To Elkhart and Back - November 19-27, 2023

My dad passed away on October 22,2023.  He had kidney cancer that had spread to his liver, lungs, and bones. He started having bad back pain the middle of August and I took him to the ER in Ballantyne where they did an x-ray and CT scan. After four weeks he didn't get better so I took him back to the ER.  They did a MRI this time and found the cancer. They moved him to the hospital in Charlotte.  They did lots and lots of tests, and to help with the back pain they did radiation. He was in the hospital for a little over three weeks, during which time he celebrated his 96th birthday. There was a large group of family and friends for the party and it was a special time for him.  He left the hospital on Monday, October 9.  He was looking forward to a special dinner at Greenway on the 10th. By this time he was using a walker, and when necessary a wheelchair.  I had home care, home health care, physical therapy and occupational therapy set up for him. The home care nurse, Gloria, brought his meals to his apartment and checked on him several times a day.  He spent a lot of time sleeping. On Sunday, October 15 his legs just wouldn't work and Gloria called 911 and then called me. They took him back to the ER, where they did another CT scan and found the cancer had spread. At this time the doctor said he should be monitored for a couple of days, and hospice was called.  He came home to my house on Wednesday, October 18. We had a hospital bed and had moved some pictures so he would have familiar things around him.  My step-sister, Lisa, flew up from Florida to help us take care of him, so there would be someone with him 24/7.  She will never know how much I appreciate that!  The angels escorted Dad to be with Jesus on Sunday morning, October 22.  We miss him so much but know he's in heaven with Mom and Dorothy, and all his family and friends that have gone on before him.  I didn't mean for this to be so long, but I think it deserves to be told and remembered.

To Elkhart and Back - November 19-27, 2023

We left on Sunday, November 19.  About 15 minutes from home the cargo basket/rack John put on the back of the 5th wheel to add weight and give us extra water broke.  The bracket just sheared off and we were dragging it.  Fortunately a couple on a motorcycle notified us of it.  Vince and Kayleen to the rescue!  They brought the El Camino, loaded it up, took it back home and put it in the garage.  What wonderful friends!  We were light enough this trip we didn't need the extra weight on the back.

About 3:00, just south of exit 14 on I-77 in Virginia, the back right tire on the 5th wheel exploded - BAM!

It sheared the valve stem off on the tire in front of it, so we had two flat tires.  We called FMCA Roadside Assist but they couldn't find two tires, and then they couldn't find a mobile tech to come out and change the tire they couldn't find.  Fortunately about half an hour after the blowout Phillip and his highway safety truck pulled up behind us with his caution lights flashing.  After that people started moving over to the left lane to pass when they could.  John ended up taking the valve stem from the back blown tire and putting it on the front one.  Fortunately it was holding air.  Then Phillip changed the back tire to the spare, which was eight years old.  After three hours on the side of the interstate we drove to a truck stop at exit 14 and spent the night.  John called several tire places between Hillsville and Dayton, OH and couldn't find five new tires (one for a spare).  Then he called Martinez Tire two miles up the road and they got all five in an hour.  We drove over, they put them on, and we were on our way in another hour.  The Lord provides!!

We had about 1-1/2 hours to make up on Monday as we had planned on staying at Tamarack Sunday night.  We made it to Dayton just after dark and had a nice dinner of chicken and noodles with Carolyn and Dale, Cindy's mom's cousin and her husband.  We spent the night in their church parking lot like we always do when visiting them.  It was cold both nights but we stayed warm under the electric blanket.

Tuesday we made it to Elkhart and spent the night on the MorRyde property.  They provide a 50amp hookup so we were able to run the fireplace and space heaters.  The next morning they repacked the wheels, aligned the tires, replaced the brake shoes, and replaced one brake disc and caliper.  They were done by about 10:30 and we drove to the Elkhart 4-H Fairground campground in Goshen for two nights.  They have full hookups so we were very comfortable.  Since we had time we had lunch at Essenhaus Inn restaurant in Middlebury.  We decided we like the Blue Gate Inn better.  On Thursday, Thanksgiving, we had a nice lunch of turkey breast, mashed potatoes and gravy, peas, and cranberry sauce.  Yum!

Friday we headed back south and spent the night at Pastime Park Campground in Plain City, OH.  It's a nice city campground.  We had 50amp and water.

Saturday we drove to Mash Fork Campground in Camp Creek State Park, WV for two nights.  We had full hookups and although it was cold and rainy there we stayed warm.  We were watching the weather and Monday morning the temperature was supposed to drop to below freezing as the day went on.  So we got up about 3:30 in the morning and left.  As I write this on Tuesday, November 28, the temperature there still hasn't gone above freezing and probably won't until tomorrow noon.  We got home about the same time as we normally leave a campground.  We both took a nap that afternoon.  

John says he doesn't much like camping when it's cold, especially when there's no sun for solar.  I like to go just about anytime.

That's it for this year.

"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth".

Genesis 1:1

May 20 - 23, 2023 -- Pine Mountain - Acworth, GA

 May 20 - 23, 2023 -- Pine Mountain - Acworth, GA

F.D. Roosevelt State Park was beautiful.  Here's our site #507.

