Thursday, April 1
It's April Fools Day!!!
After spending the morning packing and loading the car, we prepared the house for an extended absence and drove to Quitman for a doctor appointment for Barbara. She had to see Dr. Martinez (who graciously granted her a last minute appointment) before she could get a new refill of some of her meds.
Dr. Martinez gave Barbara a clean bill of health and then wished us well as we left the hospital, got into a packed car, and headed north toward Sulphur Springs and Paris, Texas, and then to McAlister, Oklahoma, via the Indian Nation Turnpike, before turning off on U.S. 69 North.
We were wrung out from a morning of packing and loading, and an afternoon of driving, so we stopped at a Best Western we really like in Muskogee to get a good night's rest before continuing our trip.
Friday, April 2
Happy Anniversary to Us!!!...22 years and counting!
We wanted to get an early start so we could be at Olathe Ford and RV to ransom Big V as soon as possible, so we were up well before dark-thirty and on the road toward Olathe. It was a dark and chilly morning, not very conducive to good photography, but Barbara gave it her best shot, which according to her isn't saying a lot!
We got into Olathe in time to meet Whitney, Jim, and Jimmy for brunch at a nice eatery near their home (no photos, because we all looked a little rough), and then we said our goodbyes and drove to Gardner to get Big V.
After going over the repairs report with the crew at Olathe Ford & RV, we paid out, got the keys, hooked the car to the tow system, and took off across the interstate system through Kansas City until we caught I-40 and headed east. We had hoped to get close to St. Louis, but traffic and weather conditions slowed us down, so when we got close to Columbia, Missouri, Barbara started looking at our guide book for an RV park in the area.
It looked like Cottonwoods RV Park would be our best bet for a place to stay tonight, so we left I-40, drove to the north side of Columbia, and checked in, getting a load of propane before going to our site and setting Big V up for housekeeping.
Now, we have a division of duties when we set up camp. Barbara levels the rig, opens the slide-outs, and gets the utilities set up inside, while I go outside to plug in the shoreline and hook up the water and sewer connections.
When I had finished my duties outside, Barbara called out and said to turn on the electricity. I told her it was on, and she replied that there wasn't any electricity in the house. After checking everything twice outside, I went back inside to find that we did have electricity, but one of the meters wasn't reading correctly, and none of our appliances were working.
I knew that there could possibly be a problem at our main electrical connection, so I asked the management of the park to send someone to check the voltage at their post, but that was in order. Further investigation showed that we had 50 amps coming in, but none of the appliances would work, even though the outlets were live.
We later called our friends Sonny and Carol Bade, explained our situation, and asked for their advice. After going checking everything again while Sonny gave instructions, we determined that the appliances (microwave-convection oven, TV, clock radio, and TV signal converters were all fried). There was nothing to do but plan to get up in the morning and return to Gardner to face the service manager and his crew to find out what happened.
Fried appliances...not a pretty sight...
This was not the way we planned to start this Big V adventure, but we made the best of it and then settled in to get as good a rest as we could under the circumstances.
Sunday, April 3
When we got up this morning, we voted on whether to leave early and return to the Olathe area or find a church to attend before leaving. Barbara found a church that was relatively close to the campground, so we drove the short distance to Faith Baptist Church and discovered that it was exactly the place we needed to be. The people were friendly, we enjoyed the music, and the pastor's sermon was exactly what we needed.
The two main points that made us sit up and listen were that God is the only one who can make the impossible possible, and that a person's faith has to be at least one percent greater than his fear. Since we were dealing with a seemingly impossible situation and our fear factor was pretty much out of control, this hit us where we lived, and we felt much better about our decision to return to the shop in Gardner, rather than going toward St. Louis and hoping to find someplace that could help us get the electrical problems in Big V corrected.
With much lighter hearts, we returned to the campground, hooked the car to Big V, and headed back west toward Kansas City. The wind was rough and the traffic was a little rugged, but we made it safely back to Rutlander Outpost, a campground south of Olathe on U.S. 69 in a little town named Louisburg which is relatively close to Gardner.
Since our calendar (given to us by Jerry and Nancy) said to "set aside an hour today to do something that makes you happy," we decided to go take crazy photos even though it was very windy outside!
Monday, April 4
We were up early enough to enjoy a light breakfast before driving Big V away from the campground and taking the back roads to Gardner.
We pulled into the parking lot at Olathe Ford and RV just as the service department was opening, and the first person we saw before entering the building was the young man who had done the electrical work on Big V last week. We explained our problem to him and he made the comment that he knew we were getting 220 volts to the system, but that he had noticed that the meter inside wasn't showing we were getting 50 amps.
