Howdy, y'all.

July 18, 2007


Well folks, I’m going to attempt a rapid fast forward to try and get caught up on this blog before my memory completely fails. Hopefully, it will still be scintillating.

Let’s see, we left Baker City, OR and headed East to stop in Lincoln, NE, Iowa City, IA, and Bloomington, IN to check-in on family before heading back to Georgia. The drive through Idaho, Utah and Wyoming was pretty, but not spectacular, as most of it was high desert. We did see a fair amount of prong-horned antelope in Wyoming, but other than the mountains in the background, that was the extent of the scenery.

We arrived in Georgia the end of May and set up camp at River Forks Park in Gainesville. River Forks is a great little private campground that is affiliated with the Corps of Engineers, so you can only stay for 2 weeks straight. The first two weeks there were spent visiting various doctors for our annual exams, and visiting with friends and playing golf. Well, Mike played once, and I played as often as I could. We celebrated our 40th anniversary on June 2nd with wonderful friends, then turned around the next week and helped them celebrate their 18th anniversary.

The next two weeks we stayed at Duckett Mill, another Corps of Engineers’ park. Both parks are absolutely beautiful and all sites back up to Lake Lanier. The weekends were naturally filled to capacity, but during the week we practically had the park to ourselves. While at Duckett Mill, we did have one very interesting incident. Remember that honey pot?

Now, the only drawback to both parks is that neither one has sewer hook-ups, so Mike had the duty of draining our tanks into the honey pot and attaching it to the trailer hitch on the truck and hauling it up to the dump station. It’s not as bad as you would think, but he did have to do it once a day if I had done laundry, or every other day if I hadn’t. Granted, it’s not necessarily a pleasant job, but he’s gotten really good at handling it. He did wait too long the first time while we were at River Forks, and the honey pot sort of splashed out when he hit a bump on the way to the dump site, but he quickly learned not to postpone it. Luckily, the contents were from the shower and sinks, so there was not any black tank contents that splashed out (aren’t you glad I shared THAT bit of information with you?).

Now, the trip to the dumpsite at Duckett Mill was shorter, but straight up a hill. Mike filled the honey pot, hooked it to the trailer hitch and headed up the hill. When he arrived at the dump site, he discovered that the honey pot was missing. He jumped back in the truck and headed back to the campsite. No honey pot. Now remember, this is a hillier campground, and our site is uphill from the lake. Mike frantically looked around and finally spotted the honey pot halfway down the hill and headed towards the lake. Luckily, it had gotten snagged on a sapling and stopped. Can you picture it? Mike in a Keystone Kop uniform and frantically running down the hill chasing a loaded honey pot. LOL. Another lesson learned…Mike now secures the honey pot handle to the hitch rather than just hooking it over the hitch.

After the two weeks at Duckett Mill, we went back to River Forks for the final two weeks. While at River Forks the first stay, we had scoped out a site that was more private and a lot bigger than the first site, so we were able to reserve it for the second stay. It was a great choice. We could sit out under the canopy and listen to and watch the waves hit the shore. Not as spectacular as Winchester Bay in Oregon, but a close second for serenity and beauty.

We had a great time the month and half we were in Georgia. It was so great to see old friends and the old neighborhood. We even went back to our home and got to see all the changes the new owners had made. The interior decorating was beautiful. We regret that we didn’t get to see the family that we lived across the street from, and our apologies go out to them, but circumstances didn’t allow it. Hopefully we can stop and say hello the next trip. We do have to go back for a doctor follow-up the 16th of August, so we’ll try and stop by then.

We left Gainesville and went to Skidaway Island in Savannah for five days. The weather was oppressively hot and humid. Even I complained about it. We did manage a riverboat tour of the Savannah River, and walked the River Walk for almost 5 hours our first day. Savannah is still a wonderful place to visit and tour. Unfortunately, I managed to get a bad case of chiggers while down at the River Walk. I have no idea where I got them. It definitely had to have been while down at the River Walk that first day. Oddly, we were never in the grass. I think it was either from sitting on the outdoor bench, or from the barstool in the seedy bar we were in. By seedy, I mean dark, sticky, smelly, filthy, etc., but when you’re hot and thirsty you go into the closest and cheapest place you can find. If those weren’t chiggers I got there, I don’t want to know what they are!!

Our last day in Savannah, we went to the Old Roundhouse. If you’re a movie buff, part of the movie “Glory” was filmed there. It’s an old railroad roundhouse that has been, and is still being restored. We got to watch them bring out an old steam locomotive to move a railroad car and another engine using the roundhouse mechanism. We highly recommend it if you happen to be in Savannah. It was really fascinating, though acridly smokey. I guess you could call that “atmosphere.” Regardless, it is a great piece of history.

July 25, 2007

So much for “fast forward.” I really did have good intentios. Yes, I know, “The road to hell is paved with good intentions.” I just felt it needed a new coating. Regardless, here we go.

After five days in Savannah, we went to Hilton Head for three days. Kirk, Wim, Kate, and Atticus, and Wim’s family were there for a week, and invited us to come and join them. They were staying in a beautiful condo in Harbor Town, and we were camped at the only rv resort on Hilton Head. They are very particular on Hilton Head (descriminating?), and the previous time we had joined the kids 3 years ago, we had was our pop-up A-Liner, which was not allowed on the island. So, I guess you’d say we have stepped up our image a notch. Anyway, it is a very nice resort right on the bay, and about 15 minutes drive to where Kirk and his family were.

