Looking way back!

I prepared a post while I was in Cape Girardeau, MO, the wifi dropped off and I never reposted.  I've decided to put it on now as some of those following the blog will be interested.  I lived with my family in Cape in the early seventies, and my youngest daughter Kristin was born there.  Saffire and I lumbered through the small neighborhood streets in search of the houses we once lived in. 

 The first house was not much changed after thirty years, looking very much as it did when we lived there, it is the frame house on Ford Drive.

 The brick house on Surrey Lane was listed for sale when I pulled up.  The neighborhood, which was new when we lived there, doesn't seem to have fared quite as well over the years.  It would have been fun to go inside and see what it looked like now!

Good memories for all who visited there!

Trip Summary

The picture to the left and the previous one of the alley of oak trees are from the Wormsloe Plantation in Savannah.  The trees stretch for over a mile leading to the remains of the house.  It was very easy to let your imagination roam and feel yourself in a carriage loaded with all your finery on your way to a ball!  Shades of Gone With the Wind!

The rain was a constant during the trip.  One day I spent inside reading a book about Irish immigration titled Galway Bay which I enjoyed.

My big golf umbrella came in handy dashing between campsites and taking Teddy out for his walks.  I was again grateful to Luanne for plugging Saffires hole and I was warm and toasty inside.  

Laraine was in a tent with her dogs, and I admired her tenacity.  I think I would have been packing up long before she did.  It is a testament to the fun we were having that she didn't!

The trip was wonderful in spite of all the rain.  It is always good to be with old friends, and great fun to meet new people you would like to turn into old friends.  We shared so many laughs, walks, dinners and stories during our week together.  

Sunday found everyone on the road home.  Luanne and I were the only ones heading north, so we had a first night at Ft. Mountain State Park in Dalton, Georgia.  It is an area I would like to go back to explore a bit, and was a beautiful switchback drive to the top and the camping area. 

However, it was raining (of course) and snowing a bit, so most time was spent indoors as it was just an overnight stop.  

The next night found us at a commercial campground at Lake Barklay in Kentucky.  It was 20 degrees overnight, and I was wishing for a sunny warm spot to be returning to!  Luanne left at 6:30 in the morning, I got out after nine and was home early afternoon.  

All the WAC's made it home safely, the only drama appearing to be Luanne's as she headed up 57 in Indiana.  The cover on her fan started flapping, so she pulled to the shoulder and got out to bungee it down.  She left the car running and her phone inside, along with her eight month old miniature Australian shepherd.  Yes, you guessed it, Tucker came over and stepped on the door lock and the rest was history!  She was stuck outside with the wind howling and the temps in the low 30's trying to get back in.  After trying unsuccessfully to break a car window with an axe, a trucker stopped and called the highway patrol for her.  The patrolman popped it open in less than a minute, but this story will live on for a long, long time!

Saffire's first journey proved to be a good one.  A couple of minor problems were dealt with, and I now have a better feel of what I need to travel in her.  I have found it was much easier to clean up on returning home, and have returned washing directly to her ready for the next trip. 

I think she must have been a party bus for the 6,xxx miles before I adopted her.  She must have had a very sophisticated audio/visual system installed and then yanked out before they sold her.  The TV is old and the cable hook-up didn't work, so I am going to take out the big old unit they stuck in and put a smaller flatscreen in its place.  I didn't find that I packed anything that I didn't use (except a few clothes) so the Aliner experience was a big help in that.  

We are heading off again on May 1st, destination Kingsport, TN for the Red, White & Blue Blues Festival where Saffire, The Uppity Blues Women will be playing.  A group of WAC's are coming to go to the show, and then we'll camp a few days on our way back home.  I would like to see some of the KY parks, maybe High Falls or Mammoth Cave.   Should return to STL on the 8th or 9th, then on the 14th Susie, Christine and I are taking a road trip.  We're going to Memphis to Graceland!!!!  And we're staying in the RV park at the Graceland Hotel, we don't do things half way!  Planning a night or two at a state park on the way home.  I will be posting pictures of both trips, hopefully finding wifi more often than I did on this first adventure.

I hope you have enjoyed traveling a bit with me.  It is fun for me to be able to look back at where we've been and what we've done.  Maybe one day you will join us!!!

Patricia

 

We're home and getting unpacked.  I'm going to post a few pictures with this now, and when I have time later today will write a bit more about our first outing, and where and when we'll be going again.  Note the pictures of Lake Parker taken from the back window of Saffire.  Boy did it rain!

