Helen, GA Side Trip + Cleaning the RV

Hi all - Dianne here.  I will let Roger tell you about our side trip to Helen, GA the other day.

  We are down to our last day here at the Bald Ridge Corps of Engineers Campground on beautiful Lake Lanier north of Atlanta, GA.  We took advantage of a rainy day this week to wash the roof and sides of our motor home.  Yesterday, Roger put a new coat of Rain-X on the front windshield and I washed the outside windows.  

 The front cap of our motor home was starting to look really tacky with stains from bugs long gone.   The prior owners of our motor home paid extra to have Diamond Shield applied to the front cap.  This is a hard film that prevents rocks and other road hazards from pitting and chipping the paint.  It works really well, but when it gets a little older, it makes the front cap look dull compared to the paint on the rest of the RV.  After a little Google-searching, I discovered that it is recommended by Newmar and others to periodically coat the Diamond Shield with some 303 protectorant.   My project for yesterday was to get the latest bug guts off the front, wash the cap, and rub in some protectorant.  I must say it looks great!! 

 The unsightly old bug stains disappeared after gently rubbing in the protectorant.  We are once again "house proud," even though our house happens to have four wheels!

Laundry here at this campground is a BARGAIN -- 75 cents per wash or dry load, and the clothes actually get dry.  Compare this to $2.00 per load at Disney World.  Not only that, but now that we're out of  "snowbird" country and back into the land of weekend campers, the laundry is not busy at all.   Add in the fact that we are parked close enough to view the washer, and it is a perfect setup.  My laundry is now all clean, dry, and folded, and I won't have to do laundry again until after we're back in Indiana.  This summer, at least until the house sells, I can take my laundry to our "sticks and bricks" house and do it there while working in the yard.  Some lucky home buyer will inherit my new LG front-loaders, but at least I can use them for a while.

We have tweaked our plans just a bit.  Instead of arriving back in Indiana May 4 as previously planned, we will now arrive April 30.  The reason for this is that our daughter has an early meeting on May 4 and it would help her for us to have our granddaughter, Kaia, spend the night on the 3rd and take her to school.  Needless to say, I was not about to turn down that opportunity!   If you missed her guest blog from Disney, scroll down a couple and it's there.  

Now that I've covered the mundane day-to-day stuff, I'll turn it over to Roger.

Roger here...  Our time at Lake Lanier has been pretty quiet.  We have spent a lot of time walking, reading, and watching TV - both inside and outside.

 It was good to get some of the chores out of the way - especially the cleaning of the roof, long overdue.

The dogs (and cat) are able to have pretty long leads at this campsite because it is so isolated from the other sites.   The site is elevated about 15-20 feet above the level of the lake.  Yesterday, when we looked outside, we did not see Chaplin.  He has gotten away from us during previous years, resulting in hours of searching.  A closer inspection of the site revealed that he had slid down the embankment and was enjoying some quiet time resting in the woods. 

 The picture does not really show the steepness of the drop-off.  Suffice it to say that he was covered with that red, red Georgia dirt.

A couple of days ago we decided to venture away from the campground to explore some of the mountains in Northern Georgia.  We intended to go hiking at Unicoi State Park, about an hour away.  It rained off and on most of the day which put a damper on any hiking (wimps that we are).  We did, however, find the picturesque town of Helen cradled along a mountain stream.  

To say that Helen has a German influence is an understatement.  All of the buildings -- and I do mean all of them -- look as if they were dropped in the town from Germany or Switzerland.  It was a really interesting place - obviously a tourist destination.  

We decided to have lunch at one of the restaurants -  Hofer's Bakery and Cafe.  It was a good decision.  I had one of the best Reuben sandwiches!  We both hit the bakery aisle on the way out for some yummy German doughnuts.  (Mine was chocolate - of course).

Dianne again -- My sandwich was also delicious at Hofer's.  I chose the vegetarian sandwich, which had cucumbers, lettuce, tomato, onion, two kinds of cheeses, and more stacked on fresh, chewy French bread.  It was delicious!!  As far as the doughnuts - many of you know I never met a doughnut I didn't like!!

