Friday, June 30, 2006

Virginia, we're here.

Yesterday morning we bid farewell (again) to Mickey and Patti. They were so thoughtful and brought us biscuits and sweet rolls for breakfast. They were very good, especially the sweet rolls. We really enjoyed seeing them again and was glad that we were leaving with Patti's sister showing some improvement. Hopefully they will be able to resume their travels soon.

Last night we parked at Camptown Campground just south of Petersburg, VA off of I-85. The park is OK for overnight and they are working on getting wifi throughout the park. We were going to stay there for the week, but because it's so heavily treed, we couldn't get any reception on our dish. So we only stayed one night.

This morning we moved about 16 miles due east, still Petersburg, VA only this time we are off of I-95 at the South Forty Campground. It used to be a KOA, but isn't any longer. This campground is much bigger and caters to families and overnighters. We are parked in the back section, away from the pool and right now it seems quiet. The pond is just across the road from us and the clubhouse just down the road. So far, seems like we will be happy here until Thursday when we hopefully head north.

I'm not sure what we are going to visit while in this area since it's is a holiday weekend and traffic is really bad already. There is a lot of Civil War history in this area, but neither of us are really Civil War buffs so we may just sit back and relax!

Here are a couple of pictures of views around us.



If I don't post again until the 4th of July - I hope everyone has a great day!

Sunday, June 25, 2006

Boats, Bugs, Surf and Foam

We have been busy the past several days.

On Friday, Mickey & Patti took us all around Kinston, NC - their hometown. We saw their beautiful house that they sold, the nice townhouse where Patti's son's are living and the garden center that they owned. It's still called Ivey's!

We then went to see one of only a few (I can't remember but I think there are only two) of the Confederate Ironside boats. The one we saw is the CSS Neuse. The wreckage was found years ago in the Neuse River, but only in the last 10 years or so was it recovered and brought to dry land. I am amazed that this much of it still remains in tack today. Here are a couple of pictures of how it looks now.



There is a group of Kinston citizens that are building a replica of the CSS Neuse that will be open for tour. They have built it to exact measurements and are very close to completion. See below pictures.



Now to the bug - this one found us while we were waiting to see the remains of the CSS Neuse. Don't know what it is and have never seen a bug this color. Do you have any ideas?



Yesterday, Dean and I drove to North Topsail Beach - I just had to see the Atlantic. It's been a long time and I've forgotten how pretty the surf is. The sand here is coarse, not the soft kind that I'm used to at Gulf Shores. I guess because of this it packs hard and walking to the waters edge was very easy - no sinking sand.



We had lunch at a neat little place in Sneads Ferry - Dr. Rootbeer's Hall of Foam. The owner is a rootbeer nut! Anything root beer, he has it. They also make the best homemade root beer, which tasted very much like the root beer that my parents used to make in the summer when I was just a kid. Good BBQ and a glass of homemade root beer - made for a very good lunch.



This wall is full of root beer signs. I gave the owner a little history on Barq's - it wasn't called a root beer for many years - just Barq's. Nothing beats a Barq's in a bottle with peanuts - takes me back to my teen years. Speaking of which, I've come to the conclusion that North Carolina or at least this part of the state is lost in the 50's and 60's. The decor and music that you hear in a lot of the restaurants etc is of that era theme.

Well, I've covered the boats, bugs, surf and foam. Not sure what will be next.

Thursday, June 22, 2006

We arrived at Grifton, NC

We departed Cleveland, GA on Wed. morning. Sure hated to leave the cooler weather but all good things must come to an end.

We spent last night at Fox Swamp Campground just off I-95 in Florence, SC. It is a Passport American campground so the cost wasn't to bad. We had a pull-through site near the bath house which was air conditioned and very clean. This campground is a nice overnight stopping point. Sorry, I didn't take any pictures.

Today around 1 pm we arrived at Grifton, NC city park. I've not had a chance to take a picture, but will tomorrow and I'll add it here. (Edit) Here is the picture of the park - nice.



The park has 10 spots, all back-in, but very large. It could accommodate big rigs with no problem. The sites are full hookup and cost is $10.00 per night. Right now there is only one other camper here, but we were told that there are several expected over the weekend. There is a river just beyound the tree line behind our MS. It's running kinda full, so we are going to keep a close watch on it and the weather - don't want no flood!



It was so good to see our friends, Mickey and Patti again! We went out to dinner this evening to a Mennonite owned restaurant. The food was very good and the sticky bun that I bought for breakfast tomorrow looks yummy. Truly, it will probably be breakfast for the next several days it's so big.

We are getting the grand tour of Kinston, NC tomorrow by the Ivey's. They are planning on showing us the house they sold, the townhouse they moved to and the garden center that they owned and sold. It will be a fun day, I'm sure. We really enjoy their company.

OK, it's getting late and I'm tired so that's all for now.

Monday, June 19, 2006

Morgan's Last Day

Morgan's parents and brother came from Montgomery on Friday evening for the weekend. On Saturday they went tubing on the River in Helen, GA. From what they said, it was to crowded and the river was to low. There were places that they had to walk instead of float.

We cooked out at the campground and just hung out for the rest of the evening. My son and daughter-in-law have gotten the camping "bug" and are watching for a good buy on a used pop-up camper.

On Sunday we went out to dinner at a restaurant in Helen then went to grub for gems. After going through four buckets, they had several bags of different semi-precious gems such as amethyst, ruby, rose quartz and more that I can't remember. You can see by the pictures that they had a good time looking for their finds.



