If you are going through hell, keep going-- Winston Churchill

Ahhhh - me and Dorothy at the concert in Norfolk, VA
May 30, 2011

Monday, June 13, 2011, Tucumcari, New Mexico

The cats were still feeling like they were in the last time zone. They were up playing at 4:00am, although to them it was 5:00am. Thank goodness we went to bed early last night and got some sleep.

The wind had died down this morning. It was actually pleasant. There was a breeze which was cool. I’m sure the wind will pick up later.

Our RV under the overpass yesterday - hot!

Charlie called the AR Towing and Repair this morning at 7:00am. They are the ones who helped us yesterday. They said they opened at 8:00am and we could bring the RV in to have it checked over. The lady said that they had had about 8 vehicles yesterday with fuel pump problems. It was so hot that the pump overheated and freaked out.

Some of the pink tow trucks

We left the campground at 8:00am and took the RV to the auto repair company. As we drove up, a pink tow truck was leaving. I commented that I bet the guy, Dennis, who helped us yesterday was glad he didn’t have to drive the pink one.

Love the wagon wheels on the windows - looks better than the bars we usually see

The building was pink and on the door was “Think Pink”. Charlie went inside and talked to them. When he came back, he said yes, a woman, Linda, runs it. Not a problem as long as they know what they’re doing.

A man, the mechanic’s manager, came out and took a look at our engine. Charlie explained the problem we had yesterday. The man had the name “Pontiac” on his shirt, but Charlie said everyone called him “Jimmy”. We never did figure that one out. But, we think that maybe “Pontiac” and “Linda” are either married or an item. Linda came out to “Pontiac”, gave him a hug and said, “Welcome to Monday!”

They replaced the fuel filter in hopes of solving the problem and they found a bad alternator belt. Charlie saw it and it was frayed. The mechanic had heard something rattling first thing. He said the belt looked like it was original! This RV is a 1993. We always have pre-trip checks and had one in April before coming on this trip in May. The belt must have passed inspection. We had a new alternator installed in Virginia on May 31 and the belt was not replaced then. Either it looked fine then or this happened during the trip since then.

The fuel filter didn’t solve our problem. The fuel pump was not producing the pressure needed to fuel the engine properly. It’s supposed to be steady at 46-50 and it was only about 40. Charlie saw the air bubbles in the line. We need a new fuel pump.

We were told they’d be done by 2:00pm. It was around 10:00am then. They know we have pets with us, so they said they had a concrete slab we could park and plug in to electricity while they worked on putting the new fuel pump in. That way we could have A/C. The cats heard the noise outside and each one stayed in their safe place. Sheila was quiet and went to her kennel.

We called the campground and told them we would be back tonight. Then I called to change the other 2 campground reservations for tomorrow and Wednesday.

This is going to delay us from getting home another day. It will be Thursday, the 16^th now. We are anxious to get home and see our other cats. They are being well cared for and we’re not worried about their welfare. But, we do miss them and we miss our home too!

At 4:10pm we were ready to leave the garage. The engine seemed to be running fine. Our fuel gauge did not work though. It had worked before the new fuel pump. We drove it around and around the gravel parking lot, hoping that it would set itself. It did register more gas, but not full, which it should have registered. When they put the new fuel pump in, they had to empty our full tank of gas. They said they had put the gas back in.

Charlie knows how far we can drive before having to get gas. We usually do not let it get below ½ tank. So, we can use the odometer to gauge our gas used.

We didn’t get far away from the garage when Charlie noticed the “Rear ABS” light was on. We went back to the garage. Charlie talked to “Pontiac” and said “I just want to know if my sensor is bad or do I have an ABS problem”. We would have brakes, but the anti-lock braking system is safer for this size of vehicle, especially in the rain.

“Pontiac” said he ordered a new sensor and if we wanted him to install it, bring the RV back tomorrow. We left. After talking about it and calling my brother, Robert, we decided we would go ahead and drive the RV home. We have two more stops, Holbrook, Arizona and Barstow, California, before getting home. We stopped and topped off with gas. It took just over 5 gallons, so we had a full tank to start tomorrow.

We went back to the campground and had dinner. It was a long day. Thank goodness we had our Kobo’s and Kindle’s! The cats and Sheila had slept all day. It was 104 degrees outside and very windy.

Kaci and Jason

Jonesie drinks lots of water

We’re hoping we don’t have any more problems!

More later……….

Never drive faster than your guardian angel can fly.

From Saturday, June 11, 2011, Choctaw, OK

It was nice to wake up and not have to get ready to leave. We planned on doing nothing all day. I went to take a shower at 800am and although there were four showers, all were occupied. This was the first time I had to wait until later. But, this is the weekend.

