Final Leg Home

Yup - you're right - I am way delinquent on updating the Blog. But I have a good excuse - blame it on the grandkids ... they wore me out!

As predicted in the last entry - we made our way to Harrisburg, PA on Thursday in the rain and then made it to New Jersey on Friday on a pretty nice day. We visited a bit with the gang on Friday before settling in for the night and then back to the NJ Evringham's on Saturday morning for soccer games in the cold and wet ... ahhh brings back memories of the old days. We visited some more with the gang on Saturday afternoon and then we had a good - although too large - dinner at the Outback.

Sunday was a busy day with a trip to the bowling alley for Alyssa and Emily's first bowling experience. After a fun game for all (except me on the DL with a hurt toe) we then visited Nifty Fifties (a fun 50s type diner with great burgers, fries, malts, and game room) for lunch and then back to the bowling alley for another hour of bowling and arcade games. Whew - after that we had to head back for some quiet time, NASCAR racing, and a nap or two.

After saying goodbye for now to the NJ Evringhams we hit the road again this morning and made it through the Philly-NY-Hartford corridor ... back to Sturbridge, MA for an overnighter before we make the final leg home tomorrow.

It has been a great trip and I think we accomplished all our objectives:

1. We got to escape the cold weather in Maine for the end of the winter and got to experience an early spring in Alabama.

2. We got to have an extended visit with our great friends Darrell and Judy. They will be hitting the road again soon and making their way north to their workcamping assignment in Upstate NY. I'm sure our paths will cross again before the year is out!

3. We got to visit with the NJ Evringhams. We don't get to see them often enough so we managed to make it two visits!

4. We got to experience our first RV related convention/rally. We had a good time and we will probably do it again - but probably not more than once a year.

The final entry for this trip will be written from my easy chair in Topsham, ME. I know you all are really in great anticipation for the all important trip statistics. Stay tuned to learn how Mikee and Peggy have done their part to stimulate the economy and lead us back from the brink of economic catastrophe - and we did it without bailing out one bank or insurance company and without firing any CEOs.

Back in ol Viginnie

Yesterday Peggy and I started off the day by taking a hike on the nature trail here at the campground. I let Peggy be the hikemaster and lead the way. This was a big mistake! She ended up taking the long path up the really steep hill! I know the hike was probably good for me but sometimes I think she takes me on these steep uphill paths to collect the life insurance. Just kidding – somewhat! We followed up our morning hike with a drive into Knoxville driving on the backroads. It was a pretty nice day and we were just out enjoying the drive. We were in Knoxville around lunch time and decided to stop in a local Mexican food place named Senor Taco. Kind of a dumb name but the food was excellent! They had one of the best Chile Rellano’s I have ever had! It just proves once again that you can find the best food in the strangest places.

Today is Wednesday and we are in Natural Bridge, Virginia. We made the trip up from Knoxville today during on-and-off rain pretty much all the way. We have decided to make the trip to NJ in two short days instead of one long day so our plan is to make it to Carlisle, PA tomorrow and then roll in to NJ early on Friday. Although our schedule is always subject to change … after looking at the long range weather forecast – I think we will be leaving NJ on Monday and arriving back home on Tuesday.

Hey Stacy – how about getting the remaining snow gone before we get home!

Science and History

Yesterday was another beautiful day here in Eastern Tennessee. After doing some laundry and general putzing around the rig we drove over to Oak Ridge to visit the American Museum of Science and Energy. The museum is in downtown Oak Ridge – a city that didn’t exist in 1941 and consisted of one of the largest industrial complexes in the world with 75,000 workers at its peak in early 1945.

It’s hard to imagine today what an accomplishment the Manhattan Project was! After the attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941 – in early 1942 the President and Congress decide to build an atomic bomb. This was at a time when just about everything about atomic physics was theoretical, relatively little had been demonstrated in real life, and certainly no one knew how to build a bomb with this theoretical technology. With that in mind – we decide to build three huge complexes at Hanford, Washington – Los Alamos, New Mexico, and Oak Ridge, Tennessee - costing tons of money and requiring the relocation and housing of tens of thousands of scientists, engineers, and technicians – all at a time when we are fighting two wars on two fronts. Americans were truly amazing and innovative patriots in those days – I wonder if we could pull it off today?

