East Bank & Home

Our last evening at Foscue was spent inside listening to the rain. It sure sounded wonderful on the roof and lasted all night long. The downside was everything was wet in the morning. It stopped long enough for us to pack up and get on the road.

It rained a good part of the 200 mile trip to East Bank. East Bank is another COE park. It is on Lake Seminole, the park is nice but it has ants. We stayed at the park about a year ago – they had the ant problem then too. **** Bud here, Dog-dick knats too! ***
We decided after one night it was time to get on down the road. I believe we are both getting the “horse returning to the barn syndrome”. We went into Chattahoochee for breakfast. What a trip, I guess the economy must really be slow – the restaurant was pretty run down. We made it thru breakfast, filled up the truck, then went back to camp and packed it up. I’m not sure if we will stop half way home and camp or try to make the 240 mile trip today. I’ll let you know.

There was rain, wind and clouds most of the way back. We talked about stopping at Manatee Springs but it was raining so we drove on. When we got to Crystal River we decided to eat at Crackers and then head for the shed! We arrived home around 5:30 – 6:00. Boy, it was real weird driving down the driveway. When we left the pastures were crunchy and brown; now they are soggy and heavy with grass! Everything in the house was fine. It looked really big after staying in the RV. And it didn’t even wiggle when you walked around. Our showers felt soooooo good and roomy!

We had a wonderful time but “There’s no place like home”! Thanks for joining us on the “Gophers Trails”.

Buddy & Patsy

Bluff Hall & Gaineswood

Bluff Hall & Gaineswood

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We visited two of Demopolis’ Historic Landmarks – Bluff Hall and Gaineswood Mansions. Please make sure you view the pictures. Some of the pictures are dark but I was very excited that we were allowed (without the flash) to take them.

Bluff Hall - was built in 1832 by slaves of Allen Glover for his daughter, Sarah Serena, and her husband, Francis Lyon. The couple used Bluff Hall as a townhouse. The house was one of several homes build atop a limestone cliff overlooking the Tombigbee River. The house is a two-story brick structure, with portions covered by smooth stucco. The double parlor in the interior features two columns that were an anniversary gift to the Lyons from the Whitfield family. (see pic) The Whitfield’s lived nearby at Gaineswood (the other mansion we visited) the house was altered in the 1840’s with the addition of a front portico and large rear wing. The rear wing contained the dining room and kitchen (one of the first kitchens ever added directly to a house). Also, two bedrooms were added to the second floor. In one of the rooms there was a bathtub. (see pic) We were told they did not take baths very often because the water made them sick. (Malaria) And they did not submerge into the water; it was just poured over them.
The house was filled with about 70% original belongs of the family. There were dresses, quilts, toys and other interesting artifacts. In the kitchen she showed us a tin egg crate. There were about 24 egg sized pockets. She said the people ordered fertilized eggs from Sears so they could have different breeds of chickens. She also showed us spoons that were made from silver dollars that had been melted down. Demopolis had its own wallpaper design. There was a one of a kind black powder gun on display that was designed by a local dentist from the 1800’s. (see pic) We were told that Francis Lyon donated 6 million dollars of his own money to keep the banks from going bankrupt during the war. The house, although built by slave labor, was estimated to cost $10,000.

Gaineswood - In the 1820’s George Gaines built a dog-trot cabin where the Gaineswood now stands. Then in 1843 Nathan Whitfield, a wealthy cotton planter, bought the estate and the 480 acres surrounding it from Gaines. Whitfield and his skilled slaves and craftsmen took 18 years to build Gaineswood. The cabin was enlarged and refined into an elegant mansion under the direction of Whitfield, who was his own architect and designer for his neoclassical Greek Revival-style house, even though he had no formal training in those fields.
The house has two huge domed ceilings with ornate plasterwork. There are carved wood columns (like the ones he gave to the Lyon’s couple) through out the house. Whitfield had a passion for design and constantly changed the architecture as the trends changed. He wanted two matching mantles for the drawing room and could not find them so he commissioned someone to make them using his design. He paid $55 each for them.

We were told his wife raised 24 children, which 12 were her own, during their marriage. She died at the age of 45. Because of Whitfield’s passion for architecture he was away from home a lot. His wife was left to manage the home and plantation. There were many letters from her letting him know it was time for him to come home. It is said that after her death he truly regretted being absent as he loved her very deeply.

Foscue Creek Park, Demopolis, AL

Foscue Creek Park, Demopolis AL

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The trip from Bankhead to Foscue was around 150 miles of nice rolling hills of clay, green grass and tall trees – nice back roads. It was surprisingly cool (maybe I should say pleasant and breezy) when we arrived at Demopolis. Foscue Creek is a Corp of Engineer Park. It is land that has been purchased by the government for water control purposes. When there is surplus land they either sell it back to the land owners or make parks and wildlife management areas. So COE parks have some type of water facility that is managed. There is a Lock & Dam here on Demopolis Lake, on the Tombigbee/ Black Warrior River. They offered a tour of the Lock on Saturday and we decided to go. I was surprised to see how many people were there. Ranger Brandon Smith was guide. He told us the water level was raised or lower about 40 feet to allow the barges and other vessels to pass down the river. There is a fixed crest dam (weir) on the river to hold back the waters to a certain level. They open two valves about 10 – 12 feet in diameter to let the water into the lock. It creates big whirlpools when their open (See Pic). A big barge was just arriving when we got there so we were able to watch the whole process in action. The lock is 110 feet wide by 610 feet long (the barge was 105’ by 600’). The weir is about 1100 feet in length. Thumbs up to the Captain, he didn’t even bump the side. They opened the gates and let in 21 million gallons of water in about 12 minutes. It raised the barge to the level of the other end of the lake to enable the barge to pass thru.

We are camped close to the water and have a nice breeze most of the day. It is cool in the mornings and we have walked on a few of the park’s trails. We ate at the “Farm House Restaurant” the first night here – it was a seafood buffet, every thing we ate was delicious! But we passed on the frog legs. They had peach cobbler for dessert – they could give Paula Deen a run for her money! It was some of the best southern cooking we’ve had so far.

Today we went to the “Foscue House”. It’s an old homestead turned into a local restaurant. (See pics) The house was built in 1840 and with the exception of the front porch added in 1900 and electricity the house has remained the same. Mr. Foscue had the date put in the design of the bricks on one of the exterior fireplace walls. Upon entering the first things we noticed was the creaking wood floors, ten foot ceilings and wide baseboards. They left the interior walls and even the original house front windows inside. The upstairs was closed to the public, per our waitress and restaurant manager, because the owner only leased them the first floor. She told us to make sure we went out back and looked at the original barn. She said it had square nails. It was a very friendly casual place, there were children playing out back as their parents ate and visited inside and we also saw several fellow campers from the campground.

Oh, we found a new meaning for “fork in the road”. See what we discovered embedded in the asphalt road at the park (See pic)! **** John, if you ever revert back to your vagabond ways, maybe you can try to find the fork in the road! Be sure to take a picture to validate the authenticity of your picture! Ha Ha

Bankhead National Forest – Corinth Park, AL

Corinth at Bankhead, AL

Bankhead National Forest has three parks within the National Forest. We are staying at the Corinth Park where the RV sites are full hook-up and very nice. The other recreation areas don’t have full hook-up. One has water and electric RV sites the other is tent camping only – not sure which has what – I forget! We got up Tuesday morning and went for a walk on one of the trails. It was a little too early for Bud, see pic. Later we drove to the nearest town, Double Springs, for fuel. It is an extremely small town but the diesel price was the lowest we’ve seen on this trip, $4.30 per gallon (we have paid up to $4.79)! The primary means of employment are the forestry, mobile home and window manufactures. The temperature is 90+ so we are working on getting acclimated for Brooksville!

