NOMADS Augusta, GA Disaster Rebuild – Our Week 1

Tuesday, March 24, 2026

On Monday, March 16th, we joined the NOMADS Disaster Rebuild Project in Augusta, GA.  This was the fifth week of the project but we were here for the final 3 weeks.  The week got off to an interesting start since the Storm Prediction Center had placed this area in a 3 of 5 risk of severe weather. So, before we left for work on Monday, we pulled all our slides and awnings in and prayed for safety. We carefully watched the weather all day and fortunately, all we got was some rain and a little wind.

Our 10 member team all went to the same house that last week’s team worked on. We had 6 members from last week’s team, so they could get us caught up on what needed to be done.  This house was damaged when Hurricane Helene came through Augusta in September of 2024.  Trees throughout the neighborhood came down on the homes.  Evidence of the damage remains everywhere with some homes still displaying tarps.

There were many items remaining to complete in this home.  In the master bath, the subflooring was leveled, the flooring was installed, ceiling repaired, textured and paint.  A new vanity was installed, toilet reinstalled, the bathroom was painted, trim was installed and caulking was done.

Tuesday afternoon Max and Dave went to a home in Thomson, GA.  The new home was completed, and they were tasked with disconnecting the travel trailer where the homeowner has been living since Helene destroyed his home. It was quite the job removing all the mobile home tiedowns. A funny moment occurred when after several unsuccessful attempts to move the porch and steps away from the trailer, they looked under the porch and found another mobile home tiedown.

The hallway bath required ceiling repair, texturing and painting, caulking, and trim.  Flooring was replaced in the foyer, and kitchen.  The kitchen also needed some painting.  Downstairs in the family room, the ceiling required repairs, texturing and painting as well as all new flooring.  With a lot of effort, the team completed the repairs Thursday afternoon and we presented the Bible to the homeowners.

During the week we celebrated two birthdays one for Laurie and one for Dave then on Friday we had to say goodbye to the 6 NOMADS from last week, Joan, Tom, Jim, Irene, Kevin and Laurie.  We really appreciate all their hard work and wish them well on their next projects.

Coachmen Class B RV Roundup 2026

March 17, 2026

On March 5th we left our friends RV site and moved across town to the Florida Horse Park for this year’s Class B Rally sponsored by Sunshine State RVs and Coachmen Class B Division.  This is our 5th year to attend and we enjoy it every time.  It is in conjunction with the Ocala RV Show, so this was our third RV show this year – and we are not even shopping for a new RV.  Like at all RV get-togethers, we reconnected with old friends and made new friends.  We were asked to arrive early to help with parking the 100 RVs that were coming to the Roundup.  The rest of the time we relaxed, helped out any way we could and got to talk to people about volunteering and NOMADS.

Manatees , Sea Turtles and Hiking

March 16, 2026

We left Flamingo Campground in the Everglades on February 25th to reposition to Ocala for another RV gathering.  Since we had an extra day before we were due at our friend’s campsite, we made a couple of stops on the way. The first was a quick stop at the Oasis Visitor Center in the Big Cypress National Preserve to stretch our legs walking on the boardwalk and watching the wildlife (mostly alligators).

Then as we approached Tampa we saw a listing for the Tampa Electric Manatee Viewing Center.  That sounded like an interesting stop. We expected a small, quiet area to rest a little while and see some manatees.  We were surprised that we had happened on one of the top 10 free attractions in the country selected by USA today in 2025.  Apparently, many other people knew this. Traffic was backed up and we were immediately directed to overflow parking.  After spending a couple of hours there we agree that it is worthy of the rating.

As we approached Ocala, Anne was looking for something to do before we parked for the night at Cracker Barrel.  In her search she found the Ocala Wetland Recharge Park. Another great place to hike. We also spent about an hour there talking to the manager about RVing, NOMADS, and how the park was built to help refill the Florida aquifers with clean water. 

Since we had a few days at our friend’s RV site, we took a day to spend at Silver Springs State Park which was only a few miles away.

 

Camping in the Everglades

March 15, 2026

On Sunday, February 22nd, we left the South Florida Fairgrounds and headed to Flamingo Campground in Everglades National Park.  We had made a reservation for a free ranger guided kayak tour and decided to stay in the campground for a few days. 

On our way down we stopped at Robert Is Here produce stand which is famous for their key lime milkshakes.

We enjoyed our time at the Flamingo area of Everglades NP.  We saw lots of wildlife and did lots of hiking. We also ran into some of our friends in the campground.

We spent quite a while watching the manatees eating the sea grass in the marina.

We ended our time at Flamingo with our kayak tour. The highlight was seeing a large crocodile on the bank just before the end of the trip. It happened to be on the beach beside the RV parking area for volunteers.  Maybe we can volunteer here someday when we grow up.