So out of a farmer’s field in sleepy eastern Tennessee “taken” by the Feds at a price of $45 an acre (you were allowed to complain but only after you vacated your land) rose this huge complex – and very few people even knew what it was for! Seriously – most of the workers had barely a clue what they were building and what product the plant would produce. Workers, mostly women, would work in shifts – 24 hours a day – while the plant was “in production” turning switches and knobs to keep gauges reading where they were told to keep them – without knowing why! I find that absolutely amazing.

Life must have been pretty interesting for these folks. They lived in a “secret city” surrounded by fences and security checkpoints requiring photo ID badges to even enter the city. But once inside – they had pretty much all they needed or wanted. It may not have been fancy – but they had housing, schools, grocery stores, dance halls, theaters – you name it. All brought to them by Uncle Sam. Come to think about it – we may be headed back in that direction!

About half of the museum was dedicated to the history of Oak Ridge and the other half talks about what goes on today at the Lab (only generally – most of what goes on inside the Lab is still Secret stuff) and then science and energy in general. It was a really interesting museum – I even think Peggy had a fun time.

Since we have been operating without a real plan for our return trip home – Peggy and I decided this morning that we will head further north starting tomorrow, traveling up I-81 in Virginia and will make our way back to New Jersey to visit again with Brian, Nicky, and the grandkids for a couple days before making the final leg back home.

Shhhh – don’t tell ‘em we’re coming!

Bear Hunting

After 5 days of dry camping Peggy was glad to take her shower on Saturday – I think she ran the hot water until their was no more! She deserved it – she did a really good job conserving water while we were in Perry. After a lazy morning we pulled up stakes (there were really no stakes to pull up but it sounds better that way) and made the relatively short drive up I-75 to Knoxville. We arrived in Knoxville around 1 PM, had some lunch, and then took a drive around the local area. We ended up in the town of Oak Ridge – home of the Oak Ridge National Lab – which as you know is the home of the equipment that enriched the uranium for the first atomic weapons. The Oak Ridge National Lab is a huge facility that I believe still produces the material for America’s nuclear arsenal. We drove by a museum that I may have to go back and visit before we leave. Anyway – we had a nice drive and then ended back here in Raccoon Valley, just north of Knoxville.

Yesterday was another beautiful spring day in Eastern Tennessee. After attending services at a local church we decided to go for another sightseeing drive and this time we headed east. We ended up driving through Sevierville, Pigeon Forge, and then to Gatlinburg. I’m sure you are aware that Pigeon Forge is the home of Dolly Parton’s Dollywood – but did you know that Sevierville is home of Floyd Garrett’s Muscle Car Museum? Since we just happened to be driving by (how did that happen?) we had to go in and look around. Now I gotta tell you that if you are looking for beautiful classic cars you can see just as nice cars at many car shows. But Floyd Garrett does have some pretty rare pieces. Check out the picture of the Smoky Yunick Pontiac driven by Fireball Roberts! You really have to be a car nut to appreciate that one! (I put a couple pics in here just for you Don). And Peggy got to meet Stacy's favorite NASCAR driver - Dale Jr - see photo attached!

After appreciating all the old cars we drove on through Gatlinburg and into the Great Smokey Mountains National Park. You may remember that we visited the GSMNP last year in late May. Although the views were much greener last year – the park is still a very pretty place for a Sunday afternoon dive. While moseying through the park a few cars were backing up behind me so I decided to pull over at a small pull-out so they could get by and since I was in no hurry. While waiting for them to pass – all of a sudden Peggy yells “Don’t move - where’s the camera!” … When I looked to my right – directly across the river and right at the river bank was a pretty large Black Bear!! Wow. The bear took a drink, looked up to see us on the other side of the road, and then slowly wandered back up the hill. He must have thought something like “I just woke up from hibernation and the darn tourists are here already!” What a treat that was! (If you click on the picture you will get a pretty good close-up of the bear)

We exited the park at the town of Townsend where we stayed last year and continued on back towards Knoxville – but not before stopping at the same little BBQ joint where we had some great food last year. Pulled Pork sandwich with really good potato salad and beans – Yum Yum.

