Sunday, September 14 – Saturday, September 21, 2008
Sunday, September 14
Barbara: An ordinary Sunday morning with a wonderful, much needed sermon at Rim Rock Cowboy Church. Lucky us, we timed our visit over to Edith’s just right to share roast beef sandwiches with Edith, Ernie and Billee. W hat fun it has been to watch Edith try to tame these sons of hers! Billee and I just marvel at the quick wit that seems to flow through the conversation.
Later, it was back to the homestead at the lake for the rest of the day.
Monday, September 15
This was a preparation day from beginning to end! So many things needed to be accomplished if we’re heading towards the east tomorrow.
By the end of the day, Jim and I had an even longer list of things to do for tomorrow. The big issue is to find out how we absentee vote since we won’t be in Texas on election day…that isn’t something we should have left to the last minute! But, we’d have had to remember it to do it sooner. Actually, we were supposed to be back in Mineola for Election Day, but extended our trip when we were invited to spend two weeks working at the Georgia Baptist Conference Center in Toccoa, Georgia, a couple of days after we leave Richmond.
Tuesday, September 16
By 10:00 a.m., every chore necessary to close up Big V was completed; so I left for town in the Vibe to do errands while Jim made a stop at the dump with Big V. Top on the errand list was to find out how to get a form for absentee voting…but, as things sometimes go, the election office at the county seat was closed until 2:00 for precinct training. Okay, get that laundry started!
Ernie drove to Wal-Mart to pick up Jim (that’s where we were meeting Cousin Ladd at 5:30 to hook on the trailer) and take him to the bank for some $$$. That’s a down side to living in Mineola…no Wells Fargo anywhere close.
Eventually, I connected with Dawn at the election office, and to our surprise, Dawn handled everything on the phone so we didn’t have to go to Quitman (the county seat) after all! In fact, she was so personable and efficient; she even answered my morning email letting me know that our absentee request was IN the mail to Mike’s address.
While we were at Edith’s house, I took the opportunity to take some pictures of trees that had fallen in the empty lot beside her. During the storm on Saturday, a large oak tree fell over, pulling its root ball completely out of the ground. As it fell, it sheared off half of a cedar tree close to it and then it fell into another oak tree, breaking off some large branches. After getting the cover secured on the motorcycle, the guys decided they would pose on the tree to give some semblance of perspective.
Sunday, September 14
Barbara: An ordinary Sunday morning with a wonderful, much needed sermon at Rim Rock Cowboy Church. Lucky us, we timed our visit over to Edith’s just right to share roast beef sandwiches with Edith, Ernie and Billee. W hat fun it has been to watch Edith try to tame these sons of hers! Billee and I just marvel at the quick wit that seems to flow through the conversation.
Later, it was back to the homestead at the lake for the rest of the day.
Monday, September 15
This was a preparation day from beginning to end! So many things needed to be accomplished if we’re heading towards the east tomorrow.
By the end of the day, Jim and I had an even longer list of things to do for tomorrow. The big issue is to find out how we absentee vote since we won’t be in Texas on election day…that isn’t something we should have left to the last minute! But, we’d have had to remember it to do it sooner. Actually, we were supposed to be back in Mineola for Election Day, but extended our trip when we were invited to spend two weeks working at the Georgia Baptist Conference Center in Toccoa, Georgia, a couple of days after we leave Richmond.
Tuesday, September 16
By 10:00 a.m., every chore necessary to close up Big V was completed; so I left for town in the Vibe to do errands while Jim made a stop at the dump with Big V. Top on the errand list was to find out how to get a form for absentee voting…but, as things sometimes go, the election office at the county seat was closed until 2:00 for precinct training. Okay, get that laundry started!
Ernie drove to Wal-Mart to pick up Jim (that’s where we were meeting Cousin Ladd at 5:30 to hook on the trailer) and take him to the bank for some $$$. That’s a down side to living in Mineola…no Wells Fargo anywhere close.
Eventually, I connected with Dawn at the election office, and to our surprise, Dawn handled everything on the phone so we didn’t have to go to Quitman (the county seat) after all! In fact, she was so personable and efficient; she even answered my morning email letting me know that our absentee request was IN the mail to Mike’s address.
While we were at Edith’s house, I took the opportunity to take some pictures of trees that had fallen in the empty lot beside her. During the storm on Saturday, a large oak tree fell over, pulling its root ball completely out of the ground. As it fell, it sheared off half of a cedar tree close to it and then it fell into another oak tree, breaking off some large branches. After getting the cover secured on the motorcycle, the guys decided they would pose on the tree to give some semblance of perspective.