On an evening walk we saw deer, turkey, gray fox (2), bunnies and leather winged bats. There is a big leafed tree here called a Cowcumber Tree. It is in the magnolia family. The camp manager (host) told us it gets a long bud that resembles a cucumber then it blooms into a gigantic magnolia type bloom. I looked it up on the internet and the bloom is about one to two feet across. The manager’s is a very nice Georgia man named Warren and his wife’s is very nice also, her name is Jessie.

We have used our walking sticks aka, flick-a-stick - web remover, quite a bit on our journey. Trace made the one Buddy uses, it's made from a laurel oak and has a real nice crook for a handle. Buddy made mine from a sparkle berry bush it fits my hand perfect.

We’ll be leaving here in the morning, heading to Foscue COE Park in Demopolis, Al. We’ve heard good things about Foscue. Probably one or two more parks before returning to Annutteliga Hammock (home)!

Hey you two!! You sure have seen some pretty places this summer. Hey, Bud, I remember that trip to Lookout Mountain. Are you going to go to Ruby Falls too? Remember riding the elevator down to the caverns? I forgot to mention on our phone con the other day about explaining to Donna the difference between her napping and Bud's knapping. She thought he had fallen asleep in the chair!! Just kidding. Anyway, I'm glad you're keeping the blog, thanks for sharing your experiences with the rest of us. Be safe, but ENJOY!!!

Cloudland Canyon - See Rock City

Cloudland Canyon, Rising Fawn, GA

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We arrived at Cloudland Canyon State Park, Rising Fawn, GA around noon. The park is located on the western edge of Lookout Mountain. We have a nice pull-thru site. There are too many trees to get satellite but we have good internet and phone signals.

Cloudland offers several hiking trails. There are two waterfalls on site but due to the drought neither one has water. We opted to take the West Rim Loop Trail. There are gorgeous overlooks into the canyon. It was in the low 70’s and we had a nice breeze for a good part of the walk. From one of the overlooks you could look down on the town of Trenton and Lookout Valley, 1,200 feet below. Buddy found a rock that looked like a hatchet head. (See Pic) Our little trek ended up being 6 miles! Buddy made delicious steaks for dinner. We slept pretty well that night – but you would not believe how loud the Katie-dids are here. They are louder than the AC.

Buddy told me when he was little he went to Rock City and as he recalled he thought it was pretty cool. It was less then 20 miles away, so we set off to “See Rock City”. I was excited because I really wanted a birdhouse. (See Pic) According to the brochure, in 1928 Frieda Carter spent four years forging a path through the wilderness and among the rock formations with only a string to mark her trail. Garnet Carter introduced her unique gardens to the public as Rock City Gardens in 1932. In 1936 Mr. Carter began his famous barn roof advertising campaign to lure vacationers from the highways. By the 1950’s Clark Byers had painted “SEE ROCK CITY” on 900 barns roofs. To my disappointment, the bird houses are made in, you guessed it, China!

On the way back from Rock City we stopped by a place where people were hang gliding. It looked like fun but Buddy said “No Way”! The camp host told us that some lady decided to hang glide off the west rim (our camping area) without a hang glider just a couple of weeks ago. One of the deputies that went down to retrieve her body had to be evacuated due to yellow jacket stings!

We will be leaving in the morning (Monday) for Bankhead National Forest in AL.

Pigeon Forge – Walden Creek Campground

Pigeon Forge, TN - Walden Creek Campground

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Our ride from Breaks Campground to Pigeon Forge was another one of those “butt hugging” trips, but this time we were pulling the RV. We left early in the morning hoping to beat the coal mine truck traffic. The A’s and B’s parted ways at interstate 81 – they headed to NC and we went to TN. We had a great time traveling with them!

We arrived at Walden Creek Campground around noon. We are right off the main drag at Pigeon Forge. After checking in and setting up we were ready for lunch. The park owner suggested we try Mel’s diner – it was less than a mile down the road. It is a “Rock Around The Clock” diner! (see pic). We were too full to eat desert but knew we would return for their famous 9 scoop banana split.

Tuesday we checked out the outlet malls and the knife shop. On the way back to camp we returned to Mel’s for the banana split. Sorry, I forgot my camera – it was everything they said it would be.

Wednesday I wanted to go to Gatlinburg. It is a wall to wall tourist trap. **** They’re like ants running all over the place! *** I guess I have just out grown that kind of fun. Don’t get me wrong, I’m always ready to go to the mall when there’s a good sale. We drove through town and made a loop back to Pigeon Forge.

Buddy has been plotting our next move to northwest GA – Cloudlands Canyon. He was thinking about going on US 129 – nice scenic route. I found an article about it in one of those “What to Do” books. The article was called, “The Roads That Are Less Traveled” – Tail of the Dragon. The road segment earned its name from its curves resembling the back of the tail of a dragon. An 11-mile stretch of road is said to contain 318 curves. The speed limit was 55 mph prior to 1992; however, in the 1990’s and early 2000’s, the limit was reduced a number of times until 2005 when a speed limit of 30 mph was signed along the entire stretch. Crashing on ‘The Dragon’ earns you the right to hang part of your crash damage on the famous ‘Tree of Shame’ at Deals Gap Motorcycle Resort. Maybe we need to check this out, what do you think?

Breaks Park and Road Kill

Road Kill Kafa

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Wednesday night we (The A’s & B’s) were sitting outside enjoying the evening when we heard the people camping next to us singing Happy Birthday to one of their fellow campers. The singing was accompanied by the pleasing sound of a guitar. To our pleasure the player continued to play a few numbers. The music stopped and a couple of men from the group started walking down the road – as they approached our campsite they said they were looking for more people with musical instruments. I volunteered that the A’s had a dulcimer. Sue quickly said they were just learning to play and wanted to know if anyone from his group played one. The man said I think so – bring it and your chairs on over. Sue went to get their dulcimer and we all wandered over to the neighbor’s camp. It started off with a group of eight. Then there were twelve, then fourteen, pretty soon there were eighteen people. It was interesting to see how the music drew in the crowd. There were players, singers and listeners. The original player (a man in his late 50’s) who’s name was Bob, had an impressive guitar. It was a Resonator by National. Boy could he pick and sing too. He played several songs. Another couple that came said they only sang – so they sang a few gospel songs as he played background. Later another man strolled in with his dog and asked Bob if he knew a certain song. He said “No, but start singing and I’ll try to figure it out.” Sure enough, after he sang a verse Bob was accompanying him. Bob’s wife, Naomi, sang a Patsy Cline song, “Crazy” (I think that’s the name). She sang well, and then she sang a song that she wrote the lyrics to and he wrote the music. Just as it got dark another couple showed up with their guitars. It was an enjoyable evening.

On our way here we spotted a restaurant called “Road Kill Kafa”. We knew we would be back! Thursday we decided to try it out for lunch. (See pics) The owner, April, was the host, waitress and cook for the day. She told us her Mama was out sick. The menu was painted on the wall and bar area. Later April told us she had menus printed but everyone kept taking them for souvenirs. John and I tried the Road Kill Burger – It was a burger (made from the latest kill, just kidding) with cole slaw, lettuce, tomato, onion, cheese, chili and barbeque sauce. All this was piled high on a bun. Believe it or not, it was a very good combination. The place was not busy, so April took time out to visit with us. She said this was her second restaurant and that she served a lot of the local coal miners. She smiled and said she had a friend that would call her and tease her – Asking, “What’s the road kill for the day?” She said she was going to get him back. He called one day, she said, from his office to order lunch for his staff. She took the order. She said she won one of those stuffed animals from a machine (a pig) and decided that would be just what she needed to get him back! “I took that pig” she continued in her sweet VA accent, “outside and put him under my tire and ran back and forth and back and forth over him. He looked pretty rough. Then I stuck him between two pieces of bread and added lettuce, tomato and barbeque sauce. Then I wrapped the sandwich and put it in with the rest of the order.” She said his staff had a really good laugh and poked fun at him for a long time. So she finally got him back!

