January, 2018

01/31/2018 We drove around Greenville for a little while today. Not too much to see. They have fire ants here. The campground caretaker says he runs over their hills whenever he can. There doesn't seem to be much they can do about them. I suggested gasoline and fire, and he said only the ones that get touched by the gas die. The rest of the colony just move on. Here is one of their hills that he has run over. I didn't see any ants. I put my foot in the picture to give you an idea of the size. This was a small hill.

We will be in Metaire Louisiana (New Orleans) tomorrow. Looking forward to seeing Estelle!

01/30/2018 We travelled to Greenville, Alabama today. It was a good trip, and we are staying at Sherling Lake Park and Campground. We will be here for two nights and then travel to New Orleans to see Estelle! The temperature was about 30 degrees this morning, and it is supposed to get down to freezing tonight. However, temperatures quickly rise to the 50s during the day.

01/29/2018 We didn't do too much today. We took a drive around and looked at a few small towns. You are probably wondering if we are missing the cold and snow in Suffield. No. Uh-unh. Nope Nope Nope. Tomorrow we will leave for Alabama. We are about 500 miles from New Orleans, so we will break the trip into two days. Greenville Alabama is about 250 miles from here.

01/28/2018 A quiet day today. According to the TV, the Atlanta area had between 1 and 2 inches of rain today. Things are a little soggy here, but not bad. We stayed around the camper for most of the day, although we did go out for a late lunch. We ate at a cafe in the Town of Rutledge in a train caboose. In the center of Rutledge, there is an intersection that used to have oil drum with stop signs on it for a four-way stop. It was upgraded with a traffic light. So many people ran the light because "there isn't ever anybody coming" and got into crashes, they put up the oil drum back. Problem solved.

01/27/2018 Today we walked around Madison, GA. It has a lot of history, as it is one of only three cities not burned by General Sherman's troups during the Civil War. We toured three houses, the Rogers House, Rose Cottage, and Heritage Hall. The Rogers House, a two-over-two style house (two bedrooms upstairs and a two living areas downstairs) was an example of a nice home, but not fancy. Rose Cottage was built by a woman, Adeline Rose, a freed slave, who took in laundry for 50 cents for a large basket. Her house is simply two bedrooms. Kitchens were located outside of the homes to prevent fires. Later, kitchens were added onto both houses. Below, The Rogers House is on the left of the photo, Rose Cottage on the right. Rose Cottage was moved to it's current location in 1966 from the "wrong side of the tracks." It was explained to us that during segregation, train tracks, which ran through the middle of most towns, were a natural divide for the whites and blacks living there.

The third house we saw, Heritage Hall, was owned by a wealthy doctor and slave owner. The family had a tradition of scratching messages into the windows to verify that the girl's engagement rings were genuine diamonds. One poignant message said "E.E. Jones, I love Will." E.E. Jones was her fiance.

We are having a good time. Tomorrow is supposed to rain all day so it will be a quiet day.

01/26/2018 We went to Stone Mountain today. It was a little bit of a disappointment, as much of the park is closed right now. We saw the sculpture of the three generals carved into the mountain.

We can't seem to get away from the snow. At Stone Mountain, they were preparing for a snow festival. They were making SNOW! It was 50 degrees out, and there were piles of snow all over. They have built a huge structure supporting several slides and a field of snow to play in. They even had a snow cat to spread it around! You can see the snow gun in this picture.

We have decided to stay here longer than we originally planned. The campground is comfortable and convenient. We are going to get together with the volunteer hosts before we leave. They act as hosts in exchange for free camping. They have been on the road for over four years, loving all of it. I want to talk to them about how they are doing it!

We continue to get the camper squared away. One of the biggest problems has been the bed. It is as hard as a rock. We bought a "foam and fiber" topper for it and it is much better now.

01/25/2018 Tonight we are camping at Hard Labor Creek Campground near Atlanta, Georgia. They completely rehabed the park in 2016 and it is terrific! We have complete hookups as well as cable TV. Cell phone reception is spotty, but the campground is lovely. We will be here for three nights or more. When we arrived, we found out that all the state campgrounds in Georgia were half-price for the month of January, so we may stay a little longer for $15 a night!

01/24/2018 Today we visited the Biltmore Estate in Ashville, NC. It was lovely! The grounds must be fantastic in warmer weather, but there would probably be a LOT more people. Tomorrow we head for Atlanta, GA. We want to see Stone Mountain and the City of Atlanta.

01/22/2018 Arrived in Hendersonville, NC today. Will visit a Campers World tomorrow for a couple of things. Dinner with Ron and Shirley. Temperature got up to 60 today, raining tonight.

01/21/2018 Stayed last night and tonight at the KOA in Wythesville, VA. Walked around the campground a little. It's a little bleak right now, but at least it's warm. It was in the 50's all day. There is a wild duck inhabiting a little pond on the property. He followed us around, probably hoping for some more cake that I fed him yesterday.Made a quick trip to Walmart today for a few things. We will be travelling tomorrow for Hendersonville, NC ,for a quick visit with Shirley and Ron Parsley.

01/20/2018 We left the Flying J truck stop this morning at around 9:15 and arrived in Wytheville VA at about 4:30. It was a long night at the Flying J, with trucks coming and going all night, but the price was right ($0). We woke up this morning to a trailer VERY close to our camper, although we were able to get in and out OK. That isn't a toy truck and camper between the big trucks! They dwarf our vehicle! We met a couple from Cape Cod at a rest stop. They said they had just been in Suffield for a nephew's travel basketball game! They were on their way south to visit with family for a few months.

01/19/2018 Finally on the Road. It was just too cold to start on the 18th. We left Suffield at about 10:20 a.m. after a nice breakfast at M&M's with my Dad. We arrived in Carlisle, PA at about 6:00 p.m. after an uneventful drive. We are at The Flying J truck stop and had dinner at Denny's. We are tucked in among the trucks for the night, dwarfed among the big rigs. Our generator is running for an hour or two to charge our camper battery so our furnace blower stays on for the night. Although it is noisy with all the trucks around us running, coming and going, I think we will sleep well tonoight. Tomorrow we head for south western Virginia where we have reservations at the KOA for a couple of days. We will un-winterize the camper and relax a little.

01/16/2018 Getting ready to go! Loaded food, did some last minute shopping, etc. The dogs know something is up. They rarely take their eyes off us and are often under foot, shrieking like a banshee when they get stepped on.

1/15/2018 New departure date: Thursday, 1/18/18. Hope the snow isn't too bad on Tuesday!

1/8/2018 Due to bad (cold) weather, we are still in Connecticut. If it stops snowing in Florida, we will reschedule our start!

12/30/2017 After years of dreaming about our big cross-country adventure, we are finally about to take off in January of 2018! Our plan is to follow the good weather, visit friends, and see the country!