Who said trouble was over?

Hello again to all,

It was time this morning to leave Cheaha State Park and head to the LPGA tournament in Prattville.  We get up bright and early...early for us anyway...and start getting her ready.  You know it rained cats and dogs on us for the last 2 days but this morning it had cleared and was to be a beautiful day.

We start closing the slides to the motor home beginning with the slide that our bed is against.  We get about 6 inches of it sliding in when a "waterfall" and I mean waterfall, of water pours in. It poured in so fast that there was literally an inch or so of standing water on the floor by the bed wanting to "go on down the hallway." Here we are scrambling for every towel we own sopping up this water. Finally, we get all we can and finish closing the slide. I can assure we closed the other slides very, very slow in hopes of preventing them from doing the same thing.  We here we have a pile of drenched towels to deal with.  We make the decision to hang them over the sides of the shower until we get to Prattville.

Now I need to back up a little bit, this LPGA rally we are coming to is where all these hundreds of motor homes park in a fields and they are providing 30 amp generators for each coach.  There is no sewer or water.  So knowing the setup let me reiterate that we had all the towels and, by the way, the shower mats and kitchen towels, wet.  We aren't going to be able to use the washer and dryer so we make the decision we will just have to go buy new towels at Wally World.  So we get to the "field" and decide to crack the windows on the car and we hang all those wet towels on and around the car.  Oh, also the hall rug had to be taken out there too because the water was fast than we were.  I took a
picture on the cell phone to send to the children so they laugh at us but haven't figured out how to get posted here yet.  Country had definitely come to town!!

Now there's more.  You know we didn't get off that easy, right.  So we've arrived and go to set up and knowing we were needing our black tank (pee and poop tank) to make it 5 days we didn't use it getting here.  So now we want to use it.  We open the bathroom door and the shower is running full blast.  Apparently on one of the many bumps we get to enjoy one of those 50 lb towels fell off the side of the shower door and hit the water handle.    It emptied every bit of our fresh water out. Now for you non camping people, that means we can't use the restroom because we can't flush, and we can't use either of the sinks.  And here we are with no sewage connection and no water hook ups.  So
we contact the coordinator of this trip and ask for help and she sends the "water" truck to us for a fill up.  It's not free by the way.  We also have the problem that our gray water tank is full of our fresh water (because that's where it goes when it goes down the sinks and the showers) .  We make the decision that when it gets dark to just let that water out here at the site be ause it is clean water.

We have met many new people just in the couple hours we've been here.  We all sat around and told stories and most of this group we've ended up with are from South Carolina so it's kinda like being with home folk.

Night is coming on fast so I need to get inside and finally eat.  Hopefully the towels will dry by the morning and we can get people to stop staring as they go by.

Love to all

Still here

We've been here in Cheaha State Park for 10 days and just love it.  It is probably our 2nd favorite park behind Smokey Mountains. This park has the same feel as Smokeys and has the 50 amp and sewer, which is unheard of. We wish our phone signal would pick up at the site. It is kind of comical that you see folks "gathering" at the road at the top of the entrance into the sites to get a signal. There is only about 20 feet of space you can get any signal and it hasn't mattered who your carrier is.  Talking on the phone could be hazardous considering the strongest signal is while in the center of the road!!

The weather has been wonderful and, in fact, a little chilly. I understand it's been nice almost everywhere. We haven't had tv since we arrived here so we are behind on lots of the news. Our big outing each day is to drive down to the lodge and sit in the car to connect to their wifi.  The parking lot is right in front of the entrance to the restaurant so I know the people who eat their regular are seeing us sitting in our car each day. They probably think we are nuts, and they might be right!

I want to brag on how much of a hunting dog Monet has turned into. I don't know if I've mentioned how the deer here are not afraid to come close to you here but they will walk very close to you and your campsite. Now "sniffing" Monet has gone absolutely crazy with all the wild animal smells here. You can hardly get her back to the coach.  She has gone nuts!  But I do want to brag that this trip has opened our eyes to her hunting skills.  We were walking her the other day and there was a deer about 50 feet from us and she never looked up or noticed it.  This genius of a dog we have has perfected her hunting skills not in smelling animals but to find every pee and poop area in this park!!!  You know we are proud (ha)

Well we miss everyone and hope all well with you. We send love and kisses to all.

Cheaha State Park, Alabama

We had such a great time with children and grandchildren over Labor Day weekend.  The grandchildren weren't babies anymore. It was hard to leave Tuesday but you know the old saying "after 3 days, company begins to stink like fish.". I'm sure they were ready to return to their routine but oh it was great to be with them!

