Friday, September 4
2:40 pm…We’re rolling again in Big V, after saying our goodbyes to Mother and T.J. Our plan is to be gone until the first week of November, with stops in Marianna, Florida…Richmond, Virginia…and Toccoa, Georgia, along with visits with family and friends along the way.
Our trip today was fairly short (in terms of the miles to travel before reaching Aunt Glennis’s house in Marianna), but it did give us a start and get us on down the road.
We spent the night parked among a bunch of trucks in a lot east of Bossier City…our first night in Big V in over a week, and the first in her on the road since we returned from our spring trip to Toccoa and the Georgia Baptist Conference Center in May…it was good to be “roughing it” again!
Saturday, September 5
After a later than planned start (but we’re not on a time schedule, so that was okay), we continued our trip across I-20 through Louisiana and into Mississippi. We’ve stopped so often in past trips through Vicksburg that I almost had to fight the steering wheel to keep from taking the first exit across the Mississippi River and we kept rolling until we got to Jackson.
We’ve taken several different routes from Jackson to Marianna on past trips and found none of them to be very much fun; in fact, some of them were a gigantic pain, especially in the motor home. So, today, with no real time constraints, we decided to go a little out of the way and drive I-55 from Jackson to its intersection with I-12 in southern Louisiana. As it turned out, it was a good move. I-55 is well maintained and has a variety of colorful and interesting scenery. Our only complaint is that the communities along the way seem to be set back away from the interstate (we found the same thing through Iowa and Minnesota on our recent cycle trip) and it’s very difficult to find the gas stations (and their current prices).
After leaving Mississippi and re-entering Louisiana on the southbound route, we connected with I-12 that runs from Baton Rouge to a point where it connects with I-10 very close to the Mississippi state line. We did eventually find gasoline at a semi-reasonable price and gave Big V a long drink before we continued east into deep southern Mississippi and decided that we’d had enough of the highway for the day.
After getting around rather slowly this morning, we finally got on track and went in to see Glennis. Darren works a late shift and had already gotten home and gone to bed by the time we got in the house.
Later in the morning, Cousin Paula, taking advantage of the holiday break to get away from her teaching duties at Graceville High School, came to Marianna to visit for several hours and have lunch with us. Paula was able to fill us in on her son James, who is now in the graduate school of law at Georgetown University, starting a year of specialty studies to add a couple of certifications to his law degree. We shared that we hoped to get up to Arlington, Virginia, during our time at Richmond to visit with James.
Once again we joined the trucks in a parking lot and spent a quiet and comfortable night, even being able to open vents and windows and turn the generator off once Big V’s interior had cooled down.
Sunday, September 6
Barbara was up much earlier than I was this morning, but let me continue my sound sleep…guess the fresh air was very effective.
We called Glennis and let her know that we would be later than we thought getting to her house and for Darren and her to go ahead with their Sunday morning activities.
We got away around 9:00, but with stops for breakfast and just resting (no rush today) we managed to get through Mississippi, Alabama, and most of the way across the Florida panhandle to Marianna by 3:30. We did stop at the eastside exit to Marianna to refuel Big V and then drove to the house to get the rig all set up and then spend the evening visiting with Glennis and Darren (and enjoy a wonderful evening meal…ham, green beans, potato salad, macaroni and cheese, hot rolls, and lots of sweet iced tea)…forget the diets…we’re in the heart of home-cooking country!
Monday, September 7
Happy Labor Day, America!!!
It was a great day to just sit around and visit with family members that, because of distances, we hardly ever get to see.
Sunday, September 6
Barbara was up much earlier than I was this morning, but let me continue my sound sleep…guess the fresh air was very effective.
We called Glennis and let her know that we would be later than we thought getting to her house and for Darren and her to go ahead with their Sunday morning activities.
We got away around 9:00, but with stops for breakfast and just resting (no rush today) we managed to get through Mississippi, Alabama, and most of the way across the Florida panhandle to Marianna by 3:30. We did stop at the eastside exit to Marianna to refuel Big V and then drove to the house to get the rig all set up and then spend the evening visiting with Glennis and Darren (and enjoy a wonderful evening meal…ham, green beans, potato salad, macaroni and cheese, hot rolls, and lots of sweet iced tea)…forget the diets…we’re in the heart of home-cooking country!
Monday, September 7
Happy Labor Day, America!!!
It was a great day to just sit around and visit with family members that, because of distances, we hardly ever get to see.
After getting around rather slowly this morning, we finally got on track and went in to see Glennis. Darren works a late shift and had already gotten home and gone to bed by the time we got in the house.
