A Relaxed Kinda Day

This was just a normal kind of day. We woke up to a really beautiful morning. The sun was shining and spring was beginning to settle in and claim the season. I have always loved this time of the year. The drab and coldness of winter begins to give away to the warmth and beauty of the spring season. I just love it.

Stephen called us last night and asked us if we wanted to go to Columbus today and eat lunch together and just do a little window shopping. He drove down to the campground around 11:00 and we got in the Jeep and set off to enjoy the day. Our first stop was to eat lunch at Cheddars. We all chose one of Cheddars’ famous burgers. I had the Cheeseburger and Mike and Stephen had the Three Cheese Burger. Lunch was good. We then walked the sidewalk at the strip mall strolling into several of the stores there and then we drove over to Peachtree Mall and walked through that mall. We finished up our day at Wal-Mart. The good news…..we didn’t buy one thing. The best kind of shopping.

After Stephen left the motorhome, Mike and I decided to fix up the patio area. We put out the lounge chairs and our patio table. I also found my miniature flag holder and put up a cute little Easter flag at the door. Tomorrow I plan to put up some of our bird feeders and see if we can invite some friends for dinner.

 

Mike decided that this evening would be a good night to enjoy our first campfire of the 2010 season. We have been carrying around some wood for several months so tonight would be the night to begin burning these logs.

That is exactly what we did. Mike built us a wonderful campfire, we brought the chairs and table over to the fire ring and we sat and enjoyed a great evening just relaxing together by the campfire. Mike even saw a shooting star. We like our new site!

A New View

A new spot! Yep, we took a new spot and now have a new view in the same campground we have been staying in while visiting our son Stephen.

This campground has undergone a new addition and some upgrading in the past few years. Originally it was a KOA which was purchased by a private couple. They owned the campground for several years and about three years ago they sold to a company. This company purchased the land next door to the original campground and began the expansion. Now there are actually two sections to this campground - the new one and the old one. Along with two distinct sections there are two different rates. Being the conservatives that we are we opted for the older section and the lower rate. This has been working out very well for us. We had a relatively level site with a great view of the southwest sky for our satellite. After returning this spring we began to notice a lack of care in this older section and many permanent campers. Permanent campers aren’t necessarily a bad thing but there doesn’t seem to be any “rules” for keeping campsites in order. So along with the tiredness of the old section and the many permanent residents, we decided to move to the new section.

 

We had previously noticed a really nice site sitting on a rise overlooking a beautiful lake and rolling green pasture. We have always admired this view but continued to resist. Well, this site was vacated a couple of days ago and we looked at each other and decided to go for it. Ok, we’re splurging but the view is beautiful and there are more Rv’ers in this area so perhaps it is worth just a little more money. So we have decided to extend a few more weeks in this area and enjoy the view.

Grand-Dog

I guess I never mentioned that Mike and I have a “grand” also. Our grand is not exactly like those of you that have grandchildren and call them your “grands.” Our grand is a 5 pound (wringing wet) ornery cantankerous little Shih Tzu that belongs to our son, Stephen.

This morning we got a call from Stephen saying Josh, our grand-dog, was not acting like he felt good. He was just laying around kinda lifeless and wouldn’t eat. Being the devoted grandmother that I am I immediately got myself up and dressed and we headed for LaGrange and Stephen’s apartment.

He was right….Josh wasn’t his usual wiry self. We decided to bring him back to the motorhome for a day of R&R with his friends Nick and Casey. Nick happens to be Josh’s brother, having the same mother and father but from a different liter. We also placed a call to the Vet that takes care of Josh….its complicated but Josh isn’t easy to deal with. We spoke to Brian, the Vet, and he assured us that it didn’t sound too serious. Josh has been known to have seizures but he didn’t feel these symptoms were related to that issue. Since we were able to get him to eat some of the can dog food we feed our babies and drink water he felt that it wasn’t intestinal. That brought him to the conclusion it most likely was a disc problem. He has had that problem before and said that these little dogs have problems with their disc from time to time. It seems they get lethargic and in the rest mode when this happens. Brian felt like nature would take over and begin the healing and we needed to keep him quiet and calm. This is exactly what we did.

