Georgia | Fulltime Ramblings

It’s Been a Long, Long Time…

Posted on October 24, 2016 by taleena4

Wow, it’s been nearly three months since I wrote our last blog post – too danged long. We’ve traveled quite a distance and seen quite a lot in that time, so I’m going to try to give a fairly concise summary in the interests of not having this post run to pages instead of paragraphs.

After leaving the Finger Lakes, we traveled into Ohio, staying one night at Evergreen Lake Campground in Conneaut, and then down to Cincinnati and a two week stay at Winton Woods campground for the purpose of visiting family and friends. We also went to the Cincinnati Zoo, an attraction that we haven’t been to in almost 20 years. It seemed a lot different than it did back then, and not always in a good way, but that’s the nature of life – things aren’t usually as good as you remember them being when you were younger.

A baby giraffe – isn’t it cute?

One of the African Painted Dogs (Lycaon pictus) at the Cincinnati Zoo.

Up close and personal with a polar bear (Ursus maritimus).

Does this Sumatran orangutan (Pongo abelii) remind anyone else of “speak no evil”?

From Cincinnati, we traveled down to Raccoon Valley, an Escapees park a dozen or so miles outside of Knoxville, TN. We got to see and babysit our grandson for the first time while we were there, and then we moved the RV over to Hiawassee, GA to be closer to our where our daughter and grandson were living, trying to make it easier on all of us to enjoy what little time we were going to have in that area before we headed out West. While in Hiawassee, we made a little day trip down to Helen, Georgia for their Oktoberfest celebration, but honestly weren’t that impressed. Brasstown Bald, the highest point In Georgia, was honestly more interesting to us and definitely less like a tourist trap.

A patriotic scene from the top of Brasstown Bald in Georgia.

After Hiawassee, we cut across the north edge of Alabama and Mississippi to stay at Pickwick Landing State Park, just north of the Mississippi state border in Counce, Tennessee. This nice little state park is a hidden gem and is located just down the street from Shiloh National Military Park, site of the battle of Shiloh during the Civil War. It’s also adjacent to one of the best catfishing lakes in the USA. Unfortunately, we heard that the catfish hadn’t been biting very well and so chose not to do any fishing while we were there. But we made up for the lack at our next destination…

A cotton field along the side of the highway in Mississippi.

A row of cannons in Shiloh National Military Park.

Our next stop was in Cotter, Arkansas – a small town in the northwestern part of that state. Now, anyone who knows freshwater fishing knows that this area of the country is prime trout fishing territory. Our two-week stay at Denton Ferry RV Park on the banks of the White River proved this to be the undeniable truth. We paid for our nonresident licenses, bought two pairs of waders, and then headed out into the cold, clear water. The first day was a bit slow as we tested various baits to see what would work best, but we still caught a few rainbow trout that were worth keeping. Over the next few days, we typically spent about two hours or so of each morning down in the river, catching and either keeping or releasing numerous rainbow trout. We quickly reached our possession limits (and the limit of what our fifth wheel’s freezer could hold!) and didn’t even use the entire week that our fishing licenses were valid.

The view of the trout-filled White River from our campsite at Denton Ferry RV Park.

After that, we made our way down to the town of Jessieville, Arkansas, and a stay at Ron Coleman Quartz Mine and RV park. On the day that we went out to the mine to dig, we managed to unearth a nice bucketful of quartz pieces, chunks, and points. Yes, we got absolutely filthy with red clay soil and received quite a few nicks and cuts on our hands, but it was a fun experience overall. Plus we’ll have some unique Christmas presents for people. We’ve also jaunted down into the town of Hot Springs to do a bit of shopping and to see the historic bathhouses along Bathhouse Row. Later this week we plan to visit the Buckstaff Bathhouse to get a taste of the medicinal bathing experience of a bygone era. The Buckstaff has been in continuous operation since 1912 and has been visited by numerous movie stars, ballplayers, and even gangsters over the years. We’re looking forward to it!

Some of the quartz we dug up at Ron Coleman Quartz Mine.

A closer view of a few of the points (and a little cluster) we found at Ron Coleman Quartz Mine. Note the red clay still clinging to some of the pieces.

The stained glass skylight in the men’s bathhall of the Fordyce Bathhouse (now the National Park Visitor Center) in Hot Springs, Arkansas.

The opulence of the Fordyce Bathhouse is quite stunning.

After we leave the Hot Springs area, we’ll be headed to Vicksburg, Mississippi and Summerdale, Alabama so we can make a couple of short day trips over to Florida to get some things done in our state of residency. Then it’s off to Texas for the winter.