Lots of families here. Kids in the pool. Hayrides in the evenings (tractor with a wagon hauling kids, etc. No hay that I could see). Charlie saw it going around Friday evening. He said they went about a mile an hour so the ride would last. But, I think it’s nice that the park has something to entertain families.

There is a dining room in which breakfast was being served. I had made some coffee, so we walked over and got something to bring back with us.

After I did one load of clothes, we just sat outside and read, etc. It was warm, but not that humid. Charlie brought Sheila outside and put her on her tie-out cable. She would have rather been inside because a couple of camp sites over there was a family with two or three kids making kid noises. Just those sounds make her nervous. We still try to expose her though because it doesn’t harm her and maybe she’ll learn that she’s safe with us.

Jonesie wanted to come outside. I brought him out and carried him over to one of the empty, grassy campsites. He likes to get on the ground and scurry around like a squirrel. I stay right next to him, petting him and making sure I have control. I would not want him to run away. I’d probably catch him, but it’s not something I want to have to do. When he showed interest in something that moved in the nearby trees, I picked him up and put him inside.

Then it started sprinkling a little and stopped. Suddenly there were some big drops starting. We gathered everything up and went inside. There was a short shower and then the sun came back out.

Sunday, June 12, 2011, leaving Choctaw, OK on the way to Tucumcari, NM

Early this morning, around 2:30am, Sheila woke us up. She was coughing like she was choking. We got up with her to make sure she could breathe. We couldn’t see anything in her throat or mouth. She drank some water and seemed okay. We went back to bed. Sheila sleeps next to Charlie’s side of the bed.

It again started raining a little hard with some thunder and lightning. I was almost back to sleep when Sheila started coughing again. We got up with her and checked her throat. She seemed to be trying to swallow. We gave her some bread, small pieces, thinking it might help her clear whatever, if anything, was in her throat. She liked the bread and ate it happily. Then had some water. We waited and she wasn’t coughing. Charlie went back to bed and I layed down on the couch. Sheila stayed with me and didn’t cough anymore. It was cooler here, so maybe it helped her.

While I was trying to go back to sleep, I suddenly had a strong urge to be home. If we were home and one of our pets had an emergency, we would know where to take them, but with Sheila we felt so helpless. Thank goodness she seems okay now.

We decided to have the Krispy Kreme donuts and coffee for breakfast. They were still good even though not fresh.

The air outside was cool with a breeze, so we turned the A/C off and opened the door so the cats could see through the screened door. Charlie was going out to start getting us ready to leave.

Jonesie and Jason were at the bottom of the steps with their noses pressed against the screen door. Charlie said “Boatswain’s Mates! All hands to the well deck. Time to cast off all lines!” Charlie’s old navy days come out in him sometimes. So, then, of course, Jonesie became our Boatswain’s Mate. He loves the attention.

It was funny because he just stayed glued to the door and was determined he was going outside. I finally took him out and over to his little grassy spot. He was happily scampering along. Then he went to the gravel and rolled on his back. I threw a small rock along and he chased it. When he got to it, he layed down. I threw it a few feet again and he chased. We did that a few times and then he started looking around for more to do.

I picked him up and brought him in. I don’t need to ask for trouble on our last day here.

We left the campground around 10:00am. Jonesie declared that he liked “living” at this campground. I had taken him outside twice!

Driving down I-40 was as windy as we’d seen it. There was a very strong crosswind from the left (south) hitting us. Our RV is really being pushed around. Our gas mileage will be under 6 miles/gallon! Oh, it was $3.45/gallon just west of Oklahoma City when we stopped after leaving the campground.

After only two hours of driving in this wind, we stopped for gas again ($3.59/gallon). We didn’t need it, but this wind was eating up our gas. I gave Sheila a walk. She was so distracted by the wind. It was warm, but I couldn’t live here! Our gas mileage was 6 miles/gallon that time.

Texas was better as far as the wind. It’s flatter, but not as much cross wind. We stopped for gas ($3.59) about 27 miles east of Amarillo. We stopped here at this same station when we came through on May 12. Gas was $3.79/gallon then. Hopefully this means it is coming down at home too.

When we got to New Mexico, we entered Mountain Time Zone and gained an hour back. Of course our driving time is still the same.

Charlie started noticing that the RV didn’t seem to have as much spunk. It was all he could do to keep his speed at 65 MPH. The speed limit is 70 MPH. The road seemed fairly level, but even the slightest hill caused the RV to go into Overdrive. We thought maybe we had gotten some bad gas at the last stop. Charlie mentioned that it was 86 Octane instead of our usual 87. We weren’t sure, but we weren’t getting good performance.

