October & November 2005

Home Up

During the month of October we were parked in the driveway of our friends, Ron and Gail Talbot, in Cromwell, CT.  During the month, we saw our daughter Stacy and grandson Alex, as often as possible.  We also spent time with our friends and family in the neighborhood.   It seems as if we went out to dinner at least 5 evenings each week.  The weather at the beginning of the month was pretty good, but most of the rest of October the weather was either very rainy or abnormally cold.  I was able to wax one half of the motorhome before the weather got yucky and was able to vacuum the basement at the very end of the month after the weather got warm.  But the port half of the motorhome never got done....maybe sometime.

We finally left CT on Wednesday, November 3.  I had been ready to hit the road again for some time; Shelley wasn't certain.  But the weather was getting cooler, and we wanted to be out of the northern part of the country before the weather started turning cold.  So off we went to our first overnight stop - Edison, NJ - we arrived in mid-afternoon and parked in the street in front of Shelley's folk's house.  We had dinner with Cindy (Shelley's sister) and Gabor Boda and shortly afterward Shelley and Cindy went to an aquasize class that was taught by Cindy.

Alex, Buzz Lightyear

Stacy & a tired Buzz Lightyear

Can I eat my candy now??

Shelley & Cindy

We left Edison and arrived at the home of our friends, Laura and Shelly Singer in Middletown, CT.  While there, we discovered that the campground in Florida, where we had planned to meet in late December,  was closed indefinitely due to the Hurricane Rita.  We frantically got on the phone looking for a place to stay and found a campground in Clewiston, FL, so we made reservations for that place. 

The next morning we left the Singers and headed to Leesburg, VA. to visit our daughter Janice and her family.  We parked in front of their house with blocks under the front tire to get us reasonably level.  We were particularly anxious to visit our 4 year old grandson Zack, who broke his arm in 3 places a week and a half ago.  The arm had to be rebroken by the doctors when it wasn't healing properly.  In order for the bone to heal properly, Zack had a cast and a splint and was restricted to sitting on a couch all day.  As a result, we were restricted as to what we could do, so we hung around during most of the visit.  Since the purpose of our stay in Leesburg was to visit, this was OK.  The big outing was when on Monday when Jan was working.  Shelley, Norm and Rob, along with the 2 kids, piled into the motorhome and we took a short trip (maybe 15 miles) to fill our propane tanks.  We really enjoyed our stay with the family.  As usual when we visited Rob and Jan, Shelley and Norm had to rely on the kids to turn their TV off and on since the combined complications of their electronic entertainment center was much more than we could figure out!!  We also found out that Rob accepted a new job in Washington DC with a nice pay increase.  He's really excited about the new opportunity.  Congratulations, Rob!  After we left, Jan called to tell us that the doctor had given Zack a positive report on his broken arm.  He'll be able to return to school Wednesday morning and engage in most normal 4 year old activities as long as they did not involve running and jumping and other activities.  [That really doesn't leave too much, does it?]

Zack on couch, playing with Spiderman

Zack still on couch

On Tuesday, November 8, we left Leesburg VA heading for Lancaster, KY to visit Norm's childhood friend Joel Haberman and his wife, Marsha.    Following the directions of our trusty GPS, we pulled into our campsite during the afternoon.  The setting was really beautiful, along the banks of the Kentucky River on the floor of a canyon cut by the river.  This was certainly not one of the fanciest campgrounds that we have stayed at, but it was convenient to Joel and Marsha's home and the people are really friendly.  After setting up, we drove the 20 minutes to their house, a 150 year old home (in the Italianate style) that was furnished with antiques  and looked to be like a small museum.  It was filled with stuff, including Joel's trains and clocks and Marsha's antiques and nurse statuettes and family heirlooms, 3 dogs, 2 cats and about a gazillion birds!!  [Fort Nelson RV Park - Lancaster, KY - 37.46N / 84.37W]

On Thursday we showed off our motorhome and spent some time just gabbing over coffee and cake.  We also visited Waveland, a local state run mansion built in 1847.   The home was initially built by a nephew of Daniel Boone, and the plantation primarily raised hemp.  The work was primarily done by 18 slaves.  We did some more sightseeing on Friday, when we drove to Pleasant Hill where there is a restored Shaker Village.  The village was active from 1805 to 1910, and had about 490 members at its height of activity.  It was interesting to see their beautiful, plain but functional furniture and to watch craftsman making brooms and beautiful wooden baskets.  During the height of their activity, the community in experimental agriculture.  The sale of brooms, preservatives, garden seeds and herbs helped the Shaker economy to survive for over 100 years.