Until next blog post…

Savoring Savannah

Posted on May 3, 2016 by taleena4

To catch up everything up from the events of our last post, we did end up adding another week to our stay at Savannah Oaks RV Resort. The gentleman who had the accident and whose dog we were watching had to have brain surgery to alleviate the pressure from the hematoma and resulting clot, but was released from the hospital into the care of his friend who had arrived a couple days after it all happened. We were very glad everything turned out okay for the gentleman and hope him and his sweet dog all the best in the future.

Since we added the extra week to our stay, and no longer had dog-watching duty, we ventured into downtown Savannah to have lunch at Mrs. Wilkes Dining Room and explore a bit. The lunch was awesome, and both of us ate a bit (okay – a lot) more than we should have. It was definitely some of the best fried chicken I’ve ever had, and each of the extremely plentiful side dishes that sprawled across our family-style table of 10 people seemed even more delicious than the one previous. It was a lot of fun talking with the rest of the table between bites, learning where everyone was from, how long they’d been in Savannah, and what they’d recommend seeing in the city. At the conclusion of the meal, the 10 of us had eaten about 90% of what had been presented for our gastronomic delight and each of us pronounced ourselves stuffed. We waddled up to the register to pay, then went our separate ways, hoping to walk off at least some of the absolutely divine calories we’d consumed.

We strolled past the Mercer-Williams House and stopped to check it out, but didn’t see any of the ghosts that are said to haunt the place due to the several deaths that had occurred there. In addition to the events that are recounted in John Berendt’s book Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, there had been two other tragedies within the home’s environs. A previous owner had tripped over the second floor banister, fractured his hip, suffered a concussion, and died 3 days later, and a young boy who was chasing pigeons on the roof had slipped and fallen, impaling himself on the wrought-iron fence that surrounds the home. Maybe the ghosts were just shy that day, but we continued on our way with nary a cold chill or raised hair. Our final stop for the day was Forsyth Park. As everyone does, we stopped to photograph the fountain, then moved on to view the Confederate Memorial and enjoy the fragrance garden.

The Mercer-Williams House, featured in the book “Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil”.

The fountain at Forsyth Park. Probably the most photographed landmark in Savannah.

The Confederate War Memorial in Forsyth Park.

A rose blooming within the Fragrance Garden at Forsyth Park.

The next day, we headed over to Bonaventure Cemetery. That might not sound like much of a tourist destination to most people, but Bonaventure is an absolutely beautiful and historical cemetery that seems to draw visitors like a magnet. Containing the final resting places of several Confederate generals, lyricist Johnny Mercer, and writer Conrad Aiken, along with many others, Bonaventure also feels like a sculpture garden, as quite a few of the plots are graced with elaborate monuments to those that have been buried there. There are also memorials for World War veterans and for victims of the Jewish Holocaust. It was definitely worth the few hours we spent walking through the grounds, reading inscriptions on the stones and feeling the ever-present peace that lies upon the grounds.

An ornate Celtic cross monument marking a grave site in Bonaventure Cemetery.

Little Gracie Watson, who died of pneumonia in 1889. Her monument is said to be a life-sized and picture perfect representation.

One of many angels adorning the graves at Bonaventure Cemetery.

Another intricately sculpted grave monument at Bonaventure Cemetery.

One of the more massive monuments in Bonaventure Cemetery.

A hauntingly poignant memorial at Bonaventure Cemetery. Note the fingers on the sculpture that have been broken off by careless or souvenir-seeking visitors.

After Savannah Oaks, we drifted slowly up the East Coast, stopping for a night at Bass Lake Campground in Dillon, SC (just one exit shy of that famous tourist trap known as South of the Border), then settled in for a week in Roanoke Rapids, NC at The RV Resort at Carolina Crossroads. This is just a planned stop to kill a bit more time before we head up towards Manassas, VA and Washington, D.C. Hopefully we’ll find out this week if we managed to score a tour of the White House while we’re there.

Until next post…

Helping Out When Needed

Posted on April 20, 2016 by taleena4

Our stay at Clark Family Campground in Florida was thankfully uneventful. We had originally planned on only staying a week but ended up adding an additional week so we weren’t feeling quite so rushed. After all, we had to get everything out of our storage area, sort it all, take what we didn’t want to Goodwill or give it to our daughter, get our fifth wheel’s “basement” storage compartment re-organized to hold what we were keeping, and take care of a few other things like having our propane tanks re-certified and fix some minor issues that had cropped up with the RV. All while trying to find time for our daughter and her husband (gods, that feels weird to say) to come visit and catch up on events. Too much to cram into a single week, most definitely.