We were not far from Tucumcari KOA campground, which is where we were going to spend the night. We wanted to get some gas before stopping, but our exit came up and we got off. As we came to the end of the exit, the engine sputtered and cut off. Charlie got it started again, but it really sounded like it was not getting gas. We hobbled across the road and managed to get to the shade of an overpass.

It was hot and very windy outside. We called Auto Club, but since we do not have RV roadside coverage, they referred us to a tow service. Then Charlie remembered that with our insurance policy, Progressive, we have RV roadside service.

He called them and told them our problem. They gave us some services to call. Our problem with the cell phone was not only reception. If we didn’t lose our signal, the traffic overhead was so noisy we couldn’t hear. As it was, we stood in the sun between the overpasses.

I called the KOA campground because I thought they might know of a good towing service. I kept losing the signal, but after about 6 attempts, I managed to finish getting the number from him.

When I called the “All Rite Towing Service”, the dispatcher said “You’re off of Exit 339, right?” I said “Yes, but how did you know?” She said that our insurance company had put the call in and she was dispatching someone. They’d be there in 30-40 minutes. We felt better.

We sat and waited. When Charlie had been outside earlier, using his phone, he noticed some mud nests built up under the overpass. The birds were flying all around like they were mad that we had stopped there. I went out and looked and I think they were some kind of Swallow. We took some pictures of the nests, which were really unusual and numerous.

We kept getting recorded calls from Progressive, checking on whether our tow truck was there yet. We appreciated this service from them.

Charlie tried to start the RV and it started up. We let it run for a few minutes and it sounded fine. We waited for the tow truck. Then we saw a huge red, heavy-duty tow truck. He backed in front of us and started lowering the equipment.

We had decided that if we didn’t need to be towed, we would see if he would follow us to a gas station and if the RV was running okay, we’d go to the campground. Then in the morning, we would go to the mechanic and make sure the RV was okay.

The tow truck driver was agreeable to anything we wanted to do. We started the RV and he listened while Charlie revved up the engine. It sounded fine to him. He told us where a gas station was and then followed us there. The RV did okay, no sputtering. Charlie filled up with 88 Octane.

The tow truck followed us to the campground, which was not far at all. He told us that his garage opened at 7:00am and we could call and talk to the mechanic for a check up.

So, we were happy to get hooked up, get the A/C going, get everyone fed and wait to see what we are going to face tomorrow. For now, we’re getting a good night’s sleep.

I don’t think Jonesie liked “living” under the overpass for an hour this afternoon!

More later……….

"I want to live here tonight"

From Wednesday, June 8, 2011

We had a good night’s sleep and got up just before 7:00am. Charlie went to take a shower. He came back and said it was a cold one…no hot water. I made some coffee and we sliced some of Jennifer’s bread for toast. Very good bread! I had sliced some for dinner last night too. It will go fast.

As we were eating breakfast, Charlie noticed that the reason we couldn’t find any cable channels was because this campground doesn’t have cable! There is an antenna on top of their office/store. We’re kind of puzzled that such a nice campground doesn’t have cable (or hot water!)

We left the campground around 10:00am. The TomTom took us down back roads, through hills, and farm land. Very pretty places. We were at the mercy of the TomTom now because I had not printed out any other directions. I did have a road atlas that I could refer to if we really felt lost. We had a feeling that the GPS knew where to take us this time though.

We missed a turn and found a place to turn around. By that time TomTom had re-planned the route. “She” kept trying to turn us back around and continue on a different way. We decided to go back and make the turn “she” told us to do that we had missed.

I kept seeing signs on the side of the two lane highway which said “Trail of Tears Original path”. I looked it up online and The Trail of Tears was the relocation and movement of Native American nations from southeastern parts of the present-day United States.

The removal included many members of the Cherokee, Muscogee (Creek), Seminole, and Choctaw nations among others in the United States, from their homelands to Indian Territory (eastern sections of the present-day state of Oklahoma). The phrase originated from a description of the removal of the Choctaw Nation in 1831. Many Native Americans suffered from exposure, disease, and starvation while on route to their destinations, and many died, including 4,000 of the 15,000 relocated Cherokee.

We went this way and that way, turning up and down these little county roads that had numbers, but we really didn’t know where we would come out. I had visions of running out of gas in some farmer’s driveway. I’m sure they would be friendly, but in my mind, they would take one look at our out of state (CA) license plate and tell us to “git”. My imagination can run wild sometimes.

We finally came out onto a U.S. highway and we didn’t really need gas, but we stopped anyway. After an hour on back roads, we didn’t want to take any chances. We were now in Alabama and we had gained an hour back in the Central Time Zone. We would never have seen these little towns or out of the way places on our own. Since the TomTom got confused trying to get us to the campground in Mississippi last month, we get nervous when “she” puts us on little country highways.