Life continues to be good for the Maineiacs in Motion!

Finishing Up the Convention

When I last left you Peggy and I were getting ready to enjoy our Wednesday evening … and we did! After attending the Workhorse Chassis Social (complete with open bar!) we walked over to the arena for the evening entertainment which was a concert by Restless Heart – a country music band that has been around since the mid 80s and has had a few minor hits. They were very entertaining and we had a great time.

We attended a few more seminars on Thursday as Peggy learned all about fire safety in RVs and I learned a few things about our roadside assistance provider – Coach Net. Coach Net is a roadside assistance company that focuses on RVs but also provides roadside assistance for all our other cars --- except (as I found out) the Chevelle. It seems that in the fine print they exclude providing services for vehicles over 40 years old. I guess they consider it a higher risk if damage is caused to a “classic car” but I can’t imagine the risk is any greater than an RV! Oh well – at least I know it now.

For lunch we drove in to Perry and visited Mrs. Peggy’s – an interesting place to say the least. Mrs. Peggy’s is a drive through only BBQ joint that serves up whatever happens to be on the menu today. Although I had ribs in mind – it seems ribs weren’t on the menu on this particular Thursday so I had fried chicken, mashed potatoes, and collard greens instead and Peggy had the fried catfish and French fries. Both meals were really good and I can’t remember the last time I had real fried chicken. As for the collard greens – I ordered them because I wanted to try something new (at least new to me) and they weren’t that bad. I can’t say they were that great – but not bad. Since they were green and considered a vegetable I could only eat about a third!

After lunch we did some grocery shopping and then headed back to the rig to unload the groceries and enjoy some more of the nice afternoon. We walked over to the final evening entertainment around 7 PM and were treated to about an hour of comedy from a guy named Jerry Farber. Jerry is an older fella (about 70) who is a good comedian and kept the audience laughing for pretty much the whole hour. Some of his jokes were older than me – but he was pretty funny overall.

We left the convention this morning. Think about this for a minute … how do you get 3,000 motorhomes that are parked in several fields pretty close together out of town in a few hours? I was very impressed! Due mostly to the layout of the fairgrounds and the way they parked the rigs as we came in – it was really pretty easy. We complicated the exit a little since I had signed up to get the rig weighed on our way out and I wanted to dump our waste tanks before we got weighed … so we left our parking spot around 8:15 AM, got the tanks dumped at the one on-site dump station, and was in line for the weighing at 9:00 AM. After waiting in line for about a half hour we got the rig weighed at all four corners and were on our way by 9:30. Good News – the rig’s weight is well within specifications and is pretty equally balanced! Peggy’s comment – let’s go shopping!

We really didn’t know where we were heading after the convention when we pulled in – but we finally decided to head up to Tennessee to goof off for a week before we make our way home. We drove to Chattanooga today and our short term plan is to head over to Knoxville tomorrow and spend a few days at the Escapee Park near there and then see where the mood takes us.

Hope everyone is doing well and that all the snow up in Maine is melting away … but not so fast so as to cause flooding. We’re on our way home!!!

But not too fast.

Conventioning

It has been a couple days since I last updated the blog on our doings at the FMCA Convention in Perry, GA so here goes …

First of all the weather has been MUCH better over the past couple of days! It has been a bit foggy in the mornings but once it burns off around 9 or 10 AM it has been clear skies and very comfortable weather (I’m in short pants again!).

Peg and I attended a Seminar yesterday morning on motorhome cleaning techniques believe it or not! Actually it was more a sales pitch for microfiber cleaning cloths with a few bits of somewhat useful info thrown in. After the seminar we watched a little afternoon entertainment with ‘Willie and Company.” Actually a pretty entertaining ventriloquist act. Then it was off to the vendor displays for a bit more shopping but very little buying. I was able to pick up a new dome for one of my ceiling vent fans that was broken – at no cost! It seems that the Fantastic Fan Company is actually a vendor that sticks up to its lifetime warrantee! After touring the new Winnebagos and deciding that we still like ours - Peg and I wandered back to the motorhome around 11:00 AM.