We are now at Cheaha State Park in Alabama.  We decided to stay here because it was a good location to stop before the LPGA tournament started on the 20th in Prattville.  We found it on the Internet and it had 50 amps and sewer, which no state or national park ever have.  It is the highest point in Alabama at 2400 feet.  This is a spectacular park. I encourage you to go on line and read about it. It has a motel, a lodge, cabins, chalets and a banquet area that you rent that have sleeping quarters there for yor private use.  It has 2 lakes, swimming pool, bike trails and a restaurant.  Now I will tell you that when you go for a bike ride, it's going to be downhill in one direction and uphill in the other. We haven't had the courage yet to pull out the bikes but I'm sure we will. We just have to prepare ourselves for walking and pushing the bikes halfway (ha).

The only tough thing here is the phone service and wifi.  They have been working on the campground area in the park but it's down right now so we have to drive (or maybe one day bike) down to the lodge for the wifi.  When it's not foggy we cant get phone service either except at the lodge, but not today its foggy still.

We hope all of you are doing okay and we sure miss seeing you all.

Booneville

Time is flying  so this post is very late. We had pretty much missed Isaac or actually Isaac had actually missed us until Thursday. We got up and had to prepare for departure from Clinton,Ms. To Booneville where big kids and grand kids live. For those of you that have never motorhomed, that means unhooking the water,sewer,cable and power and then hooking the car to the motorhome for travel. Of course before that is walking the dog so she'll be ready to travel also. Doesn't sound like much and generally it's not, until you have to do all of them in pouring rain and gale force wind. After having completed all of that, I had to shower and change clothes. Hung the wet clothes in the shower because we're so wet couldn't put with dirty clothes. Also took until this morning for my shoes to dry out.

Drove all day in wind and rain and was worn out from fighting the steering wheel. Even decided to travel on the Natchez trace because there was little traffic and the speed limit was only 50. However, did go thru Kosciusko, Ms. Do you know it's significance ? Well, I didn't either. It is a small rural Mississippi town and the birthplace of Oprah. We got to see the place where she lived with her grandmother and we also saw the the small church where she first performed. We also learned that she built a boys and girls club over 40,000 square feet for the town and periodically flies in unannounced to visit with her grandmother.

Finally arrived in Booneville and have been visiting with and enjoying family since. Also talked our son into putting in 50 amp service so we can park right in their driveway and plug in for a/c and power.Wonder if we can talk him into cable and sewer next year? Celebrated granddaughter Afton's 7th birthday yesterday. Got to watch some of the Bulldogs first game of the season bu had to TiVo the second half to go o the birthday party. The party was at a skating rink with 30 kids and was quite a sight. They were allowed to take scooters on the rink floor. All had a great time and cake and ice cream too.

Went to church this morning with family and it was wonderful. Had a great service and really made us miss our church family. It's always special to worship God with family and be reminded how really blessed we are. We plan to continue to visit here until Tuesday and then head for a state park in Alabama before attending the golf tournament in Prattville.

Vicksburg

We are currently in Clinton, Ms. which is right next to Jackson. There is not much to see here and if you ever  come here, don't bother going to the visitor center. Can't figure why they even have one.Well ignorance is not always bliss. We are about 40 miles from Vicksburg,site of one of the most important series of events in the civil war.I had told Joy that there was no need to go to Vicksburg because it was just a battlefield area and no big deal. DUMB DUMB DUMB! We would not have gone except Joy wanted to go to a quilt shop. Well, we went and the quilt shop was great. Then we went to the "battlefield". It is a wonderful National Park with a 16 mile drive showing where each of the regiments were encamped and explaining the history of that part of the war.There were many areas with rows of cannon. There were many monuments to the various military units, the various military leaders, and monuments done by the various states in honor of the participants from each state.There is also a national cemetery with more than 17000 buried there. I didn't know that Lincoln himself told Grant that the war could not be won without Vicksburg being taken and Lincoln himself was aware that to take Vicksburg would effectively divide the confederacy which is exactly what happened. In the beginning, Grant took many losses while the confederacy had many less.Ultimately, the losses basically evened out.I also didn't know that there was also a huge naval attack on Vicksburg and the confederates used torpedoes for the first time and sunk many boats. One of the pictures above shows the USS Cairo, an ironside that was raised from the Mississippi River and restored. It was a steam powered vessel with a huge paddle wheel iron plating for protection , and many rows of canon..Another picture is of a plaque that shows the losses on both sides.

Also, Vicksburg is the first place to bottle coca-cola. They have a little museum that shows the first bottling system and alot of other memorabilia.The first bottling system did one bottle at a time where 1 oz of syrup was put into the bottle and then the bottle was filled with carbonated water. A picture of the company logo on the side of the building is shown above.