So today we spent the day being good grandparents to our little grand-dog and returned him to Stephen this evening. He seems to be resting on the sofa with Stephen and enjoying being waited on hand and foot…..or paw and foot. We are hoping he will be much better in the morning but if he isn’t we will be off to visit the Vet in person. After all….. isn’t that what good grandparents do?????

RiverWalk

Today was suppose to be a beautiful sunny day with temps reaching into the 70’s and with rain in the forecast for Sunday, Mike and I decided to get out and enjoy the day. Once we got up and started our day, we realized the sun part just might not make but we decided to not let a few clouds dampen our day.

We have read and heard about the RiverWalk in Columbus. Columbus is located about 30 miles south of Pine Mountain. I spent a large portion of my young life living in Columbus with my family. I graduated from high school and undergraduate school in Columbus but the RiverWalk was not a part of my past. Today we would explore this area.

 

The Columbus downtown area, as many other large cities, has undergone a huge redevelopment. With the development of malls for shopping the concept of a “downtown” slowly went by the wayside and these areas began to suffer. Columbus was no different. What they did was salvage many of the old old buildings and mills and renovated them into convention centers, lofts and eateries.

The RiverWalk spans some 15 miles along the Chattahoochee River. This has become a very beautiful area where you will find folks walking, jogging, riding bikes, fishing or just sitting and enjoying the day. There are paved walkways with many beautiful trees marking the landscape.

We picked up our walk at the Uptown Historic area. There are several access points along the 15 miles and this one is in the old historic area on Bay Front and 10^th Street.

 

We walked along the river toward the Oglethorpe Memorial Bridge which leads into Alabama. We passed the Columbus Convention and Trade Center which was originally built in 1853 as the Columbus Iron Works. The Iron Works was an important manufacturing center during the Civil War making armaments for the Civil War and later steam engines for boats that made their way along the Chattahoochee River. It continued to service the area long after the Civil War ended. In restoring this old building in the late 1970s, original bricks and original huge timbers were used.

The Dillingham Bridge, 1910-12, crosses the Chattahoochee River. This bridge replaced the original wooden one built by John Godwin and Horace King. There is also a railroad bridge connecting Georgia with Alabama. This bridge also replaced the original wooden bridge built by Horace King in the 1860s. The base shows the remnants of the original bridge.

Inside one of the gazebos, up on the hill above the RiverWalk, was a replica of the Liberty Bell. This bell was cast in the same English factory as the Liberty Bell.

As we made our way north along the RiverWalk we came to what is a temporary interruption of the walk. It is here we saw a rocky area at the beginning of a series of falls that at one time were referred to as Coweta Falls. These falls mark the fall line that divides the Coastal Plain to the south from the Piedmont to the north.

The large brick building seen in this area was the Eagle and Phenix Mill. This mill was the largest in the South during the 1870s. It proved to be an important mill during the Civil War supplying goods for the Confederacy such as grey uniform tweed, army shirting, rope, and the cotton duck that tents were made from. This historic mill burned on April 17, 1865 during the famous Battle of Columbus. It was rebuilt as Eagle and Phenix in 1866. The part of the building in the picture that juts out furthest into the water is the Powerhouse which was constructed in 1899. What I found to be most interesting was this Powerhouse is still working today using turbines dating from 1899 and with electrical generators installed from 1908 to 1921. It is currently undergoing multi-use redevelopment by the W.C. Bradley Company.

It was a great day.

We exercised, got outside and enjoyed fresh air, soaked up what sunshine there was and had a great history lesson. Life is good.