Upon leaving Florida, we headed up to Savannah Oaks in Savannah, Georgia again to hopefully see and do the things we’d missed back in November, like having lunch at Mrs. Wilkes Dining Room and Bonaventure Cemetery (former home of the statue featured on the cover of John Berendt’s book, “Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil”). We may have to add another week here also, as it turns out, because of something that happened about halfway into our stay…

Lewis was working at his desk table along the rear wall of our RV and I was sitting on the sofa with my tablet computer, catching up on various forums and other internet tasks, when we heard a huge thud-crash noise outside. We both jumped up and looked out the side window next to the TV cabinet to see someone lying on the ground across the street and people starting to gather around him. We went dashing outside to see what was going on, since we could tell that something serious had happened and we wanted to help in whatever way we could. Turns out the gentleman on the ground had been trying to unhook his towed vehicle from his motorhome by himself (he had just pulled into the RV park a short while earlier) and the towed vehicle had gotten away from him and rolled backward to crash into someone else’s fifth wheel, knocking him down in the process.

We called 911 while another camper who was a former EMT assessed the man’s vitals and kept him calm and stationary, and a third camper notified the campground office. The former EMT found out from the gentleman involved in the accident that he was alone except for his dog, and we volunteered to look after the dog for him – one less thing for him to worry about. He was taken away in an ambulance and we are now in charge of the gentleman’s dog and motorhome until his friend can fly into Savannah to take over for us, due to the accident causing a hematoma on the gentleman’s brain. Hopefully the gentleman has a speedy and complete recovery, as we can tell his sweet dog misses him dearly. If we have to stay another week to take care of our own desires, then so be it. That’s what considerate, caring human beings do for each other when the need arises. It just seems to be a more common trait in RVers than in the general public.

May Your Lives Be Interesting…

Posted on April 5, 2016 by taleena4

Our second week in Woodville, Alabama was filled with visiting the U.S. Space & Rocket Center, the Huntsville Botanical Garden, and a slightly close call with a tornado, all on top of not getting much sleep because of the constant road noise from the highway adjacent to the campground at which we were staying. Whomever cursed us with “may your lives be interesting” needs to be taken out and beaten!

The U.S. Space & Rocket Center in Huntsville was honestly a bit of a disappointment. We were really hoping to take the bus tour which goes out to Marshall Space Flight Center, where the Saturn V rocket was developed and tested prior to being used for the various Apollo moon launches back in the ’60s & ’70s, but the tickets were completely sold out by the time we arrived (only 30 minutes after they opened). We were not aware that tickets could be reserved ahead of time by calling the Space & Rocket Center, so keep that in mind if you intend to visit. But we decided to stick it out and just tour the main facility and its related outdoor components. For a place that bills itself as “America’s largest space artifact collection”, we honestly were let down by how scattered, disjointed, and out of date most of the exhibits were. It wasn’t unusual to see an exhibit plaque saying something along the lines of, “This item will be used by the U.S. Army in 2011.” Um, hello, it’s spring of 2016! General admission to the facility cost $23 per adult without all the add-ons like the bus tour, IMAX movies, etc. Use some of that money to pay for updating exhibits instead of (as we saw several times) paying young adult employees to stand around gossiping with each other or playing on their cell phones instead of assisting visitors. And this was a pretty busy Saturday – the day before Easter! Definitely a let-down all around, especially for a space buff like me who would live at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral if given a chance.

A mock-up of part of the International Space Station that visitors to the U.S. Space & Rocket Center can walk through.

The world’s only full stack Space Shuttle exhibit (a trainer – not one that actually flew in space).

Bet you didn’t know the moon landing was faked in Alabama, did you? Just kidding – it’s a children’s play area.

A full-sized replica of the Saturn V rocket.

Later in the week we visited the Huntsville Botanical Garden, and that was much better of an attraction in our opinions than the Space & Rocket Center. Spring was bursting out all over, with tulips, daffodils, and azaleas visible in every direction. The air was filled with the scents of blooms, there were riots of cheerful colors in practically every garden bed, and the sounds of little kids giggling as they ran and played through the well-manicured grass could be heard as a gentle backdrop to it all. Despite the venue undergoing a complete, years-long, top-to-bottom renovation, it was a delightful place to spend time relaxing and communing with nature. Too bad we couldn’t say the same about the campground at which we were staying.