The weather was still oppressively hot and humid, but we had a great time. Kirk and I got in a round of golf, and Mike and Kirk went deep sea fishing with Wim’s brothers and nephews. The catch of the day was less than impressive – three small fish, but the guys got to see dolphins up close and personal. They were a bit disappointed, and not sure they got their money’s worth, but the 4-hour boat ride was fun.

As always, it was great fun being with family, and I even bit the bullet, decided I didn’t know anyone there, (and hopefully would never see any of them again), and I pulled on my 25 + year-old bathing suit and went swimming with my grandkids. Luckily, the darned thing didn’t disinigrate, which probably would have been a blessing, and I had great fun splashing around with Kate and Atticus.

We left the ongoing sauna in Georgia, and headed to Hendersonville, NC. What an amazing difference. Temperatures in the70’s during the day, and into the 50’s at night. We actually got to turn off the air conditioner in the camper, and enjoy fresh air and the beautiful view of the mountains. Blizzard was thrilled to be able to go for walks again.

One day we decided to take Blizzard and hike to Chimney Rock. The fee to get into the park was a bit steep ($14/ea), so I was determined we would get our money’s worth. You were shuttled part way, and then you could catch the shuttle back to the parking area after descending. Well, since we paid so darned much to get in, we were going to walk back down a trail to get to our truck instead of taking the shuttle.

At Chimney Rock Park, hey have an elevator you can ride to the top, but since no pets were allowed on the elevator, our fate was sealed. We were hiking. Seriously, Mike and I enjoy hiking, but that usually doesn’t include stairs. There were so blasted many steps up to the pinnacle, I lost count. We would much rather hike a trail upward, than stairs. They do begin to take their toll early on, but remember, I was determined to get my money’s worth no matter what. So, Mike, Blizzard, and I forged on and finally reached the top. It was a beautiful and spectacular view, and yes, worth the trek. After a brief break, we started back down. Going down stairs is not much fun, but we finally made it back to the elevator level where we could have caught a shuttle back to the truck, but we still had about $7.50 each to justify. Before starting back down to the parking lot, we hiked another trail to see the waterfalls. Once again, it took longer than anticipated, but was worth the effort. Unfortunately, to begin our hike back to the truck, we had to reverse the trail we had just taken. Hey! That cut the amount to $3.75 each for justification. Three quarters of the way back from the falls, we came across the trail to head down to the parking lot. Holy cow!!! More steps straight down. Oh well, off we went. Thankfully, the number of stairs was minimal, though steep, and the rest of the hike was more like a normal trail.

After a total of five hours at Chimney Rock we arrived back at the truck. I figured the park owed us about $12 each after that. It was a great day of exercise and beautiful scenery, so I guess I really can’t complain. The day took it’s toll on us for a day or so, but we would do it all over again. Afterall, isn’t that what this whole new life is about? Adventure?

We spent another day touring downtown Hendersonville, which I absolutely fell in love with. It is a beautiful and quaint town nestled in the mountains. Some might call it “artsy-fartsy,” but I loved it. Unfortunately, it was Sunday and a lot of the shops were closed, but enough were open to make it a fun outing. If there had been a retirement community there, we would have most certainly considered it. Since they were calling for rain, we decided to head out the next day to Crossville, TN.

Crossville was the first stop we planned for checking out retirement areas. After having been in Hendersonville, NC and loving the quaintness and beauty of the area, Crossville was a bit of a disappointment. Crossville is in the Cumberland Plateau of Tennessee. The area is beautiful in that it is surrounded by mountains and hills and lots of trees, but it lacks the sophistication that Hendersonville has. Since I was a bit disappointed, I was not overly thrilled to check out Fairfield Glade, which is the actual area we would consider. Boy was I surprised.

Fairfield Glade is a HUGE retirement area with 11 lakes, marinas, 5 golf courses, 8 tennis courts, a post office and small mall, swimming pools, crafts, etc. All of which is heavily wooded. It is very “country” which Mike and I love. You can check out the area at www.fairfieldglade.org and see for yourselves. Needless to say, we have been truly amazed. We’ve done a lot of looking and comparison to other areas, but think that this may be the area. There is no state income tax, the property taxes are LOW, the cost of living is low, and the weather is quite conducive to our wants and needs. The sales tax here is high, but they have to get it somewhere I guess.

The activites are “pay as you play” which is quite attractive. You can play any of four of the most gorgeous courses for $20 (incl. Cart). There is no membership fees, and a monthly fee for the community of $30. See what I mean about being so attractive? We will be here a full month, and have already been doing a lot of looking and exploring of the surrounding areas. It is definitely out in the country, so if you are a serious shopper, you have to drive to Nashville, or Koxville, or Chattanooga. The town of Cookeville is only about 30 miles away, and has quite a bit more to offer than Crossville; however, if you want to buy liquor by the bottle, you have to go about 25 miles or more. Minor inconveniences as far as we can tell.

So my friends, I have gotten you caught up for a while. We will be here until August 15th. I’ll try and updaye a bit more often. Take care, and love to all.

To be continued…..