The photos below are what we saw.
We were heading north on A1A and spotted some kind of military vehicle exhibition right next to the road. The participants were hooting at us, so we turned around and came back to check it out. There were some very nicely restored jeeps and "deuce and a half" trucks.
Somebody put a ton of time into restoring this rig. It was in great shape.
Kathleen
had to pose next to the fire engine from the local department.
They were all VERY interested in the mog.
Once
we finished at the show, we continued north. Just south of
Daytona Beach, we crossed over the inland waterway and got a view of
what the locals call "sea bird island" for obvious reasons. This
island was in the middle of the waterway and therefore protected from
predators, thus giving the birds a safe haven.
We
found the entrance to the famous Daytona Beach where it is legal to
drive on the beach. So, we just had to check it out. There
were tons of folks on the beach, so we headed south for a few miles.
The
mog is a known "chick magnet". Notice the smiles on the girls in
the photos above and the shock and awe on the faces of the guys.
Behold, the mog!! The looks from some of the locals were
priceless.
On
the beach we saw this restored roadster. Very nice.
On
Daytona Beach, the vendors come to the patrons.
The
1300 looked pretty imposing on the beach
From
Daytona, we continued north along A1A to Flagler Beach where we found a
beach-side camp spot in a local RV park. The spot was quite
pricey, almost $90, but it was choice.
The
camp site was on the ridge overlooking the beach and below us a fellow
was riding his kite surfer.
The
wind was quite strong and the fellow was having some difficulty
controlling his kite.
The
view looking north from our camp site. Note the seawall.
There was about an 8' drop to the sand from the top, so caution when
drunk is suggested.
My
hillbilly BBQ. Note the 3 empty beer bottles used to provide
support for the grill. Since we have limited space, we only take the
grill top and then improvise. In the west, I use rocks which are
usually plentiful. But at Flagler Beach it was only shell sand
and not a rock to be found anywhere, so I had to get creative.
Funny how the creative index goes up after the 3rd beer. The
chicken came out great.
A
very nice sunset as seen from Flagler Beach.
Next
day, we broke camp and continued north on A1A. Along the way, we
saw plenty of folks recreating on the inland waterway. Note the
pricey houses.
Plenty
of hardware out there on the water.
We
continued north to St. Augustine and found a nice camp site at the
state park. Once we had our site, we walked to the beach to check
things out. The sand was brilliant white, but the winds were
strong. Note the front coming at the left of the photo above.
The thunderheads were building and it rained hard later.
Before
the rain hit, we hopped on the bicycles and headed into St. Augustine
to see the lighthouse. The Live Oak trees in the area were
spectacular and heavily loaded with Spanish Moss.
The
lighthouse and associated structures were lovingly restored by the
historical association.
The
lighthouse is tall and imposing. But, it has withstood both
earthquakes and hurricanes.
The
support buildings were nicely restored.
The
view from the top was awesome. This is the view looking east
toward the Atlantic.
The rotational control mechanism for the lighthouse was quite complex. Note all the bearing wheels and gears.
The
drive mechanism is a double worm gear transmission coupled to
yet-another reduction gear set to drive the Fresnel lens of the
lighthouse.
We
closed down the lighthouse and they ran us out because it was closing
time. So, we rode the bikes into "downtown" St. Augustine to see
the old Spanish for there. Sadly, it was already closed for the
day. The fort is called the Castillo de San Marcos. This
fort is the oldest masonry structure in the Americas and spearheaded
the Spanish occupation of this area.
There was a nice display of old canon hardware at the fort.
There is lots of coquina stone work in the fort. The stones were mined locally at a quarry at the park property where we were staying.
We
had a nice dinner at a local restaurant and then rode bikes the 4 miles
back to the camp site in the face of a significant head wind.
Later that night the rain came and it rained hard. Our camp site
turned into a lake several inches deep. The rain quit around noon
the following day and we broke camp and headed north again. Along
the way, the "jedness" of the area was confirmed. A beater pickup
towing a boat on a trailer passed us. The boat was flopping
around on the trailer and the trailer was not "tracking" well behind
the truck. A close look at the photo above will show why things
were amiss.
We
went north to Amelia Island and stayed at the Ft. Clinch State
Park. We got a nice site on the beach. To my surprise, on
the beach dunes there were prickly pear cactus in bloom.
A
small shower gave us an awesome rainbow.
Next
day, we broke camp and checked out the area around the fort.
Above, I spotted a dolphin feeding in the shallow waters near the fort.
Ft.
Clinch was left over from the Civil War and was refurbished for use
during the Spanish-American War. There was some large hardware on
the ramparts.
These
walls were restored by the CCC in the post-depression era.
The
internal area of the fort.
The
cannons were large and imposing.
From
Amelia Island, we headed north into Georgia. We camped at a state
park near Waycross, GA at the north end of the Okefenokee Swamp.
There was a lake in the park and on our side of the lake were signs
saying "Danger: no swimming, alligators". But, these folks
thought it would be OK to ski. Go figure. One can only hope
that Darwin's laws have not been repealed.
The
camp site was nice and clean and we met some great folks from upstate
Georgia that were traveling through.
From
Waycross, we headed north again to Macon to meet a fellow unimogger,
Trey. Trey took us through Macon en-route to some property his
family has, and we were able to see some great houses.
Trey
has both a 1300 and this Toyota Cummins diesel conversion Land
Cruiser. He took us down to the river to have a few beers.
From
the river, we went to our camp on Lake Juliette near Macon. This
was a very nice site with a great view of the lake.
We
got a chance to see Trey's 1300L which was in great shape.
Trey
uses his truck on the farm to haul supplies.
This segment of our journey was very, very nice. We stayed at some great spots and were treated like kings by the locals. Many thanks to Trey for arranging our camp site and hosting us for dinner.
Tomorrow, we will
continue north to the metro Atlanta area to meet fellow unimoggers Sean
and Steve of Euro-Truck Importers in Oakwood, GA.
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Photos and Text Copyright Bill Caid 2010, all rights
reserved.
For your enjoyment only, not for commercial use.