That's all for now.  We'll update from Chester Frost park outside Chattanooga.  We plan to spend a few days there and visit Roger's cousin, Beth, and her husband Russ (both were in Roger's high school class) before making our way back to Pendleton, Indiana.  Much yard work awaits us there!!

Spring is Here! Lake Lanier, GA - Bald Ridge Campground

Hi all - Dianne here.   We arrived at the Corps of Engineers Bald Ridge campground on a lovely spring day; dogwoods blooming, beautiful views from all windows of our RV.  

Spring 

has always been my favorite time of year, mainly because it means the long, cold, gray days of Midwest winters are over.   If you've ever been to any of our homes over the past 37 years, you know my spring obsession has caused me to plant hundreds of spring bulbs at every house we've lived in.   (If you need a tulip fix, click on "Photos of our House for Sale" in the right margin).  I'm hoping to time this trip so that we enjoy spring as long as we can, following it north back to Indiana.

Our time here has been pretty laid back (even the "boys," as you can see). 

  Our view from our patio area is blooming dogwoods, early spring leaves, Lake Lanier as a backdrop, and sunny, blue skies.   We set up Roger's hammock,

 and both of us have made good use of it and our Kindles.  

We like it here so much that once our first 7 days 

were up, we reserved a second week, even though it meant moving to a different site.  That wasn't much of a hardship, because we needed to unhook and make a trip to the dump station anyway.

There are high

 hooks here to enable you to hang your food up and out of the way of lurking critters if you're tent camping.  The hooks are a perfect place to secure Charlie the Cat on the expandable leash.  He is in cat heaven here, rolling in the red Georgia dirt and

 stalking birds, pretending to climb trees, and sleeping under them.   We now have an orange-and-tiger cat

 instead of a white-and-tiger cat. 

  He gets a good brushing and wiping down with wet wipes before he's allowed back inside each night.

Speaking of birds, there are hundreds of songbirds right here, singing their hearts out.  I started a list of all the birds I've seen just sitting outside here, but can't find it, so you won't have to endure plodding through it after all!  Some of the more interesting ones have been male and female Eastern bluebirds, a small flock of cedar waxwings, blue-gray gnatcatcher.  Also, tons of mockingbirds, brown thrashers, blue jays, cardinals, robins, gold finches, chickadees, chipping sparrows, rufous-sided towhees (male and female), the list went on and on.  There, you had to endure it anyway!!  :-)   There are probably more, but I'll spare you.

Our new camp site does not have a waterlogged fire pit.  After my chimney log success in St. George, last night I decided to try my hand again at building a camp fire.  Roger was very impressed with my fire-engineering effort!  

 I think the key is that there is lots of kindling around here, and unlike most campgrounds, you are allowed to gather it up so long as it is dead wood.  I am now the pyromania queen of our family.

There is a perfect place to launch the S.S. Minnow here, but after today it is supposed to rain and then turn cold, so it's doubtful we'll get it done.  Today is beautiful, but once again we have frittered away the day just relaxing outside.   

We had another house showing the other day!   Not only that, but our realtor called yesterday with news that a reporter from the Anderson Herald-Bulletin wants to feature our house in a weekly series that she does about homes.  We spoke with her on the phone yesterday and have an appointment lined up for May 11 for her to photograph the house, interview us, and hopefully give us some free publicity.   Since we arrive back in Indiana May 4, that gives us a week to make it perfect for her arrival.

I know, I know, we should be there now sprucing it up and planting annuals, but we're just not ready to end this winter journey.

In fact, our five-month trial of full-timing has gone so well that we are convinced we've made the right decision for us.  

 We've decided we don't want to move back into the house when we get home.  Instead, we'll camp in surrounding state parks and work in our yard at home during the day, returning to the motor home each night.   In other words, there's no going back to our former lifestyle!   

