Monday, March 26 through Wednesday, April 4, 2018, Cedars of Lebanon

One of the longer drives we made in a while, 264.0 miles (85,912.1 total), took us all the way to Cedars of Lebanon State Park in Tennessee where we will visit with family over Easter weekend.

Our family camped here when I was young, but I can't say I really remembered anything about the park. I did a little hiking around with Sam and found the park had a lot to offer. There were a lot of facilities available for group activities, a nice nature center, cabins and lots of trails. They were working on expanding the campground and the new area looked very promising - large well spaced lots with easy access. We will definitely visit here in the future.

My brother Doug and his wife, Carol, their son, Matthew and his wife Lindsay and their new baby boy, Sanders made it to my mom's place for a big dinner on Saturday, March 31st. My youngest brother, Don, and his wife, Barbara, and his daughter, Adley were there as well. Adley brought a "plus one" who seemed very pleasant. Maybe we will see him again someday. Counting Mom, we were 12 with enough food for 30 - needless to say no one went hungry. Sanders was passed around from lap to lap always with a grin on his face - he has to be one of the happiest babies I have ever known.

Any family gettogether eventually requires some Rook play. Matthew was trying to get Sanders started early on the game but it looked like he had other things on his mind.

One day I met Doug in Nashville and we had lunch at Hattie B's. After trying several places, I decided they had my favorite hot chicken. This time I tried the "Shut the Cluck Up". It was their hottest offering and mighty tasty. Along with the baked beans, fries and a cold PBR, it was a truly satisfying meal - I am a fan of Nashville Hot Chicken!

Back in the park spring was in the air as the first of the flowering trees burst with color.

Mom seemed to be fully recovered from her hip surgery and we had taken care of a short list of things around her condo, so it was time to move on after a little more than a week. We always hate saying goodbye, but that's part of the full timing life.

Thursday, March 22, 2018, Southern Museum of Flight

We finally made it to the Southern Museum of Flight in Birmingham. We tried to see it on our way to Florida a few months ago, but it was closed. It was not a large museum, but it had some very nice exhibits. Our Association of Science Technology Centers 

(ASTC) membership had expired a while back. Southern Museum of Flight was on the ASTC network and, most importantly, it had a two-year family membership for only $80. Now we will not have to think about finding another membership until the spring of 2020. 

There was quite a collection of experimental airplanes. I can see the appeal, but I'm not sure I want to trust my life to my own handiwork. Any "Oops" could result in a rapid landing often referred to as a crash. The Ross Seabird below could land on water which would be nice if you had a cabin on a secluded little island somewhere. Two seats side-by-side might even make you think you were in a little sports car.

The ultimate in experimental aircraft - the Wright flyer was represented with the full-size replica below. A 12 hp engine powered this 600-pound beauty up to 30 feet in the air at 30 mph.

I have no idea what connection this huge camera had with aviation. There was nothing to let us know why it was there. Let's hope it was an exhibit to be developed in the near future.

Say "Cheeeeese"

Joani liked the colors in the display showing a vortex in swirling liquid that demonstrated the air flow in a tornado - obviously something to avoid when flying!

One of the most intricate cut-away models of a radial engine I have ever seen. I spent ten minutes marveling at the ingenuity of the design. Looks like I was not the only one fascinated by the exhibit - there was a future engineer looking on next to me.

Monday, March 19, 2018, Move to Clanton, AL

We left the FMCA rally at Perry, GA this morning. The smell of diesel was in the air as several hundred RV'ers fired their engines up. We got an early start, 8:15, and hoped to miss the predicted torrential rainstorm headed our way. About half of our 213.0-mile drive (85,648.1 total) was on back roads and a half was on Interstate highways. It was foggy for a lot of the drive, but we never encountered any more than a light misting rain. Joani arranged for a week's stay at Yellowhammer RV Sales & Campground on I-65 north of Montgomery, AL and south of Birmingham, AL. The park was 2 miles from Clanton, but then that probably wouldn't mean much without a detailed map.

There was a nice little lake with a trail that Sam and I walked several times daily. Part of the trail loop took us beside some of the Yellowhammer's new RVs (which I looked through). I read someone's post on Facebook and could not agree with it more - "Happiness is looking at new RVs and realizing there is nothing you like better than your own."

