_30 March ‘09 Monday

I had to look a second time….I thought today HAD to be Friday the 13th…  I’ve had a hell of a day.  We stayed “home” today to do a little catching up, the weather was cool (about 40+) this morning and the wind chill made it feel a lot cooler yet.  The sun was out so that gave us the opportunity to choose either to do the interior chores or go outside and “diddle”.  Well I’ve diddled too much already so I decided to take on a much needed job of getting the satellite and the new digital box working right.  For the last 5 or 6 weeks we’ve just been watching the TV using the new digital box from our roof top antenna.  The reason we were doing that, is when I hooked up the digital box I lost the ability to get our satellite to work, so I chose today to make things right.  Ya right…  I don’t know what this is all about or what I’ve obviously done wrong, but I am soooo confused that I’m driving myself nuts.  Right now we’ve got wires and a box hanging out of a cabinet on each side of the front TV.  I even had the complete TV out of its cabinet earlier and had to struggle to get it back in place.  It not only was one heavy bear, it was awkward  as heck.  We’re making our way through the night by watching our favorite programs on Louise’s computer…well, all is not lost.

_Well I did do something that is going to pay dividends this morning...I re-joined the AAA.  5 years ago we joined the AAA and really enjoyed having the maps and tour books that they offer their members.  We have thought many times that we should renew but have always put it off.  Now that we're in the eastern part of the country, and everything is really new to us, we will put the books and maps to good use...just like we used Rick Steves and simular books in Europe.  We think it's a great value for our travels.

_31 March ‘09 Tuesday

Well we’re back… I got the satellite system working and now we have TV again.  I’d like to say that it’s all fixed but it’s not.  All I’ve done was to get us back to step one.  We also need to get the “digital controller” box in and working.  I’ve had one or the other now, but not both.  I’ve got to figure out just what or how to get both up and working.  The area that confuses me is the one that came with the coach, the “controller box” Flexvision AVCC-530.  I can usually figure out this kind of problem, but this controller has me baffled.  I’ve been “vocal” about this problem and all the work that it’s taken from me, but Louise deserves all the accolades.  She’s been in the back encouraging me at every move, right or wrong, she’s encouraging.  

_28 March ‘09

Saturday

Well all we had last night was some moderate rain, and that started about 5am and lasted right up to 9am.  After our showers and breakfast, we set the GPS for Scottsboro and a visit to the “Unclaimed and Lost Luggage” store. 

_We’ve heard so much about this store and the great values that could be had there so today we wanted to check it all out.  As we pulled up to the parking lot, the store front and the entry really made an impression on us.  It was beautifully laid out and looked architecturally inviting, but that’s where it came to a halt.  The inside was laid out like a Goodwill store, and the merchandise looked about the same or worse.  The prices that they were asking for the goods were not the “deals” that they advertized.  Unfortunately we were totally disappointed and won’t be making a trip back.   The ride to Scottsboro was really enjoyable as we drove most of the way following the banks of Guntersville Lake with the road flanked by flowering dogwoods showing through the forest.  The town of Scottsboro still had quite a few of the “historical” buildings of the early 20th century.  Well tonight we are really getting it.  As the sun was setting, the clouds were getting thick and blowing across the sky with gusto.  The storm is really setting in now.  We’ve just heard our first thunder and the lightning is flying all over the sky.  I decided that maybe this could be one hell of a lightning storm so I pulled the plug on our jacks.  I just wanted the coach sitting on rubber tires and not on 4 huge hydraulic jacks in touch with mud puddles underneath us.  We just got a report on TV that 2 tornados have just developed about 5 miles east of us.  They are also getting winds ranging from 75 to 100+ mph.  Fortunately for us, all we’re getting now is some gusting winds that are lightly shaking the coach and rain that I’m sure is giving us a wash job that I’ll have to dry off in the morning. 