We arrived at Wall Doxey State Park in Mississippi around 3:30pm. Milton, Charlie’s cousin was going to come and pick Charlie up and take him to see his Uncle James. I decided I would stay at the RV and let Charlie and Uncle James get a nice visit in. I will see him tomorrow when Aunt Marie and Debbie come up to see him too.

We have no cable or Wi Fi at this park, so I will be posting several days when I can post again.

Milton came by at 4:30pm and said they’d be gone for about three hours. After they left, I took Sheila out for a walk down to the lake. We have stayed at this park before, but I don’t think we have ever been to the lake. It’s pretty and has a swift-looking current out in the middle, but it looks stagnant around the edges. I saw some fish in there though.

There is a dock and an old life guard station, but it is fenced around and closed now. Further down there is a new dock. I was going to walk to that one and walk out on it, but there were some teenagers in the park heading that way with fishing poles. Sheila was already nervous because these kids were playing around near the play ground when we walked by and the boys were calling to each other. They were not paying attention to us at all, but Sheila is still very afraid of strangers, especially young people.

We came on back to the RV. It was in the 90’s and although quite shady here, I was warm and ready to come in and cool off. Sheila was also ready for a drink of water.

I fed the cats and gave Sheila her dinner. Right now, 6:00pm, they are all asleep. Charlie should be back in a couple of hours.

Charlie mentioned earlier that I had stopped keeping track of gas prices. The gas prices in Virginia and South Carolina were similar. Usually around $3.67 to $3.79 was normal. We stopped earlier today in Alabama and it was $3.44, which I think is the cheapest we have come across. As we move west, the prices will start going up. We have gotten so spoiled with the lower prices. It will be hard to start paying almost $4.00 a gallon in California again!

I called my brother, Richard, to see how he’s doing. He was also sick with a cold at the same time as me. He said he was much better, although he still had some congestion. My cold is almost gone. I still do not have my sense of taste or smell completely back. I forgot to ask Richard if he had also lost his senses.

Richard and Alice’s younger daughter, Jamie, is in the Air Force. Her husband is also in the Air Force. They are currently in Germany, but will be transferring to an Air Force base in Utah, near Ogden, in October. When we were visiting with Richard and Alice, they revealed to us that they were seriously considering moving to Utah so they could be closer to their granddaughter, Anna. He again mentioned that when I talked to him this afternoon.

Their older daughter, Ginger, would remain in North Carolina. She has a good job and has some seniority now. She would really have to make a tough decision to leave it and move to Utah as well. Hopefully everything will work out for them.

Charlie and I would welcome having family closer to us, that’s for sure. We miss our families. If not for this RV trip, I’m not sure when we’d be seeing everyone again. As it is, the last time we saw them was two years ago July, when we took our first RV trip. That time we also went to Florida to visit my family there. I’m so glad we did. It was the last time we got to spend time with my Aunt Roberta. She passed away the following November.

Last night Charlie and I started talking about how much we miss Taz. He and the twins, Jason and Kaci, and Sheila were on our trip with us two years ago. We are still brought to tears when we talk about Taz. He was just so special to both of us. I wouldn’t take anything for the times we had with that little guy.

My sister, Jennifer, has a cat whose name is “Lacey”, but she calls her “Sweetie Cat”. “Sweetie Cat” is kind of long hair and looks like a Siamese cat with two white paws. She has the prettiest blue eyes. Oh, and did I mention?…..very spoiled.

I was a little surprised when Jennifer told me that they took “Sweetie Cat” with them when they went up to visit Greg’s family in North Dakota last year. Years ago, Greg would not allow a cat in the house, much less in their fifth wheel camper RV! Their life will be richer for it, I promise.

Robert and Angie also have a little girl cat. Her name is “Penny”. She is short haired, striped, and has tawny specks. “Penny” reminds me a lot of our “Kaci” (Little Girl). They both have short tails and their own little attitudes. “Penny” goes up to Spartanburg with Robert and Angie and lives in their apartment with them. She calls the apartment her “mountain get away”.

“T” is Robert and Angie’s independent cat who showed up at their house years ago. He is an orange tabby. They fed him and he stayed. He would disappear for days and then turn up again. But, he preferred to be an outside cat and he considers their front porch his home. There were times I know, when Robert wondered if “T” would come back. He always has returned so far.

I remember the little black kitten that Robert had when he lived in Key West, Florida. His name was “Rastus”. I met “Rastus” when I was there.

“Rastus” was a teenager, a half grown little fellow. I got the biggest kick out of the two of them playing together and the way Robert talked to “Rastus”. That was the cutest little cat. “Rastus” chased his tail round and round. Robert would say “Catch that black snake, Rastus”.