As you can see - Dean was working hard!



You can also pan for gold and this is what one person found in his pan - see upper right of pan.



I don't think I'd spend my time looking for such small pieces - now the bigger stuff - yeah!

We bid farewell to David and his family as they went on to Dahlonega to do more grubbing and we returned to the campground and a quiet 5'er.

This morning - Monday - we left at 7 am for Heflin, AL to get our drivers licenses renewed. I'll tell you that I was awake most of the night praying that we wouldn't have any trouble getting this done. Well, we walked out of the Probate Office at 10am with new "temp" licenses in hand with the promise that the new ones would be mailed in a week or so. YEAH!!!

Now we can finally make our plans for New England this summer. On Wed. we are leaving Cleveland heading in the direction of Grifton, NC to visit with Mickey and Patti. From there we are going to Petersburg, VA for the 4th of July weekend - a campground that isn't in a tourist area, so it should be quiet. From there???? Stay tuned and check back often.

Friday, June 16, 2006

Blue Ridge RR and Brasstown Bald

Yesterday we took off for Blue Ridge, GA and the Blue Ridge RR. The train ride is about one hour long and goes from Blue Ridge, GA to the twin border towns of McCaysville, Ga and Copperhill, TN. It was a really nice ride as the train went through the mountain valleys alongside the Toccoa River.

One story told while on board was about the Cherokee Indians fishing in the river. The men would make "fish traps" out of rocks in the river then send the women upstream where they would beat the water with sticks, driving the fish downstream into the trap where the men were waiting with baskets to pick the fish out of the river by hand, they were so plentiful. Here is a picture of one of only five traps still left on the river. It is now illegal to fish that way - but then what women would go upstream and beat the water while the husband sits and waits for the fish to come to him - not me! The following pictures shows one of the "traps" where the fish would get caught in the V for easy pickin!



Here is a picture of Morgan standing in two states at the same time....



And a picture of Morgan on the train and standing by the open air car we rode in....



After returning to Blue Ridge we drove to Brasstown Bald in the Chattahoochee National Forest. This mountain is Georgia's highest mountain at 4,784 ft. The ride up the mountain is breathtaking. There is a sign at the base to please leave trailers parked there - it's a very curvey, steep climb up (and back ). There is a parking lot that is a half mile from the observation tower. From that point you can hike the remaining half mile or take the shuttle, since it is a very steep climb we opted to take the shuttle to the top.

View of the observation tower from the parking lot.



Here are some views from the observation tower.



It's easy to see why this range of mountains is called the Smokies/Blue Ridge.



We have really enjoyed having our granddaughter with us for two weeks. Tomorrow her parents are coming to Cleveland, GA to pick her up. While we will miss her, we will be glad to be back to the "two" of us and back on the road again. Till next time.

Tuesday, June 13, 2006

Helen/Delonega Georgia & Babyland

Sunday we drove to Dillard, Ga to the Dillard House Restaurant. Very good food, just a little pricey. The view from the restaurant was really nice.



After dinner we drove to Helen. On the way we passed Unicoi State Park and stopped at the lake.



Helen was very busy even though it was mid-afternoon when we arrived. The Shriners were in town along with a lot of motorcycle riders. We only did one side of the town and will go back another day to do the other side. It's really neat how they have made the town look so German.



Yesterday we went to Delonega to mine for gemstones. Morgan did very good with her bucket, while I did lousy! Of course I gave her the little bit I found. She did get some very nice rubies, some rose quartz and a variety of other semi-precious gemstones.



Today we were going to do a train ride, but the weather was not very good so we decided to go to Babyland General Hospital (this is where they make Cabbage Patch Dolls). We had a very nice time there and of course Morgan wanted several! The collectible dolls start at $175 and go up! A newborn is around $285. Of course we walked out with a dozen - yea right!

Here's Morgan with a newborn from the nursery.



Here is a baby being "born".



Morgan and her Pop-pop posing as chickens!

Friday, June 09, 2006

Morgan's Final Day at Camp

Today was the last day of camp and Morgan was happy and sad, both.

The kids rode an obstacle course for the parents/grandparents today. Morgan was the first one to complete the course and she did it perfect - what else! After the course, she "trotted" Fred around the arena then went to the mailbox and picked up her certificate of completion.

I took about 20 pictures, but can't post them all here so here are a few of the better ones.

Getting ready for the big event.



Up she goes......



OK, we are ready......


Up and over the jump (a low one)



Stay between the cones.



Almost finished......



Here I come, almost done.....



Stand still Fred, I gotta get my certificate ...



Here's the proof...



And finally Fred gets a treat for being so good!

Thursday, June 08, 2006

Morgan Rides!

These pictures were taken yesterday during Morgan's arena ride. Tomorrow the group will do a "show" for the parents/grandparents. Of course, we will be there with camera in hand. Remember you can click on the pictures to make them larger. Enjoy!





Wednesday, June 07, 2006

We Found a Spot

Yesterday, Morgan and I went for a walk through the campground, well our loop, and found a great path to the lake. We went back to trailer and got our chairs and our books and sat by the lake reading and watching the boat traffic. How peaceful!

Morgan decided she wanted to look for rocks to take home and she found several. She also found some fools gold - that seems to be plentiful in the area.

Here are a couple of pictures that I took from "our" spot by the lake.


Morgan looking for her rocks.



Morgan is having such a great time at camp. I know she will be sorry to see Friday get here. Today she is riding her horse "Fred" in the arena. I'm going to get some pictures and will post them tomorrow.

Till Then.