Our future plans so far include another week here, then up to Chester Frost park outside Chattanooga for several days, then home again, staying first at Summit Lake State Park starting May 4.  

Stay tuned 

for our future adventures, including a quick trip to New Orleans in late May, South Dakota, then various Indiana state parks.  

Stormy Weather and Lessons Learned in Two Parts

Roger here...

PART ONE.  Last Thursday night was our last night at St. George Island on the Florida panhandle.  While I was packing up the outside "stuff" in preparation for an early morning departure followed by an eight- hour drive, Dianne, who had been watching the Weather Channel, told me that storms were predicted during our drive the next day.  I noticed that the skies

 were beginning to cloud up, so I came in to watch the weather.  (Thankfully, our satellite allowed us to get the Weather Channel because there were NO local stations to pick up on St. George Island and we also had very spotty cell phone coverage, so using the tether to our cell phone wasn't an option.)

As it turns out, the prediction was for heavy winds during the day and severe thunderstorms, hail, and possible tornadoes at our destination at the Corps of Engineers campground at Lake Lanier, just north of Atlanta.  It is not fun -- and in fact, quite dangerous -- to drive a high- profile vehicle in extreme winds.  The few times that I have driven the motorhome in less severe, moderate winds, required me to have both hands on the wheel to be ready for any sudden wind thrusts that could push the vehicle in another lane or off the road - very nerve-racking.  I had no desire to do that for eight hours, so I called our destination, told them we would be a day late.   I then made a reservation at River Park RV in Valdosta, four hours down the road, but well south of the storms. 

As it turns out, the forecast was accurate.  There were severe winds, snowball-sized hail, downed trees, and tornadoes.  When we arrived at Lake Lanier, the only damage at our site was a fire pit full of 8 inches of water

 - no campfires that night!  We dodged a bullet and felt somewhat smug at having done so.  Little did we know that the bullet was out of the gun, but had not yet reached us.

PART TWO.  The next day was beautiful - warm, sunny, pretty vistas of the lakes and forest from the motorhome.  We wanted to be sure to explore the campground area on that day because the next day was supposed to be cloudy, rainy, and cold - no forecast of severe weather, just crummy weather.  

I got up early the next morning and was reading on the couch.  It was raining and I felt sorry for the man in the campsite across the street who had arrived the evening before and was in a tent. Everything was normal at his site when I first looked out the window.  When Dianne was heading for the coffee, I told her that it would be a good day to clean the roof on the motorhome because it was raining, but no lightning.  I then said that it was probably a little too windy.  (That comment soon became a HUGE understatement.)  

At that point a huge gust of wind toppled a pine tree across the street. 

 It missed the man in the tent, but prevented him from driving his truck.  Within a minute his tent blew down and he scampered to his truck.  Another stronger gust followed, which prompted Dianne and I to "stow" the satellite dish (not supposed to be in winds stronger than 35 mph) and pull in the two slides to help stabilize the motorhome and prevent damage to the awnings that extend over the slides.  We were feeling pretty good about having weathered the storm and were thankful that we did not have the problems of the man in the tent (whose truck battery was also dead), but our problems were just beginning.  A loud pop, followed by the loss of electricity, extended the day of frustrations.  If you watched the national weather that day, you probably heard about extensive damage in northern Georgia due to 50 mph straight-line winds.  Thousands were without power for hours.  That was us.

We decided to use the day to plan an upcoming trip to South Dakota to officially change our residency.  We could make reservations using a tether from our laptop to Dianne's phone.  We switched the refrigerator from electricity to propane , knew we had water, and settled in for a quiet "inside" day.  A comedy of errors (not really funny ones) ensued.

While Dianne was researching campsites on the computer, she noticed that the computer charge was low.  I said "no problem", we'll just run the generator for a while and get our electricity from it.  Unfortunately, to prevent the motor home from running out of gas while on the road, our generator does not operate when the gas tank is less than one-quarter full.  On the day of our drive we had a half-tank south of Atlanta and could have stopped to fill up, but we decided that we could probably find a gas station closer to the campsite, and besides we had plenty of gas to get there - plenty of gas to get there, but less than a quarter tank left = NO GENERATOR. 