_27 March ‘09 Friday

Boy, we’ve really been in a band of heavy weather the last few days.  Those a little north of us have had it rough with heavy rain, hail as large as 2”, and they think 2 tornados…not good at all.  Now we hear that we might be getting some of the same by 3 to 4am in the morning.  It is a possibility, but an educated possibility and we’re hoping for the best.   Anyway, we left Wal-Mart this morning and headed to our new campground location here at Mountain Lakes Resort in Langston, Alabama.  We’re parked on the shores of Guntersville Lake and about 20+ miles from the closest town.  Let’s just hope that this storm dissipates before it reaches this remote area.  Our drive here was not one that I recommend for those that might follow with a motor home.  We plugged in the address information into our GPS as we left Gadsden this morning for our campground.  Every-once-in –awhile our GPS takes us on a route that is indescribable.  We found out that our route could have been much quicker and safer than the one that we followed, but not knowing for sure that our GPS was way off, we continued on.  We were on a route were the roads where so narrow that we had to straddle the center line and then as we were winding down a hill, we came across a sign telling us that we had 2 single lane bridges coming up.  These bridges also had weight limits on them that we exceeded.  Not being able to turn back, we made the tight turn for the bridge and continued across.  With the rain that we’ve been having, the water rushing under us was intimidating as hell.  After making it across the first bridge, we were immediately met with the second.  This one was even tougher to get onto.  This roadway wasn’t made for a vehicle of our size and the corner that we had to make to get onto the 2nd, was really tight.  I wasn’t too happy about the crossings but Louise was about ready to lose it as we approached the second.  Well with the narrow roads and the one-way bridges behind us all we have to look forward to now is this darn storm…

_26 March ‘09 Thursday

Leaving Atlanta in heavy rain and right at morning rush hour just wasn’t what I wanted to do, so we just poked around yesterday morning until 10:30.  Fortunately by that time, the rain let up and the traffic turned out to be light.  Our drive took us through Atlanta, turned west on I-20, and headed for Anniston Alabama.  We’re now back on Central time again…I’ve never had to change the time on my watch so many times.  Just prior to getting to Anniston we saw a road sign indicating that we were just 20 miles north of Talladega Super Speedway, and if your that close and don’t stop by and check it out...well that would be a shame.  Where is Talladega Speedway?...In Talladega of course…  NOT TRUE !!!  It’s in Lincoln, and where is Lincoln?  About 15 miles west of Talladega…  And the speedway really isn’t in Lincoln either.  I would say that Talladega Speedway is in “TALLADEGA SPEEDWAY City”…  That complex is so large that it is a city in its self.

_I was totally amazed at the size of the grandstand and the amount of fans that it can hold…170,000 !!!  And then on the opposite side of the 2 ½ mile track is another grandstand that holds 40,000 more.  I remember watching the races on TV, but I had no idea that they crowds of that size.  Circling the speedway are so many RV campgrounds that it was hard to count them all.  All I can say is, taking in an event such as this must be exciting.  The International Motor Sports hall of Fame is also located on the grounds.

_This is a huge thing to have here and they did an excellent job of putting it together.  We were surprised that there was more than NASCAR being represented there.  It just so happens that the only requirements are that it must have a motor or propulsion unit of some type.  Names that we recognized from outside of the motor car circuits were from the hydro racing circuit…Bill Muncey and Chip Hanauer.  After spending a couple of hours in the Motor Sports Museum, we checked out the possibility of seeing the track at Talladega.  Unfortunately MALBORO had leased the track out for the week to test some of their new cars and it was LOCKED OUT to all others but them.  Hell, we couldn’t even get a good picture of the grandstands in the distance.  Oh well, we’ll just have to come back for a race some day.  Now it’s time to head on.  Following Hwy 77 out of Lincoln, we soon found ourselves pulling into Gadsden.  It was getting close to 6pm so we decided to find our stand-by campground (Wal-Mart) and stay the night.  When I went into the store for permission to stay the night, the young lady I was talking with gave me a suggestion for a place to visit while in town.  Noccalula Falls.  The legend has it that the young daughter Noccalula, of a great Indian Chief, tossed herself off the cliff over the falls to end the possibility of marrying another Indian Chief.