Then Robert took “Rastus” with him when he went up to Canada. Along the way they camped. “Rastus” had been playing around the camp site and some kids in the next camp site were playing with him.

The next morning when Robert was getting ready to leave, “Rastus” was gone. He always believed that the people in the next camp site took “Rastus”. I know how attached he was with that little cat.

Since Robert has been working in Spartanburg, Jennifer takes care of “T”. To Robert’s surprise, Jennifer took “T” to the vet to get his shots and a check up. She had to catch him in a pillowcase and put him in the kennel. But, once she got him to the vet, “T” sat on the table for the vet and purred. Amazing! He’s not feral, but he’s never been taken to a vet either! I have to hand it to my sister. Maybe a little of me has actually rubbed off on her.

Robert and I were talking on his front porch on Monday. “T” was under the swing that Robert sat in. Just from the way Robert talked about “T’s” adventures and past injuries, I could tell how he felt about him. He referred to “T” as “my cat”. Case closed. He protects that cat, but “T” also has his freedom.

Thursday, June 9, 2011

Charlie decided to stay with his uncle last night. As usual, the cats woke me just before 7:00am this morning. They have all been fed and are taking their morning naps.

Charlie got back to the RV around 9:00am. He said that James is doing well after his surgery, but he does need some post-op care. Aunt Marie and Debbie are coming up to pick us up and we will visit James.

They arrived around 1:00pm and we went over to see James. Aunt Marie and James are the same age. They knew each other in school. They had a lot to talk about. It was interesting to listen to them reminiscing about their school days and people they used to know.

Soon it was time to go. Aunt Marie and Debbie wanted to get home before dark. It was around 4:30pm when they took us back to our RV.

At 5:30pm Milton came by and picked us up to meet his sister, Betty, and the others for dinner. We went to a restaurant in downtown Holly Springs, called “JB’s”. James and his friend, Emerald, were there, as well as Betty, Milton’s sister, and her daughter and husband, Amanda and Michael. They have two little kids who are so cute. McKenzie (5?) and Tyler (2?).

We had a nice dinner and Milton took us back to our RV at 8:30pm. We were pretty tired and knew we had a long day ahead of us tomorrow.

Friday, June 10, 2011

It was after 7:00am when we woke. We have a drive to Choctaw, Oklahoma today. It was around 9:30am when we left Wall Doxey.

When we were driving through Arkansas, some of the fields were still flooded out. The water was not like it was in May when we came through, but it was still pretty wet.

The gas prices were around $3.54 along the way. In Oklahoma we stopped for gas at a Shell station. The gas pump wouldn’t take a credit card so Charlie had to go inside. They turned the pump on. He came back out and pumped about 20 gallons which took forever. It was very slow. Then he had to go back inside to pay.

I didn’t know he was having the problem with the gas pump. I took Sheila out for a few minutes and then decided I’d go in the store and buy some Krispy Kreme donuts. I got back to the RV and Charlie wasn’t here. I called him. I looked outside. I was just about ready to call his cell phone when I saw that he was standing by the RV pumping gas. I know I didn’t see him there earlier. Finally he came inside. By that time, Jason and Jonesie thought we had stopped for the night. They had come down from their little hiding places and were stretched out, relaxing. Kaci had gone back to the bed and was lying there grooming herself. This is what they do when we stop for the night. We always let them decompress from the day.

Since we talk for our cats, Jonesie has come up with the idea that when we stop each night at a different campground, he thinks we live there. So, he says, "I like living here" or "Where are we going to live tonight?" After all, he's only 9 months old! Yes, we've been on the road long enough........

We hated to disappoint them, but we still had a couple of hours to drive before stopping for the night. When we started the engine, all three went back to their little hide-aways.

We got to our campground at 6:15pm. It is in Choctaw, Oklahoma, just about 20 miles east of Oklahoma City. It’s a nice park.

We were getting settled when Charlie noticed that one of the cabinets in the kitchen area was open. He checked, but didn’t see any cats in there. Then he started looking for Jonesie. He couldn’t find him. We both looked and looked. I called Jonesie, but he didn’t come. Charlie was afraid that Jonesie was small enough to get in some of the small places under the sink.

He heard a “meow”. We turned off the A/C, TV and fan. He looked in a cabinet under the refrigerator. There was Jones. He had gotten in there when I put my “George Foreman Grill” away earlier. I didn’t even see him get in there. Needless to say, we were relieved to find the little monster.

We decided that we would stay here tonight and tomorrow night. That will give us a couple of nights to rest. We’ve been visiting all week and tomorrow we won’t have to worry about waking up early and driving all day. We need a break.

More later……….

“Adventure must start with running away from home”

From Tuesday, June 7, 2011

We went to Jennifer’s this morning for showers and coffee. She had fried some bacon and had the makings for BLT’s, so of course, we couldn’t turn that down. The geese had returned and were eating their breakfast too.