We decided to head into Perry to have a bite of lunch at the local Red Lobster and then we took a drive around Perry. We found a little hole-in-the-wall BBQ joint named Mrs. Peggy’s that we will have to go visit sometime before we leave. After coming back to the rig - I spent a little time installing my new vent fan cover dome (check out the picture of the sea of motorhomes from atop the Rig!), we goofed off a bit, and then we headed over to the large arena (almost the size and seating capacity of the Portland Civic Center) for our evening entertainment which consisted of an Irish Variety Act Troup called Tony Kenney’s Ireland. The group consisted of a couple of pretty good male singers, one not bad female singer, a pretty good fiddle player playing traditional Irish reels, and a group of Irish Step Dancers that I thought were very good. All-in-all - a very entertaining night and well worth the cost considering all the entertainment is all part of the convention cost ($129 for 5 nights of dry camping and 4 days of actual convention time). They picked the perfect act for St. Patrick’s Day!

Today was more of the same except we did more buying. After attending a few seminars in the morning (Me on Workhorse Chassis Maintenance – Peggy on Microwave/Convection Oven Cooking Techniques) we made our way back to the vendor area and made those purchases we decided we couldn’t live without. Peggy found a couple of cookbooks she needed and I found a stand for my BBQ I just had to have and some fancy brackets to install our FMCA number plate and our new Escapees Club Number Plate on our rear ladder. Now we will really look like serious RVers!! I gotta tell you Marcie and Don – I found myself comparing the vendors here with you two - and your routine is pretty top notch in comparison!

After touring some more new motorhomes – including the million dollar Prevost Models – we decided that we already have the one we can’t live without so we headed back home with all of our newly purchased treasures.

Now that we have had some lunch, done some chores, and sat out in the sun for awhile we figure we’ll head over to the convention in a little bit and attend a Workhorse Chassis Owners Social, grab some vendor’s overpriced sandwich or something for dinner, and then see tonight’s entertainment.

Don’t anybody worry – we’re having a good time!

Sloshing in Puddles

Whew! This convention stuff is hard work. Not only did we have to survive the steady rain through the evening and most of the day today – we had to get up early, walk about a half mile through some pretty good size water puddles (some of which might actually have qualified as full fledged Georgia mud puddles) to attend the early morning “first timers” seminar at 8:00 AM – then Peggy attended another seminar on dealing with joint pain and arthritis (it seems more and more each day that we better learn something about this subject) while I registered to have the motorhome weighed on our way out on Friday and then sat in on a couple of other seminars. All that and it wasn’t even noon yet! See what I mean – exhausting isn’t it!?

After walking back to the motorhome to warm up a bit and have some lunch we made the trip back to the convention area to make our initial rounds of the 2 vendor area buildings where we found just about everything you could possibly need (or want) for your motorhome, a couple of cooking wares vendors, a Sham-WOW vendor or two, and a full fledged Camping World. I did manage to spend some money renewing my Coach-Net membership (it’s like AAA for motorhomes) at a $20 “show special” discount but put off any other purchases until the next round.

Then we “had” to go visit the new Winnebagos. We toured several and didn’t find one that we couldn’t live without. So we decided to call it quits for the day and headed back to the motorhome for a much needed rest.

It’s still raining a bit here this evening but is supposed to stop later. The area where we are parked is starting to get a bit sloshy so it better quit pretty soon or I’ll have to row over to the convention activities tomorrow.

Tomorrow’s Plan???
Same Thing – Different Seminars – Better Weather

Before the Crack of Dawn

We have had an interesting day. We started off by being wide awake at 4:00 AM and so we both got up around 5:00 AM which is verrry early for both of us anymore! Since we were up – we went ahead and did our normal morning routines and were ready to leave the campground around 7:30 AM – in the dark! That was a first!

It rained a lot last night but it was pretty calm while we were preparing to leave. We traveled through a lot of fog on the way east to Perry this morning and didn’t get to see much. We arrived here at the convention site around 9:00 AM and were directed straight into our designated parking spot by a very well organized crew of volunteers. They have obviously done this before! We are parked in a large grassy area at the Georgia National Fairgrounds and Agricenter and will be here until Friday AM.