_This Chief was very wealthy but not one that Noccalula wanted to be with the rest of her life.

_25 March ‘09 Wednesday

We’ve used our generator more than I thought we would during the rally in Perry.  The solar panels were doing great, but when it comes time for the microwave, hair dryer, and the coffee pot, I thought it best to fire up the generator.  Besides, you are supposed to run it about an hour a month.  It should have a decent load on it, so with the rally going, it fit right in to run it.  When leaving the fairgrounds at Perry and checking the tires for pressure, engine oil, and generator oil, I noticed that we had reached the time for the generator to be serviced.  I’d already purchased the oil and filters to do the job, but before getting it done we stopped by Speedco in Jackson, Georgia.  With Speedco, all you have to do is pull up to the door and they are ready for you…  We pulled up, got the go ahead to pull in, and things got started.  No sooner had it started and it stopped…the drain plug had been stripped and would not budge.  They didn’t have another plug, if they were to get the stripped one out, so they really didn’t want to take the chance to do more damage.  They wanted us to drive up to Atlanta and go to the Onan Service shop and they could handle the problem for us.  When we pulled up to the door at Onan, they told us that they couldn’t do anything for us until Wednesday but if we wanted to stay, they had a spot for us to hookup.  That was Monday, today is Wednesday and tomorrow we leave.  In being able to stay here in their security area for free, it softened the blow for the difference we paid here versus the cost we would have paid at Speedco.  After setting up the coach for our stay, we headed out to find some fresh veggies.  Across I-75, we just happen to have the largest "Farmers Market" in the state,

_so we couldn't get there fast enough.  We were told that they had good prices and great produce...well the test shows that they were right !!! While we were here we also had 2 other agendas to accomplish.  Tuesday morning Louise called a cousin that she hasn’t seen in over 50 years.  Ray lives just outside of the gates of Stone Mountain, and as luck would have it, we got an invite over to see him.  Thanks to the GPS, we drove up to the front door without any trouble, a knock on that door and Ray and his 2 dogs were there to welcome us in.  It was a great visit that got even better as each minute went by.  Ray really made us feel at home.  About 30 minutes into our visit we were joined by Dean, Ray’s son.  Neither Louise nor I had ever met Dean but in a minute after he got there we really KNEW each other and liked every minute of it.

_The thought of lunch came up and Dean suggested that we go to The Longhorn.  Seeing as our car was “stuffed” with laundry and other things, we all got into Dean’s car.  Lunch was really good, but the company was better but unfortunately too short.  We have to say “Thanks” again to Dean for buying, and “Thanks” again to Ray for the hospitality…
Today we accomplished number 2 in our agenda.  CNN Atlanta has been on “the list” for awhile now and today was set apart to get it done.

_Last week as we sat waiting for the “Balloon Glow” at the lake in Macon, we just happened to be sitting next to the Timko’s.  It seems that Dave had purchased some new batteries for his camera, charged them and “something happened”…they were dead.  I offered mine, but unfortunately he needed 4 instead of the 2 that I had.  Well here we were sitting on the banks of the lake and meeting some more “strangers”…  Dave, Laura, and their little daughter.  It turns out that Dave is a Senior Editor and Producer for CNN and offered us a personal tour through the operations at CNN.  Fact is, he is an “Emmy-award winning television journalist 4 times over for pieces like “Hurricane Katrina: Heroes of the Storm” in 2006.  Well anyway, Louise and I took the standard CNN tour and then met up with Dave.  After getting our visitor pass we were taken into the locations were things  “take place” behind the scenes. 