Signs of Spring

Good Friends

You meet the nicest people and make the most wonderful friends in this lifestyle. We did just that when we met Mike and Peggy Evringham this past winter at Rainbow Plantation. We were able to enjoy lots of fun times together playing around at the Plantation. Today they stopped by to visit us on their way back home to Maine. They pulled into Pine Mountain RV Resort around 4:45 and got settled into their site which is just behind our site. We went over for a short visit before picking them up for dinner. We wanted to give them a nickel tour of the area so we drove over to the Callaway Gardens Resort property. We didn’t enter the actual gardens but drove around to the new Conference Center and then over to the Plantation Inn. We then drove up on the mountain toward FDR State Park. We drove through the camping area of the state park. We then doubled back to the city of Pine Mountain and made our way to San Marcos for dinner.
We all enjoyed our meal and sat and talked for quite awhile at the restaurant but then decided to return to our motorhome where we could relax and visit a little longer. It wasn’t as if we were hungry….but I served each of us a bowl of ice cream for dessert. Now with birthday cake on Sunday, San Marcos and ice cream on Monday I know it is diet time. Did I say anything about how much Rvers love to eat?

Mike and Peggy will pull out in the morning and head toward their home state of Maine. They will leave behind many good friends but the beauty of this lifestyle is we are only saying “so long” and hope to see them again “down the road” very soon.
Thanks for coming our way Mike and Peggy and we wish you a very safe and uneventful journey back home.

Happy Birthday Gerri

Today is my sweet wife’s birthday! Happy Birthday Gerri!

Gerri & I woke up to a windy rainy day, but we were not going to let it “dampen” our day; it is Gerri’s birthday and that is special to us. We met Stephen for lunch at Longhorns and had a great meal together. The food was really good and the company at the table was marvelous. At the end of the meal, our waiter, a friend of Stephen’s, brought out a large Texas Stampede cake with ice cream for Gerri. It was so big we all three ate some and still could not finish the cake and cream. After we ate, Stephen wanted to pay for his mom’s lunch as a treat for her. What a grand time and superb meal at Longhorns.

After we left Longhorns, we went to pick up the birthday cake we had ordered for Gerri. Needless to say, we had to wait a good while before we could eat our birthday cake. We went to Stephen’s apartment and watched some tv and just visited together. Gerri got her birthday cards and gifts. We broke out the cake and put the candles to it and Stephen and I harmonized the Happy Birthday Song to Gerri. Gee we could have been a singing duo. LOL.
Later in the afternoon, Gerri & I came back to the MH. We just kinda chillaxed and enjoyed being together for the rest of the day. It was a grand day and I am glad to be a part of Gerri’s special day. Thank you Gerri for being such a special part of my life. HAPPY BIRTHDAY !

Sights and Sounds of Campers

You can tell we’ve been short on entertainment since arriving at our current campground in Pine Mountain. This weekend kicks off many spring breaks for area schools so the campground is filling up…..well should we just say they have several campers. Filling up would be a stretch. Anyway, it is always fun to watch folks come in. And it is always nice to hear sounds of fun and enjoyment being had by families. I especially love to watch the children. Perhaps that comes from teaching for 35 years. I love to watch them play and pretend and know that for at least a little while, they are not sitting in front of their TV or playing video games. They are outside riding bikes, running, throwing balls….well, just playing in the fresh air and sunshine. Oh yes, by the way, we have some of that this weekend also. It is about 74 degrees and the sun is shining. Could winter have taken the hint and left?? I can only say I hope so.

We got up this morning to be greeted by sunshine. We put out our awning and chairs and have made plans to just sit and watch some of the working world enjoy their time off. I remember so well how important time off was and it is fun to see folks just soak it up.

Of course, with the influx of weekend campers comes a little entertainment. When I first watched the movie RV, I along with most others, laughed till my sides hurt because many of the things that happened COULD be true. For example, the installing of the sewer hose by someone that doesn’t really have a good grasp with the concept of gravity.
Yes, liquid probably doesn’t flow uphill. Taking two grown men and a roll of duct tape to attach a sewer hose connector, was a sight. Oh well, we all had to learn somehow didn’t we.