All too soon, it seemed, we had to get packed back up and leave. We’re going as far as the KOA campground in Cartersville, Georgia today.

Before we left, Jennifer gave us a loaf of her homemade bread as well as the recipe. She says it works every time she makes it. I also have a bread machine, so I will use this recipe instead of the bread machine mixes I usually use.

We arrived at the KOA around 4:00pm. It’s a pretty park, lots of trees and a wide, grassy field for Sheila to get her walks and exercise in. The WiFi is good, but there are really no good cable channels to choose from, so we didn't even plug in the TV.

We decided early in the trip that when we arrived at a campground each evening, we’d allow ourselves and the cats and Sheila, some time to decompress from the day. So, that’s what we did. For about an hour we sat on the couch and had a glass of wine, listened to music and talked. All three cats stretched out and slept their day off. Sheila went into her kennel and slept for the first time that day.

We had dinner and sat up for awhile longer. Then I went to the campground’s bathroom to brush my teeth, etc. to get ready for bed. When I came back to the RV and opened the door, Jason was right there waiting to run out.

It was dark and I didn’t see which way he went at first. Then Charlie came out with a flashlight and we saw Jason under the camper next door. It must have taken us 5 minutes to get him back inside. Sheila tried to help us at first, but we were afraid she was doing more harm than good and she might run off too, so we put her back inside the RV.

So, we got our exercise for the day, thanks to Jason.

Wednesday, June 8, 2011

We slept well last night. Today we will go on to Mississippi to visit Charlie’s Uncle James. He is home from the hospital now. Charlie’s cousin, Debbie, and his Aunt Marie will be coming up to see us and of course, James, tomorrow. They live in Calhoun City, MS, which is about an hour away. That makes it work out fine, because we usually drive down to see them. We visited them last month at the beginning of our trip.

More later……….

Cats are better than any vice. They're not fattening, dangerous, or expensive. However, they can be addictive.

Jason

Sunday, June 5, 2011

Soon after I woke, I was sitting at the table and heard some geese flying over. It was just before 7:00am. I was hoping that the geese were coming to Jennifer’s for breakfast. Charlie was out walking Sheila, so I got my camera and walked over to see if the geese were in Jennifer’s yard. There was one goose standing in the yard. Greg was pulling weeds nearby, so the geese didn’t land.

Yesterday, while Jennifer and I were out shopping, etc., we drove by a pond where she thought the geese might be staying. We counted seven on the water. Jennifer said those were probably some of “hers”. She said originally there were 21 that were coming to eat at her house.

Greg bought tickets for us to go to see Travis Tritt at Boone Hall Plantation in Charleston that night. Charlie and I, Greg, Jennifer, and their daughter, Jasmin and her friend Sarah were going. Robert and Angie couldn’t make it.

We got there around 6:30pm. Boone Hall is also one of America's oldest working, living plantations. They have been continuously growing and producing crops for over 320 years. Once known for cotton and pecans, they are still actively producing
strawberries, tomatoes, and pumpkins, as well as many other fruits and vegetables for visitors to enjoy. We visited here several years ago to tour the plantation.

It was a perfect venue for this show. The stage was set up, the beverage and food booths were lined up. It was warm, but not uncomfortable. It was just so pretty to be there under the huge, old, moss-draped, oak trees. If only they could talk! What they could tell. In 1743, the son of Major John Boone planted live oak trees, arranging them in two evenly spaced rows. They line the long drive and it’s called the Avenue of the Oaks.

Jennifer took this picture with her cell phone

We were told not to bring cameras to the concert, so we didn’t. When we sat down, everyone was taking pictures all around with their cell phones and then we even saw some cameras coming out. There didn’t seem to be much enforcement on the no-camera rule. I just wished I’d brought mine so I could get some pictures when we drove into the plantation and down the Avenue of Oaks.

Bo Bice opened for Travis Tritt. He came in second to Carrie Underwood on American Idol in 2005. I think we saw him perform on American Idol sometime in the past couple of seasons. Anyway, he really put on a good show. We liked everything he did.

Then Travis Tritt came out and I have to say it was one of the best concerts I’ve been to. That guy can really perform. When he came back on for an encore, he did six more songs.

We enjoyed it, but it was getting late and we were getting tired. Jennifer, Greg and Jasmin had to work the next day. Jennifer jokingly said, “It’s the concert that won’t quit!” I said, “We should be careful what we ask for.”

Anyway, it was a fun night. We got home around midnight and went straight to bed.

Monday, June 6, 2011

I got up pretty early this morning. The cats were hungry, as usual, so I fed them. While I was sitting on the couch, I saw a flock of geese fly over. I grabbed my camera and went to Jennifer’s to see if it was her flock coming in to eat.

