Over Due

Oh yes, it has been a while. We were pleased that Kristine and family made the detour to Troy on their way to Fla. They are there for 2 weeks as part of the celebration of thir 20th wedding anniversary. The weather was about 70F and sunny, a nce hange for them from the Ontario weather. We had a gift whitch we had not planned on until March....nice surprise. The weather has been cool for a few days, but so has most of North America. There were actually snow flurries on Sunday. It is supposed to be up to 70 for Thursday.
On Christmas Day, the people that are here for an extended period, pooled their resources and had a great the dinner. Plans for bringing in the New Year are now underway and will no doubt include food.
The batteries in the truck had to be replaced yesterday ( Monday). They didn't seem to hold a charge very long.
I will update this blog on a more regular basis.

W/O 12-12-10

Yup, that's our Christmas tree....all 32" of it and sitting on the picnic table at the side of the trailer.
In summary, last week had us receive a parcel from daughter Kristine containing their Christmas card and photo as well as Christmas COOKIES....they WERE delicious. We also found out that they will be coming in for a short visit on the way to Florida for a family cruise to celebrate their 20th wedding anniversary.
We went to a Christmas concert in Montgomery presented and performed by Troy University. They have several campuses in different cities. This concert was done at the Davis Theatre which was built in 1930 and served as a vaudeville theatre before becoming a Paramount owned movie theatre ( one of the best in the South). The Montgomery Campus has about 3500 students, mainly people that have come back to University after being in the work force for a while and most are night students. The Troy Campus has about 7,000 students. This concert was the first time it had been performed with all performers together because of the various schedules of the students. It was very very good. Last Saturday ( 11th) had us go to Dothan, which is about an hour South of Troy, where we went to the large flea market there with a couple from the park. Yesterday, Monday, was the day to decorate the trailer with Christmas decorations.It turned out quite nice when you consider what we had to work with........most everything is in Shelburne

Then and now

Yup, some things do change. Dec 4 was our 45th anniversary and it appears that I have gained facial hair, and misplaced that suit. This past week has been one of visiting some of the smaller towns in the area. The people at the camp had a coffee and cake together yesterday afternoon for us ,which was very nice. Supper last night was at Red's Country School House which was built in 1910 and was a school until the 1950's. Plans are in the works for a Christmas dinner for all those in the park with the meal supplied by those that attend.
The blog will only be updated once a week now I think, as we are not "out and about" as much as before. Sue was given a 1 1/2 hour massage from her wonderful hubby as a gift and performed by the campgrounnd owner who is a massage therapist. She took 1 hour yesterday ( Sat). The balance will be done in January.

Black Friday

The Thanksgiving dinner worked out well, as most "pot luck" efforts seem too. It was well attended and enjoyed. It would appear the folks here are not accustomed to turnip, as that was the one item that had any amount left over.
The weather has been behaving it's self by keeping comfortable ( in the high 60's to low 70's.) It has been dry with the exception of Wed. when our accumulation was 7/10" in total. Last night was cool with the temp about 34....today will be 65.
Yesterday was Black Friday, which is in essence, similar to Canadian Boxing Day and signals the start of the Christmas Season down here. Most of the stores opened at 4:00 a.m. for the heavily discounted prices. Six of the ladies from the park left about 10:00 to do some shopping ( no flat screen tv came back with Sue).

Full circle Troy to Troy

Our final campsite in Georgia was the Georgia War Veterans Memorial State Park and it was a very nice surprise. Some of the State Parks are quite primative, this one however, was on the edge of a lake, with a definate warning posted ( see picture #1 ). It turns out the warning was primarly for the back waters and rivers of the lake, so we were FAIRLY safe. Leaving there on Sunday morning got us into Troy Alabama, our "home" for the next 3 months at about 1:00. The whole area between Georgia and Troy is Pecan trees and cotton fields. The bottom pic is of a truck with cotton bales aboard. These are about 8 feet in diameter and baled with a machine much the same as a hay or straw baler, but rolled off the side rather than the rear. We're getting settled in so to speak and had supper at Santa Fe's last night with two other of "the group". A Thanksgiving Dinner is planned in the rec hall for Thursday ( ladies please provide side dishes and desserts).
The weather at the moment ( 10:45 CST) is sunny and 73F :-)

Very nice city

As it turned out, we spent two days here in Savannah when only one had been planned. That allowed time to take a trolley tour with some "old folks" ( the oldest of whom was 104 !!!!!! ). The city was laid out by an English fellow, General Overthorp before he had even seen the site. It is basically planned around squares. Everyone of the original 24 squares ( 21 remain) had to have at least one church and civil building facing the square. The historic area includes many Live Oak and Cyprus trees along with Palms. We went to the Pirates' House for lunch. Construction of the first part of this building started in 1734 as The Herb House which was part of the Trustees Garden. This experimental garden was started to see what would grow in this area. In 1753 the House opened as an inn for seafarers. It retains most of it's original structure, including dowel joined beams in the Captain's Room ( which is where we ate). The Herb House is incorporated inside the main structure.
The top pic shows some of the wrought iron work which is very common in the Historic Section. Number two, is the smallest house in all Savannah at 530 sft. It is for sale.......$250,000.00+. The bottom photo is the exterior of the Pirates' House...not much to look at outside ( it's 257 years old ) but the inside has "patina".