Later in the morning, Cousin Paula, taking advantage of the holiday break to get away from her teaching duties at Graceville High School, came to Marianna to visit for several hours and have lunch with us. Paula was able to fill us in on her son James, who is now in the graduate school of law at Georgetown University, starting a year of specialty studies to add a couple of certifications to his law degree. We shared that we hoped to get up to Arlington, Virginia, during our time at Richmond to visit with James.
Paula also shared stories of beginning a new year of teaching science classes at Graceville, pretty much reconfirming our belief that it was a good thing that we retired when we did.All too soon it was time for Paula to return to Graceville, so we took some pictures, said our goodbyes, and promised to stay in touch.
When Paula left we all decided that it was nap time, so we retired to our respective places for a couple of hours and then resumed our visit…even through in a visit to the local WalMart to make it an official day and pick up some groceries for the next couple of days.
Back at the house we began supper and the four of us, Glennis, Darren, Barbara, and I continued our almost non-stop conversation until eventually it was time to say goodnight…not a day in which anything meaningful was accomplished, but a good day for all by any accounting.
Tuesday, September 8
Today we got up early and drove about 80 miles to Cairo (pronounced Kay-row in the south), Georgia, to visit our friends Jimmy and Barbara Payne. We last saw them a few weeks ago in Houston when they were at the M.D. Anderson Cancer Clinic for tests for Jimmy. When we found out that they lived such a short distance from Marianna, we just had to arrange a day trip to catch up with them again.
The trip over was easy and enjoyable, with beautiful scenery all along the way. Of course, the visit itself was even better than the drive. Jimmy and Barbara are wonderful friends and delightful hosts and took the time to show us around their neighborhood and town, as well as treat us to an all-you-can-eat meal at a local seafood restaurant. By the time we were finished eating, it was we who were stuffed, not the flounder!
We spent about three hours visiting Jimmy and Barbara, sharing stories about family and the friends we have met through our Toccoa experiences. As with any visit, we also took our share of pictures to “document” the occasion; and, of course, we had to get some pictures of Jack, Jimmy’s Boston terrier. Jack is just a younger (and skinnier) version of Mother’s Spike.
After saying our goodbyes we climbed into the Vibe and motored back to Marianna to spend the 
afternoon and evening visiting with Glennis and Darren, making a trip to WalMart to get a list of painting supplies to send to Mike and Kelly, and just generally being lazy.
When dinner was over we had some fun with the camera, just taking some random shots of each other and Glennis and Darren. Darren often gets short shrift when it comes to the photos because of his work hours. He leaves at 9:00 each evening and doesn’t get back to the house until nearly 8:00 the next morning. By the time he gets his sleep, there isn’t a lot of time to visit or take pictures.
When our bit of silliness was over, we said goodnight and returned to Big V to read and then drop off to sleep. Tomorrow will be another busy day and maybe tonight we can both get a full night’s sleep!Wednesday, September 9
The business of life goes on no matter who or where one is, and that was pretty much the story of today.
Glennis fixed a waffle breakfast for us this morning, but Barbara was a little late getting there because of handling some monthly personal business. We’ve learned that it is best to tackle those things when and where we can, but we did save her some of the delicious waffles for which Glennis is locally renowned.
When everyone was finally finished and the kitchen was cleaned, we went to our separate corners to do the chores we had set out on our agenda. Barbara worked in Big V; this was our last day for this trip to Marianna, so there was much to be done to get things in order for an early and orderly getaway tomorrow.
Meanwhile, I tackled some plumbing and electrical jobs in the house…replacing the “innards” on the kitchen faucets and changing out an electrical breaker to provide higher amperage to the circuit we use for Big V (a big “thank you” goes out to our friend Bob Royar for teaching me how to accomplish this little chore without turning it into a shocking experience).. I also got some help from Barbara in disconnecting the water hose to the washing machine and cleaning out the inlet screen to allow a faster flow of water to the drum.
No afternoon is complete without at least a short nap, and that’s about what we had today…didn’t want to not be able to sleep the night before an early departure.
Barbara, Glennis, and I visited later in the afternoon while Darren fired up the grill and cooked a stack of his world famous hamburgers and cheeseburgers. After this week we have promised to avoid scales at every opportunity. The meal was delicious, even if Darren and I did say so ourselves, and we didn’t get any complaints from Barbara and Glennis.