After parking, unhooking the car, and getting the rest of our site set up - we wandered around a bit to get our bearings and be more prepared for the rest of the week. After getting back to the rig – Peggy decided she needed a nap – and so she did. I managed to get a few winks in myself. Around 2:00 PM the rains hit pretty hard and steady for a few hours and I see a few lakes have formed. Hopefully this place drains well!

We have just finished with dinner – Peg has outdone herself again with Pork Chops, Baked Potato, and Corn fit for a king. Well – fit for me anyway – it was good. We have run the generator for the past few hours to help with dinner prep (needed the convection microwave oven) and to charge the batteries. Hopefully – a two hour or so charge per day is all we’ll need.

Today wasn’t really a good day for taking pictures – so we didn’t. But I thought I would treat you all to a couple shots Stacy e-mailed us today. Isn’t she just the cutest little ice fisherperson you ever saw! And that hot pink ice fishing trap is to die for!!!

Prepping for Submarine Showers

Peggy and I said our sad goodbyes to Darrell and Judy this morning and left Rainbow Plantation for points north. We did hit a little rain now and again but not too much and the trip was relatively uneventful as we made our way back into the Eastern Time Zone near Columbus, GA. I say “uneventful” but we did experience one irksome issue in that Lola – our friendly GPS decided not to work very well today and kept having trouble locking onto satellites. I have no clue why “she” had issues today but now, while I sit still here in GA – she seems to be working fine??>??>

We also had an interesting experience near Montgomery, AL when we pulled into the Flying J for fuel. It seems the computers at the “J” were also acting up and they had signs on all the pumps saying that their network was down and that they would be unable to sell gas or merchandise. I know they are presently undergoing a Bankruptcy Chapter 11 reorganization – but you would think they would have a way to sell stuff and collect money regardless of the status of their computers! Welcome to the 21st century!!

Tomorrow morning we will leave here and drive the 80 or so miles to Perry and check in for the convention. We have an assigned “show-up” time of between 8 AM and Noon so we need to be there sometime in that timeframe. Not only will the convention be a first for us – so will “dry camping” for 4-5 days. I filled up the freshwater tank this evening and will make sure the waste tanks are drained tomorrow before we leave. We will be running on propane, battery power (supplemented by generator power when necessary) and the on-board water tank capacities. It ought to be interesting seeing if we can survive without running out of water or filling up the waste tanks. Peggy really isn’t looking forward to taking “Submarine Showers.”

Mike & Peg on Spring Break

Yesterday Peggy and I took an afternoon drive down to Gulf Shores to join the college spring break crowd on the beach. The beach wasn’t really that crowded but there were certainly more folks there than last week – probably because the weather was a bit nicer – and the local establishments were advertising for the spring break crowd – so I guess Peggy and I have officially joined the Spring Breakers!

After returning to the Plantation and goofing off for awhile – we joined Darrell and Judy for another great meal at the Patterson Cedar Creek 5th Wheel and Dinner Emporium. Judy made a yummy lasagna and we had another fun visit.

Today the weather looks pretty good this morning but is supposed to start changing towards rain later today. It looks like our travels to Perry, GA over the next couple of days will be a bit wet – but then it is spring so we will just sit back and enjoy it! Since it is getting close to travel time I suppose I better get some pre-travel chores done today and we have a bit of shopping to do as well. That ought to keep us busy until dinner time when we plan on joining the Patterson’s for a dinner out – sort of to celebrate our fun visit here in Alabama and also to celebrate their upcoming wedding anniversary!

We hope everybody has a great Friday the 13th and nothing but good stuff happens to ya’ll!
Next stop – Perry, Georgia – see ya there!

Soarin with the Blue Angels

Yesterday we met up with Darrell and Judy and drove over to Pensacola to visit the Naval Aviation History Museum on the Naval Air Station. The Pensacola Naval Air Station is also the home of the Navy’s Demonstration Team – The Blue Angels. The Museum was quite large and we were treated to many neat displays of restored Navy Marine Corps, and Coast Guard aircraft, info on aircraft carriers, and even a “downtown” area made to look like a typical street somewhere in America in about 1943. They did a nice job finding period furniture and product packages from that era.

