nomads – Page 3 – RVing With a Purpose

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.

Jim preparing a place for the new vanity

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 semi-permanent sewer line disconnected

Dave removing a chock block that was fastened down with 4 inch screws

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.

Rita and Anne installing a transition strip

Joan and Anne installing flooring downstairs

The old icemaker line started leaking when we moved the refrigerator so we had to install a new one.

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.

Dave and Rita with the birthday peach cobbler

Saying “See you down the road” to our team members

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).

Oasis Visitor Center of Big Cypress National Preserve

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.

The Sea Turtle Rehabilitation Center is located near the Manatee Viewing Center so we visited it while there.

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.

The Ocala Wetland Recharge Park is a real hidden gem for hiking. We had a great conversation with the manager while there.

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.

Since we had just done a kayak trip we just watched the kayakers in Silver Springs while we hiked.

We did the glass bottom boat ride several years ago.

While staying at our friends RV site, our friend in the neighboring site was testing and programming an autonomous robot lawnmower. That was fun to watch.

December 2025 at Gulf State Park

January 29, 2026

As has become our tradition we spent the month of December, 2025 (and a few days in January, 2026) at Gulf State Park in Gulf Shores, Alabama. The weather was not a nice as it has been in other years but we still enjoyed our “sabbath month.” With lots of hiking, biking and geocaching on the miles of trails we had a great time. One of our favorite things to do in the park is to look for wildlife.

… a Great Blue Heron beside our campsite …

… Lefty – the famous Gulf State Park alligator …

We are sure there were eggs in the nest. After we left, people posted pictures of two eaglets.

As a special treat this year we were given the opportunity to help finish an outdoor raptor enclosure for the owls, hawk and kestrel kept at the nature center and used for educational programs.

Max planing down a door to fit the opening

Anne and Ron in the workshop cutting lumber for the enclosure

A shelter box we helped build for the enclosure.

This is a transport box on which the naturalist needed a sliding door installed.

We also enjoyed several activities (and food) around the area, the best was when Barry and Donna came to visit.

We really enjoyed the visit from Barry and Donna.

This year we even made a visit to the famous Bamahenge.

We attended the Christmas program at Gulf Shores Methodist Church

And watched the annual Christmas parade of boats

An interesting neighbor for a couple of nights. It is a famous 1956 Diamond T fitted with a camper.

We cooked up the last of the halibut we brought from Vermont.

Like last year we worked a few pieces of this puzzle on each day of Advent.

Our annual traditional Christmas portrait

Once again we enjoyed the annual First Day Hike at the park.

Catching Up Again

Saturday, December 13, 2025

Hello everyone. Seems it’s been over a month since we last gave you an update. We have been here, there and everywhere and kept thinking we would get a post uploaded but it just hasn’t happened. Sorry. What follows is a synopsis of what’s been going on with us.

We left our work in Ashville and spent five days in Lexington, KY with some Impact Maker friends at the Kentucky Horse Park. We met some new friends, human and animal (beautiful horses) in a beautiful setting.

The horse drawn trolley ride at the park

From Kentucky, we went to a Switch Crew Founders Club (SCFC) event at Talona Ridge RV Resort in Elijay, Georgia. We love Talona Ridge and enjoyed more time with friends. It was more than just fun as we spent a good deal of time planning the next 12-18 months for the organization.

Sunday moring worship is always a highlight of the Switch It Up events.

Some of our friends dressed up for Halloween

One night we were treated to a 1920’s style mystery play.

Sunset at Talona Ridge with some of the Christmas lights.

From there we returned to Alabama for a little time at our home church and Camp Sumatanga and doctor and dental appointments. We finally got to meet our new pastor, Mark Puckett, in person. So thankful for him and always thankful for time with our Lester Memorial family.

In between our two events at Talona Ridge, we made a quick trip back to Alabama for medical appointments. While there we took time to hike to the top of the mountain at Sumatanga with Donna and Barry.

After a brief week in Alabama we were back at Talona for a gathering of other friends and YouTube influencers, Cindy and Harold Strange and family. It was another fun time of renewing friendships packed in three days.

This was our second year to attend the 1 Strange Adventure Gathering.

Then it was time to return to Randy and Debra’s home in Johnston, SC. We went to Gaffney, SC for two days for Fred’s annual checkup. Thankfully, no problems were found and we spent the remainder of our time enjoying catching up with our family. Debra and Anne enjoy preparing lots of good food for the family Thanksgiving and Max and Randy always have projects to complete. It was nice to have some time to just relax.

Of course, we had another great Thanksgiving week with family in South Carolina.

We spent a few days clearing out a few more trees around the house.

Randy’s new grapple sure makes cleaning up trees easier.

We are so very thankful for the time we have had with friends and family over the last several months. We still have more of you to see and we will be working on that in 2026. We are currently in Gulf Shores, AL and will try to keep things more up to date. May God Bless You All and keep you safe!