On Saturday, May 20 we went to Callaway Gardens in Pine Mountain.  This was somewhere I've wanted to go since we moved to the east coast.  Our first stop was the birds of prey show.  We got to see three birds, all of which were not able to survive in the wild.  One of them fell out of the nest and was picked up by humans.  The baby bird then thought it's parents were human, fed and took care of it.  It didn't know how to survive in the wild so was brought to Callaway Gardens.  The other two had a close encounter with 18 wheelers.  One was blind in one eye and the other wasn't quite right in the head.  However, they are all thriving now.

The gardens were a lot larger than I thought it was going to be.  There are numerous hiking trails, the Azalea Bowl, the Butterfly Center, the Memorial Chapel (we didn't get to see the inside because there was a wedding just finishing up),

and the Discovery Center.  We needed to drive between each area.  We went to the Discovery Center first and saw the birds of prey show.  Then we went to the Azalea Bowl and hiked a little through that area.  However, the azaleas had already bloomed, so I was a little disappointed.  I did see one azalea bush that was still blooming.

The trail was pretty with so many different kinds of plants and trees.  There is a lake on the property and a pretty little waterfall.

The Butterfly Center was fun.  First we watched a film about how butterflies come from cocoons that was very interesting.  My maternal grandmother was a school teacher for 40 years.  In the Spring she had a birdcage with cocoons in it and every time we went to her house we ran to the bird cage first to see if the butterflies had come out of their cocoons.  It was fun to be able to walk through the building with the butterflies.  You'll have to click on the first picture to be able to see all the butterflies on the flowers.

There was also some turtles in a little pond and a papaya tree.

Although I enjoyed it very much, I think if I was to go again it would be when the azaleas were blooming.  Otherwise it's just a lot of greenery.  I'm glad we went though.

On Sunday we drove to  Acworth, GA to McKinney Campground.  We've been here many times before with family and have always liked it.  Sunday afternoon there were a lot of boats on the lake and it was pretty noisy, but the weekdays are much quieter.  We always stay in site #89.

There was a pretty sunset Sunday night.

My cousin lives nearby and she came over Monday for a visit.  It was really nice to see her again and get caught up on happenings.

We've enjoyed our trip very much, seen and experienced so many new things.  As always we look forward to the next one.

Roving on...

"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth".

Genesis 1:1

May 11 - 19, 2023 -- Eufaula, AL to Pine Mountain, GA

May 11 - 19, 2023 -- Eufaula, AL to Pine Mountain, GA

We left White Oak Creek on Saturday, May 13 and went directly to the Tuskegee Airmen National Historic Site.  They have 10 RV parking spaces there.

In 1939 the Civilian Pilot Training Program located a facility in Tuskegee, the first opportunity for African Americans to receive flight training from the government.  In 1941 Tuskegee became the training base for the all African American 99th Pursuit Squadron. Pre-flight training began at the nearby Tuskegee Army Air Field until Moton Field was completed later that year.  It was the only military primary flight training facility for African Americans throughout World War II.  In 1942 the first class of pilots graduated from Tuskegee Army Air Field and were commissioned 2nd Lieutenants in the Army Air Corps.  There weren't just pilots, but also all the support staff, such as mechanics, cooks, etc.  No matter what your position, if you didn't do a good job you washed out.  Several years ago when I had braces my orthodontist had a painting of his pilot uncle, Wiley Selden, hanging in his office.  Ever since then I've wanted to visit the site.  It was very well done and I would recommend going.

After we left there we to Chewacla State Park.  We really enjoyed this campground.  I sat outside and read and watched the birds, squirrels and chipmunks.  It was really quiet, even on a Saturday, and got quieter on Sunday afternoon.  Absolutely beautiful campground; wish we could have stayed longer.  There's a Buc-ee's nearby, and we went to Outback Steakhouse for Mother's Day.

Site #14

On Tuesday, May 16 we drove to Ft. Richards and stayed at Branching Pines RV Park.  This was more like a trailer park with mostly permanent units.  The manager lady was really nice and said that a new company bought this campground and one up the road and are working on making improvements.  They have some work ahead of them.  I would not recommend this place to stay.  It's not the worst place we stayed, but it was close.  It was full hookups, which was nice, and the people were friendly, but the 'patio' was cracked and coming up, and the traffic on the highway was noisy except in the wee hours.  I wish them well.

While we were there we went to the National Infantry Museum and the National Civil War Naval Museum.  Both were excellent and I would highly recommend going if you're in the area.  

Here are pictures from the National Infantry Museum.

John was in the Army 25th Infantry Division

I have some china from my maternal grandmother that says Made in Occupied Japan.  I never knew when that was until now.

Here are pictures from the National Civil War Naval Museum.

The CSS Jackson ironclad warship was launched on December 22, 1864. Though virtually finished by Spring 1865 it still had no crew when General James A. Wilson's Union raiders captured it on April 16, 1865.  The following day the nearly completed ship was set ablaze and cut loose by her captors.  After drifting downstream some 30 miles she grounded on a sandbar, burned to the waterline, and sank.  In 1960 the wreck was located and there were efforts to recover her.  It was raised in two large pieces, the 106' stern raised in 1962, and the 74' bow in 1963.  The white framing above the ship shows where the top section would have been.

Here are some pictures from ground level.  The timbers they built it with are huge.

I thought these bank notes were interesting as we used to live in St. Marys.

Notice the difference between how the sailors lived and how the officers and captains lived.

Friday, May 19 we drove to Pine Mountain, GA and are at the F.D. Roosevelt State Park.  Our site is beautiful and I'll show pictures next time.  Tomorrow we go to Callaway Gardens.

Roving on...

"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth".

Genesis 1:1