They also have an IMAX theater in the Museum and they were showing a film about the Grand Canyon and the Colorado River (mostly the Colorado River) so we decided to watch the flick. The movie had some pretty good photography of the Canyon and the River – but wasn’t as good as the IMAX movie we watched when we visited the Grand Canyon back in 2005. It was a good reminder though of the beauty of the Grand Canyon. We’ll have to go back there soon and spend some more time viewing/enjoying the scenery in that area!

After our Museum visit we sampled some local Mexican food at La Hacienda Restaurant and then made the drive back to the Plantation where we spent a pretty quiet afternoon and evening.

Today is starting off with some fog which should burn off in a couple of hours and then I think we are in for another nice day. It looks like any rain is going to hold off until the weekend. We have had some very nice weather while we have been here in Alabama and it is really starting to look like spring with the Azaleas in bloom everywhere. Hang in there Mainers – spring is on the way!

It’s hard to believe but we have been here at Rainbow Plantation for about 10 days! We plan on leaving on Saturday to head back into Georgia towards Perry, GA (a bit south of Atlanta and Macon) where we will be attending a convention put on by the Family Motor Coach Association (FMCA). Five days with a few thousand motor home enthusiasts – it will be a big change from life here on the Plantation.

Until then we plan on enjoying our last few days here in LA (Lower Alabama).

Burnin Calories

I have obviously taken a couple days off from keeping up the blog but I will try and catch you all up to date on what’s been happening with Peg and Mike in Alabama.

On Saturday Peg and I had a pretty quiet but fun day – I waxed the rig a little and we pretty much goofed off the rest of the day! The day ended with a nice dinner with Darrell and Judy complete with ice cream back at our place.

We were much busier on Sunday. We started by joining Darrell and Judy at their church for Sunday services and then we hit the road for a drive to the other side of Mobile Bay to visit Dauphin Island and Fort Gaines. Fort Gaines is the site of a civil war era fort that guarded the entrance to Mobil Bay – a pretty strategic port during the civil war and the site of Captain Farragut’s famous (although perhaps not entirely accurate) quote “damn the torpedoes – full speed ahead.” After touring the fort we found a local seafood joint for some more fried seafood – after downing more fried gulf shrimp and some fried oysters – I’ve decided that I’d better back off the fried food for awhile or I’ll not be able to make it through the door of the motorhome. But it was really good!

We made it back to the Plantation in time for Peggy and Judy to make it over to the clubhouse for a decadent chocolate sampling hour and Darrell and I joined them for the weekly ice cream social. After a much needed walk back home to work off a few calories we called it a pretty full Sunday.

Today was actually kinda warm and muggy here in lower Alabama. I managed to get some more waxing done in the morning and needed a shower afterwards! Darrell and Judy joined us for dinner and Peggy made a great shrimp and pasta dish. Once again we finished off the day with a walk around the park to work off a few more calories. Unfortunately I think we’ve been consuming more than we’ve been working off!

Tomorrow we’re planning another busy day playing tourist. Check back later to see what we managed to find to do in Pensacola!

Banking on Nevada

The weather continues to improve daily down here in lower Alabama. Yesterday we spent several hours checking out the local scenery with Darrell, Judy, Darrell's brother Mike, and his wife Shauna. We started off by cruising down to the beach at Gulf Shores where the wind was a bit brisk so only Peggy was brave (or perhaps silly) enough to doff her shoes and waded into the surf - well maybe not the surf but she got her toesees wet anyway. Then we wandered through the back roads and made it over to Fairhope where we visited the Punta Clara Kitchen (Peggy's favorite candy shop), toured the new historical museum in Fairhope, and walked around the Fairhope dock area.

Then it was off to Big Daddy's for Linner. Big Daddy's is a bar/grill on the Fish River and has some pretty good seafood including fried and grilled shrimp/oysters and some not bad gumbo. After enjoying my Shrimp Poboy and gumbo - we headed back to the Plantation for an evening campfire and story telling session at the Patterson RV Ranch.



Today was a bit less ambitious. We did manage to make a trip to the local Walmart for provisions and got a bit more of the motorhome waxed. If I can muster up a bit more ambition on a Friday - perhaps we can make it over the Patterson place for another campfire session this evening.