Exterior of Waveland

Rear entrance of Waveland

Interior room at Pleasant Hill

Dining room for the women

Walking path at Pleasant Hill

Shelley quilting

Cooking Kitchen

Broom Maker

Typical stone wall

Civil War Bridge at campground

We drove to Lancaster on Saturday morning.  Joel and Norm drove down to a flea market in Somerset and stopped off at a marina on Cumberland Lake.  This huge marina had only one sail boat...the rest were power boats and house bopats.  Navigation here is different from out on Long Island Sound....here the base level of the lake changes depending on rainfall and other factors as opposed to sea level which is always at the same height.  On the way home, they stopped at an antique mall but they came home with no purchases.

On Sunday morning, November 13 we left the Fort Nelson Campground in a driving rainstorm.  As a result of breaking camp and hooking up the car, Norm came in with soaked, muddy pants.  We drove in a southwesterly direction to visit Jim and Judy Ploesser in Hopkinstown, KY.  We met Jim and Judy during the summer while touring Seward, Alaska.  Hopkinsville is a town of about 30,000 people located in southwestern KY.  We spent the afternoon schmoozing and then had a delicious dinner put together by Jim and Judy.  [Ploesser driveway - Hopkinsville KY - 36.91N / 87.41W].

We spent Monday doing errands.  Out on the highway we got our bikes serviced, renewed our prescriptions, and did some food shopping. Then we went downtown and had lunch at a local landmark called Ferrell's.  The restaurant was found in 1936, 69 years ago.  Mrs. Ferrell, who started the place with her husband, is now 86 and she comes in every day at 4:30 AM and stays for about 12 hours.  The lunch menu is composed of single or double burgers, single or double cheeseburgers, a bowl of chili or hotdogs.  THAT'S IT.  The place is unbelievably tiny...there are 7 stools in the front of the place and 4 stools in each of 2 little alcoves.  That's 15 in total.  There are no other places to sit and virtually nowhere to stand.  There were 4 people working in this tiny place which is opened 24 hours a day and apparently is frequently jammed.  We heard tell of many people who eat either breakfast or lunch there day after day.  There was also a picture of President Bush eating at Ferrell's and excerpts of articles in Southern Living concerning the establishment.  Walking around town with Jim and Judy was quite an experience.  Jim taught school in town and was an outstanding wrestling coach for many years.  Everywhere we went, people said hello to them and came up and gave one or both of them big hugs.  Not the kind of thing that would occur in a large city or in suburbia. We were also overwhelmed by the number of churches in this small town and the importance of religion in the lives of its citizens.             

Exterior of Ferrell's Snappy Service

We had minimal plans for Tuesday, but it turned out to be one of the more memorable days of our travels. We ran a few more errands early in the day, but by early afternoon we started hearing news about a strong line of storms coming our way.  Then the warning turned into TORNADO ALERTS.  We were glued to the TV and the they cancelled all of their shows for constant weather bulletins.  As the time passed, the storm got closer, and soon the weather stations showed where the potential for tornadoes existed.  They extrapolated from these as to projected paths of possible tornadoes and showed exactly what times the tornado would hit each town.  It was really tense as the front neared us and the projected paths surrounded Hopkinsville.  Finally, at 4:28 the station showed that a possible tornado might appear here at 4:33, and the TV even showed the exact street location.  We got out the candles and flashlights and reviewed where we would go if the storm hit.  But we were lucky.  At 4:33 there was heavy rain and lightening and thunder and moderate winds, but no tornado.  By 4:40 we started to relax and by 4:50 the tv showed that the front had passed us, and we felt that we were out of the woods.