_It was a kick to mix with everyone that makes CNN work and those that we see as the news correspondents.  We really want to thank Dave for taking the time to show us around and we wish we could reciprocate some day, somewhere…

_22 March “09

Sunday

Last Saturday, as you know, we didn’t get a chance to finish our bus tour around Macon, so Sunday morning we quickly make it back to town central and caught the bus to finish up.  Saturday on our way into Macon, we drove by some really outstanding homes, and Sunday we wanted to see some of those “up close and personal” and that we did. 

_There are about a dozen homes that the driver will point out, but there are another hundred or so that is absolutely beautiful and are just a part of Macon’s historical beauty.  We did see some of the past that we’re not too proud of…  One of the beautiful buildings, that also has a tremendous amount of history to it, is the Macon Train Station. 

_At one end of the station you find this portal: 

_Below it is this bronze plaque:

_It is a part of our past and the present that we can’t shove under the rug.  Following the bus tour, we headed over to the Ocmulgee National Monument.  Archaeological excavations at Ocmulgee indicated that the early Indian tribes settled here in the Macon area about 12,000 years ago...  Thousands of years later, Spanish explorer Hernando DeSoto recorded the first Christian baptism on the new continent in 1540 when priests in his expedition baptized two Indians from the nearby mounds in a ceremony on the banks of the Ocmulgee River.  What they left behind for us to see and question, are the personal and community artifacts, and the “mounds”.  The mounds were used for great ceremonials and earth lodges.  We were able to reach the top of the largest mound

_and enter into one of the earthen ceremonial lodges.  After leaving the visitor center at the Ocmulgee National Monument, we hiked about ½ mile to the lodge.  The ceremonial lodge is like a large mound of dirt that forms a peak at the top.  At one end there is a small narrow tunnel that leads towards the center of the lodge.  I was bent in half trying to get to the end of the tunnel,

_but once there it was all worth the effort.  What we saw today isn’t exactly what the archeologist saw in 1927 when they excavated.  Over the years they have brought back the original look of the lodge, except they have closed off the center hole that was used to exhaust the smoke from the fire pit.

_Next we were off to the largest mound to climb to the top of the plateau and see just what was there to see.  You couldn’t be up there without trying to imagine what it was like 12,000 years ago…what were they looking at, what were they looking for, and what….? Leaving Ocmulgee behind, we headed for the park were the Cherry Blossom Festival was being held.  We had heard that there was lots of opportunity for us to get something to eat and we were sure hungry.  Unfortunately it wasn’t that good and the heavy metal music that was blaring was enough to chase us out.  On the way back to the car, we came upon a demonstration that stopped us in our tracks.  We’ve all seen it on TV, but seeing it in person is even better… We were watching a dog trainer/owner doing some unbelievable tricks with her/his dog and a large quantity of Frisbees’.

_Those dogs are truly amazing and they totally enjoy getting out there and entertaining all of us with their antics.  In town, they were just getting ready for a couple of races.  Prior to the parade, they took two long blocks and laid them out with hay bales to make the race course a little safer for the racers.  The first was the "Bed Race". 

_They had 8 beds with 6 runners on each and at least one "sleeping person" in each bed.  The next challenge was the "Lawn Mower" race.

_Now these lawn mowers are not the home models...these are really souped up and go like hell.

_21 March ‘09 Saturday

We were very casual in leaving the rally as there were a lot of motor homes trying to get out of the fair grounds at once.  There were those that I heard leaving very early in the morning, but I just didn’t want to rush anything.  Our plans were to run up to Macon

_and check out the Cherry Blossom Festival.  The campground we chose is part of the Shriners property and well of the freeway noise.  We’re parked in a huge grass area that could hold 2 or 3 hundred other campers, but right now there are less than a dozen other RV’s here.

_Boy did it get cold last night… It only got down to the high 30’s but when I woke up this morning, the first thing I did was run to the thermostat.  I turned it on to high and head back to bed to cover up until it was warm enough to take my shower.  Yesterday afternoon we noticed a lot of small tents going up behind us and it turned out that 400 Boy Scouts are having a Jamboree here this weekend.  Now if I thought it was cold, what did those youngsters think??? 

