Left Naples on Tuesday June 17th. This was only 4 days after the scheduled departure date, but who would want to start a 2 month trip on Friday the 13th. :-)
Stayed 'til the 23rd at our place in Palmetto, FL. A nice RV park, but it is our 2nd home, so it was not really "on vacation" yet. The beginning of our trip will be spent traveling with our good friends, Bud and Fran Stringer. The only "touristy" thing we did here was take the "Showboat Cruise" up to the Skyway Bridge in Tampa Bay. I can tell you some good places to eat though. The best breakfast in town is at Denise's Beachway Cafe. One of the weekend specials is a Crab & Swiss omelette that Mykey says is out of this world. I'm just your typical eggs, sausage, grits and toast kind of guy, and they are all good at Denise's. For great all around food, and the best atmosphere, (how can you beat sitting on the beach) there is The Cafe on the Beach. If you are looking for great seafood in a little unique downtown restaurant, you will love Fisherman Joe's. Now let's get this trip going.
Spent 2 nights parked on Catfish Pond in Country Lakes, a Pride's Resort. It is in Quitman, GA., and the only thing to do in Quitman is relax under the awning with the notebook computer and listen to the birds. A guy could learn to like this kind of life, but with no Internet access, you know all I could stand was about 2 days. Nothing to tell you about Quitman, but right up the road in Valdosta, I spent some time shopping in the first K-Mart Super Center I have ever been in. The prices are lower than in Florida, but then again, everyplace is cheaper than Florida. Example: Gassed up the motorhome in Naples before we left, $1.24 per gal. Gassed up in Palmetto, $1.14 per gal. Gassed up in Valdosta, GA., $1.02 per gal, and I heard there are some stations as low as 99.9. That is why Florida's motto is "Keep Florida Green - Spend Money." This may sound like I don't like Florida. This is not true. I like it very much, you just have to pay for it, that's all. On to the Georgia Mountains.
Arrived at Coosawattee resort in Ellijay, GA on June 25th. This is the mountains.
We arrived with Bud & Fran Stringer, but they had to pull out after a few days and head for Connecticut to see their son before he left on a trip. We were then joined by Bill & Judy Stull, some good friends from our Tree Lakes park. They headed to New York and family after a few days, but we hung around in the cool Georgia mountains for 12 days. What a way to go. And we had great company because we were visiting with Jack & Sandy Amaral, friends of ours for some 30 years. They own a lot in Coosawattee River Resort and we stayed in the rental section.
We had a lot of rain, but that did not stop us from enjoying the small town atmosphere of Ellijay, Georgia. Like all small Georgia towns it has a "square" in the center of town, and we were lucky enough to be there over the 4th of July weekend. They had big doings on the square with food and crafts joints and a typical small town parade. There may have been more folks in the parade than watching it, but that is small town Georgia. I wouldn't be surprised to see us owning a lot here someday. A great place to settle for the summer. Take a look at the photo album.
But now it is on to Nashville.
Arrived at the old Hermitage Campground now called Rainbow Resort on Monday July 7,. It is built on the shores of J. Pearcy Priest reservoir. We have stayed here in the past and were anxious to get back because it is a great place to relax, especially if you are lucky enough to be right on the water, which we were.
The other reason I like Nashville is "Uncle Bud's Catfish, Chicken & Such." No where, I mean no where have I had better catfish. They do an "all you can eat" deal with catfish or chicken and serve the "such" family style. Big bowls of beans, cole slaw, hush puppies, etc. and they keep bringing it until you say "STOP." My "stop" usually comes after about 8 or 9 pieces of catfish. GOOOOOOODDDDDD!!!!
Oh ya, we have relatives here, too, so we also visit them. Cathie and Larry Gallagher and Annette Caruso, (soon to be Keene) live here. We also came by to be the official delivery service of one wedding gown to DuBois. Seems the thing is so big, my motorhome was the only vehicle big enough to carry it in from the seamstress in Nashville. You'll see wedding pictures in the Dubois section - assuming you came back after the wedding.