So our plans today include sitting out under the awning and grilling some chicken. Maybe a long walk to enjoy this beautiful day, watching a gorgeous sunset and just relaxing in this wonderful lifestyle. We are so blessed.

Saint Patrick's Day

HAPPY SAINT PATRICK’S DAY!!!!

Today was a lazy day. We woke up at our regular time and saw it was raining and a bit cool out so we did what any full-timer would do, we went back to bed where it was warm and dry. It was nice to have that option! When we got up and had our morning routine complete, it was nearing lunch time. Before we went to eat, we called Darrell Patterson to wish him and Judy a happy anniversary. It must have been a Saint Patrick ’s Day wedding! Although Gerri and I didn't get married on Saint Patrick's Day, I feel extremely lucky to have met and fallen in love with my beautiful bride. She is my better half, and I am glad to be on this journey with her. As time slipped by, we both looked at each other and decided to go to our favorite Mexican restaurant….San Marcos to eat. It was sooo… good, we both had a chicken quesadilla.

After we ate, we went to LaGrange to take care of some bank business and get a prescription filled. When we got thru, Stephen called us and wanted to meet for a coke and a visit. By the time we got thru visiting, an hour and half had passed….. We enjoyed our visit and conversation.

It is still raining and the temps tonight are supposed to go down to the upper thirties. Man we are so tired of rain and cool temps.

FDR'S Little White House

This morning we woke up to another cloudy and cool day, but at least it wasn’t raining! We had a big day planned; we were going to meet Gene & Judi in Warm Springs for lunch and then tour FDR’s The Little White House. I talked with Gene this morning to set up the meet time and location. We decided to meet around 11:47 am (Gene said we wouldn’t forget that time). We were meeting at The Bulloch House in Warm Springs, Ga. for lunch. Benjamin Bulloch, owner of the house that was built in 1893, was also a cofounder of Bullochville (now Warm Springs).
The house is a New South Cottage style of Queen Style home. This house is now a very popular restaurant. When we got there, Gene and Judi were already there, so we did our hugs and went on in to eat. We enjoyed the food but enjoyed the company even more.
We went from there to The Little White House, Franklin D. Roosevelt’s vacation home. Roosevelt first came to Warm Springs in search of relief from his polio in the springs’ naturally heated water. He fell in love with the area and built this vacation cottage. He spent many hours visiting people of the area and learning of their lives and struggles. It was from this involvement that helped him to develop the New Deal policies. On April 12, 1945, Roosevelt suffered a stroke and died at his vacation home here.
There is an 11,000 square-foot FDR Memorial Museum nestled in the woods before you get to his cottage. It gives a lot of history about the area and about FDR. There is a short film narrated by Walter Cronkite in the museum which includes a good bit of historic footage of Roosevelt visiting with friends and neighbors of Warm Springs.

On the way back to our campground, we stopped by Dowdell’s Knob, Roosevelt’s favorite picnic spot. It is located in FDR State Park, overlooking Pine Mountain Valley.
If you are in the area, I highly recommend this attraction. It is simple and quite pleasant and very historic.

We greatly enjoyed our time visiting with Gene & Judi and seeing FDR’s Little White House. Thanks Guys!

Busy, Busy

This has been a busy week. One of the reasons we returned to Pine Mountain when we did was to be able to complete some doctor’s appointments. So this week was THE week. It began Monday with some blood work for Mike and then on Tuesday I returned to the lady that used to cut my hair and had her cut and highlight it. This is a treat because she knows me and knows what I like so I could just sit back, close my eyes and relax. Nice! Whenever I get my hair cut on the road I always ask several people that have styles I like and then go to the person they suggest. You don’t really sit back and relax with someone you don’t know. I usually watch carefully at what they are doing. So far I have had great experiences. But hey, the worse that can happen is you wait for the “grow out.”