Sure enough, all 19 Canada Geese were on the ground. Jennifer was out there throwing out their corn, sunflower seeds and some bread. They had fresh water so they were set for breakfast. I guess the weekend was over and the new week was starting for them.

Robert and Angie were leaving today to go back to Spartanburg, SC. Robert works up there, so for now, they maintain two homes. They came down on Thursday before the Memorial Day weekend. They left around noon. It’s going to seem strange to be here and they are not home.

Charlie and Kaci

Charlie went out for the morning with Greg, who was going to some of his construction sites and checking on things. They would be back after lunch.

Jennifer came over and picked me up. We ran a couple of errands and went to lunch. It’s just been so nice being here, but I know everyone is working around!

Jonesie is ready to go home!

We are leaving here tomorrow and after another stop in Mississippi to see Charlie’s uncle, we will head for home!

More later………

Love is to the heart what the summer is to the farmer's year. It brings to harvest all the loveliest flowers of the soul. - Billy Graham

From Friday, June 3, 2011

Charlie and I, Robert, Angie, Jennifer, Greg, and their daughter, Jasmin went on a harbor dinner cruise. We got down to the harbor at 6:00pm and the boat left at 7:00pm. It was a really pretty evening. As we were leaving home, I looked to see if Jennifer’s Canada Geese had come to the yard. They weren’t there, like the evening before.

We were the first to board and they gave us a table for eight, right by the windows. We went up on the top deck to take pictures and just look around. There were quite a few people, but it didn’t feel too crowded. The air was warm and you could smell the salt in it. It was breezy, but not a bit uncomfortable.

When we went back to our table, they were ready to serve the salads. Then we had She Crab Soup, which I had never had before. It was pretty good. I had grilled Talapia and although my taste and sense of smell has not completely returned, I can say it was very tasty! Charlie had a stuffed chicken dish, which he said was good. There were several entrees to choose from and I think everyone enjoyed what they had.

We cruised around the harbor, past the old aircraft carrier, USS Yorktown, out to Fort Sumter, the place where the Civil War began in 1861, back along the harbor. The whole cruise lasted about three hours. We have harbor dinner cruises in San Diego, but we have never taken one. Now we know that it might be something to consider doing sometime. I think it would be really nice for a special occasion, like an anniversary or birthday. There was a man onboard who was with his family, celebrating his 80^th birthday.

Anyway, it was a fun evening. Oh, and they had music and a DJ who asked trivia questions during his breaks. Several teachers were in the audience and not a one answered a question correct. Of course, we didn’t either!

Saturday, June 04, 2011

Jennifer was making breakfast this morning when I went to Robert and Angie’s house. Angie was not feeling well and was still in bed. If she’d had wine the night before like we did, I’d have known what the problem was! But, Robert said she just didn’t eel well.

Jennifer said that the six Canada Geese were in her yard this morning. The others never came.

The 6 geese, Thursday evening, before the other 13 arrived

Jennifer and I went to Farmer’s Market, which they have every Saturday here in Summerville. It’s a really complete farmer’s market with every vegetable and fruit you can imagine. A couple of dairies are there selling their milk, eggs, cheese, butter, and one had different kinds of meats as well.

If we lived here, I’d be at that market each week to buy fresh veggies and fruit. Since it’s seasonal, they are open from April through October. But, I’ve decided that I want to learn to can and freeze so I can take advantage of the fresh fruits and vegetables from summer.

We bought some butter beans already shelled and some speckled butter beans, which need shelling. Also, some okra and tomatoes. Jennifer bought some eggs and milk. She says that one of the dairies sells fresh, unpasteurized milk, which has cream at the top. I’m not much of a milk person, so that doesn’t appeal to me. But, she got some chocolate milk, which was pasteurized.

There were also other people selling their various crafts at the farmer’s market. There was a lady who paints portraits from photographs. I spotted a black cat painting and commented on how pretty it was. Jennifer asked the lady how much it was and said, “I want to buy that for my sister for her birthday”, pointing at me. That felt pretty good to be with my sister shopping. I haven’t been able to do that in a long time.

Anyway, it turns out that the cat belonged to the artist. His name was “Max” and he lived to be 25 years old. In his prime, she said he weighed 23 pounds. I told her I would take good care of “Max” when I got him home.

The other day, one of Jennifer and Greg’s farmer friends brought some fresh corn. When we got home, Greg had shucked all of the corn, a little over 50 ears. Jennifer was going to cut the corn off the cob and freeze it. I told her I would help and of course I would get a couple of quarts for us to take with us.