We hope all is well with all of you and we hope Nan is hitting the big jackpots over in Nevada. We can't seem to make any money the old fashioned way - so maybe Nan can make some the Nevada way!!

Relaxin in Ol Ala-bam

I thought I would start this blog entry with this picture from the rest stop on I-10 near Pensacola, FL. Peggy took the picture as we drove through the other day. The folks in Pensacola are real proud of their status as the "home" of the Blue Angels - even the bridge abutments along I-10 in Pensacola have the Blue Angels in formation on them!




We had a pretty tough day yesterday here at Rainbow Plantation. We managed to get up in time to head over to Darrell and Judy's and then over to their neighbor's in time for the hot dog feast. Then we took a nice walk, a short rest, and then over to the clubhouse for a group dinner for 140 or so. These folks at the Plantation sure do know how to eat!

Today was a nice day as the temps are starting to improve. It made it into the 60s today and it looks like the 80s are not far away! We decided to go check out the local area a bit today so we found the local post office, made a trip to the local Camping World for a few "not so necessities", found the local WalMart for a few more "not so necessities", and then just happen to be near Lambert's at lunchtime so we had to go get some lunch! We hadn't been to a Lambert's for lunch before and I can tell you that it's no different than going for diner - The portions are still huge! Now we have been to all three Lambert's! Pretty much the same experience at each place but I think I prefer the one in Ozark, Mo the best.

After all that food Peggy and I needed a good walk - so we did - and then back to the motorhome for a little relaxation. Since the weather was pretty nice I decided to start cleaning and waxing the rig. I only got about 1/2 of one side done but then tomorrow is another day.

I hope all you folks in the northeast are dug out from the weekend storm and are getting back to normal - and you folks out west - I hope you are get some of the snow that those in the northeast have been getting! You need it a lot more than they do!

Rainbow Plantation

Yesterday we drove the couple hundred miles to Summerdale, Alabama to the Rainbow Plantation RV Park. Rainbow Plantation is a park run by the Escapees organization - an organization that caters to all RVers but primarily "Fulltimers." The Park is in a very nice rural area of southern Alabama - near Foley (the home of one of the three Lambert's Restaurants - "home of the throwed rolls" and not far from Mobile, AL. We chose this spot as our Winter Warmup trip mid-point destination due to it's southern location, reputation as being a nice park, and also because it is the winter home of some old friends - Darrell and Judy Patterson. Shortly after parking and sorta setting things up Darrell and Judy stopped over for a quick visit, greeting, and invitation to dinner. I understand is is tradition amongst the fulltimers that RVers don't cook on travel days and so friends do it for them! Pretty nice tradition I say.

After a great spaghetti dinner, a little wine, and some great conversation we hit the hay pretty early last night - at least it felt early since we have transitioned to Central Time and lost an hour somewhere.

Today we have a pretty tough day planned. A little breakfast, a few RV chores, hot dog feast at one of Patterson's neighbor's, maybe a long walk, and then dinner at the clubhouse. We'll need a social calendar to keep up with these fulltimers here at Rainbow Plantation.

Chillin' in the South

Brrrr. Once that front moved through last night and brought a bunch of rain with it - it was followed by some pretty cold weather. We awoke in Brunswick, GA this morning to some pretty heavy rain and about 66 degrees. After hitting the local Flying J for some motorhome fuel and propane we headed west through rural southern Georgia. It didn't take too long for the rain to clear up but then the wind picked up and stayed in our face the rest of the day. Needless to say our gas mileage suffered today!

Did I say it was 66 degrees this morning? Well it got steadily colder today as we headed west and south - does that make any sense? We pulled in for the night here in Chatahoochie, Florida and the temp is already down to 40 degrees with slightly below freezing forecasted for tonight. I'm not really complaining though - just making an observation - it seems Maine is in for another foot of snow tonight through tomorrow!

So I guess I'll sit here and watch the NASCAR race, chill out for the rest of the evening, and we'll finish our trip to Summerdale, AL tomorrow. It should be a short driving day tomorrow as we have something less than 200 miles to go. GOOD - that will leave plenty of time for visiting with Darrell and Judy when we arrive.

Think Warm!!