That brings us to Wednesday. That was the day that I went to the doctor for my thyroid and cholesterol check which includes blood work. Mike saw his doctor for the annual physical which includes blood work. Gee, we have really given blood this week.
Wednesday evening brought some really rough weather. It began with just some heavy rains and a little wind. Then it progressed into some small hail with strong winds. At one time the wind and rain along with the hail blew against our slide out windows so hard Mike and I both thought it would surely blow the windows out. I grabbed each of our little Shih Tzus off the sofa just in case there was blowing glass. We both were pretty shook by this time. The thunder and lightning continued with the rain for several more hours and then just the rain throughout the night. Wow, what a night.

Thursday took me to visit our dentist in LaGrange. Our dentist is also a long time friend so we spent quite awhile just talking and catching up. Then he took care of one of my back molars….not a big deal and it didn’t even need Novocain but I didn’t want to chance a problem while on the road. With that said, I know that at some time there probably will be a need for a doctor on the road. We haven’t had to deal with that as of yet but it probably will happen. The beauty of this lifestyle is there are so many people willing to help you whenever you have a problem…..all you have to do is ask.

Friday we are suppose to meet Gene and Judi Curp in Warm Springs for lunch and then tour the FDR Little White House. When we checked the weather it calls for about a 60 to 90 percent chance of rain with thunderstorms. We will make a decision by 9:00 in the morning. Worse case scenario, we will postpone the trip until Monday. We are so looking forward to meeting up with the Curps again and just having a great day together. So we will see what tomorrow brings……stay tuned.

Deciding Domiciles

This will be a busy week. We have all of the doctor’s appointments scheduled for this week. In addition to these appointments I visited my hairdresser this morning for a cut and highlight. It is always nice to return to the person that has been doing your hair and you just sit down and relax.

The weather has been just beautiful. This is the way we like it. It has been sunny with temps ranging from lows of 45 to highs of 71. However, today we are expecting some rain.

We have been busy getting our ducks in a row for claiming a domicile. As you know, most full-timers claim a state domicile which is where they are registered to vote, pay taxes, have a driver’s license and a mail forwarding service. The MOST popular choices seem to be Texas and South Dakota as well as Florida. There are many reasons for choosing a particular state but one thing these three have in common is no state income tax which means a little extra money at the end of the month. They also offer lower taxes on our vehicles. We had originally decided to go with S. Dakota simply because you don’t have the hassle of obtaining a Class B license to drive the motorhome. In Texas, if your motorhome GVWR is over 26,001 pounds you must obtain a Class B license. However, upon further investigation, we have decided that Texas is our choice. It’s all about the money actually. When we purchased our motorhome we bought from a private individual and in Georgia you don’t have to pay sales tax if you buy from an individual….so we didn’t. In S. Dakota we would have to pay that sales tax and that would mean an extra $2,560 dollars to pay out. We also like the umbrella of having the Escapees organization for support. We will use them for our mail forwarding service which will give us an actual physical address. Texas has been proven all the way to the Supreme Court as a legal domicile. So armed with this information Mike downloaded the DMV study booklet and is busy preparing for his big exam. I won’t have to take the test and drive the rig but Mike will. Neither of us is worried about the driving test….if he can’t drive the motorhome we are both in big trouble. So we have crossed another hurdle in this lifestyle. We have chosen Texas as our domicile and in a few weeks we should be “Real Texans”…… well that is unless jello happens.

Nothing earthshaking, nothing overly exciting just a day in the life……life is good.