So she blanched the corn and when it cooled, we cut it off the cob and put it in quart freezer bags. I remembered my mother doing that when I was young. It brought back memories of all of those summer vegetables we had in our freezer growing up. I remember the fresh corn and beans during the winter time.

Jennifer has become quite the canner and preserves maker. She canned some peaches last year and sent me a jar. They were delicious. She made some strawberry preserves last week and I am now the happy owner of a jar of preserves. I asked her this morning how she learned to can and she said “I read the directions”. Oh, I hadn’t thought of that! I have directions to do that in my Betty Crocker cookbook at home. I think I will give it a try.

Later, as we were going to dinner, I told everyone of my big plans to can and preserve. Charlie said, "What have you done to my wife?"

We went to dinner at a seafood restaurant called “Gilligan’s”. Almost everyone had shrimp, but I had sea scallops, which were good. I like them, but I don’t eat them often.

Charlie ordered swordfish, but for some reason, it was very fishy. Swordfish is usually a mild white meat fish, and not fishy at all. He told the waitress that he didn’t like it and asked for some shrimp, which she brought to him rather quickly. Charlie doesn’t like to send food back and I’ve seen him just eat whatever he ordered, even though he wasn’t completely happy with it. But, this swordfish must have really been bad, because he refused to eat it.

We got back to the house and the Canada geese didn’t show up again this evening. I wonder if they’ve gone on up north?

More later………

“Don't refuse to go on an occasional wild goose chase -- that's what wild geese are for.”

From Wednesday, June 1, 2011

We woke after 6:00am and I think this was the earliest we had been awake since we’d been here. Our plans were to leave today around 1:00pm.

“Thunder” the cat came inside and ate some food, but then he went right back outside. Jeff said we should not try to catch him anymore. He was supposed to go back to the vet the other day, but maybe he’ll miss that last visit. He does seem to be eating pretty well and Jeff thinks he’s feeling lots better than before the oral surgery. I’m sure he is too.

Charlie went out and started the RV just to make sure it was ready for travel. I thought that once we got on the road and got used to it starting up each time, we’d kind of forget we had problems with it yesterday. We just weren’t really confident about the mechanics who worked on it. They didn’t really seem to be competent at first. When we have the RV serviced at home by our RV Specialists, we drive away knowing that the problem is fixed.

Mom blocked the cat window in the morning and we let our little monsters out of our room to run around the house until we had to put them back into the RV. They will be in the RV from now until we get them home. That will be in a couple more weeks.

We started packing the RV and had everything done by lunchtime. We had lunch and then started gathering the cats up. They’d been out of the RV and I think they thought we were now living here.

It was after 1:00pm, but we got started. We were only going to drive a little over three hours to a KOA Campground near Fayetteville, NC. It was a short drive, but we’d already had a long day when we stopped for the night.

This was one of the largest and prettiest KOA’s we had stopped at. It was like a huge tree park. According to the park manager, they had been full over the past Memorial Day weekend. It was pretty quiet when we arrived. We got a nice site under some shady trees.

We had cable and were supposed to have WiFi. Charlie tried to log on and access internet, but it was not possible. It was later when we tried, so we couldn’t call the office for help.

Thursday, June 2, 2011

The next morning we had a light breakfast and again tried the internet. Charlie called the office and told the lady he was having problems. She really didn’t seem to care. She told him that it was his computer settings that were causing the problems. He was in mid-sentence to say something else, when she said “good-bye”…. no thank you or apology.

I went into the office/store later and was looking around. When I checked out my purchases, the lady told me that their A/C was out and it was going to be in the 90’s that day, not to mention the humidity. So, maybe they had more problems other than customers not being able to access internet!

We drove on down to Summerville, SC where my brother, Robert, and sister, Jennifer, live with their families. They bought property next to each other and built houses. They have quite a place, several acres.

We parked next to Robert’s garage and hooked up to electricity. The RV stays comfortable with the A/C on. It is in the 90’s down here right now.

Jennifer has a greenhouse and is growing vegetables. We went in to water them and I picked some tomatoes. She’s going to have lots of them. She also has some peas, zucchini, cucumber, onion, lettuce, etc.

Sometime in April, a flock of Canada Geese started coming down into the yard. Jennifer has been feeding them corn, millet, bread and of course, water. There are six that come first and they wait for the others. Then the other 13 come and they all eat. I saw the six waiting around, but they weren’t eating. We left and then went back over later. It was getting later and we thought the six were leaving. They started running across the yard. Then we noticed that more geese were coming down. Sure enough, it was the rest of the flock, the other 13. Now there were 19. They all started coming up to eat and get water.

I think Jennifer is getting attached to them. She calls them "girls", even though I'm sure they are probably somewhat paired up. They all look the same though. She counts them when they come and hopes there are still 19.

More later………