The kitchen cleanup went smoothly and then we retired to the living room to watch the presidential address to Congress. Most of you know our politics, but we watched it to the bitter end anyway (except for the times when Barbara was outside fielding some pho
ne calls.It’s been a wonderful visit and we promised Glennis that we would return sooner next time…a promise that should be easier to keep when starting the trip from Mineola and having several different scenic routes to take. Who knows, maybe next time we’ll be burning up these southern roads on the motorcycle!
Thursday, September 10
What can we say about a basic travel day? Well, let’s see…the alarm went off at 5:00 (wanted to get as early a start as possible for the long drive) and by 6:00 we had everything disconnected and packed away and were in the house to say goodbye to Glennis.
We pulled away from the house at 6:15 and drove north to Dothan, Alabama, and then to Columbus, Georgia, where we hooked up with I-185 North. That road eventually took us to I-85 about 45 miles south of Atlanta and from there we just powered our way right on through the center of the city. We’d both rather take a whipping rather than get anywhere close to Atlanta in a vehicle, but we didn’t have much in the way of choices, so we just made the best of it.
To tell the truth, it wasn’t as bad going through downtown as it could have been. I made the correct lane choices, and from there all we had to do was stay behind the truck in front of us and ahead of the truck behind us until we emerged unscathed on the northeast outskirts of the city. We stayed on I-85 until we got to the Lavonia exit (highway 17) and then broke away for the short ride to Toccoa and the Georgia Baptist Conference Center.
Our original plan called for us to leave Big V in Marianna and return to pick it up when we were finished visiting Mike and Kelly in Richmond, but when we found that Glennis was going to be visiting Mother and T.J. in Mineola when we came back to Marianna, we contacted Bill Wheeler, manager of the conference center to see if we could come on to Toccoa, work a few days, and then leave Big V parked in the campground while we went to Richmond.
Bill immediately wrote back and said that of course we could come to the conference center and set up there, so that became the new plan and the reason for our travel today. It was a beautiful day for driving…light clouds and lower than usual temperatures (we drove most of the day with the AC off and the windows open) and, with a few rest stops and a stop to refuel gasoline and propane tanks, we made it to the conference center at 3:00 pm EDT, checked in, and went to the campground to set up Big V and settle in for a quiet evening on a site overlooking beautiful Lake Louise.
Friday, September 11
What a beautiful place to wake up!!! It was another gorgeous North Georgia morning and we could hardly wait to make the most of it.
We drove down the hill from the campground to the conference center to check in with Bill and let him know we were available if he needed extra hands for a couple of days. Bill said the maintenance crew was in good shape, but we should check with Eric in the dining hall to see if he had anything for us.
As we entered the dining hall we were greeted like royalty by chefs Eric and Joe and the rest of the crew. It turned out that they were short-handed today and could put us to work immediately. So, we changed into our kitchen shoes, put on aprons, and started to work. There was bacon to cook, pan, and put away, and Joe needed 500 lunchmeat sandwiches built for tomorrow’s lunch.
In no time at all we felt as if we had never left Toccoa last spring as we quickly moved into the rhythm of a busy kitchen, bobbing and weaving and trying to not collide with other workers. Barbara and I started taking care of all the bacon so we could have some counter room to begin making sandwiches.When the bacon was finished, we laid out the ingredients for sandwiches and went to work on them. We didn’t know it before today, but there is an exact order to building the sandwiches…after separating the tops and bottoms of the buns, we laid out 24 bottom pieces in a flat pan, peeled off three thin pieces of lunchmeat (turkey, ham, or roast beef) and laid them on the bun. Then, we tore large leaves of lettuce into three pieces, laid one piece on the top slice of lunchmeat, and then put a slice of Swiss cheese on top of the lettuce before setting the top of the bun in place. When all 24 sandwiches were made, we transferred them to a deeper pan, covered it with plastic wrap, put it in the walk-in refrigerator, and started the process over (and over, and over, and…).
Almost before we realized it, it was time to join the staff and a handful of guests for the noon meal, an event that finally gave us a chance to visit with old friends and catch up on each other’s stories. All good things must come to an end, though, and the afternoon found us putting in a couple more hours of sandwich building before we met our quota for the day and decided that we needed to take a beautiful afternoon off and go exploring.
It was well after dark when we returned to the campground, only to find that the gates were closed and locked. I had asked about a key when we registered, but was told that it wouldn’t be necessary as they weren’t locking the gates these days…isn’t communication wonderful?!
It really wasn’t a big problem though…there was a big event going on in the conference center tonight and I knew there was a security guard on duty, so we drove on down to the King Hotel and told our sad story to the ladies in the office. They quickly roused the security guard and asked him to unlock the campground gates and leave them unlocked for the rest of the week. We got to the gates about the same time as the guard and were soon on our way up the hill to find Big V and settle down for a good night’s sleep.