WE FOUND IT !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Today Gerri & I decided to relook at the geocache we couldn’t find yesterday. We went to the geocaching sight on the web and read all the clues and the responses of the people who had found it. There were quite a few that had not found the cache here. After thinking a little longer about possible spots for the cache, we decided to try this one again. The cache is titled “Where’s the Train?” We went back to where the coordinates led us yesterday (the red caboose)and rechecked them when we arrived. Yep, the coordinates still led us to the same place, so we must be in the right area. We looked for about 15 minutes and were about to give it a rest when EUREEKA!!!!!!!, we found it. The container the cache was in is very uniquely and cleverly done. No wonder it has been difficult to find. Gerri took the log out and signed it and then I returned the container to the proper sight it was in.

We enjoyed this cache, but I must say we were growing weary looking for it. It was truly well done and a cache we did not want to get beat with. We have grown very fond of geocaching and find it a lot of fun. It keeps you alert, getting out in fresh air and sometimes walking a good bit. In many caches, you will learn a lot of history.

A Geocaching Day

We went geocaching today. The weather is still a bit chilly but the beautiful sunshine just beckoned us to come out and play. We researched four caches hidden in the general vicinity of where we are camped, entered the coordinates into our trusty GPS, copied all the clues and set out on our hunt. Well, three out of four isn’t too bad especially since one of the caches is considered difficult and many seasoned geocachers have come up empty handed when looking for this one.

The first cache was hidden at a neighborhood ballpark. It was tagged “pine nut.” By following our coordinates and clues we were able to find it after a fashion. This was not a great scenic place but it gave us some experience in using our GPS and following the clues to find the cache. From here we journeyed to our second cache which was hidden in an obscure area beside a small business strip. The clue was important cause the coordinates had us going in all directions. Mike was about to head back to the laptop and get more information and then I remembered the title of the cache and that lead us right to the location. There is method to titles of chahes. Next we journeyed to the local cemetery but as the clue said….we didn’t have to go inside. It took a good deal of searching but we finally located this cache. Our last geocache of the day took us to a little red caboose sitting beside city hall in Pine Mountain. It is a neat area with a gazebo for relaxing and an authentic train caboose to explore. You just can’t go inside. This cache eluded us. We actually went back twice and we still haven’t been able to find it. Both of us hate for something to beat us so we just might return and search another day.
The caboose did lead us to a really neat art gallery right across the street. We met the gentleman that runs the gallery and he told us a little about the mural on the side of the building. It was painted by a local artist that lives in the Callaway Gardens Long Leaf area. It took him from March until August, about 300 hours, to complete this mural of the local trains that have been known to travel through the Pine Mountain area. I also found out that Pine Mountain has been called by three names - Hood, 1880, Chipley, 1882 and Pine Mountain in 1958. I knew about the name of Chipley but not Hood. I learned something new today.

Tonight is another cold night with temperatures dipping into the high 20’s. We’ll disconnect the hose again to be on the safe side. Tomorrow night should be our last cold evening for awhile and we should begin to warm up. It’s been a great day and we hope your day was great as well.

A Good Day to Sleep

The last few days have been spent getting settled in our spot for a few weeks. We needed to take care of everyday type chores. I did the laundry Monday. I am so glad we have the washer/dryer in our rig. It doesn’t have the large capacity of a regular household washer and dryer but it is more convenient….. especially on cold and rainy days. I may have to do more loads but it all comes out in the wash…..oooh good one!

Today we finally got around to doing our grocery shopping. I typically do my “big” shopping at the beginning of the month after I have planned out my meals. That doesn’t mean we won’t go again to pick up items as needed but the bulk of the shopping is over. We have decided to get back into our “healthy” eating mode after spending two months eating large. That means grilled not fried items, lots of vegetables and what ever fruits I can find in season. Lots of water, cut way back on the diet soda, and walk, walk, walk. It’s a plan…now if only the weather will cooperate.

One of the reasons we came back as early as we did in March was to finish up a few doctor’s appointments. We will get that done next week. I also wanted to see my dentist about one of my back molars and take care of that and I will get that completed next Thursday. One of the things we are working toward is getting our doctor’s appointments scheduled while we are wintering at Rainbow Plantation each year. That is going to mean locating new doctors. I know we could continue with our current doctors and just arrange appointments when we are visiting our son but being young and mobile with his company we don’t expect him to always be in this area. We certainly don’t want to move doctors each time he moves with his career so we have decided to make Rainbow Plantation our winter destination.

