A Summer Chorus!

I thought I had heard cicadas before. . . and I have. But nothing compares to the noise they are making down here on the lake. I had always heard people talk about them before and I never thought their songs were that extraordinary. But I have never really heard them like this before. It reminds me of the spaceship sounds in an old Buck Roger's movie. Kind of a metallic whirring sound. It is so loud! Today we were out on the boat and you could hear the sound over the roar of the boat engine.

Speaking of boats. . . we got out on it today! Yay! Yesterday was an overcast day with some misting and it never got up to 70 degrees. Today dawned cloudy and cool, but the forecast was for sun and 70's, so we took the weatherman at his word. At 12:30 we pulled out of the campsite with the boat in tow and headed for the ramp. We set it in the lake like old pros and took off for a leisurely drive up the Obey (won ken-o-bee) River to East Port Marina. We had the boat serviced this spring and some needed maintenance and boy does she ever run smooth. Starts right up and we had a great drive. We stopped at the marina and got an ice cream cone and then started back.

Once we got back to Sunset Dock we went inside to rent a slip so we won't have to take the boat in and out every day. Then we continued our ride for another hour or so, watching the "air chair" riders back in Eagle Creek. They were really good.

We arrived back to a more populated campground. We have been amazed at how few people are in the campground. It has been only about one quarter full, but there are a few more people now, probably here for the weekend. There are even fewer people on the lake. There were only 3 or 4 boats we saw on our way up the Obey and about that many back in the creek. We didn't pass any on the way back to the creek. There aren't even many fishermen out. I think the fuel costs are keeping people from enjoying their hobbies.

Till next time. . .

Dale

Dale Hollow Lake!

Fortunately the weatherman is wrong again, as he has been most days out of the last month. Yesterday we left the FMCA headquarters where we stayed over the weekend. It is a very nice camp and there were about 8 campers in there, so we had people to visit with. We drove on down to Obey River Campground at Dale Hollow Lake near Byrdstown, Tennessee. We arrived right at 2 p.m. and we were still dry although the rains were supposed to have started at 9 a.m.

We got to our site right away and got backed down the 200 feet to the site. It is a long way to back, but Terry is so good at it and even though there was a motorhome behind us waiting, it didn't take long. I had parked the little truck out of the way, so as soon as we cleared the drive, the traffic went on by. The site has the longest drive of any site here, but that is very useful if we have to get our boats out. We got all set up and let the dogs out. I sat out for a little bit and had the awnings out. I noticed a little wind kick up, and debated about putting the awnings in. If you have ever been here, you know how quickly a storm can come up. Actually I don't think that they come up quickly, but because of the hills and valleys, you cannot see it coming. It was clouding up and a stiff breeze came through and I decided to put everything in just in case it decided to blow hard. Just as I was putting the awning in, the wind gusted and I am glad I started when I did. The wind was fierce against the door, but I got everything in and shut the door just as the storm hit. We are backed into a site that has slopes on two sides, so we are quite sheltered from the wind, but we did have quite a storm. Fortunately, it was over in a hurry.

Today dawned a little cloudy, but 71 degrees. Not bad. Finally some warm weather. I didn't think we would ever find it. We gathered tools to change the numbers on the boats. Since we are garaging them in Tennessee, we have titled them here and had not been back to change the numbers. So we took our goo remover and a hairdryer. We wanted to do a really good job, so it took a couple hours to do both the jetski and the boat, but they are all done and the numbers look good. Maybe tomorrow I can add a picture of them.

After a quick lunch, we started hauling the boats down to the campsite. This afternoon, we took the ski out for a spin. It ran pretty rough at first, but it has been 3 years since either has been run. We did have a mechanic go through both of them this spring, but the ski just needed to be run. It ran best wide open and Terry said it needed it, so he let me go out by myself and I had a blast. After I ran awhile, I went back to the dock and Terry took over and we drove over to Eagle Creek. There we saw a guy on an "air chair." I have never seen anyone ride one like he did. Wow! He was turning flips and really flying in the air. It was pretty spectacular.

Tomorrow we plan to take the boat out. It is here at the camp and we have it ready to go. Am anxious to get out and see the lake. We stayed very close to the dock with the ski. Let's hope the weatherman is wrong again for tomorrow and we have blue skies like we did today.

Till next time. . .

Dale

On our Way!