We went inside to talk to the service manager, who immediately suggested that we might have caused a problem when we hooked up at the campground in Columbia and that there wasn't any way to prove that our electrical system wasn't working properly when we left. When we told him what the technician had said about the meter, his face clouded and he began testing the system.
To make a long story short, our fear had now been replaced by faith. Further inspection showed that it was highly probable that when the shoreline was replaced, a surge of electricity burned two holes in a primary electrical panel and fried everything that was plugged in except the main television set in the front of the coach. Within an hour, the panel was replaced, the meters were all working properly, and we were ready to hit the road again.
We explained that we were already behind schedule on our trip to Toccoa and we couldn't leave Big V to get a replacement microwave/convection oven, so the service manager told us that when our trip was over to find a shop close to Mineola, get an estimate on the replacement cost, and notify him for approval. By now, he was much more genial, and we parted on good terms as we left for the next stage of our adventure.
We returned to Louisburg, stopped to fill Big V's thirsty fuel tank, and then headed south on U.S. 69 for a few miles before taking some back roads east through Kansas and then into Missouri. Feeling much more comfortable about the trip and very grateful for the way the morning had gone, we motored on down the roads while Barbara took pictures of the scenery along our way.
After stopping for another fill-up in Springfield, Missouri, we drove to the Ozark Highlands mobile home community to set up and spend the night. We quickly discovered that it was not a highly rated facility, but it had what we needed for the night. Everything was normal again, except that we had to relearn using a crock pot, and electric skillet, and a toaster oven to do all our cooking. Along with that, we had to relearn which circuits to use so we wouldn't blow the circuit breakers. Oh well, we've said that life is a learning experience, so if we're still learning, we must still be living, and that's a good thing!
Tuesday, April 5
Today was a l-o-n-g travel day...much longer than we wanted, but a necessity because of the time we had already lost.
We headed east out of Springfield, enjoying good weather, moderate traffic, and some beautiful scenery.
The highway got narrower and a little trickier as we approached the confluence of the Mississippi and Ohio rivers. I missed a turnoff and we made a short, unintentional trip into Cairo, Illinois, before turning around and crossing a couple of very narrow bridges to get into Ohio and continue our journey.
We continued the drive, stopping at the Tennessee Welcome Center for a much-needed break.
Then we continued toward Nashville and what may possibly have been the world's largest traffic jam. With three interstate highways intersecting and Friday afternoon traffic filling all of them, it became apparent that we were not going to be making very good time. In fact, it took us over two hours to go nearly thirty miles.
We were both physically and mentally exhausted by the time we finally cleared the Nashville are, but we continued for another hour to Manchester, where we pulled in to a KOA campground and collapsed for the night.
Wednesday, April 6
We managed to get out of Manchester with only minimal difficulties (due mostly to construction on the access road leading from the campground to the interstate highway).
Traffic was manageable and we made good time as we drove toward Chattanooga and enjoyed the scenery (except for the time an 18-wheeler came alongside of us and began cutting into our lane, forcing me to swerve into the breakdown lane).
After leaving Chattanooga, we journeyed south on I-75 to Atlanta, where we caught I-285 east to I-85 North, and then I-985 North to Gainesville and then into Toccoa, where we finally reached our Big V destination at the Georgia Baptist Conference Center campground.
When my nephew, Gary Dan Little (son of my late brother, Jerry Little) and his wife, Teresa, heard that we were going to be in Toccoa, they decided to come up for a mini-vacation with their sons, Caiden and Colson.
We knew we wouldn't have much visitation time this evening, so we arranged to meet them for dinner...only to find out that the main restaurants in Toccoa (all both of them) were closed on Wednesday nights. So, we found M and J's Country Cooking, a little mom and pop diner out on the fringes of town and enjoyed one of the best meals we've had in a long time (outside of Big V, that is). The food was wonderful, as was the company. We hadn't seen the two boys in several years, so it was fun getting caught up with them.
The kids had to get back to their motel several miles away and we were ready to hit the hay, so we said our good-nights and returned to the campground and Big V for some serious down time.
Thursday, April 7
One of our favorite places to visit when we are in the area is Goats On The Roof, a tourist attraction for sure, but fun and entertaining, especially for the young ones. We met the kids at GOTR and the fun and photo-taking began...
After a couple of hours of entertaining the kids and being entertained by the goats, we ate lunch at the little restaurant and then drove back to Toccoa so the kids could see where we worked and lived when we do our volunteer work at the Georgia Baptist Conference Center.
The first stop was at the dining hall, and then we went to the King Hotel to show them some of the facilities...
