Stephen C. Foster 11/22/22 - 11/26/22 (#16)

Last Camping trip of 2022. When we left Evans County we headed to FL instead of back to our house in GA. We stored the camper at my sister's house which is about an hour west of where we live in FL. We picked it up on Tuesday before Thanksfiving & headed to Stephen C. Foster SP, about an hour north of her house. The CG is located in the Okefenokee Wildlife Refuge & in the middle of NOWHERE. It is 17 miles off of US 441 & the only thing in Fargo, GA is a Dollar General. Closest grocery stores are over 40 miles away.

Stayed in site #42, W/E & directly across from the bathhouse. It was a tight fit but there was plenty of privacy between sites. 

Had this weird picnic table. Originally thought it was for handicapped since we had to stay on an ADA site but looking around we saw they were like this at most all sites.

On Wednesday we just hung around & walked the campground. On Thursday, we went to my sister's for Thanksgiving & had a very nice meal & got to spend time with her, BIL, Niece & her husband & of course Natalie. Gosh we love that child.

This was her first Thanksgiving (she'll be One in January) & our first with my side of the family in about 10 years. My Dad had hosted for many years & we always declined his invite because Greg's parents are getting old & we felt like 'this could be the last one w/them'. I regret not going to my Dad's. We should have been rotating every other year.

After eating, our plan was to get back to the CG before dark & we made it with the last light of day. Didn't want to be on those dark roads at night. Note: The speed limit sign on the road heading in was 45 during the day & 25 at night. Lots of wildlife roam those roads at night.

We decided to go on the Okefenokee Swamp tour the next day. It was a bit misty & cloudy but we knew it would be fine once we were on the water. A family had cancelled so we had the boat (w/tour guide) to ourselves. It was supposed to be an hour and a half long but our guide wasn't the best time manager & we left 15 mintues late. And, as it turns out the family decided to go ahead & keep their reservation for an hour later. So, we came back 15 minutes early. It was ok though. The guide, while knowledgable wasn't the best presenter so an hour was plenty. We saw a few gators, turtles & of course plenty of birds. Here are a couple shots of 2 of the gators:

4' Mama w/2 babies near the entrance

About an 8 or 9 footer in the swamp

Here are a few shots along the Swamp:

Not sure if we'll be back. Definitely wouldn't go there in the summer because the bugs would be horrendous. We MAY take one more trip in December but it's doubtful because we are trying to schedule surgery for Greg for his shoulder & would like to get that done in December if at all possible.

So, the next scheduled trip won't be until March of 2023. In the meantime there is Christmas & New Year's to celebrate. Hope everyone has a blessed rest of the year & a good start to 2023.