There was a wood carver somewhere nearby. The remains of a very large tree was fashioned into a collage of many RVs of all types. The pictures below did not capture it as well as I would have liked, but you can make out a few of the travel trailers, a fifth wheel trailer, a motorhome and even a motorcycle. I think the project was not finished but, it looked like the artist was taking a long break based on the weathering of the wood.

There's our home viewed from the far side of the lake.

Big Foot welcomes visitors to the quiet little campground and I suspect we would stay here again if our travels brought us this way in the future.

Tuesday, March 13 through Sunday, March 18, 2018, FMCA National Rally

Today our American Coach Chapter caravaned 3.9 miles (85,435.1 total) to the Georgia National Fairgrounds for the FMCA Rally. I thought we had our act together and we arrived in numerical order, 16 coaches all in a row. We were immediately jumbled into three random lanes and sat for twenty minutes before they decided we should all be "staged" off to one side. We sat for nearly two more hours before they finally parked us in our spot. We only moved a couple hundred yards from the staging area to our site, so the big question was "why did it take so long?" I can only assume we were being punished because two of our group had the wrong placards in their window. I will always remember the response one of the parking crew gave me when I asked about the delay - he said: "I don't know, but I can promise you it will get worse".

That's us, third on the right!

We actually ended up in a very convenient location clustered together with the perfect location for afternoon get-togethers.

I believe the cutie below was with Jean and Bruno. She just quietly watched all of us crazy campers socializing during happy hour.

On one of the days before the rally activities started Loren and I made a quick trip to the Museum of Aviation at Robbins Air Force Base.

We met a guy who told us about some history and peculiarities of a few of the aircraft on display outdoors. We thought he was a docent working for the museum, but he was actually just a visitor who had retired from the Air Force after many years of flying. One of the C-130 aircraft he crewed on was now in the museum and he stopped in to see it.

There was some rain during the rally, but the really severe showers you see below passed by to the south of us.  

We opted out of most of the entertainment. Truthfully it was because we were too lazy to walk over in the evenings after walking around the vendors all afternoon. On the final night, Jeanne Robertson was there to regale us with commentary on life and I am so happy we did not miss her. She had us laughing sometimes to the point of tears. Check her out on YouTube.

Jeanne Robertson was recovering from a broken leg, thus the rocking chair.  If you have an Amazon Prime account, you can watch her DVDs for free.

Thursday, March 8 through Monday, March 12, 2018, ACC Pre-Rally

The American Coach Chapter (ACC) of the Family Motor Coach Association (FMCA) pre-rally was not due to start yet, but Twin Oaks was hosting a large group and needed our site. We headed to Fair Harbor RV Park in Perry, GA. where we would meet with our group in a few days. I certainly do love the leisurely driving days - 8.5 miles (85,431.2 total).

Fair Harbor was a pretty nice park and we were the first of the ACC attendees to arrive. We had one of the best possible sites - just look at our view below!

I'm not quite sure who was responsible for the herd of 20 goats in the park, but they were certainly tame. As I walked Sam by the fence one day they came racing in our direction. At the last minute, I realized they had spotted friends who fed them regularly and they raced right by me for their treats.

I was not sure if the woman was putting me on or not but she called each one of them by name as she fed them a 20-pound bag of raw peanuts.

I believe this big boy was named Zeus.

In typical rally fashion, we gathered daily for happy hour and evening dinners. Lots of great fellowship and fun! Our chapter was celebrating its 25th year and was awarded honors by FMCA dignitaries one evening. Below, from left to right, were Pauline Shea, our chapter VP, David Kessler, FMCA National Area VP, Jim Graham, our chapter president, John Walker, FMCA President, and Charlie Adcock, FMCA Immediate Past President (and American Coach owner).

A toast to 25 years as a chapter and wishes for many more to come. We all received commemorative champagne flutes and the bubbly was flowing until everyone had their fill.

Nearly everyone in attendance at the pre-rally made it into this group shot. I'd like to say I remember everyone's name, but alas, there are a few I will have to meet again before I fully commit them all to memory. Certainly a great group of folks all around!

Thursday, March 1 through Wednesday, March 7, 2018, Twin Oaks RV, Elko, GA

It was the first long drive I made in quite some time, 291.6 miles (85,422.7 total), but just like riding a bicycle you never really forget and you get back in the groove in a few miles.