Jim: Ernie, Billee, Barbara, and I were waiting at the Wal-Mart parking lot when Ladd came by after work and delivered our big trailer. Ladd had to be someplace else as quickly as he could get there, so as soon as he dropped the trailer, he took off. With instructions from Ernie, I backed Big V up to the trailer and we got it hooked on to the hitch ball. All that was left was to hook up the chains and the power to the lights and electric brakes and we’d be ready to roll.It should have been so simple, but it wasn’t. The hookups went well, but when I checked the lights, nothing happened. Ernie and I started looking at the hookup and found that every connecter between the trailer wiring and the hitch wiring had pulled loose. Evidently, when we were maneuvering the trailer to a parking place at the civic center in July, I made too tight a turn and it pulled the couplers apart.
Once we found the problem, it didn’t take long to install new couplers and re-wrap the wiring bundle. With that accomplished, I hit the light switches and bingo, we had running lights, turn signals, and brake lights.Last chore to take care of was to check the air pressure in the trailer tires. Finding each was down 2 lbs., I borrowed Ernie’s air pump to remedy the situation.
After Ernie led us in a brief prayer, we said goodbye to Ernie and Billee, fired up Big V, and pulled away from the Mineola Wal-Mart at 6:35 p.m., about an hour behind our projected schedule. At the end of Ernie’s prayer Billee added in a special “travel prayer” that their family uses. It goes, “Please don’t let us hit anyone, and don’t let anyone hit us.”
We drove just beyond Bossier City, Louisiana, right at 120 miles, before we found a lot full of big trucks. We nestled in among them…even had space to open the bedroom slide-out, and settled in for the evening, but not before deciding that “Fall has fell” and it was definitely time to put the electric blanket on the bed.
Wednesday, September 17
Barbara: Our parking arrangements last night were not conducive to sleep. With 18-wheelers surrounding us, Jim and I took turns guarding the couch to make sure it didn’t go anywhere; therefore, it was after 9:00 before we finally awoke. Which, as it turned out, was probably a good thing, since we were in for a very interesting day!
First, we rounded a semi-blind curve on I-20 and found two highway workers in our lane (no prior notice, no signs threatening a zillion dollar fine for speeding, nothing!) and with a truck and car in the left lane Jim and Big V were left with nowhere to go. Thank goodness, two things happened - Jim was able to slow down to around 10 mph and the two guys finally got out of the way. Brave souls were they…or maybe just stupid! (We couldn’t help but recall Billee’s prayer of…don’t let them hit anything or anything hit them…thank you, Billee!)
If that wasn't enough adventure for us, we were rambling along when the left front tire on the trailer exploded. However, again God was with us, because Jim kept control of the swerving trailer and was able to pull off to the side of the road with inches to spare from the interstate...Don't even know how long it took us to get the spare on (had to take the car off the trailer, too); but eventually got it taken care of and were able to move on down the road. (Photo on next day’s entry)
We stopped at the next town, Ruston, Louisiana, at a Wal-Mart to buy a spare for the trailer. I did learn something even on this mishap…when the gal said it would be an hour for them to mount and balance the tire, I, in my brilliance, said, “But, we’re not putting it on the trailer…it’s just a spare.” (Hey, at least I gave Jim and the employee a good laugh! How was I to know they still had to “balance” it!?)
While we were waiting, Jim and I decided that we were going to have to rework our plans…since he was pretty bushed from all the excitement. He did take a short catnap (or as he and sister Nancy say, “a power nap.” )
Finally around 4:00 we left Ruston in our rear view mirror. Without further ado, we arrived safely in Vicksburg, Mississippi, at an RV park we had stayed in previously.
Thursday, September 18
Jim: We took our time getting around this morning. All of our travel plans changed last night due to the “great tire incident” and some information we got as we were traveling. Our plans called for us to spend a couple of days in Morrow, Georgia, with Bob and Nell, friends from the Lady Lake, Florida, building project, and then go to Mt. Holly, North Carolina, for a couple more days to visit with Bob and Betty Black, friends of mine from my earliest teaching days.
We knew already that our arrival at Morrow would be delayed because of the time we spent dealing with the tire and the relatively low speeds we drive…not more than 60 mph when towing the trailer, which means a lot lower average speed.
Then, I got an email from Bobby Black, Bob and Betty’s middle son, that his dad was quite ill and that they were just not up to having company at this time. Of course, we understood…I emailed Bobby back and asked him to keep us posted and let him know that maybe we could all get together when we came back through North Carolina after our Richmond visit.
We’ll still spend a couple of days with Bob and Nell and then will adjust our travel schedule so we can still arrive in Virginia for the start of our reservations, which are for September 24.
We got away from Vicksburg around 12:30 p.m. and had a leisurely drive across Mississippi and into Alabama…made a stop for fuel along the way ($3.59 per gallon – much less than what we had budgeted) and a 1-hour stop at the Alabama Welcome Center so I could take a short nap.