Saturday, September 12
When we awoke this morning we had no idea of how busy a day it was going to be. After a leisurely cup of coffee for me and a quick check of email, we wandered down the hill to the dining hall to see what was up for the day. Joe was waiting for us and let me know that they had been given a count change on the sandwiches and he needed another hundred sandwiches made before 11:00 this morning.
Barbara had already committed to helping Heidi with desserts, so I grabbed all the sandwich ingredients out of the refrigerator and went to work, finishing the last sandwich just in time to start getting them out to the serving lines for the lunch rush, and then helping Barbara and one of the other staff members set up the dessert station.
I spent the lunch rush getting sandwiches to the serving lines and occasionally taking clean trays from the dishwashing room to the front of the lines. Meanwhile, Barbara was dishing up a delicious French onion soup and making sure the dessert station stayed full of the goodies that she had helped Heidi make.
Lunch was a wild rush, but also a very satisfying experience. There is a great sense of accomplishment in watching 500 people enjoy their dining experience and in having some of them stop by on their way out to tell us how much they enjoyed the meal.
We worked until three o’clock before calling it a day and heading back up the hill to begin packing the Vibe with all the things we would need for our trip to Richmond to help Mike and Kelly get moved into their new house. We also had to get Big V squared away so we could close her up before we left and still have her ready to move in when we return from Richmond…just way too many things to do today!
We had promised Heidi that we would come to the junior high football game in Toccoa tonight to meet her husband Curtis and watch her oldest daughter perform with the flag team at halftime. So, we started off to town and the stadium, but first stopped at the bottom of the hill to visit Eric, his wife Ruth, their daughter Kate, and Eric’s mother, who is visiting with them. We had all been working so hard for these two days that we really hadn’t had time to visit, but we promised that we’d spend more time together when we return from Richmond to spend a couple of weeks before the volunteer team arrives.
When we awoke this morning we had no idea of how busy a day it was going to be. After a leisurely cup of coffee for me and a quick check of email, we wandered down the hill to the dining hall to see what was up for the day. Joe was waiting for us and let me know that they had been given a count change on the sandwiches and he needed another hundred sandwiches made before 11:00 this morning.
Barbara had already committed to helping Heidi with desserts, so I grabbed all the sandwich ingredients out of the refrigerator and went to work, finishing the last sandwich just in time to start getting them out to the serving lines for the lunch rush, and then helping Barbara and one of the other staff members set up the dessert station.
I spent the lunch rush getting sandwiches to the serving lines and occasionally taking clean trays from the dishwashing room to the front of the lines. Meanwhile, Barbara was dishing up a delicious French onion soup and making sure the dessert station stayed full of the goodies that she had helped Heidi make.
Lunch was a wild rush, but also a very satisfying experience. There is a great sense of accomplishment in watching 500 people enjoy their dining experience and in having some of them stop by on their way out to tell us how much they enjoyed the meal.
We worked until three o’clock before calling it a day and heading back up the hill to begin packing the Vibe with all the things we would need for our trip to Richmond to help Mike and Kelly get moved into their new house. We also had to get Big V squared away so we could close her up before we left and still have her ready to move in when we return from Richmond…just way too many things to do today!We had promised Heidi that we would come to the junior high football game in Toccoa tonight to meet her husband Curtis and watch her oldest daughter perform with the flag team at halftime. So, we started off to town and the stadium, but first stopped at the bottom of the hill to visit Eric, his wife Ruth, their daughter Kate, and Eric’s mother, who is visiting with them. We had all been working so hard for these two days that we really hadn’t had time to visit, but we promised that we’d spend more time together when we return from Richmond to spend a couple of weeks before the volunteer team arrives.
We then got to the stadium in time to watch the opening kickoff (which was run back for a touchdown by the visiting team) and to visit with Heidi and her family. The game wasn’t very good, but the band played well and the flag team was a very pleasant surprise as they presented a well-choreographed and almost flawlessly executed performance. Since we needed to be up early tomorrow morning, we said our goodbyes, promised to spend some more time with them when we get back from Richmond (maybe even a boat ride or two and a little fishing).
After a short ride back to the conference center and campground, we got back into Big V and settled in for a few hours of good sleep before hitting the road once again tomorrow morning.
“The language of friendship is not words, but meanings.” – Henry David Thoreau
From the shores of Lake Louise outside of Toccoa, Georgia,
Jim/Dad/Gramps and Barbara/Mom/Grams