A “hobbit house” at the Huntsville Botanical Garden.

A Chinese Witch Hazel (Loropetalum chinense) in full bloom.

A beautiful bed of spring color.

A large grouping of bright pink azaleas.

Spring is here! An American Robin (Turdus migratorius) bathing.

Two nights before we were scheduled to leave, we had a batch of very nasty thunderstorms move through the area, sparking a bunch of tornado warnings around the Southeast states, including one that occurred at around 9pm approximately 35 miles to our southwest for an EF-2 tornado, which caused a 200-yard wide, 8.5 mile long path of damage. We had crammed our bug-out kits (laptops, phones, IDs, bank cards, etc.) together, shoved the cat in her carrier, and were ready to snap on the dog’s leash if need-be, but thankfully it dissipated before it could get to our immediate area. Nothing like living in an easily destroyed “tin can” in severe weather to make you appreciate a well-thought-out emergency plan of action.

On April 2, we left Parnell Creek RV Park and headed into Georgia to stay for a night at Twin Oaks RV Park in Elko. While this campground is only about 1/10 miles off I-75, the noise could barely be heard and there was no sight of it visible through the trees. Everyone was friendly and they actually escort you to your site and let you get set up before making you come into the office to register, a very thoughtful touch after a 6+ hour day of driving. We had our first good night’s sleep in about two weeks, and were up bright and early the next morning for another five hour drive into Florida to camp at Clark Family Campground in Orange City. Time to clean out our (overpriced) storage unit, visit with our daughter, then get back on the road, this time headed up to the Northeast and eventually into Maine to see friends.

You Only Hurt the Ones You Love

Posted on January 4, 2016 by taleena4

It’s been over two months since I last wrote to this blog, but in that time, it seems like our lives have been turned inside out, thrown through an emotional wringer, then hung out to dry in a hurricane. The day after we made reservations at Savannah Oaks in Savannah, GA, we received a phone call. It was our daughter, calling to let us know she was, by accident, nearly four months pregnant and scared. Even though she stated she was scared, we were informed that it wasn’t an emergency and since we had made a rather large, nonrefundable deposit for our next campground, we decided not to go running back to Florida to help her out. Instead, we dragged ourselves to Savannah with heavy hearts and tried to make the best of the two weeks we had booked there. It wasn’t very fun, we saw almost nothing of what we wanted to see, and we worried ourselves literally sick and sleepless the entire time we were there. It almost felt like a prison sentence. Finally the time came to head back to Wekiva Falls in Sorrento, FL and off we went.

When we arrived at Wekiva Falls, we settled in and quickly started accumulating baby items for our daughter, since she barely had enough money to cover her own bills, much less the essentials that a newborn would need. With Christmas fast approaching, we felt a bit guilty that almost all our spending went toward baby items instead of actual presents for our daughter’s use and enjoyment, but what else could we do? Babies need lots of things to thrive and adult wants must take a backseat to them. At least we wrapped the baby items up as Christmas presents to make things feel a bit more festive.

Christmas came and we were emotionally broadsided with another phone call – did we mind if our daughter and her boyfriend just showed up, quickly unwrapped everything and grabbed a some of the Christmas dinner I already had cooking, then left and headed back to his family’s gathering? Um, yes, we did mind, darn it! We’d spent nearly $1000 dollars on baby and maternity things just to be treated like we didn’t matter, and on Christmas Day?! Screw that! We’d already put our own lives on hold because our daughter had claimed to be scared of the situation she was in. The least we could have would be a somewhat decent Christmas together before we got on the road again. So of course even our Christmas was somewhat strained and not the enjoyable family time it should have been. We dished out a bunch of advice to our daughter and her boyfriend, only to have some of it be completely ignored a few days later when our daughter, as she was getting ready to leave from a dinner visit to us, asked what we were doing the day before we had planned to leave Wekiva Falls (12 days in the future) because that was the date she and her boyfriend had set to be married. Nice to fricking be told this by only one half of the couple, and that as she has one foot in her car and is getting ready to leave! Well guess what, it was the straw that broke the camel’s back. No, we’re not showing up for the wedding and we probably won’t be back for the baby’s birth either. We’re not going to be manipulated by a pair of cowards who seem to only want the material things we can provide for them because, unlike them, we are responsible adults who know that money is what makes the world go around, not simply happiness and rainbow colored unicorn farts. We’ve grown up, and maybe some others should do so too.