A change of plans

The beautiful State of South Carolina will be behind us tomorrow as we leave for Georgia and an overnight in Savannah. While here, we took a drive to Edisto Beach yesterday ( Tuesday ). This was an area of miles of fine sand and big beach houses. As the top picture hows, it was void of people. Mind you it was 9:30 on a weekday morning and there weren't too many people looking for shells and sharks teeth. Today the drive had us in Charlestown. What a great old city it is. The historical society has done a great job of preserving the structure of these old building, some of which go back to the early 1700's. We did a self guided walking tour of the old section of Charlestown. The middle photo is of the City Hall, while the bottom is of one of the houses on the Battery. It is still a single family house as are many of the original houses.
One more bit of news. We are not returning home until the beginning of March. This should reduce the amount of snow and cold we will have to tolerate this year

Myrtle Beach SC

This certainly is a beautiful place. The temps are moderate, the sand is white and fine and the water is about 65F. We did a walk along the beach Saturday and then drove through the main beach area. That night, it was off to a seafood buffet
(www.seafarerestruant.com) which is, as most buffet are, an all you can eat affair, which the focus on seafood and prime rib beef. This includes crab which apparently is unusual to have them included at the same price. Today, Sunday, was a hang around the park day. It's a great resort (www.briarcliffervesort.com) which backs onto the inter coastal waterway. We road our bikes around the complex.....geez there are some nice RV out there. One week today we'll be in Troy Alabama for the start of a 6 week stay before heading back home. Tomorrow it's Charleston SC for a couple of days.
The top pic is pier 14 at the beach, the second is just the waves rollin' in.

South Carolina

It seems that everything you hear about Myrtle Beach is true...tons of golfing and one price seafood buffets. We don't golf.....so I guess we gotta eat...........mmmmmm. We have no more than just arrived here, but are staying until Monday morning. The camp resort is FANTASTIC although perhaps the sites are a bit tight getting into. The RV of choice here are the large class A types.
We have advanced our arrival at Troy Alabama to Nov 21st, where it is 73F now compared to 64 F here. Tomorrow will be our day of discovery of Myrtle Beach.

Big Bang

We did our tour of the Wisconsin battleship on Tuesday....man what a ship 800 + feet in length, 9, 16 inch guns and several smaller 5 inch guns. There was a shell on display of a 16".....it's a lotta steel comin' at ya . It served in 3 wars, WWII, Korea, and the first Gulf war. She was decommissioned after each event and recommissioned and retrofitted again when required. She is now in permanent moorage. Because of the time spent on this tour, we were too late to do the tour of the Naval Yards as there is only one per day this time of year. Today ( Wed) had us enter "The South". We know this because of the Spanish Moss and the harvesting of cotton. It's also warmer ( 63F at 6:30 PM ) We will be here near Jacksonville NC for two nights, then on to Myrtle Beach for 2-3 nights.


http://picasaweb.google.com/192950A

Three State Day

Yup, we once again travelled through 3 states. We left Maryland, travelled through Delaware and into Virginia, where we are tonight and tomorrow night too. We crossed the Chesapeake Bay bridge/tunnel combination. This structure is made up of 2 miles of tunnels under the bay ( in three different sections), so the ships can pass over and 16.5 miles of bridge ( so the vehicles can pass over
:-) ). I imagine it could be a trying experience when the hurricanes pass through. We passed through Virginia Beach VA. We are in Newport News and tomorrow it's Norfolk VA to the Navy yards to see the fleet and do a tour of the Wisconsin, a retired battleship.

26,850 Miles so far

We are movin' along. Wed. we visited the daughter of friends who lives in PA. ,near Scranton. Had a nice visit and dinner with them. She is expecting in about 5 weeks. Thursday was a crappy day with rain and very hilly and narrow roads...we hit a 12% grade at one point...not nice with a big rig. This was on secondary roads, which we prefer normally, but Thursday really was not a nice day to be doing that. Friday the 5th ,had us take Brandy for her monthly ( haircut), while Sue and I sorta drove around. We drove into the train station today ( we're staying in NJ ) and took the PATCO (Port Authority Transportation Company) train into Philly. The Liberty Bell saw me for the second time, as I'd been here a few years ago with a friend to see a football game. It was a first for Sue and she seemed to enjoy, it in spite of the lengthy lineup. We visited some of the buildings in Independence Square and tried to visit the mint, but they must be a union shop and are only open Monday to Friday. After the visitor centre, we took a city bus up to the Mutter Museum. This place generally displays medical oddities and instruments from "days gone by". It's amazing how well preserved body parts are after many years in formaldehyde. It is part of the College of Physicians. The first photo is the Liberty Bell, the second a reflection of the modern buildings downtown.
Tomorrow ( Sunday), Maryland is the destination.