 We then determined that we could charge the computer using a connection to the motorhome battery.  Dianne said that the connecting tether was in a box with other miscellaneous electronic wiring.  She thought she knew where it was.  The search began.  Every nook and cranny was investigated - no box of electronic connections.  About two hours later I asked if it could be in the small compartment above the driver's seat.  IT WAS!  I did the happy dance.  Dianne smiled.  Unfortunately, the right connecting tether was not in the box.  We evidently don't have one.  There would be no computer until the electricity came back on. 

Other issues....  We decided to use our rechargeable, battery-powered Coleman lantern for light.  We did have lights that operated from the house batteries in the motorhome, but we did not want to drain them since we could not run the generator.  Unfortunately, we had left the Coleman lit outside all night the night before, and drained the battery; obviously, we had no electricity to recharge it. 

All of our cooking would need to be done using the propane-fueled stove top and oven - no microwave or outdoor grill (in the rain).  However, we turned on the furnace the morning before to take the chill off instead of using our electric space heater that was stowed in an outside bay (too cold to go out and get it in jammies).  We forgot to turn it off.  It kicked on several times the next evening.  When we checked our propane level, it was low.  Ouch.  A good thing we had a supply of crackers.  

Walking the dogs was another issue.  Their morning constitutional was delayed for about three hours due to the wet and windy weather.  When Chaplin, a very quiet dog, needs to go, he stands by the door and stares at the door.  He did a lot of that on that day.  Thank heaven their bladders are much, much larger than mine.

Finally, there was nothing much to do.  No TV.  No outside walks.  And for me...  no reading.  I had just finished the book I was reading on my Kindle the night before and was planning to order a new one.  When I tried, I discovered that the Kindle would not connect due to poor cell phone coverage.  I could have ordered a book using our computer, but then, as you know, we did not have an operating computer!  

There was really only one activity to occupy our time and that was watching the saga unfold with the man in the tent. 

 Did I mention his truck battery was dead?  He attempted to charge it with an electric battery charger plugged into an outlet, not realizing that the campground power was out.  His wife then arrived with jumper cables, but there was no way to get the two vehicles close enough to connect due to the downed tree.  After a few hours a crew came to saw up and remove the tree.

  At that point the man packed up his wet tent (yuck), jumped the battery in the truck, and followed his wife out of the campground.  (I did offer to help, but honestly he was too angry to want help from anyone!)

Frustrations with two people in a confined space (no escape due to the rain) almost always leads to conflict.  I was proud of the way that the two of us conducted ourselves; however, I did grind about an eighth of an inch of enamel off my molars.  (Dianne here - I ground a QUARTER INCH of enamel off mine!!!)

Looking back on the day, we were very lucky to have endured only a series of frustrating inconveniences.  No one was hurt.  Nothing was damaged.  It could very easily have been a different story.  At 7:30 p.m., the electricity returned.

(Short note from Dianne - As you can see from the two photos below, our three

 "sons" were mostly unperturbed throughout the whole drama!)  

LESSONS LEARNED. 

1.  Walk the dogs BEFORE it rains.

2.  Charge the computer when the electricity is on.

3.  Never arrive at a campsite without enough gasoline to run the generator.

4.  Always have an extra book to read.

5.  Know where the electronic tethers/chargers are kept and order a charger that allows the computer to be charged by the house batteries.

6.  Retrieve the electronic heater from the outside bay on cold mornings, even if you ARE in your jammies.

7.  Don't forget to turn off the furnace.

8.  Always have a supply of snack food that does not need to be cooked.

9.  Turn off the Coleman lantern before you go to bed.

10.  Never be too smug about how you handle situations.  Inevitably, your smugness results in being taken down a peg or two!