_Our plan today was to head into Macon and find the visitor center, so after a pot of coffee and a bowl of cereal we were under way.  We were totally amazed at the beauty of Macon as we drove into town.  The architecture of the homes

_and commercial buildings are outstanding and the parks that we passed were beautiful.  While in the visitor center we watched a great video of Macon and then purchased a couple of tickets for a tour bus that would show us the town.  We couldn’t help but notice that Macon has a lot of churches, and one of them is the central Cathedral.  The tour bus was one of those that would allow you to jump off and on, so when we arrived at the cathedral we decided to jumped off.

_We really wanted to see the interior of this cathedral because the exterior was so grand that the interior just had to be absolutely incredible.

_Well with the bus now out of sight, and us walking up the steep steps to the church, we noticed that they were having a funeral service and had closed the church to visitors for the afternoon…well, now what?  We walked around the block and enjoyed some more of the exterior and 2 additional Baptists Churches, and then waited about 15 minutes for the bus to return.  Unfortunately when the bus returned, it was heading back to the visitor center instead of continuing on.  Well, that turned out to be ok because when we asked the driver if there happened to be a “special place” that he might recommend for our lunch, he told us about the restaurant H&H. 

_Not only did he know of a great place, but he would personally deliver us to the front door and pick us up after (all in the tour bus..).   While watching the video at the visitor center, H&H was one of the places that were shown in the presentation.  Another little note is; when Ophra was here for one of her shows, H&H was her restaurant of choice.  For us, we enjoyed a good dinner.  We both had fried chicken, corn, collard greens, rice and gravy, and our choice of desert.  We weren’t too sure what the meal was going to cost us as they don’t list the prices on the menu.  We knew that those who paid for the meal prior to us didn’t cry foul as they departed so it must have been alright.  Well it turned out to be $10 a piece…a good price for our dinner and a dinner/lunch house that we would recommend to anyone who happens to Macon Georgia.  We had no sooner finished our dinner and paid the bill and our bus driver walked in looking to see if we had finished…that’s what I call good service.  After arriving back at the visitor center we returned to the coach for the night.  Well we had no sooner arrived back at the camp ground and we were getting ready for the nights entertainment.  A stage had been set-up and a band was playing some great music, so we grabbed our beach chairs, a drink and some snaks and headed over to enjoy the sounds.

_About an hour later we pulled up and headed over to the lake.  They were just setting up for a hot air balloon "glow".  The lake here is small but large enough for 10 hot air balloons could inflate and rise on a tether.  We were pretty lucky to be here, especially being camped here.  We had everything that we needed and with the day being full of exciting things to do and great food to eat, this "glow" was a wonderful climax to our day.

_19 March ‘09 Thursday

It was a little tough leaving the Florida coast, but we had to move on.  By 3 on Thursday we were in the parking lot of Costco Montgomery, Alabama and loading our shopping cart.  It’s amazing how fast the costs add up…I guess we could just quit eating…bitch, bitch, bitch.  Instead of heading off to find a campground or Wal-Mart for the night, I got the approval from the Costco manager to stay in their parking lot for the night.  Friday noon we had an appointment for a tour through the Hyundai plant here in Montgomery.  It is the most “automated” automobile manufacturing plant in the world.  While we were there they had a goal of putting out 3500 cars a WEEK !!!  I ask you, “how many Hyundai’s do you see on the road????”   It’s amazing, but true and even more amazing is to see them going through the assembly lines prior to heading out to the test track.  We really did have a good time there and would highly recommend the tour to anyone that might be in the area.  They also told us that Kia was just about ready to open a larger plant a few miles away in Georgia.  This plant will be even more modern than the one we visited today.  I can’t imagine just what more a “robot” can do but I guess they will soon show us. 