We left the campground in Elkhart Thursday morning and took Phaeton Place to the house so Terry could change the oil in the generator. Before we left the campground, I got a call from Mom telling me she wasn’t feeling well and that we should not come down in the evening as planned. Almost as soon as I got off the phone to her, Nita called and told me they had decided to take Mom to the hospital. She had been sick all night and her blood sugar was quite high. Before she got ready to go to the hospital, Nita called the doctor’s office and they could see her in just a couple hours. So they opted to do that. That was a good choice and I’m glad Nita made that call. I got to Warsaw just as they were leaving the doctor’s office. The doctor felt Mom had an intestinal bug and gave her some nausea medication and that would allow her to keep her medicine for her sugar down. She was pretty wiped out for the day, but was able to eat some and has continued to get better. We decided to go ahead and leave Friday as planned, since Mom seems to be doing well.

We didn’t have much to pack because we haven’t been staying at the house. We live in the motorhome all the time, and it just feels like home to us, so when we work at the apartments, we use the house for our base during the day, but we go “home” to Phaeton Place at the campground every night.

We left around 11 a.m. and Terry drove the entire day. I had woken up with a headache this morning and didn’t feel like driving. Terry actually had a lot of road construction from Dayton on to Cincinnati, but he did just fine. We arrived at FMCA headquarters and we will be here for 2 nights, then on further south. We will have to find a place for one night because our reservations at Dale Hollow start on Monday. I can’t wait to get out on the boat and sun myself!

Till next time. . .

Dale

Marking Time. . .

Seems like things always move quickly when we are back in Elkhart. Last week we got the new roof on the one duplex and since then we have been doing odds and ends at the house. The house is actually an empty apartment where we store stuff. It contains the inventory for the apartments, so that is where we go during the day. We have been power washing decks, cleaning, mowing, power cleaning siding, and getting window replacement quotes. Not real hard work, but it keeps us busy. We call this our "workcamping" assignment.

Our son, Brandon, is in the process of buying a house in Florida, so I am getting his stuff sorted that has been stored in the basement since we went full time. It will be good to get some stuff cleared out and we are also going to be sending some furniture his way. After we make our annual trek to Red Bay in a couple weeks, we will return here, load up the utility trailer and make a fast trip to Florida. I hope we can get everything we want into the trailer. Mom and Dad came over while we were working yesterday and volunteered to take care of their grand-dogs, Bailey and Neal, while we were gone. This was great news as we were considering boarding them and I worry so much about them. Only two people in this world would volunteer to take care of Bailey, and that is Mom and Dad. Bailey loves Mom because she takes him on walks and he can't wait! For once, I had food available, so they stayed for supper and grilled chicken and had some steamed veggies. Really good!

Things are really hopping here at Elkhart Campground. There are a couple rallies in here this weekend and they look pretty full, but with over 400 sites, there are plenty left. Bob and Gita have worked really hard to improve the campground and have added more 50 Amp FHU sites over the years. Today Bob is working hard to get the pool ready to go. He took the cover off and it looks quite good. He said it will be ready for next weekend, but it may be too cold yet for anyone to swim.

We are sitting here on site 400, right on the end/entrance to the row. If you are in the area, stop by some evening and say hello. Most days we are off working.

Till next time. . .

Dale

And the Beat Goes On. . .

The beat started early Tuesday morning when the roofers arrived at the duplex. We had a swail in the roof after the winter and the terrific snow loads, but we were unprepared for the mess they found underneath. Two rafters had already broken and had been previously repaired, by whom we don't know. We just know it wasn't done correctly. The boards scabbed onto the rafters were too short and that combined with the decking having been run the wrong way created a very weak spot in the roof. In fact, there were several places we found problems with the decking, so the roofers had to replace more than initially thought. However, our roofer is a great contractor and he and his crew were able to make the necessary repairs. They got part of the roof torn off and papered in and came back Wednesday. The lumber yard lost the delivery ticket on our shingles, so they arrived too late on Wednesday to be of much help. The roofers got the entire roof torn off and papered in before the rain started. Before it got too wet to continue, they got a couple corners shingled.

Rain was forecast for all night and most of the day Thursday. True to form lately, they were WRONG. While it was chilly, the rain held off the entire day. . . never did rain. The roofers came in early to avoid the storms that were forecast and the entire roof was done by noon! Wow! And it is gorgeous. I will take a picture this weekend and post it. It makes the house look so much better. And we won't have to worry about snow load or shingles blowing off. I didn't take any pictures of the crew. Most of them were Amish and they don't care to have their pictures taken, so I didn't ask.