Natchez, Mississippi

Yesterday we traveled from Dallas to Natchez. Actually, we are staying in a campground called Riverview RV Park in Vidalia, La. which is literally at the foot of the bridge going from Ms to La.The park is on the banks of the Mississippi River. Yes, we are directly in the path of Isaac but are leaving tomorrow for Jackson,Ms about 100 miles north east of here. We are in hopes of staying about 1 1/2 days ahead of the storm. Well enough of that.

Today, we went to the welcome center in Natchez and watched a film about the city and area. After that we toured the city and looked at the many ante-bellum homes. There are many,many of them.We looked at the most spectacular homes and took pictures of all of them. We learned a lot about the city because we saw it 14 times. You ask why? It's because almost all of the streets are one way. It is very difficult to get around but there are so many beautiful old homes. We were shocked at how many we're for sale. We inquired and were told most of the industry had left and many home owners simply couldn't  afford to maintain their homes. We took a break and went to quaint little coffee shop and had a fabulous breakfast at lunch time.

In the afternoon we toured we think the most phenomenal and storied home in Natchez. It is called Longwood , a 30,000 square foot home on 90 acres. It was built just before the beginning of the civil war by a very wealthy cotton man who owned 46,000 acres of land across the river and 800 slaves.  He and his wife hired an architect from Philadelphia who designed the home as the largest octagonal home in the U.S. The structure is composed of 750,000 bricks all made on site by the owner's slaves. The architect brought artisans from Philadelphia for the construction. The home was three floors with 10,000 square feet per floor and was topped with a beautiful dome. Now for the sad part. When the brick had all been done and the dome had been added, the civil war began and the architect and all the artisans literally dropped their tools on the floor and left back north thinking the war would be quick and they would return and take up where they left off. Well, the war lasted much longer and neither the architect nor artisans ever returned and to this day, the home has never been completed even though various descendants lived in the home until 1968.

The owner hired local workers to half-way complete the bottom floor which was actually the
basement so it would be livable for his wife and 8 children. How sad. Yes, it gets worse. Because of the shipping blockade during the war, the owner couldn't sell his cotton and went broke, losing all his land but only able to barely hang on to the home. With all the stress and a touch of pneumonia, he died at 46 making his wife a widow with 8 kids. Somehow the wife raised the kids in the house and educated them. Later, one of the adult kids who had moved away, came back at one point and paid $50 to save the home at a sheriff's sale.

The home is just as the workers left it except for the basement where the family lived. It is now owned by two garden clubs who maintain it and give tours for $12 per person. If you're ever in the area, we recommend you see this one.We took many pictures and wish we could upload them but can't figure out how to on the IPad.

Nice Day in Dallas

Thank goodness today was back to normal.  I must admit that this campground, Hi-Ho, is not a bad place. We truly are the only ones out of about 150 sites that haven't planted our garden but I must say that the people here are living here and going back and forth to jobs. Only by the grace of God we aren't having to do that too.

We got up this morning and headed into town to see the Sixth Floor Museum where Oswald shot Kennedy from. We must say that this was a nice set up. It was money well spent.  We asked the girl at the front desk of the museum about a quaint local place to have lunch. She suggested we walk right up "there" for about 10 minutes and catch the free trolley to the West End. Have I mentioned this girl was all of 20.  She failed to mention it was up hill and she apparently didn't see our age. We walked it but it was more like 20 minutes. Van said he'd been more than glad to move the car and pay for parking if he had known this. While on the trolley we asked some of the locals if they could suggest a place.  Everyone of them mentioned Mexican.  Now if any of you have been with Van and Me when we are in a Mexican restaurant you know that we have no idea how to order. We have to point to someone's plate and say we want that.  It's really pathetic. So we quietly told them thank you and when the trolley let us off we went looking for a "different" place. Let me go ahead and tell you that there are lots of different names for Mexican restaurants but I think that's all there's been in the whole state of Texas. We've been eating Mexican since Houston.  So, of course, we ate at a local place called Taco Diner. It was good food but we still had to point to someone's plate and say we would like that.  Needless to say, we didn't feel like we ate at the quaint place we were looking for (ha).  Now we had to get back to our car and we knew we weren't going to walk all that way again so we jump on the transit train. It cost us but at this point Van was more than willing to pay the cost.

Then we decided to go see South Fork where they film the show Dallas.  That stupid show has become one of our favorites. If you haven't watched it you haven't watched this new generation of children make J.R. look nice!  It looked just like you see in the show but smaller.  It too was a good choice to go see

Planning on leaving in the morning. We'd like to make it all the way to Natchez, MS but we don't think we can. We will probably stop overnight in Shreveport LA somewhere. As far as we can tell, there really isn't anything there for us to see. We want to spend some time in Natchez and going up towards Tupelo, MS before we see children on Thursday night in Booneville MS.

Well, that's all for now. All of you are so sweet to take time to read our little journey. We sincerely do miss you and will be ready to be home by the end of September.