Friday night we saw Bob and Naomi outside their motor home. Sue and I went over and asked if they would like an audience. They said sure! So we went over and met friends of theirs, Harold and his wife Patsy. There were only eight of us so it gave us a chance to visit and get to know each other. Bob played and then we would visit. They were from NC and gave us some inside scoops on places to visit. Bob knew a lot of local history and folklore of the area.

Saturday night the park is having bluegrass music at the amphi-theater. Featuring: The Bluegrass Travelers and Green River Grass - keep you posted!

Littcarr to Breaks

Hummers @ Littcarr & Breaks Park

The humming birds were out in numbers – do you call them a “flock” of humming birds? Anyway, it was great entertainment. They are feisty little devils! I’m not sure what species of hummers they are – not sure if they are Ruby throated, but very similar. We had so many we decided to see how close we could get. (See pic) Also, we don’t have a dog to travel with so I brought my bonsai tree. It’s doing great and having a good time hanging out with the “big trees”.
The last day or two at Littcarr was spent preparing for the next move. You know, cleaning, laundry, looking at maps and routes. We have been taking a chance at some of the parks that have “first come first serve” sites. We heard Breaks Interstate Park was a good place (higher altitude) and the brochure looked real promising. There are lots of trails, whitewater rafting (only in October), pool, horseback riding, an amphi-theater, and a restaurant on site, hotel and even a conference center. Many famous people have been associated with this area – Hatfields & McCoys and Daniel Boone, to name a few. You see those names a lot up here!

The A’s arrived before we did and gave us a panic call! Sue told us John was trying to pull into a pull-thru site and got wedged in between the trees. It’s not easy to maneuver these things. They have a longer fifth wheel than we do. He ended up detaching from the truck and backing up at a 90 degree angle – reattaching and then was able to “crank it around”. Whew! I’m glad we missed that one! He said he did it without a dent or scratch! He added, “It would have been easier if I had my chainsaw!”
*****
Patsy and I pulled into the entrance and stopped at the gate house to read the sign on front of the gate house. The sign was directing us to the camp store to register. A nice lady (appeared to be in her mid to late forties) came out while I was reading the sign. I said, “Looks like we need to proceed to the camp store!” She said, “Yes that’s right.” And she continued with, “there was another big rig like yours just pulled in a few minutes ago! I think I might have upset the woman in the rig, when I said I just don’t see how those people get those big rigs into those little sites!” Patsy laughed and said, “That was our neighbors, the A’s!” This is a very nice park. There are 4500 acres of trees with beautiful mountain scenery. The only draw-backs are the sites are tight (hard to get into and out of— too many trees) and not very level! Also, they all appear to be gravel – don’t recall seeing any paved sites.

We decided to dine at the on-site restaurant for lunch. Nice place, nice view, nice waitress. We asked her where she lived. She said she lived in Haysi (pronounced -Heysa) and it was only 15 miles away. “Do they have a Walmart?” we asked. She replied in her best VA/KY accent, “It ain’t got one we only gotta Dollar General!” After she left the table we had a good laugh. Then we visited Haysi the next day.
*****

We didn’t ask her anything! Sue asked her where she was from – Patsy and Sue were sure she wasn’t from these parts due to her unusual accent. She replied, “ I’m from Hey sa.” I asked her how she pronounced it (Haysi)? She again replied, “Hey sa!” Then I asked her if there were any stores like Wal Mart or shopping centers in Haysi? She said in a very southern style, “There ain’t nun. Dare’s only a dol ler gin ral.” You should have seen Sue’s eyes dart around the table at the rest of us – we all had big smiles. She is without a doubt from these parts! And a very good waitress! She didn’t stretch things as far as Haysi is concerned. There is a Dollar General, Edward’s Groceries Store, Hardware Store (lots of stuff), a place to purchase gas and diesel, and the Police Station, Public Library, City Hall, Administrative Office were all in one small building. Neat little town!

Sounds like fun

Sounds like you guys are still having fun.....we packed it in and got back to Brooksville yesterday and we are glad to be here after covering over 8000 miles. We got onto some of those roads you have described here out in Oregon but we were in the motor home pulling the car and had logging trucks coming at us.. it got pretty scary too, but not "teeth marks in the seat" scary. Now that's scary!

your pictures are pretty awesome also, we are going the make our East coast trip next year....maybe, home feels pretty good right now.

Kingdom Come

Littcarr Camp I

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We are only posting this because we survived a day on the road to Kingdom Come. The day started off cool and sunny. I decided to make chicken soup in the crock pot for supper. I added chicken, potatoes, carrots, onion and celery flakes. I had a container of broth in the freezer so I threw it in and set off with the gang in search for Kingdom Come State Park. Sue has been talking to us about “John” roads and we soon learned what she meant. The roads began to narrow as they curved back and forth around the mountains. There are a lot of coal mines up here and we started meeting coal trucks coming down with full loads. Eventually we got to the turn off road to the park. It narrowed to what appeared to be a single lane road. We climbed higher and higher. We were beginning to understand where they got the name for the park. The road seemed to disappear from under us as we drove higher. Then out of now where here comes a truck heading toward us. With just inches to spare John managed to maneuver us by. We saw a sign that said Kingdom Come 2 miles ahead. **** I didn’t see the sign! My eyes were shut tight! And my as_ was tight too! That was the longest two miles I have ever experienced! Alas, we reached the top – there was a beautiful outlook. (See pic) We checked out the sites (like we were going to pull the RV’s up there). We took the other side (the correct way to the park) down – at the end there was a sign that said “Tent Camping Only”.

We arrived home (back to camp) around four. I was glad I had supper waiting! I made rice and served up chicken soup. Yum, Yum! I took a bite and Wow; something was wrong – very, very wrong. It tasted tart. I took another bite, yuck. I realized that what I thought was chicken broth was a container of key lime juice. I brought it to make Buddy a Key Lime Pie! I’m happy to say, “We survived with no ill effects”. **** Actually, I think the soup would probably be a big hit in a German restaurant. I ate two bowls of the stuff! Tasted like sauerkraut chicken soup. I suggested to Pat that in the future mark the bag with a marking pen. As for going to Kingdom Come, John (unknowingly) took us up by way of the back door! When setting up a route on the computer, you never know if the program is going to take you in on the best route. This was not the best way!! I was afraid my rear end was going to leave teeth marks on Sue’s front seat!

Too Much Time on Our Hands

July 14, 2008

Here is what happens retired people have too much time on their hands. Copy and paste this link for a good laugh!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VwedG77H3bA


We arrived at Littcarr COE campground. It’s real nice – excellent laundry room, clean bathrooms and pretty good shower area. We have a concrete pad to park on, shade trees on both sides and a strong satellite signal. The downside may be the internet and phone service. We will update you later.

Hey you guys!! Just wanted to let you know I'm still enjoying your blog and all your pictures and stories/adventures. Thank goodness you are as interested in the good eating spots as you are everything the places you visit have to offer. Everyone wants to know about that or there wouldn't be so many programs about it on the Food Channel! XX OO

Pal's Sudden Service

Warriors Path, TN

OOPS, I had a problem with the download of this album - there ARE new pics in here!

July 12, 2008

Yesterday while taking an evening stroll around the lake we spotted something in the path just ahead of us. It looked like a dark brown squirrel. It ran along the path toward us and stopped, took a look at us and quickly jumped into the water – it swam closer and crawled out onto the shore. It was as surprised and puzzled seeing us as we were at seeing it! It made a quick dash between us and disappeared into the trees. We knew it wasn’t a squirrel – it didn’t look quite right to be a beaver, so we continued on down the trail. Pretty soon we saw another one. John suggested that it might be a mink. A park ranger verified that what we saw was indeed a mink. I thought they were pretty cute, but according to the ranger, mink can be pretty nasty. He said they will eat the ducks. When we got back to camp we sat around and visited – we got new neighbors today – We think it is Darrel or maybe it’s his brother Darrel. He put a sign out on one of his three vehicles “Firewood for Sale”. He, his “woman” and Bo, his hound dog have an ole ‘67 Glendale camper. They seem to be nice people but I really wish he’d keep his shirt on! (Hairy is an understatement) **** It’s me! I really believe Pat is not used to seeing over-weight men with hair on their bodies. She must think every man should have a hard, bronze, hairless body like mine. Well my head lacks some hair! And, I don’t think the hairy guy is Darrel or his brother Darrel, but, is his other brother Darrel – he is really hairy!