Anyone in the northern Indiana area who needs roofing done, we can certainly give a good recommendation. This is actually the fourth roof (Glenn) Miller Construction has done for us. In addition, he has done some remodeling for us during the winter when an errant (and asleep at the wheel) driver plowed into one of our duplexes at the exact center of the front garage doors, causing the doors to collapse and resulting in thousands of dollars of damage. Glenn did an excellent job of restoration much to the delight of our long-time tenants.

Till next time. . .

Dale

Fun with Dick and Jane a.k.a. Tab and Deanna

Last weekend Tab and Deanna came to camp with us. What a great treat! They were unable to make the rally the week before, so it was great to see them.

We started out right by going to Essenhaus for supper Friday night. That was delicious. We don't go there often, usually only for the rally. It is good food, but I just want to overeat.

Saturday we went to the surplus RV places in search of little things. Didn't find much, but it was fun to go look anyway. In the afternoon we went to Lunker's in Edwardsburg, Michigan. It was a big deal before the Bass Pro Shops arrived on the scene and continues to be a fun place to go. They have several different departments and a large camping section. Once again, we didn't find much, but we had fun looking at everything in the store.

Saturday night I made brownies. The guys went and got ice cream and we all watched a John Holod Alaska video. We are planning to make the trip, as are Tab and Deanna, in another year or two, so we were excited to see some of the places we will be visiting.

Sunday morning we were off to the Pancake house for breakfast and then they left for the trek back to Ohio. It was so great to see them and we hope to see them again this summer.

Till next time. . .

Dale

Rally Time!

Last week's RV Capital VI rally is now history, but wow. . . was it ever a great time. We had 28 rigs here at the Elkhart Campground and the best gathering yet!

We arrived early in the week because we wanted to get our jack fixed on Phaeton Place if we could. Charger Enterprises came through for us. They had ordered and received the part while we were in Virginia and were ready to go with it. They asked for the rig at 1 p.m. and by 3:30 p.m., she was on her way "home" to the campground. The jack is working great. . . actually they all are.

Rigs started arriving that day (Wednesday) and continued on throughout the week. I think most had arrived by Thursday, and the rally didn't start until Friday! We brought our firewood over from the house and had a campfire every night. Thursday and Friday were good weather. . . reasonably warm, but Friday night we had a little rain. Saturday dawned colder and windy, so we didn't do a lot of sitting outside. Friday morning about 30 of us made the trek to Essenhaus and had a delicious late breakfast/brunch. From there, some went on a factory tour and some of us went back to the camp. Friday night was HOBO stew night. I browned hamburger with onion and everybody brought a couple cans of veggies and we threw them into the pot. Simmered it and eventually added some long-grain rice and WOW! What a winner! Everybody complimented us on the stew. There wasn't much of a recipe, but it was good. That evening, some attendees came back to the hall for a round of Mexican Train. Terry went over to observe as he wants to learn, but I don't like dominos, so I sat at the campfire.

Saturday afternoon we spent some time getting the hall ready for the potluck and that started at 6:30. We have our dinners a little late, but most attendees spend the days exploring the area, visiting Shipshewana, Wakarusa, the RV Museum, etc., and the late time allows them time to get back for the dinner. Potluck was AWESOME. So much good food and no one went hungry. . . that's for sure.

Sunday people started leaving in the morning because some had long drives. We stayed as this is our home for the next month. We did move, however, and will be moving again next week. We didn't want our same site because it is in the rally section, so we moved onto the back row. The site we want for the month is right beside us. It is on the end and has a huge grassy yard, which will be great for the dogs. The couple there is leaving Monday, so we will move next door. We will be on site 400 starting Monday, so if you are here or happen to pass by, come by for a visit. We may be over at the apartments during the day, but will be here most evenings.

Thanks for all the rally attendees for attending and joining us to celebrate the beginning of the camping season. We had more new people than "old" attendees and it was hard to get around to visit with everyone. Hope you all had a great time. . . as we did!

Till next time. . .

Dale

Birthday Boy!

Ronan's first birthday was a success. Lots of food, fun, people, babies and one dog, Jerry, of course. Grandpa Terry took charge of Jerry for the evening, but Jerry loves everybody and he wasn't a problem. Ronan was unimpressed with his first birthday cake, but no matter. It was a spice cake with cream cheese icing. I am so impressed with daughter Jocelyn and her husband Tom. She is celiac and everything they make is from scratch and gluten free. They certainly can cook up some delicious dishes with names I cannot even pronounce, but tasty just the same. Tom's parents and brother were present for the festivities and we always enjoy seeing them.

