. Now we just have to figure out how to get it home. We stopped at Lowe’s for some packing tape to make some custom cardboard boxes. Now we just need to find some magic to make the boxes fit in the car.

Then off to the town of Cairo. We went to the Zebulon Movie Theater which is the oldest in Georgia. They gave us each a bottle of Coke and a bag of fresh popcorn. The movie was titled Genevieve. It’s a British comedy made in 1953 about two guys driving their antique cars from London to Brighton and back. It was pretty good.

Lunch was in their cultural center. They had boneless pork chops and fried chicken. The pork was incredibly good. Rob asked for the recipe but they don’t give it out. One of the tour folks said just slow cook in a smoker.

Not far from there was Wayne Hadden’s museum. He is another person who has collected lots of stuff. Some might call it junk. He had cars, gas pumps, fire engines, tractors, match box vehicles, records, Coke bottles, and too many other things to list. Impossible to absorb it all.

The evening dinner was included. They gave out awards for participation in Glidden Tours and recognized the freshman. Freshman are first time participants. Nearly 1/3 are freshman this year.

October 24, 2023 Day 17 Thomasville Georgia 135 miles

Today is partly cloudy but no rain is predicted. We are headed for the Albany Exchange Club Fair. This is the 100th anniversary of the fair.

The drive along the back roads is most enjoyable. More canopy roads and cotton fields. Some of the cotton has been harvested so those fields are bare. Others the plants still look green. Some of the fields look much whiter than others.

Well here is a first. We past the company Oil Dry. They make cat litter. We never thought about how or where that is made. The plant is very large and has several large piles of gray stuff. Not sure if that is the before, after or by product. A dust blows across the road so we are breathing in whatever that is. Lots of semi trailers are parked on one end of the plant. No cats were spotted.

Today we had a short coffee stop in the town of Pelham. I think they must have timed it with a modern car because we got there about the time we were to leave.

Then we came to some pecan orchards. At least that is what we think they are. The trees are in nice even rows quite some distance apart. They need to be because these trees are tall and wide. The ground under the trees is bare. In one orchard vehicles with big brushes are going down the rows. This is to clear the ground of debris before they bring in a tree shaker to make the pecans fall to the ground. Then another vehicle picks them up and takes them to the processing plant for the remaining steps in the process. A nut worthy job.

Next comes two extremely large areas of solar panels. The areas are on both sides of the road. Looks like someone’s cotton fields are now growing solar panels. Ironically a few miles down the road the local power company has a coal fired power plant. Competition is usually a good thing.

We stopped at the Flint Riverquarium. This has many very well done exhibits mostly for river dwellers in the area. Lots of different catfish, turtles and alligators. They had several interactive displays which would be especially wonderful for kids.

Then we were going across town to the fairgrounds. We actually got there early. I guess we didn’t visit the aquarium long enough. The fair isn’t to open officially until later this afternoon so nothing is running. Newspaper and television reporters were on the scene taking pictures and doing interviews. We may appear in the Albany Herald. The reporter was desperate and we were early targets. After lunch Patsy Cline came in and sang for about 40 minutes. We left after her concert rather than stay at the fair. Thankfully the drive to the hotel was uneventful. Supper was good and filling even without grits.

October 23, 2023 Day 16 Thomasville Georgia 160 miles

Today is mostly sunny with a few high wispy clouds. The morning is cool so we leave the curtains down and the jackets on. The tour is divided into three groups. We are in the B group which leaves first. We are to leave the fairgrounds by 7:45 am.

So off we go. Whoever did the route did a good job of keeping us off the busy streets. We did during the day go over many of the same streets multiple times. The route takes us along narrow two lane roads that everyone forgot to paint lines. Many of them have canopies of tree branches. Lots of the oak trees have Spanish moss hanging from them. Gives them a rather eerie appearance. Quite a few homes have Halloween decorations out. The terrain is a combination of forest, big lavish homes with huge lawns and small homes with small yards. Occasionally we see a pasture with horses, donkeys, cattle or goats.

Our first stop is the O’Steen Farm. Not much farm but lots of restored cars and motorcycles. They had a lot of different makes and models. Very small cars, race cars, trucks and antique cars. They all run and many have gone to shows. They also have numerous signs that advertise gas or cars. They also have a cracker house. Sometimes it is called a shotgun house because you can shoot through the house from the front door to the back door. A cracker is a Florida cowboy. The house has two bedrooms and a modern bathroom. The rest of the house is decorated similar to what it would have been in the 1940’s. That is the era they are trying to show. It also has a wonderful front porch complete with rocking chairs. The refrigerator has a petal on the leg that opens the door when pushed.