One of the first things John A. does when we arrive at camp is start checking out the net for local places to eat. ***** notice she said John A, not Bud, worrying about where his next meal is coming from! *** He really, really, really wanted to check out Pal’s Sudden Service. (see the pic) It’s all fresh. It’s the home of award-winning quality and great food in a flash. We ordered the Big Chick, Big Pal, Chili Dog, Frenchie Fries and shakes. We ordered, paid and received our food in a FLASH! It wasn’t bad and pretty cheap too. **** I ate so much I hurt!

Tonight we attended the camp’s Folk Stories gathering. The program opened with pictures of the wildlife of the park. Marty, the park ranger, told old folklores and played a mouth-harp. The kids really got into the stories (Bud went back for a shower). **** Not my favorite form of entertainment*** It is nice to see that the people of the park have such conviction to the preservation of the natural resources and want to share their knowledge. **** Yes! I just wish they had more conviction on keeping good clean bathrooms. I’d like to see the rangers write some hefty fines for those individuals deliberately trashing the restrooms – kids and adults! Hey! Spiderman, you and Sharkboy miss me? I know you two do! See ya in about a month.

We will be heading out on Monday morning for Littcarr COE Park in KY.

warriors path - nat'l tunnel

Warriors Path, TN

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July 9, 2008

We have had daily rains and the trails in the campground are too wet for walking. So yesterday we drove into Kingsport to check out their Greenbelt Linear Park. According to the visitors guide book it is a 9 mile paved pathway. After discovering that most of the pathway is proposed, we gave up and started looking for – you guessed it – a restaurant. 12 Bones Smokehouse was close by and a great choice!

Today we took a day trip to the Natural Tunnel State Park in Duffield, Virginia. The natural tunnel is believed to be about one million years old. It is an 850 foot tunnel that can be accessed by the park’s chairlift or walking trail. (Guess which route we took) An active railroad line runs through the tunnel carrying mainly coal. Access through the tunnel is prohibited due to railroad safety laws. We missed seeing a train come through but still enjoyed the self-tour. On the way back to camp we ate at Riverfront Seafood Company which overlooks the Holston River and Bays Mountain. Another great meal!

Vanderpool to Warriors Path

Vanderpool Campground, Vilas, NC

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Our last day at Vanderpool started off with a brisk walk in the park then back to camp to do laundry then a get together potluck dinner. We didn’t want to miss our photo opp with the new RV Strummers! (see pic). We sure are gonna miss everyone! We had a wonderful time – we want to give the C’ & R’s a special thank you!

John and Buddy mapped out our route to Warriors’ Path State Park (I think it was about 70+ miles down the road). The roads were looking good – until, the lady on the GPS said “Turn left on 67”. Ok, we did it, although we both had our doubts. She must have been getting her jollies for the day, because we started going down some narrow back road. We ended up in the center of a small town (I don’t recall the name). Buddy was trying to drive and read the map. She (the GPS lady) said “turn left”, and we did. Buddy looked at me and said “Is this a one-way street”? Sure enough the cars were parked on both sides of the road facing us – and low and behold here comes a truck our direction! The guy in the truck must have been use to seeing trucks pulling RV’s going the wrong direction all the time, because he slowed down before he got to the intersection so we were able to make it to the corner to make a right turn. After a few *&%$#@ Buddy was able to get us back on track! The A’s didn’t make the same mistake we made, but they did miss another turn and had to do a U’ie. We arrived at Warriors Path around 11:30 AM – it is a 1000 acre park with hiking/biking trails, fishing/boating, swimming and golfing. It has 94 sites which are filling up fast. Oh, I forgot, sometime happened during our trip here --- the TV slid forward and hit the slide (from the inside) and broke a window. It didn’t come out, it just shattered. Buddy taped it up and said we will fix it when we get home. We will figure out a better way to anchor the TV in the meantime. That’s it for now!

Vanderpool Excursion

Vanderpool Campground, Vilas, NC

Click on picture to see the album

Vanderpool Campground, Boone, NC

It was a great reunion – now there are eight of us. (Jim & Joanne C., John & Lu R., John & Sue A. and Buddy & Patsy B.) Vanderpool is a small, private campground that is very well kept! The people in this camp are very close-nit and friendly. Joanne started our evening off with Key Lime Cake and it was yummy!

The A’s & B’s went on a walk at the Valle Curcis Park. The park (as well as most of the places up here) was well manicured. Local people must spend some big bucks on up keep. The eight of us met at one of the local restaurants and ate (of course) and discussed our schedule for the week. This day was going to be our (A’s & B’s) best bet to check out Roan Mountain the next possible campground. It was only an hour away – it was a good thing we took the time to check it out. You should have seen the road going into the campground. It was a narrow road with hairpin curves – too narrow for our rigs! The campsites were on tight winding roads with trees that would make backing very difficult even for the most experienced driver with units like ours. But it would have been a great park! The vote was to check out the TVA Park on the Watagua River about 20 miles north. We had a little difficulty locating the place – the GPS couldn’t find it either! At least it didn’t take us two days to find the campground! Determined, we continued through a maze of subdivision type streets with out any help what-so-ever from signs that could have directed us to the campground we were seeking. Our first clue that we were getting close was – we were driving along the river and saw lots of people having a good time rafting, so we figured we were closing in. All of a sudden to our horror appeared a right hand 90 degree turn onto a single lane bridge with just inches of clearance on both sides of the truck! We knew there was NO WAY to maneuver our rigs into the campground from this route. But we continued on. After several minutes we finally came upon campers (very small campers) park down by the beautiful Watagua River. We could have been lulled to sleep by the sounds of the river rushing by! Unfortunately we had to scratch this one off the list too!

The next day was “Ladies Day Out”. We shopped at some local shops and had lunch at an open café. The guys hung out at the campground. That evening the John’s entertained us on the dulcimer. (see pic).

July 3rd we (the 8 of us) drove to Damascus, VA to ride the Virginia Creeper Bicycle Trail. The Laughing Dog bike shuttle drove us to White Top Mountain and dropped us off. We began our leisurely trek down the Virginia Creeper Trail and enjoyed the easiest, prettiest mountain bike ride we have ever experienced. -- it is the onnnnly mountain bike ride we have ever experienced. The 17 mile trail, which is actually a “retired” railroad bed, began at an elevation of 3576’ and ended at 1930’ back in Damascus. The trail had numerous bridge crossings where you could view the crystal clear waters of the river below. Mountain Laurel, wild roses and purple clover were in bloom along the trail. After riding about a mile, John R. discovered his rear tire was leaking. Of course, the excursion did not include a bicycle pump. It didn’t take long before he was riding on the rim. At ten miles out we found a Good Samaritan who offered to pump up his tire. John managed to ride it on in to the finish! All in all, it was a wonderful 3 hour trip. Next time we will make it a 4 or 5 hour trip. All eight of us made it back without a scratch. John A didn’t break any bones! Congratulations JA!!

Last Days of Bandits Roost

June 26 - 29

Bandits Roost, NC

Click on picture to see album

As mentioned in the last post the four of us (A's & B's)drove to Boone, NC. We met with the rest of the group (C's & R's). After catching up on news of family and friends we went out to eat (And yes CW, we do a lot of eating!) Mellow Mushroom was the restaurant for the day. That was the best pizza we have ever eaten! We ARE going back, CW! We had pizza prezels for appietizers dipped in marinara sauce that was out of this world - our granddaughter, Deidra would have loved them.
June 27 & 28
The last couple of days have been spent at the campground. Buddy has been napping and knapping. Those of you that don't know the terms - Napping includes snoring and drueling. Knapping is the "art" of making arrowheads out of flint, glass and obsidien. (see pics)

Bandits Roost June 23 - 25

Bandits Roost, NC

This posting comes with a warning! “Get a cup of coffee or beverage of your choice”. We need to do some catching up on the blog.