I had the pleasure, along with Sharon, Tom's mother, of accompanying Tom to one of his voice lessons. He is studying opera. Tom is a very quiet person and it was quite amazing to hear his smooth, steady tenor voice resonating in the air. Very impressive. Keep up the good work, Tom.

The area where the kids live in Charlottesville, Virginia, is absolutely gorgeous. The trees were blooming and the mountains, while almost barren when we drove in began to leaf out while we were there. We intend to take some time when we visit to go up into the mountains. Perhaps when there isn't so much on the agenda, we can take a couple side trips and go up into the hills. We did try to go to Monticello, a place we have yet to visit. When we got there, there were 10, yes TEN, tour busses and a school bus. Wrong day for us. We talked with some neighbors later in the campground we had seen there and they said it was too crowded to see much of anything. We will go another day.

We headed home on Monday after the party and got into the Elkhart Campground to set up for the RV Capital VI Rally. We were able to get our errant jack fixed before the rally which was a great help to our being comfortable and stable in Phaeton Place.

Till next time. . .

Dale

Love that Grandson!

Well, we managed to get near perfectly level campsites on the way down here to Virginia, which is what we have to have since we cannot use our leveling jacks. I was most worried about the camp here at Misty Mountain, since the sites we like to get usually take a little bit of leveling to get perfect. As it was, our reserved site was occupied by the camp owner's "for sale" rig which wouldn't start, so could not be moved at the time. So the hostess put us just opposite on a much more level (and nicer) site. The bad part is our satellites don't work, but the leveling was much more important this time. The park has cable TV and free wi-fi, so we are getting by.

What can I say about grandson extraordinnaire, Ronan? He is the cutest, smartest little guy. I know, I know, everyone thinks their grandchildren are the cutest and smartest. . . and you know what? YOU'RE ALL WRONG! Hahaha. Just kidding. There isn't a baby that isn't cute, smart, etc. I just can't look at Ronan without thinking about the miracle of conception, growth and birth. And to think how perfect he is with his 10 little fingers and toes, etc. We haven't seen him since Christmas and I already have him reaching out to me. Course, I'm no substitute for Mom, but Grandma will at least do in a pinch.


Yesterday we walked down to the University (UVA) from Jocelyn's and stopped off at the swings. As soon as Ronan saw the swings, he starts kicking his legs and squealing. He really likes them. When we left, Jocelyn had to take him out from behind because if he sees her start to lift him, he holds on. Hah.


Today we ran a lot of errands. With Grandpa and Grandma along, it made it a little faster for Jocelyn because she could leave him in the car with us. We did make it to the mall and Terry got his walk in. Later, we drove out to the motorhome and Jocelyn and I took Ronan up to the owner's place up on the mountain. He has a little petting zoo with 3 little goats. . . one tiny baby goat. Also we met the pot bellied pig who likes to have his ears scratched. Ronan didn't care to get too close because he was making "grunting" noises all the time. He really is a social pig and I scratched his ears for him. I took a couple pictures back in our rig. Ronan likes the drawers because he could pull himself up with the handles.


Tomorrow we have to go pick up Ronan's birthday gift. We had it shipped to the WalMart store here. We got him a big Radio Flyer wagon that has a lot of features. . . not like the wagon we had as children, but one I am sure Ronan will enjoy.



Till next time. . .



Dale

Coach Care - LESS, a.k.a. The Unforgiven

Well, Coach Care-less has really dropped the ball and we are mad. We left our camp in central Indiana a day early (no refund, of course) to make it to Elkhart and Coach Care-less for a Thursday 8 a.m. appointment. We had it there parked in front of their service door on Wednesday night. What a day!

The next day Terry went over at 8 a.m. and made sure they knew what the problem was. They called around 11 a.m. to tell us that the jack in question was shot and would require replacing @ $900+. !!! Now we knew it was expensive, but we have had one replaced before under warranty and knew that their price was a bit more expensive. So Terry called Tiffin and they told him retail was just over $600. ??? AND if it is done at the plant at Red Bay they do it at dealer cost which is $400+. Well, obviously, we don't want to make a run to Red Bay just now. Terry decided to ask Coach Care-less to verify the price when they called to tell us it was done. Hah. They called back at 3:30 p.m. to tell us that they couldn't get a jack! They are built right there in Elkhart, but Atwood is "moving their plant" and wouldn't be able to assemble one until maybe sometime Monday. What? Terry said, "Forget it. I've got to be in Virginia for GRANDSON EXTRAORDINNAIRE'S birthday and I can't wait. So then he asked them what we owed for removing the jack, and the guy said . . . "Oh, nothing. It only took 10 minutes." Grrrrrrr. Terry was smokin'. Yep. If they had done their job after getting our coach in for an 8 a.m. appointment, Tiffin would have overnighted a part to Ekhart and we would have it installed. But they waited until 3:30 p.m. to tell us and by that time Red Bay was shut down for the day.