Then, we drove back up to the campgrounds to show off our living quarters...
After wandering around the campground and watching Caiden and Colson do their exploration bit, we all drove to downtown Toccoa to enjoy a family meal at Cornerstone X-Factor Restaurant. The food was great and we enjoyed every minute of the visit, but the weather was turning bad and the kids had to drive back to Atlanta, so we said our goodbyes, ran to our respective cars, and headed out to our homes.
Friday, April 8
The GBCC campground on Lake Louise is a wonderful place for photography. With each moment (or step), the view takes on a different perspective.
I was up early this morning and took the photo on the left during the dawn light. Not knowing what I had done, Barbara took much the same shot (on the right) about three hours later.
Today was a day we set aside just for ourselves. We did some laundry at the campground laundry room, and accomplished a major house cleaning in Big V. One of the big chores was to remove the fried appliances (TV, signal adaptor, DVD/VHS player, and clock radio) from their cabinet in the bedroom and throwing them all away. The most difficult part was maneuvering the TV (which seemed to weigh about a ton and a half) and getting it to the car to haul to the dumpster. That left a big gap in the cabinet, but Barbara saw the potential for a handy-dandy cabinet and fashioned some curtains to go over the opening. We then filled the cabinet with CD's and other things that didn't have a regular storage place and, in the end, it looked just like it was designed that way to begin with.
By the end of the day, we had everything set up and/or stored just the way we wanted it and settled down for a quiet evening of doing nothing in particular.
This evening we received some photos of son-in-law Ryan and soon-to-be grandson Kaiden doing some fishing in Burleson...
Saturday, April 9
When all the last minute work of closing Big V and packing the car was finished, we strapped ourselves into the car and began the drive to Midlothian, Virginia, to see Mike, Kelly, Ava, Jack, and our newest grandson, Benjamin.
Aside from a couple of stretches of road maintenance, the drive was nothing out of the ordinary. And, because we've made this trip so many times in the past, we didn't bother to break out a camera until we saw the one sight we not only wanted, but needed to see for confirmation that we were getting close...
The kids were busy with activities away from the house when we arrived, so we were able to take our time unloading the car and getting our "stuff" unpacked and put away when we got to the house.
When all was ready and we had rested a bit, we drove up U.S. 360 to find one of our favorite take-out places, Panda Express, to get something to take back to the house and eat. Along the way, Barbara twisted, turned, and craned her neck to get this shot of an American flag that we pass each day that we drive through Midlothian.
Later, Mike and the kids came home and the fun and photos began...
This was our first face-to-face meeting with Benjamin, who welcomed us with open arms and a beaming smile (or maybe he was excited to get the new dancing/singing stuffed animal.
Kelly didn't arrive until much later, but we took every opportunity that time and circumstance allowed to get some photos.
Things got pretty hectic for a few hours after Kelly returned and the kids started the evening routine, so the cameras and computers got set aside for a bit. When everything settled down and we got a chance to check our mail, we found another photo of Kaiden (Ryan must have told him to go fly a kite), and a photo of our Friday Night church bunch who reminded us that they were thinking of us as they enjoyed an evening out.
Sunday, April 10
Today was a typical Sunday for the family. We got up relatively early and everyone got dressed and ready for church. We figured we'd take two cars, but Mike arranged their SUV so all of us could fit comfortably, and we headed out to The Village Church, where we met and visited with some of their friends and heard a wonderful praise and worship service. There is no question about where we would attend church if life somehow scooped us up and dropped us in the Richmond, Virginia, area!
After lunch we all had some serious nap time and then went out for a walk (for the adults) and a bike ride (for Ava and Jack). Grams and Gramps took turns pushing Benjamin and helping Ava and Jack stayed balanced on their bikes.
Of course, Mike and Kelly were always in the picture (so to speak)...
The kids treated us to a Japanese dining experience this evening...lots of fun and good eating for everyone!
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By the end of the day, we were all exhausted. Mike and Kelly got the kids through their baths and ready for bed, we all joined together while the kids listened to some favorite songs and said prayers, and soon after, we all headed to bed...tired, but happy.
Monday, April 11
While we were driving to Midlothian on Saturday, we got word that my former wife, Barbara Jean, had been taken to a hospital in Lawrence, Kansas, in critical condition. Without knowing the full implications of the situation, we talked it over with Mike and Kelly and everyone agreed that Mike should get back to Kansas as soon as possible to join Heather and Whitney with their mother. We would be here all week to help Kelly with the kids, so nearly all bases were covered.