The next stop is the Tallahassee Automobile Museum. The museum’s collection includes over 160 automobiles, grand pianos, die-cast toy cars, pedal cars, antique boating items, golf memorabilia, Hit and Miss motors, brass cash registers, clocks, bicycles, boats, sports memorabilia, motorcycles, can openers, spark plugs, artifacts and memorabilia. The building is two stories high and is crammed with stuff. We had two hours here but no one could see everything in that length of time. It is actually overwhelming. The really large stuff is outside and includes a very tall Uncle Sam and a huge Hereford steer.

The we are off to Edward Ball Wakulla Springs State Park for lunch. It’s a beautiful park and very large. Lots of trees both oak and evergreen. We had a wonderful lunch. The park was shady and cool.

Our last stop is at the Brady Country Store. They make their own sausages. Too bad we can’t take those with us. They were quite tasty. The store was small with old wooden floors and antiques scattered in ever available space. They had lots of syrups, jams, BBQ sauce and candy. The cashier is married to a man from Lewiston Idaho.

On the way to the store we helped one of the other drivers who was having car trouble. The car seemed to be running better after that but we never saw it again. The took a wrong turn and were out of sight. Rob talked to them later and they made it back alright.

Quite a few opossum were on the road as road kill. Does anyone have a recipe for roadkill opossum? It will probably be served with grits.

We turned in our daily report card and then went to the gas station to fill the car with gas for tomorrow. We also went to the grocery store to get food for supper. We are having Thai tonight.

October 22, 2023 Day 15 Thomasville Georgia 21 miles

Today is mostly cloudy but due to be warm. No tours are scheduled today so its time to work on the car and do laundry.

Rob went to the fairgrounds to change the oil in the car and do some other minor repairs. One of the locals is going to have an oil pan and oil disposal ready by 9:30. Connie stayed at the hotel and did laundry. The hotel only charged $2.00 to wash and nothing to dry. We will have to do laundry again before we leave.

When Rob came back from the fairgrounds he had a short optional tour guide for around town. We ate salad for lunch and then went for the tour. Some of the houses here are beautiful and huge. One of those supposedly has no square rooms. I don’t know if that includes rectangles. We also saw a huge old oak tree. It is believed to be the oldest living oak tree in the US. The Plaza Restaurant is the oldest in Georgia. Didn’t look that old. This was a great day to tour the city. Traffic was very light on most streets. Many of the businesses were closed. After the self tour, we bought gas. We are ready for tomorrow. The organizers have split the cars into three groups for tomorrow. We are in the first group and are scheduled to depart by 0745. Early wake-up in the morning.

The opening banquet was tonight at 6 pm. The caterers were late arriving. It took them over an hour to serve everyone. We did have live music during dinner. Surprisingly we were among the first to be served. One of the guys at our table has season tickets to the Packers games. He actually owns 8 seats. Unfortunately the Packers lost again today.

October 21, 2023 Day 14 Perry Florida to Thomasville Georgia 85.4 miles

It’s another bright sunny day. The wind is blowing and the morning temperature is about 60 degrees. Rob needed to do some work on the brakes so we were later getting away this morning. He replaced a missing brake rod pin. We have a short drive so all is good.

We stopped for ice on the way out of town at an ice vending machine called twice the ice. Well that was way more ice than we needed but several people are getting ice as well. Rob gave them our leftovers.

A friendly gentleman came up and asked about the car. He had grown up around old cars so he was more knowledgeable than some. He had a good story to tell about his father getting a new car every four years. It was always a Ford so when Lee Iacocca was head of Ford he invited this guy’s parents to attend a weekend discussion of what to name some of the new cars. What a story.

As we drove through more of town we noticed how many buildings had plastic covering their roofs. This all had to be from whatever the storm was that came through. Numerous piles of limbs were all along the barrow pit. Sometimes tin roofing and insulation was there also. This had to have occurred some time back because the leaves are brown on the broken limbs. Out of town sections of forest had more trees down than up. In one place a crew was working to clear some of the downed trees and limbs. They had a two trailer semis into which they put the debris. More trucks were coming because we saw two more.

Finally the wind damage ended. More open space and cotton fields. Some of the cotton had been picked but other fields remained white. The plants look dead so the fields look mostly white. When the cotton is picked, it is baled like hay in big round bales. The difference is the wrapping is pink or yellow. Don’t know the significance of the color. The side of the road has lots of individual pieces of cotton that must have come off some of the harvesting equipment.

We arrived about 12:15 and actually got to check in. Our room has a living room, lights that come on automatically in the bathroom and a fancy shower with a seat and two shower heads. One is stationary and one is moveable. Maybe they saw us coming.

Rob spent a little time cleaning the car and then we went to the fairgrounds to check in. The fairgrounds has a large grassy area where numerous large trailers are already parked. Great place for those car trailers. Rob talked with a local man who will bring an oil collection pan and a way to dispose of the oil tomorrow morning. Now Rob will be able to change the oil. He will perform an “on the road” grease job as well. So far, we have traveled 3,011 miles from home on this trip.

Next stop was the grocery store to get food for supper. It was a big grocery with lots of interesting items. We actually saw canned okra and canned rutabagas. We must be in the south.