Since then we have found out a couple things. The warning buzzer on the jacks works really well. If the jack is not working, it sounds and disables ALL the jacks. If you remove the jack, it still works because it thinks it's not doing what it's supposed to and the air dumps and all the jacks rachet because it thinks they need pulled up. Grrrrrr. We got the buzzers off and aired up and went to camp Pull-Tab. Once there, Tab and Terry worked on it. Found out you cannot use ANY jacks if one is malfunctioning. Still nothing concrete, so Terry got on the Tiffin owners' forum and there someone posted a solution. Once they got the jacks disabled, he had to jump the control for the air dump and got the coach aired up. So now we are on our way. We have no levelers, so we have to find a really level site, but we are at least on track now for Ronan's birthday.

Thanks for nothing Coach Care-less.

Hopefully tomorrow will be a better day.

Till next time. . .

Dale

The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly!

The Good. . . Went to my doctor today for my increasingly painful hip. He diagnosed a type of bursitis and gave me a cortisone shot. Yay. I'm happy. I've had those before and I know it will work.

The Bad. . . Have to leave here a day early and make a run to Elkhart.

The Ugly. . . The right rear passenger Atwood Levelegs jack is up and doesn't know it. The motor is spinning and there is no movement. . . in other words, the wheel's turning, but the hamster's dead! The system thinks the jack is down and keeps trying to raise it. Since it is sending an error message, it shuts the power off to the entire system and we cannot lower the jacks. The techie said we were lucky they did this in the UP position. . . otherwise we would not be able to move. Yuck.

We arrived here in New Castle, Indiana, at Summit Lake State Park. Because they don't have the water turned on (actually, they did that today), we only have to pay $11 a night for 30 Amp. Not bad. Last night we visited with our friend Myra and met the new man in her life, Kent. What a wonderful man and a great couple they make! We took the dogs to their vet today and got their meds refilled. Tomorrow we have hair appointments and Terry sees the same doctor I saw today. Then Wednesday, we see our broker and Terry's cardiologist. Then we are taking off for parts north.

We have to be out of Indiana before the weekend snow arrives. Ugh!

Till next time. . .

Dale

Gorgeous even in the rain!

We gave up on the rain quitting and drove on over to Sunset Dock on Dale Hollow Lake. Everything was calm, a few people around. . . fisherman, of course. They fish this lake all year long and it normally does not freeze completely, although I believe there have been years that it has. There are quite a few boats/houseboats sitting in their slips.

We drove up to the storage lot and were very pleasantly surprised when we opened our door. We had put the covers on our boat and jet ski, then threw big sheets of plastic over that. The boats were in better condition than any time we have stored them. Not much dust, clean on the inside, just like we left them. We had put two boxes of damprid in the Wellcraft. That stuff works, but if you use it, be sure to set the can in something larger. It draws moisture and produces water. We set the containers in larger rubbermaid type containers and they were about half full of water. Then we also took long narrow containers that were perforated and put moth balls in there and placed those around the cabin and also on the gunwales of the jet ski. No vermin! So we were quite happy. Our job was simple. Took out that stuff, put the batteries in and got them ready for the mechanic. Then we went and talked with Chuck and told him what we wanted done and he is going to have them lake ready by the time we get down there in May.

He is working on a project boat right now, replacing all the rotted wood and fiberglassing in the new decks, etc. He said that the new boats are so expensive, people are fixing up their old ones. Even if it costs $10-12,000, it is cheaper than the $50-60,000 they are asking for similar new boats. I know our Wellcraft would be way expensive to replace. We did put a new engine in ours before we started full timing. The boat is still in great shape and we have taken good care of it.

We are leaving this morning and driving just south of Lexington, Kentucky. Then tomorrow we will drive on in to Summit Lake State Park, just north of New Castle. We will be there most of the week while we see doctors and vets, then it is off to Virginia for Ronan's first birthday! Yay!!

Till next time. . .