We are also looking forward to meeting up with our good friends Gene and Judi Curp. They are visiting family in the Macon area and plan to visit the Little White House in Warm Springs and we will meet up with them there. We plan to eat lunch together and then proceed to the Little White House. That will be lots of fun and it will be great seeing the Curps again.

Tonight is going to be another frigid evening with temps going down to about 27 degrees. We will be disconnecting the water hose….. yet again. Even the dogs have grown weary of not being able to get outside to play. It will be so nice when this cold weather decides to go away and spring peeks around the corner. We can’t wait.

Reflections of Rainbow Plantation

Saturday night Darrell & Judy invited us over to their rig for dinner and fellowship. Randy & Terry, Mike & Peggy were there too. We had the joy of getting to know these fine folks in a special way. We visited a while and then had a grand dinner. Afterwards we just sat around, talked and laughed til we hurt. It was truly a grand time with such great friends. How blessed we are to have friends like these. Words can't do justice to how we feel about these friends.

Sunday was travel day!! We actually got up early in order to get everything packed and stowed safely. It has been an awesome adventure being at Rainbow Plantation for the last two months. We have met some of the nicest people and look forward to returning next winter for more fun, food and fellowship. Full-timers are just the best.

We finally got on the road around 10:00. Sunshine followed us all the way to our spot at Pine Mountain RV Resort. It was a beautiful day for travel and the trip was the best kind….uneventful. It took us about 5 hours with a short stop for lunch at a rest stop and then a little diesel fuel just before the Georgia line.

To say I am in culture shock today is an understatement. This is not a new to us campground, we stay here when we come to visit our son in LaGrange, but when I got up this morning and looked out the big front window and saw all the empty campsites it was a shocker.

We are aware of the lack of campers in this campground but for the last two months we have been surrounded by fellow Rvers. Folks walking by and stopping to chat. I just know there will not be a 4:00 social today and I can just forget the Sunday ice cream social and worse yet I will have to cook on Tuesday and Thursday evenings now. I wonder if there is a craft class being taught sometime this week, line dancing or music??? No, I bet not. Man, what a shock to the system.

We had a hard time getting the rig level on our site. We were a little tired when we arrived so we just let it be as it was until this morning. We worked a little on it and now it is finally level. As we were hooking and setting things up Mike could not get the cradlepoint router to reconnect after the power being off so he had to go online to “chat” with a rep from cradlepoint. He had some problems with his password and even though we were putting in the correct password it wouldn’t take it. The rep finally had to have Mike do another password. We feel pretty sure this has cleared things up. Mike has turned the cradlepoint off and on several times and we are able to get it connected each time. Oh the joy of technology!!!

I want to say a huge “thank you” to several people that Mike and I have had the joy of getting to know during our time at Rainbow Plantation. These people have become very special friends and for that we feel so blessed. You just won’t find finer people than Don and Gloria Martin and Norm and Linda Payne. They reached out to us “newbies” and shared their knowledge and stories of this lifestyle. We look forward to more wonderful times together. We met Gene and Judi Curp upon arrival at the Plantation and we shared many meals and a few “explorations” with them. Although we were together a short time we feel like we’ve known Gene and Judi for a long, long time. Thanks guys. Shortly after arriving we met Glenn and Sylvia Avery and what fun they are!! We sat together at almost every meal at the clubhouse. Then along came Darrell and Judy Patterson, Randy and Terry Guiler and Mike and Peggy Evringham. Wow! What can I say? We are like family. The best part is, we are looking forward to meeting up together in Maine this summer for a “Main Event.” We love you guys and miss you already and are looking forward to our next big adventure. Until then…travel safely and enjoy the journey.