October 20, 2023 Day 13 Miramar Beach Florida to Perry Florida 213 miles

Oh my it rained during the night. The ground and vehicles are very wet. Thankfully the car started without any problems.

The hotel sits back off the main road a block or so. That is good because the road is three lanes in both directions and there are a lot of cars and trucks. They are all going about 50 mph or more. A few lights are scattered along. Businesses line both sides of the road. This goes on for several miles. Lots of condos and other types of fancy places to stay. Roads go off to the south that lead to beaches.

When the businesses finally thin out the forest lines both sides of the road. Now the road is only two lanes in each direction. The forest is pine trees not palm trees. In fact we have seen very few palm trees of any kind. The undergrowth is all cleaned out so in some cases you can see to the gulf.

We actually drove along the edge of the gulf in sections. The beaches here are small but clean looking. Very few people are on the beach. The wind is blowing and the temperature at the edge is a little cool. No big crashing waves. A few small towns dot the area. The houses right on the coast are built on stilts at least a story high. People park their cars in that space. Many of the houses have three stories above the stilts. More are being built.

The halfway point seemed a good place for lunch. We stopped at a boat launch and picnic area. We parked the car facing the gulf. The breeze was strong and cool. At least four different kinds of birds were close by. Two small birds were on land busily looking for bugs. The rest were standing in the water. Must be low tide because the water doesn’t seem very deep.

About the time we finished eating a pickup drove up and let out two dogs. One of those took off running after the various water birds. It ran out along ways and it still wasn’t deep. It came back once but then took off again trying to catch another one. The owners realized they could no longer see the dog. When we left one of them was wading out and calling the dog. We don’t know if the dog returned.

We also crossed some very high bridges across some of the water. Another long bridge was just above the water. We didn’t see many boats out on the water but there were a lot in the marinas. A few large RV parks were on each side of the road. No trees and the rental spaces were very close together.

A car was passing from the other direction. The driver didn’t judge distance well and had to drive off the road on our side to avoid hitting us. A little too close for comfort. We were ready to take evasive action and it was a good test of our brakes.

Some kind of accident occurred down the road a little further. An ambulance and numerous police cars were there. Only saw one nonemergency vehicle. We could not determine what happened.

The closer we got to Perry the more trees had blown down. Numerous large limbs were also down. When we got to town metal roofs had been torn back and many business signs were toppled and missing the name. They definitely had a big wind recently. The barrow pits had some standing water in them. No alligators luckily. Maybe that is just the pits.

We got take out dinner at a southern BBQ pit. They only do take out. They close at 6 pm on Fridays and they are only open Tuesday through Friday. We had ribs that Connie thought were delicious. She had a baked sweet potato as a side. We have enough leftovers for another meal. We broke a local rule and had unsweetened ice tea.

October 19, 2023 Day 12 Laurel Mississippi to Miramar Beach Florida 250 miles

It’s another sunny day with only a gentle breeze. We traveled on some divided highway and some two lane roads. Most of the roads have tall trees on both sides. Occasionally we come to a section that has been clear cut. Then there are some that have short trees. And then tall evergreens with few branches, small trunks, and very little undergrowth. We don’t go through many towns even though this isn’t a freeway. We saw some small farms with cattle or cotton. We crossed several rivers and streams.

Logging trucks with logs are going both directions. None of the logs are very big around. Lots are much longer than the truck. Then there are lumber trucks. Some look like two by fours and some are long thin slats.

We saw three road signs for bear crossings. The countryside doesn’t look like bear country. The bear must not care. We didn’t see any bear. Maybe it is a night crossing sign.

We found a McDonald’s for lunch and a clean bathroom. At least three of their customers were fascinated with the car. Two of those were at least our age. We observed that most people don’t like to use the kiosk to order.

We came to a gathering of people, a crane, a pile of logs and a logging truck. Looks like a truck lost its load. The crane was loading the logs onto a logging truck. No way to know if it is the same truck that lost the load.

Today we started in Mississippi, crossed part of Alabama and ended in Florida on the Gulf Coast. Shortly after we entered Florida the cars going the opposite direction were bumper to bumper for well over a mile. Don’t know why so many were leaving. Vehicles going our direction were few. Well that is until we got close to the shore.

This is definitely a resort area. Huge hotels and condominiums line the beach. Also lots of restaurants and deep sea fishing shops. Where we could see the sand it is very white. Our hotel sits between the coast and the main highway. Hopefully that will mean it is quieter. The GPS took us to the wrong address again. Once again Google saved us. Both times the address was a highway number rather than a street name.

Connie wanted to eat seafood and have key lime pie. She found a small restaurant very close to the hotel that had both. Lots of the seafood restaurants have crab from Alaska, lobster from Maine and mussels from Prince Edward Island. Just seems wrong to eat those. We had a very tasty meal.