Dale

Here on top of Mt. Ararat

At least that's what it seems like. We got here yesterday, at Maple Hill RV Campground in Jamestown, Tennessee. We left Georgia on Wednesday and drove to Chattanooga for the night. We drove on here because we wanted to put batteries in the boats and check them out. We have a mechanic who is going to get them "lake ready" and we wanted to make sure they were ready for him. We had planned on going over to Sunset Dock yesterday and just as we arrived it started to rain. Long story short. . . it hasn't stopped since. We are high up on a hill. There has been some thunder and occasionally a gust, but nothing frightening. . . and nothing of that sort is expected. The high today is supposed to be 65*, so if it would quit raining, we would run over to the lake. Kind of hate to get out when it is pouring down rain.

I already had to bathe Neal once. Course, he just stumbles and falls when he gets out. I just let him roll around in the mud this morning until he got "the job" done, then carried him straight to the bathtub. He didn't like that much, but I am bigger than he is, so he is now one clean doggy. I will probaby have to repeat that scenario every time he goes out today. Fortunately Neal is smart enough when the weather is bad to only go out when absolutely necessary. So he goes out, "stops, squats and scores" in one "not so smooth" motion. Hah.

Tomorrow we start the trek for central Indiana. We are going to visit the doctors and then head for Virginia for Ronan's first birthday. A week there, then back to northern Indiana for a month.

Till next time. . .

Dale

Babyland!

Well, we did it. . . we went to Babyland. . . however, we resisted the urge to adopt. . .

What is Babyland? Why, it is the home of the Cabbage Patch doll! They were conceived and delivered in the town of Cleveland, Georgia, just a few miles up the road. Unfortunately, I had left my camera at home, so I didn't have a chance to take pictures. It didn't help that we were there on a Saturday, and every little girl in the state was in there to pick out their new adoptee.

It is a marketing marvel. The "hospital" is located in a former medical clinic and all the people there are dressed as doctors or nurses and they fuss over the thousands of dolls as though they were real babies. They appear to have a lot of fun. . . but it gives new meaning to the term. . . "get a life!" hahaha. Actually it was quite fun. Terry particularly liked the "cabbage patch" which had doll heads growing among the cabbage leaves. Rather gross if you ask me. . . but the kids all liked it.

We left there and did a little drive out in the country. It was raining, so we only got out to look in a few shops.

We passed by Lake Lanier today on our way down to Gainesville. The lake is still down a lot and boat docks and piers are out of the water. Once we got to Gainesville, we met our friends, Ward and Pat who had to take their Bounder in to the service center to have some work done. We got there just as they got the "good" news. . . a part had to be ordered and it would be a few days before it arrived. We offered to drive them back to their house in Suches so they wouldn't have to drive the motorhome back up the mountain and back down in another week. So we took them back to their house after we ate lunch, of course.

The drive up the mountain to their house was a little misty, so I couldn't get a lot of scenery shots, but I did take some anyway. There is a waterfall along a curve where the rock shears. It was small, but quite pretty. We also passed by the grave of an Indian Princess, Trahlyta. She is buried here which is close to where her tribe lived. Just north of Ward and Pat's house is a wildlife area, so we went there and I took a few shots of the mountain stream.

Tomorrow we are headed to Helen to finish shopping in that little Bavarian town and then Wednesday we are headed out. We will leave here and spend the first night in Chattanooga, Tennessee, before heading to Dale Hollow Lake.

Till next time. . .

Dale

Guten Morgan!

Greetings from Helen, Georgia, a Bavarian village in the mountains of north Georgia. We have wanted to come here for a long time, but were worried about driving up here with the big rig. Turns out that is not a problem. We are staying actually just south of Cleveland, Georgia, in a nice park with big sites about 11 miles from Helen. We decided to stay for a week. It started out fairly warm here, but is going to cool off for the next few days or so.

Yesterday we drove up to Helen and did some shopping in the many shops. We stopped and ate at a little German bakery. The food was very good, but we had to bring half of it home. The portions were so big. Helen did not start out as a German community. It was the brainchild of the city fathers back in the late 60's who came up with a plan to revitalize their community. So, it basically was a marketing ploy to draw in visitors' dollars. No matter. It is a quaint little place up in the mountains and a neat town to visit. There were several people of German descent in the shops.

While we were eating, our friends, Ward and Patty, called and invited us to their house for dinner. They live in Suches, Georgia, which is about 16 miles away AS THE CROW FLIES--more like 35 miles on the mountain roads and about an hour to get there. Wow. Talk about curvy roads. One section of the road has over 300 curves and this is NOT the "Tail of the Dragon." We drove FOREVER (well it SEEMED like that) to their house. It is a beautiful place on the hillside and a long front yard. It is easy to see why they love living up here in the mountains. We had an enjoyable dinner with them and a high school friend of Ward's along with his wife. We visited until late in the evening when we then had to negotiate the mountain roads in the dark. I drove back and it took a while because we didn't know the roads, but we made it back home.