While I was napping, Barbara went out for a walk. She noticed some strange looking spiny balls on the ground and asked the folks in the Welcome Center what they were. They told her that she had been standing under a chestnut tree and that the spiny balls were the coverings of ripe chestnuts. Sure enough, after I had joined her inside we then walked back toward Big V where we noticed that one of the balls had broken open to show a new chestnut. All we could think was that Mother Nature sure did provide an effective covering for chestnuts…I can’t think of anyone or anything that would mess with those things in that state.
We left the Welcome Center and drove another 85 miles to a rest area where we decided to stop for the evening. The Alabama rest areas along I-20 are beautiful; they are set well back from the highway so there is minimal noise, and they are surrounded by beautiful tall trees…a perfect setting for camping out along the highway. We even found a spot where we could open the kitchen and bedroom slide-outs for more comfort.After a great home-cooked meal, we settled in for the evening…watched a little TV, read, worked on the journal, and rested up for tomorrow’s journey.
Friday, September 19
By 9:00 a.m. we were on the road to the Atlanta South RV Park about 11 miles from Morrow, where Bob and Nell live.
After a brief stop for lunch (and a drink for Big V…still below budget at $3.89), we continued our trip toward Atlanta and Morrow. The closer we got to Atlanta, the more “interesting” the traffic became. But, we wound our way through the I-20 traffic and were in the correct lane to get onto I-285, so it wasn’t too crazy until we got to the airport traffic. Even then, we managed to get through the tunnels under the runways and still stay in the right lanes to find our way onto I-75 South, where it was only 15 miles or so to the Atlanta South RV Park, our “home” for the weekend.
Once we got parked and set up, we just rested for a couple of hours until Bob and Nell came out to visit. Even though it was less than a year and a half ago that we first met the Brewers, and we have seen them only twice since, it seems that we have known them forever, and our conversations take up where they left off, just as if they were next door neighbors that we saw only yesterday.
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After visiting for a bit, we got in the car and Bob drove us out to The Lighthouse, one of their favorite eating spots. The restaurant was anything but pretentious, but the service and food were excellent. While we continued catching up on each other’s latest news, we enjoyed a wonderful catfish dinner with all the appropriate trimmings.When we were finished with our meal, we went to an outlet mall to walk around and try to find some clothes for the upcoming wedding. There was only one men’s shop in the mall, so it didn’t take long for Bob and me to find that there was nothing there for me. Barbara and Nell looked in several shops, but Barbara, too, came away empty-handed. Oh well, after a day of riding and a big dinner, we needed the exercise more than we needed to buy something.
It was nearly 9:00 when we got back to Big V, so we made arrangements to get together tomorrow morning and they went on home while we went inside to settle down for the night.
We had a great internet connection, so while Barbara started working on a batch Puerto Rican potato salad for tomorrow’s meal, I was able to turn on the computer and catch the audio and video webcast of the Artesia football game. It was homecoming for the Bulldogs and they did it up right by getting back on the winning track and defeating Deming 52 – 0. I have to admit that I gave it up at halftime when the ‘Dogs were ahead 42 – 0. While it was only 8:30 in Artesia, it was 10:30 in Atlanta, and I was ready to call it a day.
Saturday, September 20
Our plan for this morning was to go to bob and Nell’s house around 8:30 and then I would go with Bob to a Sunday school men’s breakfast while Barbara and Nell visited. But, neither of us slept well last night, so we called and postponed the visit until around noon.
When we did get to the house, we found that they had already started working on a meal. Nell was busy in the kitchen, and as soon as we got there and took a tour of the house, Bob and I went outside where he fired up the grill and started barbecuing a batch of country-style ribs.
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Needless to say, we spent about three delightful hours talking, cooking, and eating. The food was beyond wonderful…barbecued ribs, baked beans, hot bread, homemade cole slaw, Puerto Rican potato salad, and plenty of sweet tea, all topped off with slabs of butter pecan cake. It was difficult to get up from the table; not because we wanted to eat more, but because we were too stuffed to move!After getting everything cleaned up and put away, we went shop-looking at a couple of malls, where we did manage to find a couple of things we just couldn’t live without. Then, it was back to the house where Barbara and Nell visited and Bob and I watched the Michigan State/Notre Dame football game.
Before we left, we enjoyed a meal of leftovers (every bit as good as they were earlier in the day). By then, it was getting close to dark, so we said our goodbyes for the evening and drove back to the park so we could get the Vibe back on the trailer and begin making preparations for tomorrow’s departure.
“I keep my friends as misers do their treasures, because, of all things granted us by wisdom, none is greater or better than friendship.” – Pietro Aretino
Travelin’ on,
Jim & Barbara