Fort Pulaski, Bonaventure Cemetery, More Savannah

Hi all - Dianne here.   Monday we journeyed over to Tybee Island to pick up our second mail batch and do a little sightseeing.   I had my camera with me, but didn't really find anything photo-worthy there on Tybee.   It was a drizzly day, so we pretty much just viewed Tybee from the car.   On the way out from Tybee Island, we ate lunch at Uncle Bubba's Oyster House, owned by Paula Deen and her brother, "Uncle Bubba."   Excellent food!   I had a shrimp salad sandwich and Roger had a crab cake sandwich.   (Roger also had a "breakfast juice" - the famous Chuck Gemmer recipe.)

Just before lunch, we visited Fort Pulaski.   We got there just in time to take the interpretive tour given by a park ranger.   Note the small opening in the original old door.  Turns out, not only was that used for soldiers to shoot their guns out through the opening, it is now used by the park ranger to exit the grounds after locking up for the night!   I can't get that mental picture out of my mind, the ranger stuffing herself through that door at the end of her shift!   We learned how the prisoners were jammed into tiny spaces, five or seven to a bed, and most, if not all, were suffering from dysentery.   Add in the humid heat and the mosquitos, and I cannot even imagine how miserable they must have been.  

Tuesday we just hung out here at the campground, hiking and enjoying the day. 

 We had a good campfire Tuesday evening (with wood purchased here at Skidaway).   We have decided that the wood we bought in Edisto must not have been seasoned properly.  It just would NOT burn!   As you can tell from the photos, the boys were "plumb tuckered out" from hiking. 

 Not sure why Charlie the cat was also so tired; must be from stalking squirrels through the window.

New Year's Eve we drove over to Bonaventure Cemetery and walked around.  Another beautiful setting on a beautiful day.  For those who remember "the book," I'm including a shot of Conrad Aiken's gravestone in the shape of a bench, next to his parents' double tombstone (they died in a murder-suicide; his father, a doctor, shot his mother, then himself, in a fight over -- among other things --having and attending too many parties). 

  We also saw famous composer Johnny Mercer's grave, and that of his wife.  On Johnny's tombstone the inscription read "And the angels sang."   On his wife's, the inscription read "You must have been a beautiful baby."   

After leaving Bonaventure, we drove back into

 downtown Savannah for ice cream at Leopold's.  I'll let Roger describe that in more detail, as he inhaled one chocolate soda, and almost bought a second!  

We also stopped in at Parker's Market and purchased three bottles of wine.   Don't get the mistaken idea that we bought these for New Year's Eve; we were in bed, asleep, by 9:00!!   Tybee Island had a fireworks display, but it didn't begin until midnight.  We knew there was just no way....

Roger here.....  My dad taught me how to make "old-fashioned" chocolate sodas when I was a kid - smashing up syrup and ice cream at the bottom of the glass, before adding the soda water and scoops of ice cream.  You really don't see them very many places these days, but they are delicious.  The one I had at Leopold's was especially good.  Leopold's itself was fun and interesting.  It is an old fashioned soda fountain in the historic district.  The business was opened in the early 1900's by three brothers who had immigrated from Greece.  Stratton Leopold, the son of one of the brothers, returned from a career in movie making (Hollywood - producing several notable films including Mission Impossible 3) and now operates the business.  All the ice cream is made at the store and it is outstanding.

Dianne mentioned Parker's Market.  We stopped there because the owner is a good friend of our friend, Jay Ricker.  Parker's is a chain of convenience stores, but the one we stopped at in the historic district is unlike any convenience store I have seen.  It is in an old, historic, building.  It does have a couple of gas pumps under an old archway in front of the building, but it is really more of a gourmet market.  There was a deli, gourmet foods, and an extensive wine area with the wines arranged by country, category, and Wine Spectator rating.  (I am sure my friend, Jay, appreciates this.)  Fun.