Today we again met Ward and Patty in Dahlonega and Ward drove us up the montain to the Amicalola Falls State Park. It is the home of the Amicalola falls. These falls drop 729 feet, the tallest falls east of the Mississippi River. It was quite spectacular with what seemed to be a lot of water pouring down. We hiked up about a third of the way on the trail and took pictures. Later when we went to the top of the falls, it was quite a small creek that supplied the water, but it certainly made a big splash.

From there we drove to the Visitor's Center in the park and out behind the office there is the start of several trails. One of the trails is an approach trail to the start of the Appalachian Trail. We had to have our picture taken there. It was interesting to learn a little about the trail.

We left there and went into Dahlonega and had lunch at a wonderful restaurant called Pueblo's. They serve Mexican food there, but the owners are actually from South America. It was very good. After lunch, we said goodbye to our friends, but plan to catch up with them again before we leave the area. We have had so much fun with them.

Not sure what is on the docket for today, but we will find some place to explore.

Till next time. . .

Dale

FDR's Little White House

We came to Warm Springs, Georgia, to visit FDR's "Little White House." It is nestled in the hills near this little town and there are a number of "warm springs" which supply water at 80+ degrees. That is why they are called warm springs instead of hot springs that are found elsewhere. FDR came here to swim in the springs in an effort to revitalize his leg muscles which were affected by polio. He actually purchased the ground and all the buildings that were in the immediate area and founded a rehabilitation center for anyone afflicted by this terrible disease. There is a museum at the pools which shows a movie with FDR playing in the pools with other people, mostly children who were seeking theraputic relief from their disabilities.

Also on the grounds is the Little White House which was a very small, modest home FDR had built for him while he was visiting Warm Springs. It was up on the hill above the pools, not visible from there, but close to the rehabilitation center. It has been preserved with the same furnishings much like it was when FDR lived there. This was also the place where he died from a stroke while sitting for an official portrait. The unfinished portrait is housed in a special display along with a "finished portrait" the artist painted from memory after FDR's death.

We also drove up into the Franklin Roosevelt State Park. It is a curvy road up through there, but there is a campground. We would have trouble getting Phaeton Place in and around the campground due to low hanging trees, etc., but it is a nice camp. The visitor's center was built by the CCC, the Civilian Conservation Corp. There were great views from many places in the park.

It was quite cold in the evenings while we were here. It got down to 28 one night. Brrrrr. Fortunately we were able to stay warm.

Till next time. . .

Dale

Anchors Aweigh!

The Civil War Naval Museum is in Port Columbus, Georgia. It's along the river, so I guess that's why they call it "Port" although it is Columbus, Georgia, right by the Civic Center. I would guess it is one of a kind and it is truly a gem. It is not very big, but that is an advantage. We love museums, but after a couple hours, one tends to get tired. This one is just right. We have wanted to visit here since we learned about it while visiting the "Cairo" which is on display at the Vicksburg (Mississippi) national cemetery. The Cairo is a Civil War ironclad that was recovered from the Yazoo River nearby. It is housed in a speciality built display outside with a canopy overhead and an attached museum. It is the most complete we have seen, with engines recovered and returned to the ship as well as the propellers, paddle wheels and canon. We were told by a docent there that Port Columbus had a much larger display with the greatest numbers of ironclads on display. That is not true, the Cairo is a better and far more restored display, but that didn't take away from the splendor of the museum.

The focal point in the museum is the CSS Jackson, a Civil War ironclad, which was built not far away on the river. The hull is on display and there is skeletal framework around it which does a good job of depicting the outline of the ship as it once appeared. The size was accurately portrayed and a complete history of the ship was easy to read. There were a lot of photographs, paintings, artwork, etc., depicting the role the ironclads played in the Civil War and the various battles which were fought on water. The ironclads were mostly confined to the rivers and inside waterways as they weren't designed to withstand the stresses of the ocean. There were several that, once built, could not even be floated down the river because they drafted way too much, and they were destroyed or captured where they sat.

Obviously the most famous of the ironclads were the Monitor and the Merrimac. They were completely different in their design. The Monitor was a Union ship as was the Merrimac. The South salvaged the sunken Merrimac and refloated her as the Virginia. She was much larger than the Monitor, but in the the famous battle, it basically ended as a draw. The Monitor has been discovered and a few pieces have been salvaged. It is an ongoing operation, but the fragility of the wreck makes recovery difficult.