After leaving Stone Mountain, our next destination was Bandits Roost Campground. It was only a 30 mile drive. It’s a COE park – Corp of Engineers. They only had a couple of sites available and one was a handicap site (They took one look at Bud and said we could have it). It’s real nice but right next to the bathroom, dumpsters and dump station. *** It’s Bud! She’s never satisfied! The nice man took pity on me, and gave us a camp site where he knew it wouldn’t be very much trouble for me to cleanup! And, I think he knew our appetites would be altered somewhat – must of thought I needed to loose some weight. One whiff of the dumpster or the dump station has a devastating effect on one’s desire to consume food!! ***end Although we are only 30 miles away, the area seems so different. At Stone Mountain we had deer and humming birds right at our back door – here we have chipmunks and a lot of song birds. *** Me again! For the record, I’ve seen at least three hummers at Bandits Roost. ***end I am amazed how tall the trees are. I bet they are 80 plus feet tall. You know that’s true or Bud would have ***’ed me!

We will be traveling with John and Sue for the next month or so. They are well seasoned RV’ers and know a lot of the campgrounds and towns. We all needed to do laundry so we went to town to the Laundromat. *** Really! This was very exciting! The Laundromat has a wanted poster on the doors! Seems two shady characters (boyfriend and girlfriend or husband and wife) ripped off the change machine, while on video. Got their pictures and tag number and description of the get-a-way car!! That’s why I’m not a professional thief. I wouldn’t be smart enough to figure out what those little gadgets are hanging above the doors or the identical ones outside in the parking lot either! ***end It was right next to Miller Brother’s Automotive. They restore old classic autos. Josh would love it! (see pics). The people here are so nice – the guy at the shop invited us to come in and walk around his shop. *** Bud again! No kidding! These guys do outstanding work. If anyone likes old classic cars, they should look these guys up if they’re ever in Wilkesboro, NC. ***end

We have been taking nice long morning walks. *** Yes, it’s me again. They are very, very long! ***end. There are trails that take you around W. Kerr Scott Reservoir. ***Yeah, Bud We don’t know for sure if the trails go completely around the reservoir, since we have not gone completely around the reservoir. And I for one do not plan to, even if they (the trails) do! ***end We are going to check out the dam later in the week.

June 25, 2008
Got up early today and met with Sue and John to go on one of those “very long” walks. Plans changed – when we met up with the Augustine’s plans changed. It seems their electrical hook-up was not working right. They needed a 50 amp service and only had 30. A decision was made to move them if possible. (Remember the campground is about full) Off the four of us we went with coffee cups in hand, searching for a possible site. We discovered a 50 amp site in the process of being vacated. Our hopes were high, especially Sue’s! We perched ourselves on a wall next to the registration office and waited for the attendant to arrive. Everything worked out – Buddy and I stood guard over the new site while John and Sue prepared to relocate to the new site. Veterans that they are, it only took about 20 minutes. The rest of the day was spent shopping in town and eating!
Tomorrow we are driving over to Boone (our next campsite) to visit with friends.

Comment

Great pictures of the sunset......why do most of your posts include food?? Looks like you guys are having a lot of fun.....!

Stone Mountain II

Stone Mountain II

June 18, 19 & 20
When we arrived here on Tuesday there were plenty of sites to choose from. On Thursday we began to see a few more RV’s, Pop-ups and tents – by Friday this place was packed. There was a constant flow of bicycles and tricycles buzzing up and down the campground roads. Oh, and dogs – it seems most of the veteran campers have at least one dog and they very in size. We figured the smaller campers have bigger dogs and the larger campers have several dogs. The people across from us have a pop-up camper and three small ankle biters. When evening fell this place was lit up with campfires. (Bud says it’s a good time to shut the windows and turn on the AC) The children walked around with their flashlights, little lanterns and flashing shoes. We can official call them “Weekend Warriors”, but I guess they say we aren’t “Real” campers in RVs. Buddy just returned from the shower with a smile on his face and a story about a Dad and his little boy – Evidently, the Dad got the little boy (Buddy said the boy was about waist high so I’m thinking he was about 3 or 4) anyway, the Dad got the little boy showered and proceeded to take his own shower and the boy decides he wants to go outside and check on a friend. The Dad said, “No, just stay here with me.” When Dad finishes his shower, the little boy wants to take another shower on the other side. Dad said, “No, that’s the women’s side.” The little boy says, “I like it on the women’s side.” Buddy thinks the kid will probably turn out ok.
We asked some local Rangers about a good place to eat. They told us about a place called Carol’s Restaurant. It took us two days to find it. All the roads in Traphill are named Traphill something or other. We tried out the restaurant on Friday when John’s sister and brother-in-law (Joanne & Jim) came to visit. Carol’s turned out to be a small, older, single wide mobile home. The place was packed, but we lucked out and got right in. It wasn’t much to look at; however, the food was good! We had a good visit with Joanne & Jim – we will meet up with them again in a couple of weeks.
Yesterday, while hiking we found a spot on the mountain that we thought would make a good photo at sunset. So, on Friday evening the four of us trekked back up the mountain and waited for the sun to set. (see photos)
We have done quite a bit of walking up and down the mountain this week, so we are hoping for some rain tomorrow (Good excuse to sleep in). *** Didn’t rain! But, I slept in anyway – Patsy got me up at 11:00 AM.

The pic of me was taken by John while I was trying to adjust our camera for a group shot.

Checking In

Buddy and Patsy - I am enjoying reading the tales of your travels. Patsy writes real well. Doc Paula and I have just returned from the farm in Centrailia, Missouri. We drove and took two of our Rhodesian Ridgebacks. We were visiting Doc Paula's family and checking in on the farm. Sure is wet up there. Whelp, gotta go. I'll touch base with you from time to time. Ya'll have a good time. Alan

Stone Mountain

Stone Mountain State Park

Traphill, NC (Stone Mountain)

June 16, 2008
We left the hilly country of the Waxhaw region (Andrew Jackson’s birthplace) in South Carolina (Sow Cur Linuha). About 2 hours later we started entering the Blue Ridge Mountain region in North Carolina. By 12 noon we were at our new campsite (Stone Mountain State Park) near Traphill, NC. We met John and Sue “A”, our neighbors from home. We went for a walk with them after dinner on one of the nature trails. We saw several deer. This is a very nice park, it is paved, has gravel sites and clean bathroom facility. (very will kept park) The only downside is, there is not much shade and no phone or internet reception. We plan to walk to the top of the mountain tomorrow.

June 17
It really cooled off during the night. We woke to an exhilarating 53 degrees! After breakfast we packed Buddy’s camelpack with water and snacks. At approximately, 8 AM we began our trek, of which, John assured us it wouldn’t be long (only about 4 miles). After 5 ½ grueling hours of climbing rock faces and stepping down hundreds, if not thousands of steps we made it back to our camps. The trek was worth the suffering as you can see from the photos. John and Sue said the trails had been improved since their last visit two years earlier. While walking the trails we met one of the descendents of the Hutchinson’s family, who settled this area back in the 1700’s. She told us a little bit about her great, great, great grandparent’s homestead (pictured in photos). She told us that there were about 32 families that lived in this area before it was a park. The families got together and decided to sell their properties to the NC Parks rather than develop it. Later in the day we drove to Elkins, NC for a birthday dinner with the “A’s”. Happy Birthday John! Note: See the B-B-Q sauce on John’s shirt.

Test

Hi! I think I finally made it into your blog so I can make comments. Several of us working stiffs here in Hernando County are thoroughly enjoying you and Bud's travels and accompanying commentary and film footage - wow! Thanks for sharing. Be safe!