As we pulled into Twin Oaks RV Park near Elko, GA we realized we had been there before. The last time it was a lot colder as we headed home to ready the house for sale. This time spring was in the air and I didn't have to freeze going between the hot tub and the coach.

A row of Bradford Pears at Twin Oaks RV Park

We spent the week at Twin Oaks doing very little except for relaxing and a little experimenting with the Instant Pot. I talked to some folks headed north from Naples, FL. What a small world, they lived just a couple of blocks from my Mom's place in Lebanon, TN. A few days later an American Coach pulled in next to us. In yet another "small world" example, it was Jerry and Millie who we met nearly 10 years ago at an American Coach Association rally in Memphis. I forgot to mention we also saw them at Lazy Days in Tampa, FL about a month ago as well. 

Thursday, February 1 through Wednesday, February 28, 2018, Webster, FL

Another easy drive today - just 77.3 miles (85,131.1 total) north to the Webster RV Resort in, you guessed it, Webster, FL. We passed Sumter Oaks SKP Park on the way here which might make you think we are traveling in circles. Maybe we are a little, but Webster is new to us. Joani snagged a great deal on a full hook-up site for the month for only $299! It was an RV Super Show special - just another great reason to not miss the show. The office arranged a 50 amp, full hook-up site for us. 

Our lot is actually designated as overflow site E. We found ourselves tucked in between Leslie and Lois on one side and Gil and Jane on the other with Dean and Cindy right out our front windshield.

Originally, our thinking was we could venture out from Webster to explore many of the retirement communities in the area. We took a few trips from our previous site at Lithia Springs that changed our thinking a bit. We decided after a second visit to Lake Ashton some of the "wow factor" that struck us the first time had faded. We toured new homes in Solevita which were certainly very nice, but ultimately neither of us were ready to commit to another home just yet. That meant we could just settle into the snowbird groove at the park.

The calendar was packed with activities every day - it was a quite active park. Most of the people we met had spent their winters here for many years (one woman had visited every year since 1983). We attended a meet-n-greet on our second day. They played an icebreaker game where you had to find the right person with only three pieces of information - where they were from, what they did for a living and how many years had they been coming to this park. The person I drew was a homemaker from Pennsylvania who had been coming to the park for five years. I found three homemakers from PA who were not my mystery person based on handwriting before I finally found Ida. The game forced people to talk to each other and the huge table of cookies and coffee made for a very nice get together.

A loop around the park was close to a mile and Sam was always up for a walk. Typical of campers and snowbirds there were a lot of dogs for Sam to sniff hello as we explored the park. There was no jacuzzi, but the pool had a seating area with a half dozen powerful jets and the water was anywhere between 83 and 88 degrees. I tried to make it to the pool as often as I could. 

Our stay in Webster was, unfortunately, not as enjoyable as it should have been. I have to say we will probably not remember it fondly. Not because of the park or the people, but because we both caught the flu. I don't think we were ever in any critical distress, but what a miserable time with congestion and coughing and aching.

I had it much easier than Joani and even managed a casino cruise (we signed up before the flu struck). It was my first time ever losing sight of the shoreline. That happened pretty quickly since the entire cruise (except for the last 30 minutes) was in a thick fog. The pitching deck was a new experience for me. I did manage to "get my sea legs" and kept the pretty decent buffet food down. I also managed to keep my gambling losses to just $15. I think I prefer a nice landlocked casino so I can leave whenever I choose rather than being captive for four hours.

As Joani started to feel better, Sam found himself on 3 or 4 walks a day around the park. We always felt better after taking in the fresh air and sunshine.

The Webster Flea Market opened every Monday. We managed to make it just once on the last Monday of the month. We couldn't think of anything we really needed or even wanted so we settled for picking out some fresh produce from the farmer's market.

A few days before we left we heard the refrigerator beeping and the control panel indicated there was no AC. Fortunately, it worked fine on propane which gave me some time to research the problem. The manual said the only possible user serviceable issue resulting in no AC was a fuse. Anything else would require replacement of the control electronics. Usually, it is just not that easy, but this time it was. Thank-you, thank-you, thank-you! As we started our journey north we found our step did not retract. I finally just dismantled it and zip-tied it up to the chassis - it's always something! At least the step was nothing critical and we have a nice adjustable step to place below the door.