The deluge......

7:37 am - Saturday - December 29th - Hahira, GA (just north of Valdosta) - 62º F, 96% humidity, wind  - CALM......cloudy today with a forecast high in Hahira of 71º F.....WOW!

I think many of you know how we avoid driving in the rain, or in the wind to the point we have paid for extra days at RV parks to get beyond rain and/or wind.  Sometimes there is nothing one can do about the weather and it is necessary to drive in it, and this trip south from Nashville is one of those times.  We needed to be in Cedar Key by the 29th, which is when one of our very rare reservations begins.  We don't make reservations as a rule, and where we are this morning (December 29th) is a great example.....we just drove in last night and managed to snag their last site, which alsoha ppened to be a 100' pull through site.  It always works out for us, but if you want to stay in Cedar Key, FL reservations are a must.  Even in this case we waited until the last minute to make the reservation and, once again, got the last site.  Anyway, in order to get to Cedar Key without pounding out two 350 days we had to leave Nashville a few hours after arriving home from SoCal.  By driving 150 miles Thursday we only had 500 miles to go to Cedar Key......two 250 mile days give, or take a few.

It rained all night Thursday, and was still raining Friday morning when we departed Chattanooga, TN at 9 am.  Within minutes of merging on to I-75 we entered the lovely state of Georgia.....

.....which also boasts some of the worst Interstate traffic in the nation.  This is our thrid time traversing the I-75 corridor through Georgia on our way to Florida, and each time the traffic has been worse......no matter what time of day we pass through.  It rained all day long with the exception of a few 15 minute segments where it was not raining........

 In between squalls....entering the Altanta traffic corridor

 See all the red?  Stoppage due to dozens of accidents on I-75, I-675 and I-475

....within 2 hours we were entering the Atlanta Traffic Hell......traffic in and around Atlanta is always bad, and then add in heavy rainfall most of the day and you get dozens of accidents on the various Interstates in and around Atlanta.  It took us 2 hours to traverse about 30 miles of heavily congested roads.  At one point our Garmin Trucker GPS re-routed us off the Interstates and on to surface streets to get us past most of the accidents......  

.....at last we came to a much needed Rest Area south of Atlanta and exited with scores of other vehicles to take a break from the rain and traffic.....

......as we moved south along the I-75 corridor we were smack dab in the middle of the storm front which stretched from far north all the way to the Florida panhandle.....

.....near the end of our 356 mile driving day (I know, right?) the rainfall intensified.....

.....at times visibility was reduced significantly.....

.....at last we arrived at Cain Creekside RV Park in the lovely, welcoming town of Hahira, GA, just 15 miles north of Valdosta.  When we were getting ready to leave Chattanooga TLE and I had discussed the need to be plugged in that night, so I had checked ahead to see if there was a Passport American park (50% off) near Valdosta.  Cain Creekside came up, so we made that our destination hoping we would get a site.....no reservations....and it worked out.  We arrived just before sundown, got our site paid for ($20), parked, hooked up to the 50 amp electrical pedestal, and began to relax.  TLE was amazing all day long checking out alternate routes, checking ahead for traffic accidents, and getting water, and snacks as needed.  In all we stopped at 3 Rest Areas for 15 minute breaks,  and our travel time was about 7.5 hours to cover 356 miles.  That's one of the longest driving days we have had in years, but now we only have 145 miles to Sunset Isle in Cedar Key where we will spend time with our very good friends Krash and Karen.

TLE was in bed by 9 pm, and I followed short time later....it continued raining throughout the night, but as I sit here this morning composing the skies are clearing and it promises to be a rain free drive to Cedar Key....fingers and toes crossed.

Thanks for stopping by!

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