Andrew Jackson State Park

Saturday, June 14
We walked up to the school house and museum (without a camera). The one-room school house is an example of how school houses were constructed in the 1700's in the Waxhaw region of South Carolina. There was suppose to be a copy of the Lancaster County teacher's exam of 1917. (Sorry Lisa, I could not find it). Most children learned enough at local common schools to read the Bible and run their farms. More ambition parents, like Andrew Jackson's mother, paid the school master to teach advanced classes. The museum held artifacts of the Waxhaw area and Andrew Jackson's life from childhood through presidency, to death.
Mike, Diane and Jessica (my brother and his family) were coming for dinner so we decided to use our new charcoal grill. Buddy expected to pull it out of the box and attach a couple of legs. When we opened the box we found dozens of screws, wing nuts, washers and miscellaneous parts --- 2 1/2 hours later we were ready to cook. Mike, Diane and Jessica arrived with shrimp, steak and wine in hand. I made new potatoes, in my crock pot, fresh (frozen) corn from Fraziers and homemade blackberry (from the rock mines) cobbler. After over indulging ourselves, we took a walk around the lake on one of the nature trails.
June 15, Happy Father's Day
We went to Mike and Diane's for lunch. Again, we over indulged! Another great meal. Afterwords, Buddy and Mike jacked up a shed in Mike's backyard and replaced some timbers. Somehow we managed to cut the cable line, oops!
June 16 - After washing the truck and taking a walk, we decided to lounge around. I wanted to take a picture of us sitting around the camp. It sounded so simple. Problem was - I didn't know how to set the controls on the camera. So we opened a bottle of wine, and the manual for the camera. We finished the bottle and you can see the results in one of the pictures below. By the way, just click on the picture to see the complete "album". We will be on the road again tomorrow - we are meeting up with John and Sue (our neighbors from home) at Stone Mountain, NC.

Andrew Jackson State Park

Andrew Jackson State Park

June 13, Andrew Jackson State Park We got to the park at about 12:30 PM. It’s a pretty large park but the camping area is small, only 24 sites and they filled up fast Friday evening. The park is covered with hardwood hammock. We have definitely left the flat country and are seeing some rolling hills. There is a fairly large pond, a couple of walking trails, a museum, decent bathroom facility and amphitheater. Last night they had a free 2 man concert and served free homemade ice cream!(Vanilla, strawberry, banana, peach and coffee) However, down at the camping area there is a group of campers that brought their own instruments and they sounded even better. My brother, Mike, lives in Charlotte, which is only 20 some miles away. He and Diane are coming over tomorrow. And if you missed it on our last post --- it’s Lisa’s birthday!

Catfish Danny's

Catfish Danny's

Click picture to view album

June 11/12/13
We got up early and visited, did a few things around Danny and Marie’s. Then we packed up and went to the bass and bream pond. Danny uses bream for cut bait on his catfish bush lines. It is a man-made pond that is next to a wheat field. (Real nice setting) Danny showed me (Patsy) how to use his bass pole. Neither Bud nor Danny wanted me to make “bird nests” in the bait cast reels, so they took turns casting for me. After several minutes Danny caught two – 2-3 pound bass. He then cast out the line for me and went to check on Bud. He didn’t get but a few steps away and I said, “I think I got hung on something.” He turned around and said, “No!" You got a fish! Set the hook! Set the hook!” So I did. BIG FISH I was reeling in and the fish jumped out of the water. Both Buddy and Danny were laughing. “Reel him in!” I got him up to the steep, weedy edge and could not lift him up. And Danny came to my aid. As we tried to lift the fish the line broke. And 20# of bass swam away – ha ha – It was somewhere between 8 – 10 pounds per Danny and Buddy. Boy, talk about 3 upset fisher people! Danny kept telling me that I did catch that fish! We caught a total of 4 bass to have for supper. Then we caught 50 bream to use for catfish bait. Marie and I fixed a great meal that evening.
The next day, Buddy and Danny wired up an outside electric box and worked on Danny’s ice machine. It makes goooood crushed ice! That evening Bud/Dan/Sassy went out to set the brush lines for catfish. They set about 25 hooks.
Bud/Dan went out at 6:30 AM to retrieve the lines. They came home with 2 – fifteen/twenty pound catfish and two slightly smaller ones. Shortly after that we left to continue our adventure; while Danny had to stay home and clean slimy catfish! Marie made Buddy a gallon of sweet tea and Danny gave me a bag of crushed ice to go! We had a great time and a good visit.


Happy Birthday to Lisa! She is, well, she is older today!

Stop Along the Way

June 10
Before leaving Rocks Pond I persuaded Buddy to get up early and sit with me on a hard swing by the lake so I could take a picture of the sunrise.
We stopped by (ex-brother-in-law), Danny and Marie’s in Sow Cur-a-linuh (as Rusty pronounces it). He wanted us to stay at his place. So here we are! Danny and his Jack Russell (named Sassy) met us, on his golf cart, at a restaurant just down the road from his house. It was good to see him – he was talking a mile a minute (he had not changed a bit). I stayed with the RV while Buddy, Danny and Sassy checked out the access road to his house. After cutting a few limbs they returned. It went like clock work – Bud pulled down the road to the neighbor’s house, made a loop and then backed in Danny’s driveway. He had water and power for us; although, they had to make some minor up-grades to the service box. We got things set up and then Danny was ready to show us around the neighborhood by way of the golf cart. He is proud of their place and his dog. Danny and Sassy go out everyday in a small (what Danny called) river boat and put out lines to catch catfish. He told us one morning he and Sassy went out in the boat to put out lines. He said Sassy likes to sit on the bow of the boat so she can keep and eye on things. Danny said, “You have to keep an eye out for moccasins on the river, there are a lot of them.” Well he spotted a moccasin in the water; he pulled out his 45 and took aim. He fired and missed, and then the snake turned heading right for the bow of the boat. “POW, he shot again, he said Sassy flew off the bow of the boat and sailed right into his lap just shaking. Another time he hit a log in the river and Sassy (she hates water) flew off the bow right into the river. He thought she’d never come up, but he said she finally pop-up and he grabbed her – she wasn’t amused. Tomorrow, Bud and Danny are going to wire in an outside receptacle, do a few things around the place, and go fishing.

Maintenance at Rocks Pond Campground

Sunday, June 08 - We arrived at our second destination – Eutawville, SC – Rocks Pond Campground. It is a privately owned facility that sits on Lake Marion. There are 550 sites. Our site faces the lake and they have planted trees in-between each lot, which looks nice and gives us some shade (pecan, fig, and crape myrtle). We sat at the edge of the lake on a very large swing and enjoyed the warm (95 deg) breeze. The lake was teaming with PWCs (personal water crafts). It was too hot to hang around so we retreated to the AC.
We forgot to mention that at our last campground the squirrels ate holes in our drinking water hoses (both of them). After getting the 5th wheel set up Buddy had repair one of the hoses. Our only other maintenance was giving Bud a haircut.
And Happy Birthday to Daddy – today is my Dad’s birthday!