Also displayed is another hull, this one of a gunboat, the CSS Chattahoochee. Its mission was to protect the river and potentially help break the Union blockade of Apalachicola. An accidential boiler explosion that killed 19 of its crew resulted in the ship being brought to Columbus for repairs for most of the duration of the war.

Also displayed is a recreated portion of Admiral Farragut's flagship, the USS Hartford, to show the daily life aboard a Civil War ship. In addition, there was recreation of the USS Monitor's rotating gun turret and an ironclad simlulator.

There was a large mural displayed showing many of the ships as they would appear in the water and their size and structure in comparison to other ships. Also in the mural are displayed the many submarines which also played a part during the war.

There is much to see here and a lot to learn. The admission price is $6.50 and it is well worth leraning about this piece of our nation's history. They have done a great job and if you are in the area, it is well worth a visit.

Till next time. . .

Dale

History and a Past President

When we left the Rally, we headed over to Andersonville, the site of the notorious Confederate military prison established during the Civil War. It was built in early 1864 and operated for 14 months. During those 14 months, 45,000 Union soldiers were confined in the open area originally designed to hold 10,000; and almost 13,000 died from disease, poor sanitation, malnutrition, overcrowding or exposure. Prisoners were left to their own devices when water became scarce and the only shelter they had was from lean-to's or tents designed from blankets they brought with them. It was a very somber, depressing sort of visit as one imagines the horror and the plight of the soldiers housed here. They were dying so fast, they couldn't dig enough graves; so they dug trenches and laid the bodies in shoulder to shoulder. Surprisingly, all but about 400 of the victims were identified, thanks in part to a worker in the hospital who duplicated the rolls. Later, Clara Barton came and helped to catalog the dead by matching the numbers on the roster with the numbers on the wooden grave markers and thereby identified the interred. Their final resting place is a national cemetery on the property.

The prison site itself is preserved with markers outlining where the stockade stood and the "dead line" which was another interior line which prisoners were not to cross into under penalty of death. The commandant, Captain Henry Wirz, was executed for war crimes due to the conditions under which the prisoners were held; but there are conflicting arguments about whether he was just a scapegoat and others should have been held accountable as well. There were other prison camps during the Civil War in both the north and south and at least one northern prison had a record that nearly matched that of Andersonville. However, Andersonville was the one which was most publicized and got the most attention. A real history lesson here.

Also on the grounds of the National Historic Site is a prisoner of war museum which is dedicated to all prisoners of war during every war or conflict in which the U.S. has been involved. It is also a very somber museum and one unlike any I have seen before.

Today we drove 22 miles over to Plains, Georgia. Time to do something upbeat and we decided to visit the hometown of former President Jimmy Carter. What a neat little town. They have truly capitalized on their most famous favorite son and he has reciprocated by making his residence here and participating in the community like he did before he entered into politics.

We started out at the old Plains High School which anywhere else would have been torn down and replaced by something more modern. That would have been a real shame. The schoolhouse has been lovingly restored and it reminded me of my old grade school back in Indiana. The auditorium even had the old wooden seats that were beautifully finished and highly polished where we first sat to view a short movie about Jimmy Carter. The museum was well done with information about President Carter's early life in Plains, his family, his early political aspirations, and his eventual run for the presidency. The entire community rallied around him and helped with his campaign. It is an interesting story and one in which the entire town takes pride.

We drove by Billy Carter's old gas station. It looks better now than it did in the pictures we saw. They have been working on it and it will become a museum as well. We then drove out to Carter's boyhood home and toured the house and grounds. Terry found the well amusing as he watched some people trying to figure out how the bottom fill galvanized well bucket worked. Having used one like it on his grandparents' farm, he stepped up and showed other visitors how it worked.

Most visitors to Plains hope that they might catch a glimpse of the former president and first lady and I was no exception, but that didn't happen. He and wife Rosalynn are seen out and about from time to time, but today wasn't the day. Their house is easy to find but not easy to get to. He has secret service protection, of course, and the compound is locked up tight.

It was a great visit topped off by something truly special. Peanut Butter ice cream. A store owner here invented the soft serve recipe and serves it up himself. What a wonderful treat. I'm not a big ice cream fan and I had expected it to be hard ice cream, but it was super good. I may go back for more before we leave!

Till next time. . .

Dale