After our tour, we headed for the roads again and headed for the FMCA rally in Perry, Georgia.  Not having to hurry, we stopped for dinner in a Fort Valley Mexican restaurant which is about 15 miles west of Perry.  We pulled into a large parking lot that once was the parking lot of a large grocery store.  Unfortunately the store didn’t make it, but for a parking lot we found it to be very comfortable for a nights stay.  Not only did we find it comfortable, so did 2 other coaches that were heading to Perry in the morning. 

Saturday morning we pulled into the Georgia National Fairgrounds and got ready for a week at the FMCA’s 81st International Convention. 

_We are but one coach out of 3500+- motor homes ranging in size from 21’ to 45’.  On top of the 3500, there are another 450+- motor homes that are occupied by vendors showing their wares throughout the grounds.  Then there are the vendors that have brought their NEW motor homes in…we have heard that there are at least 300 of them.  An aerial picture shows quite a site.  From Monday morning to late this afternoon (Thursday) we have been able to attend classes, visit vendor booths, and walk through some great motor homes.  The evenings have been filled too.  They have booked some great entertainment for us over the last 3 nights and we have enjoyed a lot of it.  Tomorrow is the day for packing up and heading out…IN MASS…  This should be really fun so I think we’ll hang back as much as we can and watch the wheels drive by.

_11 March ‘09 Wednesday

It looks like we are in the beginning of a great spring as we leave DeFuniak Springs and drive down to Panama Beach, Florida.  The last few days have been topping out in the mid 70’s by noon and we’re seriously enjoying it while we have it.  We’re staying at St. Andrews State Park.  The park is at the end of a peninsula that includes one of the best beaches in the states…

_Panama City Beach, rated the best beach by the “Spring Breakers”, and they are here in mass.  It seems to be controlled mass, but they are here and having fun.  Yesterday we drove into Panama City to check-out this kayak company, but they apparently have gone out of business.  After checking out the streets of the city and the surrounding area, we drove back over the bridge to Panama City Beach.  This was our first time to “mingle” with the college crew that has come to the beach for their Spring break.  It’s not that we “mingled” on the streets and bars with them, we just drove down the beach road and checked out the action for awhile.  Our campground is running at max, and quite a few of the campers are here for the action of Spring Break.  Fortunately, the campers are keeping everything under control and we hardly know that they are here.  The beach area that we have been using is about a mile from the area that the big party goers are using.  MTV is here and has a huge part in putting together the programs that most are here for. 

We’ve headed to the beach each morning and get there in time to watch the largest group of surfers do their thing.  A couple of guys have their sit-on-top kayaks here and are having a lot of fun surfing the waves with them as well.  Today we saw something we’ve never seen before.  2 very large surf boards were out there, and the guys that were standing on top of them had a single large and long paddle.  They would be standing on the board waiting for the right wave, and then with the paddle they would make a turn, pick up speed with a quick push of the paddle and surf the wave all the way in. 

This morning we decided to do something different from what we’ve been doing here in Panama City.  Across the channel from where we are, is Shell Island.  They have a bunch of local tour boats that take the tourists over for the day for $18 pp and we thought we could enjoy a day of kayaking and save the $36.  In talking with a couple of the locals and some of the volunteers here at the campground, we felt comfortable in making the paddle across.  The big thing we had to watch out for was the Navy vessels and the container ships that head out this channel.  A little kayak could get lost in front of them real quick.  A couple of other obstacles  we had to face were the wakes of passing boats and the possible waves that might be hitting the beach as we arrive and depart.  Well all of that said the only thing we came across was a cargo ship that made a turn long before it got to us and, we had a few waves from passing boats that gave us a nice little ride.  Our stay on Shell Island was great.  We did see loads of shells, but 99.9% were broken.  That’s OK, we just wanted to see and enjoy the island and that’s what we did.  We’ve had a great work-out today and tomorrow, we head out for Montgomery, Alabama and a stop at Costco.  Saturday we head for Perry, Georgia for a week and take part in the FMCA (Family Motor Coach Association) Rally.