On Wednesday, Jim and Judy prepared a delicious breakfast for us.  We took a ride about 40 minutes west to the Land Between the Lakes, a park administered by the National Forest Service and was part of the TVA.  The Kentucky and Cumberland Rivers are both dammed up forming 2 long thin lakes.  The people who lived in the area between the lakes were "evicted" and a beautiful undeveloped area now exists that is about 70 miles long and between one and five miles across.  The area is beautiful, and contains herds of elk and bison.  We also stopped at Homestead 1850, a farm that appears as if it is still in that year.  It was interesting to wander through and imagine how life might have been back then.

Thursday morning found the 4 of us leaving Judy and Jim's home in Hopkinsville and drive a short distance to Nashville, TN.  We arrived at Jellystone Park, our campground for the next 3 days and got organized.  We then drove downtown to the banks of the Cumberland River where we parked the car and wandered around.  It was easy to see why Nashville is called the Music City.  Auditions were taking place for the TV show called Nashville Star, a country version of American Idol, and there were people everywhere, mostly young, wandering around with guitars or just country looking sequined outfits.  We went into the Willie Nelson store, where just about everything had Willie's name on it.  We heard music and we went into the back where someone sounding much like Willie Nelson was performing.  When we got closer we all agreed that the singer could have been Willie's brother, but we later found out that his name was Casey Ferguson.  Casey was the guide for walking tours of downtown Nashville, and we signed up for Friday morning's tour.  We found someone to take care of Rags, so we prepared to leave the campground early Friday morning bound for downtown Nashville.  But wait, soon after we were all awake, Jim came knocking on our door and said that we had a flat on the CRV.  So we waited for AAA to come and change the tire.  We finally left at 11:20, tearing downtown for our noon tour.  There was a one hour bus tour that preceded Casey's 2 hour walking tour.  The bus driver showed us different areas of town and we drove through the area where the offices and studios of most of the bigger recording companies are located.  We also drove through bicentennial park and a actual size model of the Parthenon in Greece.  An interesting fact about this is that Greece actually sent a committee to Nashville to study Nashville's Parthenon when Greece was renovating theirs relatively recently.  Casey's tour was really interesting, as we visited lots of places that were involved with Nashville's music past, including clubs where lots of stars got their start.  Of course,the highlight of the trip was a stop at the Ryman Auditorium.  This building was built as a church in the early 1800's, and in 1925 the Grand Old Opry started performing there.  This continued up to 1993 when a new theater was built for the Opry in suburban Nashville, not far from our campground.  However, the Radio City Rockettes (from New York City) are currently performing in this new theater, so the Grand Old Opry returned to its original theater for a few months.  Minnie Pearl and Roy Acuff were two of the better known country stars who performed at the Opry, and there were statues of them in the lobby.  We learned that the Ryman reputedly has the best acoustics in the world except for the Morman Tabernacle in Salt Lake City.  After our tours were complete, we wandered into the Buckboard Saloon, where the auditions for the Nashville Star were taking place.  After a quick early dinner we returned to the Ryman to see the Grand Old Opry.  It was really neat.  There was no one that we had heard of on the schedule, but we really enjoyed the entertainment.  There were 5 half hour shows, each with its own host.  The guest performers each got to do one or two songs, so things really moved quickly.  And since most of the show was broadcast on the radio, we got to hear live commercials ranging from Dickies clothes to Martha White's Country Biscuits and Cracker Barrell stores. 

Yogi Bear statue at campground

Shelley & Norm with painted guitar

Jim & Judy with painted guitar

Our tour guide aka Willie Nelson

Minnie Pearl & Roy Acuff

Jim in front of Ryman Auditorium

We had no plans for Saturday, November 19.  During the morning, Jim and Norm took care of getting the spare flat tire repaired, and afterward, Shelley and Judy went shopping for groceries as well as unknown "stuff".  Afterwards, to complete the Nashville experience, we all went to a movie theater in the Opry Springs Mall, where we watched "Walk the Line" the story of country music stars Johnny Cash and June Carter.  Radio interviews of those in the know indicated that the story was by and large accurate.