www.collegeofphyscicians.org

Horses & Clocks

Mass. and Rhode Island are now behind us as we are in Conn. near Plymouth. We found Mass. to be a very pretty place with the cedar shake sided homes mixed with the older style of Colonial homes. Last Sat.and Sunday were spent in Rhode Island. We didn't do any site seeing while there, but Sue did attend an interesting church in North Scituate. It was 175 years old ( Baptist ) and had box pews, where in days past, you had your own pew each week. She says it is a much more formal Church than what is the norm today. Yesterday ( Monday) we did a couple more museum visits. These were both in Bristol CT. The first was the Carousel Museum. This place has a very large number of vintage "merry-go-round" animals, primarily horses. The museum contains a restoration shop, which restores their own as well as other privatly owned animals. Many of the displayed horses date from the early 1900's. A very interesting place indeed. Our next stop was the Watch and Clock Museum. The oldest piece here is a single hand wall clock ( as they all were originally) dated 1680. The rooms of this converted 1801 house, each hold a different syle of time piece. One room may have all grandfather or tall clocks, while another will have all wall clock. There is a display case of nothing but hour glass style time pieces. All of the working time pieces strike on the quarter and full hour ( thankfully, they are not all exactly the right time). Tomorrow it's into Pennsulvania to visit a friend and her husband and baby ( with another on the way).

http://picasaweb.google.com/192950A

The Cape

As mentioned earlier, we enjoyed the visit to Salem and the drive to West Glouster was okay, too even though we took the expressway most of the way. Somehow we managed to miss the Mayflower at Plimouth ( Plymouth), however, we will get it when we leave here. Today ( Friday ) we took a drive up the Cape to Highland Light at North Truro MA. This light was built in 1856. In 1996 they had to move the light a bit further inland because of the erosion. The sand is very fine here and the wind seems to blow non-stop. We also wanted to visit Provincetown, but the road was so very narrow and the parking space was so hard to find, we ended up driving VERY slowly through it ( with the truck mirrors folded in. It would be a great place for bicycles ( ours were at the trailer). Again, a very pretty part of North America.
Tomorrow should find us in Rhode Island.
Top pic...raspberries in late Oct.....last two, the beach at North Truro

http://picasaweb.google.com/192950A

Not all witches

The visit to Salem was interesting. This is such an old part of North America, there seems to be something older at each turn. We had breakfast at "the place" to do that "Red's Sandwich Shop" In 1698, this was the London Coffee House and the meeting place of the Patriots, before the American Revolution.( www.redssandwichshop.com )
Following that delight, we boarded the city tour bus for a drive around the "famous" places in Salem. It's NOT all about witches. The only man convited (?) of being a witch was pressed to death by placing stones on his chest until he died....it took 3 days. It was really a catch 22...if you did not confess, you lost all your propery, if you did confess, you lost all your proprty and your life. He did not confess. The details given by the tour guide, gave a very good insite to the history of the town. We did a tour of the House of Seven Gables from which a book by the same name was written by Nathaniel Hawthorne in 1851. Quite a place with narrow staircases behind chimneys etc. The afternoon had us take a drive around Cape Ann which is a coastal drive showing some of the coves in the area. The top photo is the Friendship a pirate ship re-creation. The middle is of the House of The Seven Gables and the last pic is one of the coves on Cape Ann. As I enter this part of the blog, Sue is out picking raspberries at the side of the trailer....in late October. Tomorrow it's off to Cape Cod

Tea and Witches

The drive to Boston was again very pleasant. It is still like early fall here as we are a little further south. Most of the leaves are still in full colour.
We did a walking tour of Boston today ( Tuesday) at least the historic parts. The ol' legs ain't what they used to be ( neither's rest of the body). The first item to see was the frigate Constitution ( 1797 ). This is the oldest ACTIVE commissioned ship in the world. There is a ship in England which is older but in permanent dry dock. They have a neat idea here, you follow a thing called the Freedom Trail, which is a red brick line in the pavement that takes to all the historical buildings and areas etc. It also led past an Irish Pub that had real good beer ( Goody Glover's) It's named after a woman that was the first Catholic Martyr in Massachusetts The church that Paul Revere sounded the alarm of the British coming was as interesting visit as well. We visited the old cemetary called Copps Hill. The markers here date from 1660
Sue was able to purchase a box of tea that is made by the company that had their teas thrown overboard, that started the War of Independance. This act was know as the Boston Tea Party
Tomorrow it's drive to a witch hunt, as we head to Salem from this campground .

Goodbye Maine

Our tour of Portland Maine started with a visit to the Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's home. This was built in the late 1700's by the poets grandfather and was lived in by the family until 1902. It was then given to the Maine Historical Society. Unfortunately, the house does not allow photos. Too bad as 90% of the contents are original. It is the oldest house in Portland because it is made of brick from Pennsylvania. This fact saved it from the major fire that devastated Portland in 1800's. From this stop, we were off to the Portland Head Light at Port Elizabeth. Quite an imposing structure. It has been used as a fort up to 1940 as a potential defence against enemies that never arrived. Our last stop was the Marine Narrow Gauge Railway. This was a short ride along part of the Portland waterfront in coaches dating to the late 1800's. The locomotive was a 1949 model with a new engine....1961 Cummins. Tomorrow, Monday, we head off to Boston in the hope we can find a campground that is open.