The Pod Arrives

When I left Skidaway Saturday morning for Florida, Nancy, Luanne, Jeannie and Janis were set up and ready to party.  When I returned Sunday evening we had been joined by Therese, Pantless Patricia,  Joolee,  Diane, Dixie, Gail, Paul and Gail.  Hope I haven't forgotten anyone.  We had a dinner thrown together by Pantless and Dixie and everyone began catching up with old friends and meeting the new members.  A great campfire (started with my old candles and dryer lint rolled up in my Mom's favorite waxed paper) made it wonderful start to a long week of fun and games. 

We have been doing LOTS of walking through the trails here at Skidaway.  Don't remember if I mentioned the geocache earlier, but there was a 7 step hunt to get to the cache which Luanne and I did on bikes, probably the roughest, rootiest riding I've ever done but great fun.  I'm taking a travel bug we found home to go out and hide with Philip.

We were sitting in the screen room when Nancy's phone rang.  She has special ringtones for everyone and this one was a very realistic loon.  As this is huge birding country, you can imagine our laughter when we saw a man walking down the road come to a dead stop and search everywhere for a loon which didn't belong in Southern Georgia!!!!!

We've been into Savannah a couple of times.  One day to roam around and another to have dinner at Paula Dean's.  I think Savannah comes in a distant second to Charleston, but we had fun roaming around.  We were quite amused when we saw the plumbing truck (see pix).  It is one of those signs that ends up in an internet post!

There was a wonderful candy store there, with praline pecans as a specialty.  They are wonderful, and any family reading this, I'm bringing some for Easter brunch!

Twelve of us went to Lady and Sons, Paula Dean's restaurant in Savannah.  It was a Tuesday and the crowds packing in were incredible.  She really owes her fortune to the Food Channel, they've made Miss Paula!!  We all agreed that we wouldn't go back again, while the food was pretty good, you were treated like you were in a line at Disneyworld and you had a schedule to complete your meal.  They wanted you in and out in an hour so they could bring the next herd in.  Dinner and one drink was $40.  We did have a good time in Savannah again, and I stopped at the gift shop and got the autographed cookbook my sister Bridget requested.  The least I could do since she is having Easter brunch.  

We have had a lot of rain today, and more coming.  There have been enough breaks we could get out for walks and we are enjoying a little down time.  We seem to go go go when we are together.

The washer tournaments have resumed, Jeannie (our resident clinical social worker) skunked Luanne out of five points up front and took the first match.  Joolee is a neophyte, but you'll see from her picture is soon to be the washer queen!

Teddy has a cough that my dog friends think should be looked at, so he and I are heading to a vet in just a bit.  I'm sure they will give him something and it will be taken care of.  It hasn't slowed him down one whit in playing in the water with all the bigger dogs.  Nancy says he is a lapdog gone bad!!!

Will try to post again in next couple of days.  Sorry I have been so long.  Enjoy the pictures!

Frannie's Birthday

My sister-in-law Frannie celebrated her 93rd birthday on the 28th.  I was three hours from Jacksonville where she lives so I left early Saturday and went to spend the night with her.

Her granddaughter Rebecca gave her a dinner party for friends to celebrate the occasion and it was wonderful to spend time with them both and to be part of the celebrations.  We're all looking forward to next year's birthday!!!

Saturday night brought huge storms to JAX, big lightening, thunder and heavy rain.  The poor group at Skidaway got even worse, tornado warnings with some touching down in the area.  They all left their campers and huddled in a cinder block bathroom to ride out the storm.  A few of the ladies were in the men's room because the women's bathroom was packed.  A man came in, used the stall, and assured all the women present that he had put down the seat!!  I think they all appreciated a little comic relief at that point.  

All's well that ends well, and it has given the WAC's another good camping story!

Catching up

We've been having way too much fun, and since I have to leave the site for wifi, I'm really behind.  It's raining today and Teddy has a cough I have to take him to the vet later, so I thought I'd come up and visit a few minutes.

First story today is about Saffire.  When I was in AL with Mary Lloyd in our 6.5 inch downpour Saffire had a leak over the door.  It really poured in for a while and I knew I was going to have to take her in for a checkup when I got home.  Rain was predicted for Skidaway so Luanne asked if I cared if she climbed on top for a look, thinking maybe there was a rivet needed caulking or something simple.

Well, simple it was!  In her previous 6,000 miles I think Saffire was a party bus.  None of the cooking things appear to have been used and she is wired for sound and obviously fancy electronics had been pulled out of her from all the stray wires in the electronics cabinet.  

What Luanne saw when she got on top was a hole which had been drilled in the top, a cable must have been run through it and they had caulked around the cable.  When they pulled all the equipment they pulled the cable and left the gaping hole which the water poured through.

Luanne put steel wool in the hole and caulked it with a good silicone which has solved my problems.  Good thing too because we have had some heavy downpours this week and surely would have had some damage if the water were still streaming in.  Thanks Luanne!