Fort McAllister

Friday, June 6 – We went for a brisk (+or- 2 mile) morning walk – we had to walk briskly due to the deer flies! *** Fulkerson aka “Spiderman” guess who! The deer flies here are plentiful; however, they haven’t figured out that this FL Cracker boy don’t just shoo them away – I must have killed 5,000 *** This is Patsy – that was exaggerated just a little!
It was an uneventful day – we cleaned the love bugs off the truck and trailer. We also found their (Richmond Hill) Wal-Mart. Did a little shopping.
Saturday, June 7 – The campground is located in the Fort McAllister State Historic Park. We decided to take the self-guided tour of the museum and renovated fort site. During the Civil War, Fort McAllister was constructed around 1860 to defend Savannah and the Ogeechee River. The sand and mud earthworks were attacked seven times by the Union ironclads, but did not fall until captured in 1864 by General Sherman during his infamous “March to the Sea”. The earthen mounds used for bombproofs and shelter proved to withstand bombardment better than the forts built with 7’ thick walls of brick. At one of the gun placements they had a “hot shot” furnace. The furnace was used to heat cannon balls red hot and fired threw the smooth bore guns at wooden ships in the hopes of setting them on fire. It’s one of those times in our history that saddens us.
We dined at one of the local restaurants called Love’s Steak & Seafood on the north side of the Ogeechee River. We ate King Crab balls (and they were huge), Prime Rib, Georgia White Shrimp and Bourbon Pecan Pie (best I ever ate). *** This is Bud! No! No! No! We did not eat King Crab Balls! Patsy, misunderstood me. We ate as an appetizer, crab balls, made from most likely blue crab meat. When they brought them (two) out, Patsy was expecting crab claws, I guess? I said, no they are crab balls, probably from a male King Crab due to their size – went right over her head! I’m just now explaining it to her. She’s laughing, but does not want me too include this – oh! But yes!!*** On the way back to the camp, we saw a Painted Bunting. It is an incredibly beautiful bird. If you have never seen one please look it up on the internet.
We will be heading to Rock Pond Campground tomorrow.

Pictures on your blog

If you go to Picasso Web albums they will show you how to get a slideshow on your blog....sounds like you guys are off and running. It is interesting how Buddy sees things differently than you do Patsy!!!! Are you doing some poetic licensing in your blog??

Savannah

June 4, after a 6 hour drive we arrived at Fort McAlister campground at 3:30 PM. The one thing we both noticed is, it is green (due to rain) the further north we traveled. The park is older, but nice. We are nestled back in the woods. As we backed the trailer in we spotted a deer. I thought “How nice, it’s so pristine” Buddy thought “M-mmm, fresh venison”. There is a small park with a dock on the edge of a salt marsh and creek, called Red Bird Creek. We sat on the swings and enjoyed the nice breeze off the water which also kept the deer flies away.
June 5, we planned our day trip to Savannah. In downtown Savannah we caught one of the open air trolleys. It was pretty nice because we could get on and off as we pleased. (We could not! This is Buddy. We could get off and on, at designated stops!) We jumped off at “Lady & Sons” (Paula Deen’s restaurant) and ate lunch. (We did not! This is Buddy. We jumped off at stop # 8 and walked a couple blocks to the restaurant.) We had the buffet; fried and baked chicken, meatloaf, collard greens, creamed corn, mashed potatoes, mac and cheese and more. It was all delicious! For dessert we had cheese cake and peach cobbler. Buddy said the cobbler tasted like his mother’s--very good! The people displayed the true southern hospitality. We caught the trolley again and went down to the Savannah River front. We browsed in the shops then walked up to the Six Penne’s where scenes were shot for the Julia Roberts movie “Something to Talk About”. Savannah is also the place Forest Gump was filmed. We learned that they had to temporarily place a park bench in front of the court house just for that movie. (No! This is Bud again. They temporarily placed a prop-bench in front of a park named Chipewa Park and turned the one-way street into a two-way street for the movie.) We took a very interesting tour of the Owen –Thomas mansion. It was designed by William Jay when he was 21 years old. It was built in 1816 – 1819. The interior of the house has Greek-inspired ornamental molding, half-moon arches, and stained-glass panels. We were only allowed to take pictures in the garden area. After that we boarded the trolley and returned to camp. It was a hot but very interesting day.

I have not figured out how to add a photo album to the blog - but I will.

Your Off!

Glad to hear that you are on your way..........again................ Are you heading up towards Mike's? I easily slipped back into my daily grind after my mini-vacation. Seeing Jessica graduate and George W all at the same time was a blast. I was also introduced to 2 Buck Chuck by Mike and Diane. Quite a pleasant experience! Keep the blogs coming.

Your favorite Sis

On The Road Again!

Monday late afternoon Lazy Days called and said the RV would be ready Tuesday around 3 PM. Everything went pretty smooth. As we suspected the freight was more than the part. And we have to thank George W for the stimulus check - it covered the bill!

After we got home we filled a couple of holes with expanding foam that might have been doorways for critters and loaded up. This morning after a blueberry pancake and bacon breakfast we loaded the refrigerator items and headed out the door!

RIP

Buddy went out about 9 PM the other night to throw more napalm (gasoline) in the pit. He wore a head lamp with a red light (thanks, Alshouse) hoping the bees would not be attracted to the red glow. It worked; however, he did spot a coon at the pit. The coon was in the process of raiding the nest of honey or larva. Bud tossed the gas and touched it off with a match. According to Bud, he damn near set the woods on fire. The fire ball was about 15 feet across (the coon was safe in the top of a hickory tree).

The following morning Buddy and I threw a big piece of lighter wood in the center of the nest area (The pit was about three feet across). Then he doused the S-O-Bees one more time with gasoline. I know we are up to five gallons now. Poof! It burnt several hours that day.

Buddy went down this morning armed with his trusty b-b-gun and shot a few survivors! Those little devils just don’t want to give up. He decided the best way to finish them off was to fill the bucket on the John Deere with dirt and bury the rest. That allowed us to finish work on the fence. I was armed with my hoe and machete and Buddy with the old JD. I wacked and he pushed! After about four hours of sweat we finished that section.
The battle is over, the war has been won! Whoo Hoo!

Next week, Buddy will be working for SWFWMD in Green Swamp – we will let you know if anything exciting happens. And we will keep you updated on the RV crisis.

On Board

Ok, I am now a contributor to your blog....looks like you guys are ready to go. We arrived in Kanab, UT today after a rather harrowing ride thru Zion Natn'l Park. I did not know I had to go thru a 1 mile tunnel that was one way on a two way road. Pam was very nervous. We missed the sign that said to go around if you were our size, once we got there you could not turn around. Another adventure!!!!

Good luck to you guys, hope you get on the road soon.

Good News and Good News

The gray water tank is ordered and on its way! We sat down this morning and tried to come up with a new schedule. We sure could use a crystal ball. Our tentative date to leave is June 4th – We will juggle the schedule if needed. We are going to skip the first stop we had originally planned and head for Fort McAllister. That’s in Richmond Hill, GA. It is a little south of Savannah. We will post on the calendar when we get a better date from Lazy Days.

In the meantime, we have been very busy working on the fence lines. Buddy has poured about five gallons of gas on the yellow jackets’ nest. And of course, that was an exciting experience. I think he finally has them under control. ***** Bud’s entry: I don’t think I’ve put five gallons of gas on the nest – possibly three! I threw about a gallon (in a milk jug) into the pit this morning and set it on fire!! The pit caved-in after several bombardments of gas the last couple of days. There are still several yellow jackets going in and out of several holes in the pit and at least one other hole a couple of feet away from the pit. I plan to win the war through attrition! I’m going to give them another hot drink tonight! In fact, it’s quarter till nine now and looks dark enough for a sneak attack! Gotta Go!

The Latest Buzzzzzzzzz

We drove down to check on the RV and retrieve a few items yesterday morning. The receptionist left a message with our service rep and told us we could drive back to where the RV was located to pick up our stuff and talk to the mechanic. I was relieved when we opened the RV to find that they had put paper on the floors to protect them. I gathered the items we could not live without; Buddy’s knife that John gave him, the hair clippers, another paperback book, the check book and my MP3 player. Buddy checked out the locker area and retrieved his cordless drill -- he has an electrical job he wants to tackle at home. Shortly after that the mechanic and Buddy came inside. Dan, the mechanic, drew us a picture to help explain his theory. The gray water tank that has a crack sits right above the axle. He said it was probably full and we could have hit a bump or maybe even some debris and the tank was damaged. The tanks have thin walls and should be emptied before traveling. Then he showed us where the trip valve was located. Sure enough, it is located in a different spot from the other two valves. We have never emptied that tank. Dan was a great guy and shared some good information with us.

