We recently traded in our class C motorhome for a new Coachmen Nova class B van.  Vans have become very popular with the RV community and we dealt with the largest B dealer in Florida, Sunshine State RV. 

Besides the easy maneuvering and superior fuel economy the van we bought has a powerful lithium battery system.  This enables us to camp off grid more than any RV we’ve previously owned. 

We want to use it as much as possible to learn a new way of camping and find any factory defects while under warranty.  Our dealer included a 1 year membership in Harvest Host in the sale.  This membership allows us to stay at hundreds of properties around North America at no charge provided we make a small purchase or donation. These stays are off grid so the lithium batteries are key.  This would be a whistle stop trip with multiple stops each day

Day 1 Jacksonville Florida 

Lunch with our daughter and 2 great grandkids.  It was great to see them.

Folkston GA.  The town welcomes rail fans and allows overnight parking near the train watching platform.  It was a great spot but sooooo many train horns all night made for little sleep.

Day 2

Kingsland Georgia

We met long time RV friends Mark and Lyn at Steffens restaurant in Kingsland GA. Great local breakfast place. 

Brunswick Georgia

Waycross Georgia

Douglas Georgia

We stayed at a Harvest Host location at the Douglas Ga Chamber of Commerce.  This was simply parking in the rec center parking lot but it was quiet and safe. We had a nice dinner at the Fern Bank restaurant. Douglas was a pretty sleepy city that amazingly had a nice music venue, The Martin Center. Just in the next month they had a Credence Clearwater Revival tribute band and then a Led Zeppelin tribute band.  They also had a nice Heritage Museum.

Day 3

Fitzgerald Ga.  It’s home to the Blue and Gray Museum housed in the old train depot.  This museum tells the story of the Fitzgerald Colony that was founded in the late 1800s as a place where Union veterans could get a new start after post Civil War hard economic times.  It became a place where former soldiers of the North and South lived and worked together. We found this story of reconciliation interesting but we also learned the town became a “sundown town” that required blacks to leave town every evening.

Pitts Georgia

That night we stayed at another Harvest Host location. The Oliver Artisan Oil Farm in tiny Pitts GA.  This family operation produces high quality nut oils including pecan (the healthiest of all oils), sunflower, green peanut and others we were unfamiliar with. They also featured art from local artists and acted as convenience store for the community.

Day 4

Cordele Georgia

The SAM Shortline is an excursion train we’ve just missed several times so this trip we made it happen. It runs from Cordele Georgia to Plains and then to Archery.  It’s a nice ride in air-conditioned cars to Jimmy Carter country. Plains is where he kicked off his presidential campaign and Archery is the preserved farm of his boyhood.  We enjoyed both and especially loved the peanut butter ice cream.

Norman Park Georgia

The Wilkes Blueberry Farm Harvest Host location was recovering from a severe rain storm when we arrived but the next day we enjoyed a wonderful visit with JR on the farm. 10000 bushes on 10 acres produces tasty berries. We also bought jelly and tasted delicious blueberry ice cream. 

Day 5

Thomasville Georgia

Sunday is quiet so the visitor center and museums were all closed but we enjoyed walking the town where we saw The Big Tree and the Lapham Patterson house historic site. A grand Victorian home built as a winter residence in 1884-1885.

Ochlockonee Georgia

Our last Harvest Host location was Pope’s Museum which offered no tour and little information but it was a quiet and dark place to spend the night at least until the rooster started at 5 am. This was our only disappointing Harvest Host stop. They said we had to arrive by 4PM which would be understandable on a typical day but the day that we arrived the owners were out of town. We made a donation toward their historic preservation efforts and we’re glad we did.

All in all it was a fun short trip in the van. Traveling off grid in sweltering heat was doable. Harvest Hosts worked as promised. We got 16 miles per gallon vs 8 in our former class C. We’re excited about the new places we can visit with our new campervan.