One of the things that we have not talked a lot about is the friendly people that we have met along the way - many of them traveling the country as full-timers in their motor homes, as we are doing.  We all kind of stand out because of our age and the fact that we tend to stay in the camp sites for extended times - not just on weekends.  The Georgia - Michigan State game is later this afternoon.  I have promised a couple of Georgia fans that we have met that I would cheer for Georgia.  (I really think that is mandatory here for personal survival.  The Georgia fans seem to have the same enthusiasm as the Ohio State fans I have seen back home, and everyone here is a Georgia fan.) How bout them dawgs!

A Christmas Walk Around Savannah

Hi all -- Dianne here.   Christmas Day was certainly different from any Christmas Day we've ever experienced.  It was sunny and warm, 80 degrees.  I made egg casserole for breakfast (to give Roger just a hint of Christmases past).  For supper we grilled some fresh Georgia shrimp and I made a "fake" key lime pie.

The day started off 

great when I logged onto the computer and found an e-mail from Robyn.   She explained they have been very busy the first couple of cruises with rehearsals and that their internet connection is slow on the ship.   She had only been on the computer twice since she'd been gone.   She said she has seen the Pyramids in Egypt and the Colosseum in Rome.   Her life at age 32 is certainly different than mine was!  We are thrilled that she has this opportunity to see the world, and get paid for doing it!   (She's on the Norwegian Jade performing improv comedy with Second City, in case there's anyone in the world we missed telling!).  

We also spoke with Amanda by phone while we were walking around Savannah.   I joked with her that she was missing the Juliette Gordon Low birthplace (she HATED girl scouts).   I feel badly leaving my baby girl alone for the first time at Christmas, but she seemed to be coping pretty well and spent the day with her boyfriend, Eric.

Early in the day, we packed up the dogs and drove into the historic district of Savannah.   There was method to our madness:  we figured on Christmas Day there would be both free parking at the meters and very little traffic to contend with.   We were right on both counts.  

The Savannah squares were beautiful - just as I'd pictured them in my mind, only even more!   Roger and I had both just re-read Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil.  For those of you who have read and remember the book, here is a photo of the infamous Mercer House:

The squares and parks were beautifully landscaped, with flowers and fountains, monuments and statues.  We passed by a holly branch along one street that was just COVERED with berries. 

  Many of the homes had lovely holiday decorations.   One of the homes (the one with Roger and Jasper) had the best curb landscaping I've ever seen!   

There were other folks out walking around, many with their dogs.   Walking dogs always seems to "break the ice,"  and we had some nice conversations with people along the way.  Now that we have scoped out the town, we plan to go back without the dogs next week sometime, visit some places that were of course closed on Christmas Day, and eat lunch at one of the places that have been recommended to us.   

I hope our photos give you a taste of how lovely Savannah is!

Sunday evening, after our grilled shrimp supper, we took our Ipod + its speaker docking station (whatever those things are called) outside and sat and listened to the Christmas music playlist I had compiled last summer.   It seemed a little odd to be sitting outside and looking at palm trees in the woods, but somehow it made the music even better.  

Roger here.   It was without a doubt the most peaceful Christmas I can ever remember.  Savannah may well be the most beautiful American city I have ever seen.  However, it was certainly bittersweet.  As we listened to songs from my favorite Christmas album, John Denver and the Muppets, it brought back memories of past Christmases with Robyn, Amanda, Mom & Dad, my brother Dick and his family, and of course our beautiful granddaughter Kaia.  We miss them terribly, but we know that we will always have the wonderful memories of Mom and Dad, and that we will see everyone else in the near future.  

Enough of the sentimental stuff....  During our Savannah walk, while Dianne was talking to Amanda on the phone, we entered Chippewa Square.  I told Dianne to tell Amanda that I was looking at the bench that Forrest Gump sat on during the "box of chocolates" moment.  I was not really sure if I was right until this guy came running into the Square saying, "This is it!  This was my favorite movie!"  He created quite a commotion before he left as he asked the other walkers exactly which bench was THE BENCH.  He was laughing and running around.  Before he left, everyone else in the square was also smiling.