We went back to the front office and spoke with Mark, the service rep. He said he would order the tank and let us know when it would be delivered. Buddy wanted to pick up a book he saw on our last visit “Trailer Life’s RV Maintenance and Repair Manual” .We ate lunch at Lazydays and headed home.

After arriving home I’m ready to do something physical and Buddy wants to nap. When I say I want to do something physical that usually means I want Buddy to do some work. After Buddy gets his short nap we went outside to continue OUR fence maintenance job. It’s important (although we are very neglect) to keep the fence lines clear of trees, bushes and vines. My job is to watch Buddy as he and the John Deere clear out the rubble. Everything is going fine then I hear the engine cut off and Buddy quickly leap from the tractor. That could only mean one thing –WASP! I ducked, turned and ran the opposite direction. He asked me if we had some wasp spray, and if so, get some from the house. He still needed to turn the key on the tractor off! While I was getting the spray, Buddy slipped up to the tractor and turned off the key. We crept a little closer so we could see where the wasp were. There were hundreds of them just swarming around the front of the tractor. Buddy told me later they were yellow jackets and they had a nest under the ground. He said he would have to come back after dark and get the tractor. I asked him how many times he was stung – his reply was four. We went back to the house to take care of the stings. First thing he needed was a nice cold Miller Gold that makes any situation better! Then I went to get one of those insect bite vials that you crush and swab on the bite. You know how you always have one in the kit and nobody ever gets to use it. After a few minutes I asked if it was feeling better, he said not really. He happened to glance at the crushed vial – he said did you know this expired in May of 1997? Well that answered his lack of pain relief. I gave him some mega ibuprofen and ice. ****** This is Bud talking or writing, it was some time after 1 AM before I was able to go to sleep! Those yellow jackets mean business!! I’m fortunate I saw the swarm early enough to avoid more stings. There are enough of those little s-o-bees to kill a person. I plan to try eradicating them, if I can get close enough to find the hole in the ground they use for their doorway.

Today he may tackle the electrical job. Zap, crackle, pop - I will keep you posted!

Just Hanging Around - Latest Update

While waiting to hear from Lazydays Buddy and I mended a couple of fences. We found a new calf down in the woods. I wanted to take a picture but mama cows don't take to showing off their new babies right away. So here is a picture of some of the others born this year. I think we have seven new calves.

Ok, we heard from Lazydays - we evidently have two gray water tanks - one for the bathroom sink and shower and one for the galley. The galley tank has a leak. They will know more tomorrow. It sounds like it will need to be replaced. If it is in stock at the manufactures it will be ready for the road in about 10 days. They will call us again tomorrow when they have more details. We will keep you posted!

In the meantime, we need food and clothes! Almost everything is packed!

RV Update & The Rest of the Story

We headed for Tampa about 9:00AM. When we arrived at Lazydays we checked in with the service department and gave them the low down on the leak. We disconnected from the trailer and waited. Camping World is right there on the grounds so we headed that direction and browsed through the store. Then we ate lunch at Lazydays "free" cafeteria. We checked back in at the service station and they were still waiting for an available work bay. We decided to check out some of the RV's on-site. There are a lot of really nice units there - No, we didn't buy a new one. Long story short - at 4:00 they were still waiting for an available bay, so we headed home. They will call us tomorrow with an update.

Well I know you are all as disappointed as we are! A few people have asked us how/why Buddy was under the trailer looking for leaks .....well.......Here is the rest of the story!

Sunday night I was in the bedroom reading my new romance novel and Buddy was in the living room trying to figure out why there was a red light blinking on the AC unit. As he was reading the manual he thought he saw movement from the corner of his eye. So he put down the book and waited. Sure enough, a mouse ran out from under the sofa. He said the mouse came out and sat up on his hind legs and waved "hello" to him then jumped right up the stairs and ran into the bedroom. Well anyone who knows me knows I have a deadly fear of mice! Buddy came in and told me he THOUGHT he saw a critter. Of course, I thought he was just kidding with me until he started throwing pillows and clothes all over. Well let me tell you, I made it from the bed to the other room in record time.
I'm sitting on a chair with my feet all curled up. Fortunately, we had two sticky traps and a spring trap in the locker area. Buddy put them out and we waited. In a few minutes the little (I will keep this clean) country mouse (I guessing he came from home) came running out to the living room by-passing the traps and found safety under the sofa. Buddy moved the sofa around and chased him under the chair. Of course, I changed my position from the chair to the sofa. Well we fooled around with him for about a hour and a half. Finally he ran back to the bedroom. Buddy had enough and went to bed and I moved to the chair and waited. About 20 minutes later he,the country mouse, came back to the living room. I very calmly called Buddy - then we heard the snap of the trap! We got him! Buddy through him out the front door and finally about 1:30 AM we went to bed. The next day Buddy, being the nice guy he is, looked under the trailer to see if he could find where the mouse came into the trailer. That is when he discovered water dripping under the trailer. So now you know the rest of the story!

I have a picture of the country mouse if anyone wants to see it let us know!

A Little Glich

Houston, we have a problem! Yesterday Buddy discovered we had a leak under the trailer. He thinks the water is coming from the gray water tank (that is the water that drains from the sinks and shower). The underbelly of the trailer has a plastic lining and it was bulging with water. Buddy put a couple of splits in it with his pocket knife and the water came pouring out. It could be anything from a leaking pipe to a crack in the gray tank. We don't know but it will be a major job to find out. So we are headed back home. We have an appointment at Lazy Days to have them check it out. Buddy may check it out when we get home where he as access to his tools. Wish us luck...we hope this is only a snag in the trip. We will keep you posted.

Leaving B'ville Heading to GA

We departed at 9:16 AM. The first leg of the trip went smoothly. We had some strong winds just as we hit the GA state line. The wind continued to blow until evening. We watched fuel prices (diesel) on the way up. Fuel was as high as $4.55 per gallon. Fortunately we found a Walmart in St Mary and only paid $4.11 per gallon. We are camped at King George Resort in Woodbine, GA - population 1,218. We didn't really pass thru the town. We drove to the town of St. Mary's for dinner. It is a quaint historic district about 10 miles from the campground. It has a charming small town flavor situated in the southeast corner of GA. Population 13,761. We ate at Pauly Cafe. We both ate almond crusted grouper, it was really good. After dinner we walked down to a public pavilion on the water. We didn't stay long due to the high winds. On our way home we stopped at the Walmart and picked up a couple items. We arrived back just in time to beat the rain! It was sure nice to hear the raindrops on the roof. We will check out St Mary some more tomorrow if the weather permits but for now we will say goodnight.

Packing It Up

Buddy and I spent the weekend washing and waxing the RV. It feels so good. I hope the love-bugs will just slid right off! (no such luck, huh) While Buddy is at work this week I have been loading up clothes, supplies and some food items. Since this is our first "big" trip I am trying to decide where to put canned goods vs dry goods, appliances, things we will use daily vs have it just in case items, bathroom stuff and important papers. In other words, as Sue would say, I'm playing house!

We are still hoping for rain. Here is a picture of our rose bushes. Aren't the blooms just beautiful! I bet we have cut at least 4 dozen roses from the bushes in the last few weeks.

Blackberries in Season

As you can see we have attached our calendar to the blog. Just for reference...it was too wide when we first attached it. We were able to change the width in the HTML from 800 to 640. Thanks John for the info!

We spent some time today cleaning the RV. We took a break late this afternoon and went over on the rock mine property to pick blackberries. Yummy - I'm going to make blackberry cobbler tomorrow. The berries and vines are starting to dry up. We are hoping to get some rain tomorrow. The grass is starting to go "crunch" when we walk across the yard.

Gophers' Trails - First Steps

This is all new to us and we wanted to keep track of our trails and adventures. We hear from those with more experience .... a blog is the way to go. A blog will give us a place to save much needed information - like do we want to return to THAT campground again. If you can all be patient with us while we get the hang of all these new (new to us) tools and toys we'll share what we hope to be great adventures with you. Thanks for coming along for the ride!