Go Dawgs! – Wandering Dawgs

We’re not traveling as much in our fifth wheel anymore so I thought it would be fun to relive some of our most memorable days from previous RV trips.

On this day eleven years ago, October 31, 2008, our RV was parked in RV City in Jacksonville, Florida. We were there to attend the college football game between rivals Georgia Bulldogs and Florida Gators. The two schools have been playing each other annually since the early 1900’s and, except for two years while the stadium was undergoing renovations, has been played in Jacksonville every year since 1933.

Unofficially named “The World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party”, fans of both teams start arriving in Jacksonville and surrounding areas as early as a week before the game. Hotels are booked a year in advance and finding a last minute place to stay anywhere near Jacksonville is almost impossible.

We attended our first Georgia/Florida game in 1974 and it was an annual tradition for us for many years. Most of those years we stayed in a Jacksonville area hotel for the weekend. In 2008, we decided to take our fifth wheel to RV City for the event.

RV City is a large parking lot near the stadium that is reserved for RV’s. There is a limited number of parking for RV’s and at the time, in order to get a spot in the lot RV’s start lining up early in the week before Saturday’s game.

We met friends in Jacksonville early on Tuesday morning to follow them to get in line for our sites in RV City. We spent that night in line and were in our space in RV City early Wednesday morning. From Wednesday until Friday we enjoyed the festivities and entertainment leading up to the game on Saturday.

20081031RV-City-Friday-(4) — Awning to awning in RV City

20081031RV-City-Friday-(1) — Packed in like sardines in RV City in Jacksonville, Florida

20081031RV-City-Friday-(11) — We had a great view of the stadium from our site.

20081030RV-City-(20) — There were a few waterfront sites in RV City

Yes, we were dry camping in a parking lot. Yes, the RV’s were close together. Yes, there were crowds and lots of noise. Did we enjoy it? Yes! It was a great experience and great fun!

We have friends in RV City right now. Kickoff is Saturday at 3:30. We’re there with them in spirit.

Go Dawgs!

And a Georgia G on the back window of the Titanium — Georgia G on the back window of the Titanium

One of the things we enjoy most about traveling by RV is meeting so many wonderful people along the way. On this trip we met people from all over the U.S. and Canada and from far away countries like Australia and Switzerland.

What really amazed us though was how many people from Georgia we met along the way and how many of them were Georgia Bulldog fans. We heard “Go Dawgs!” in some very unexpected places!

When we travel there is no doubt where we are from. With our Georgia license plates on both the truck and fifth wheel, our big red Georgia G on the front of the truck and another big G on the back window of the fifth wheel our Georgia allegiance is easy to recognize. And we both often wear Georgia hats and shirts when we are out exploring.

When you are several thousand miles from home, it’s always nice to connect with someone from your home state. Here are just a few of our favorite encounters with other travelers from Georgia:

Meeting two sisters in Banff National Park in Alberta, Canada on their way to Alaska who are from the same county where we live.
Hearing “Go Dawgs! as we sat by our campfire in Liard River Hot Springs, Yukon.
Having someone from near our hometown knock on our door just to say hi in Liard River Hot Springs, Yukon.
Meeting a recent graduate of the University of Georgia wearing a Georgia sweatshirt.in Skagway, Alaska, who was living in Alaska and working on a cruise ship.
Having a woman in a Georgia t-shirt walk over to our campsite in Skagway to take a picture of our Georgia truck because she couldn’t believe there was someone who drove all the way from Georgia to Alaska.
Hearing “I’ve eaten there before” when Henry was wearing his Crab Shack t-shirt in Skagway. The young man was in the Coast Guard and had just finished being stationed in Valdez and was on his way to his next station close to his home in Georgia.
Meeting a young woman in Haines, Alaska who was a graduate of Georgia Southern University in Statesboro. She studied marine biology and was now living in Haines working as a mate on a fishing boat and singing in a band.
Talking to the woman working at the Visitor’s Center in North Pole who had moved to North Pole from Georgia.
Wearing our Georgia hats, having one of the drivers on one of the floats in the July 4th Parade in North Pole yell “Go Dawgs!” as he went by.
Being helped by a woman from Georgia at the transportation center in Denali National Park.
Hearing “Go Dawgs!” while stopped for road construction in Denali National Park.
Meeting a grandfather and his two granddaughters from Georgia at Teklanika Campground in Denali National Park.
Halibut fishing in Ninilchik, Alaska with a young couple living in Anchorage who were originally from Atlanta and North Carolina.
Having a woman from Georgia stop by our campsite in Homer, Alaska because she saw the Georgia G on the back of the fifth wheel.

There were many others but these are the ones that stand out. However, the one that stands out the most was the Canadian border crossing guard in Beaver Creek, Yukon who asked us if we were heading home to Georgia before he even looked at our passports. He must have seen the Georgia G on the front of the truck! He was a huge American college football fan and discussed football with Henry for a few minutes before getting down to the business of checking our passports and asking the required questions before letting us enter Canada.