Well, enough babble, go check out the Photo Album for Nashville. It's slim, but all we did was relax around the campground and eat at Uncle Bud's, (Twice in three days - GOOOOODDDD!!!)
Spent one night right outside of Cincinnati. Couldn't make it all the way to Columbus because we made a stop in Kentucky to pick up my new heat transfer press for making t-shirts. That's right, after all the ironing of transfers on t-shirts, I finally broke down and bought a press. The free t-shirt you may win on my 2 sites will now be professionally made.
Spent two nights in Columbus so I could visit with my brother Tim who lives there. The only problem was that he had gone to a seminar at Purdue for the same days we were there. My planning usually leaves something to be desired. I was going to surprise him by just showing up on his doorstep, but he surprised me by not being there. :-) Just spent a couple relaxing days under the awning again. Took a couple photos at the Ohio campgrounds.
Arrived in Dubois on Sunday, July 13th and got to park "On the Hill" in the church parking lot. This is where two of Mykey's brothers live and where she grew up. Along with visiting the family, we were also here to attend the wedding of her niece Annette. If you recall, we delivered the wedding gown in the motorhome from Nashville where Annette and Scott live.
There are two photo albums for DuBois. Here is the DuBois Photo Album. And here is the "Wedding Album" though I'm sure the Bride and Groom have a much more formal one. (Before you ask, Annette's favorite color is purple.)
We drove longer than I like to in any one day and with only an hour to go to our destination, we decided to spend a night on the road. That way, we would be able to check in at the campground in the AM and have a full day of fun. I was also tired from being incarcerated on the Mass Pike. So we had a quick stay of one night in Massachusetts.
Arrived in New Hampshire around 10 AM and got the surprise of my life. Stopped at a great little campground called Field & Stream and was informed they were full. It was hard to believe as it was the middle of the week in the little town of Brookline, NH. After much begging and pleading, they said we could stay for only 2 night, even though we wanted four. As it worked out, they were able to move us to the overflow area for the last 2 days. All we had was electric, no water or sewer, but we are self contained so it didn't matter for a couple days. The "overflow" area is right on the edge of the lake near the little waterfall, so we actually had a better site than the first 2 nights. Spent the days exploring and the evenings with sons Larry & Eddie and their wives Bridgette and Maria. Got re-aquainted with granddaughter Maggie and met for the first time Abbie and Emily. Here's the photo album for New Hampshire.
Also spent a couple days at Hampton Beach, New Hampshire. Visited brother Fran and family who were vacationing there and surprised an old Sea Captain while we were there. Ray Gilmore was the Captain on the "Annie & Josephine" which was the fishing boat I worked on a couple summers while I was going to school. He looked the same but he said 40 years had taken there toll on me. See the Hampton Beach photo album.
Connecticut was another major stop on this trip. The first place we stopped, before even parking the motorhome, was the Rehabilitation Center where my mother, age 93, is recuperating from a hip replacement. An update on her condition is that she is now back at home enjoying her back yard and deck. After visiting for the afternoon, we parked the motorhome at her house, (another free campground) and went looking for Grandson #1. His name is Nathanial and he is the 3 1/2 month old son of my youngest son Bob and his lovely bride Tracy. Among the things we did while visiting in Connecticut was we took Nathanial to visit his first llama farm. Pictures coming on that after I organize them. After a hectic few days we headed back South as I wanted to get through New York and Washington on a Sunday. We did stay one night in Guilford, CT at the home of my sister Kathleen and her husband Syd. Beautiful spot, right on Long Island Sound. We also got to have lunch with Bud & Fran Stringer. You remember them, they started the trip with us and left us while in Georgia. They had to get to CT to visit their son who was leaving on vacation. Anyhow, a fantastic time was had in Connecticut. Here is the photo album of Connecticut to prove it.
Now got to head South.
More to come