Sunday was sort of a sad day, as we headed south (just a little) while Jim and Judy headed back to Hopkinsville.  However, Shelley was really looking forward to our next stop in Columbia, TN.  We were visiting Karoy and Ronnie Beale.  Karyl is the founder of the Grieving Parents, an internet support group that has really been helpful to Shelley.  Karyl scheduled a mini-retreat for the next two days, and Logan and Patti from Evansville, IN as well as Linda from somewhere in PA joined us.  The retreat was really informal and consisted mostly of just unloading thoughts and feelings.  Monday was more of the same, and we ended the day with a peace fire and then going out for dinner to celebrate Karol and Ronnie's 35th anniversary.

On Tuesday we set out for a reasonably long trip, almost 300 miles to Dillard, GA.  We passed through Chattanooga and through Ocoee National Forest.  For about 40 miles, the road twisted and turned as it followed a small river through the mountains.  There were a few TVA dams along the river.  Next, we came to a few good sized mountains as we approached our destination.  Shelley noticed snow on nearby mountain tops, and when the road reached an altitude of 3,500 feet there were a few inches of snow everywhere but on the roads.  The road finally reached an altitude of 3,800 feet before it descended on the other side of the mountains, and the white fluffy stuff disappeared from our view - Thank heavens!!  We settled in to our campsite at River Vista RV Park, and called our friends, Leon and Susan Hananel who live in the nearby mountains of Highlands, NC.  Leon and Susan run Donleon's Delicafe up there.   After closing the restaurant and cleaning up, they drove down to visit and have some wine and nibbles and then we went out for a bite to eat for supper.  On Wednesday we drove up the mountain and had lunch at Donleon's.  The food was absolutely delicious.  They again drove down the mountain after closing the cafe' and we went out for a delicious dinner at Cafe' Rel in nearby Franklin.  On Thanksgiving day, the 3 of us (Rags was invited) drove up to the cafe' for Thanksgiving dinner.  We got there early and Shelley helped with the cooking while Norm helped Leon with arranging the tables and putting out the dishes, silverware and glasses.  The dinner was delicious, and there was enough food for an army.  Leon and Susan's friends, Chris and Mark, as well as Mickey and Ellen were also there.  We had so much leftover, that each family got a huge take home bag!!  On Friday evening, the 6 of us took Leon and Susan out for dinner to Horacio's in Cashiers to thank them for Thanksgiving dinner. [Dillard, GA - River Vista RV Park - 34.59N / 83.22W ]

Leon & Susan

Mickey, Ellen, Chris & Mark

Shelley & Norm

Shelley & Susan serving turkey

Shelley making Waldorf Salad

Thanksgiving Mishpochah

While in Dillard, we received an e-mail from Glenda and Dave Wallace.  We had met them at Lazy Days where we bought our rig, and then again in Orlando and Houston.  The Wallace's were letting us know that they had just sold their motorhome and bought a home in Hiawassee, GA.  What a coincidence!  Hiawassee is less then an hour from Dillard, so we made plans to drive over and visit on Saturday afternoon.  We had a great lunch, a tour of their houses (they bought 2 of them on adjoining properties) and schmoozed for the afternoon.  It was fun to catch up with friends....

The end of the month has found us back in Florida!!  We are currently at Lazy Days having some last minute warrantee work done on the coach before it's first birthday - and the end of the warranty period.  It always feels like "coming home" when we are here as we've met so many nice people connected with the sales and service part of the business.  We're on first name basis with the Service Manager who happens to be a Jewish boy from New Jersey!!  We'll be here until Thursday, Dec 1st at which time we'll be in Clermont, at a Thousand Trails campground about 20 minutes from Disney.  We plan to stay there until the middle of December - Norm will get his fill of those thrill seeker rides, but alas, all alone as I won't go on them.