This was one of Ava's pre-school days, so she went to one place while Jack and Benjamin went to Ms. Jodie's for daycare. At noon, we picked Ava up and took her to Miss Jodie's for the afternoon while we returned to the house to take a nap and get supper started.
Later, we picked up Ava and Jack and took them to a nearby playground to give them a chance to work off a little steam...
While we were driving back to the house, Gramsy took this photo of one of the many flags that can be seen flying daily in this area...
Kelly got Benjamin when she got off work, so by the evening, we were all together again (except for Mike, who flew out of the Richmond airport this afternoon).
The kids are wonderful about following their evening routine and we thoroughly enjoyed listening to them talking about their day, hearing their music, and watching and listening as they said their prayers before heading off to bed.
Benjamin didn't have much to say about his day, but we figured it must have been a pretty good one judging by his mood this evening.
Tuesday, April 12
Kelly got away to work this morning and then we took care of getting all three kids to Ms. Jodie's house.
On the way back, we treated ourselves to a Sonic break, a quick trip to Walmart (not that it was much of a treat), and then returned to the house to do laundry and some light housekeeping (as well as a little photography around the area).
Later, we picked the kids up and returned them to the house to get everyone fed and ready for Kelly and the little ones to go to their regular Tuesday night church group.
Wednesday, April 13
Tragedy struck the household this morning as we discovered early that the hot water heater had died. We had lukewarm water for a few minutes, and then nothing but (what seemed like) ice water.
We let Mike know what was going on and he made arrangements for a plumber friend of his to come out sometime during the day and get the water heater fixed or replaced.
Meanwhile, life went on pretty much as usual (except for the cold showers). Well, there was one little glitch in the works...In all the hustle and bustle of switching cars around, Kelly left for work with both sets of the keys to the car we were supposed to use to take the kids this morning. Luckily, we got to her before she had gone very far and she was able to get a set of keys back to us without getting too far behind schedule.
We took Ava to pre-school and then drove the boys back across town to Ms. Jodie's place for their daily routine. Our first photo of the day was of Benjamin all strapped into the car seat and ready to roll...
When Ava was finished at pre-school, we took her on some "date-day" activities. First was lunch at Arby's, one of her most-favorite places to eat.
Then, we were off to Cracker Barrel for some serious Gramsy and Ava shopping time.
Gramsy and Ava stayed at home while I got Jack from Ms. Jodie's place. He and I went to Arby's, and then rode up the street a bit to Target for our own shopping spree.
Kelly picked Benjamin up from daycare on her way home and when we were all together again (and the plumbers were finishing installing a new water heater), Jack and Ava showed off their new purchases and lounged around with Gramsy.
Thursday, April 14
We took the kids to daycare early this morning and then went out to do some big-city shopping. Big-city for us is going to Kohl's (which we don't have in Mineola), but for some reason, almost always has something we can't live without at the Midlothian store. Barbara found a couple of really nice jackets, and I found a couple of hats, so we declared our shopping trip to be a great success.
When we returned to the house, we fired up the washer and drier to help get caught up on laundry before Mike returned.
Tonight we treated Kelly and the kids to a meal at Jersey Mike's, a sub sandwich shop that we really like. We topped off the meal with Sweet Frog yogurt, a family favorite.
And then it was back to the house for some quiet time and the evening routine...
Friday, April 15
The normal Friday schedule is that Mike takes Jack and Benjamin to Ms. Jodie's and then Ava rides to the office with him until time for her to walk across the parking lot from Mike's office to pre-school.
With Mike gone this week, we had to improvise a bit while trying to stay close to the kids' routine.
This morning we took the little ones to Ms. Jodie's and then took Ava out for a special treat...breakfast at Panera with Gramsy and Gramps.
After we finished at Panera, we got back in the car and turned the camera over to Ava to take some pictures while we drove her to school.
We picked Ava up at noon and took her back to Miss Jodie's, and then we went to the house to try to make some sense of all of our stuff and begin packing for our return trip to Toccoa on Sunday.
When we got the kids from Ms. Jodie's, we drove out to Monkey Joe's, a bouncy-house playground that they really love. To say they had a good time would be a huge understatement. Just watching them play wore us out!
On the way home, we stopped at Pizza Hut for a couple of pizzas to take back to the house for supper, and then settled into the evening routine.
Saturday, April 16
Our last day with Kelly and the kids.
For a real change of pace this morning, we followed Kelly west of town on U.S. 360 to a farmers market. The highlight of the adventure was a trip to the donut truck, where we bought some of the largest donuts we've ever seen.
Ava spent most of the time with Kelly and Benjamin, while Jack led us on some wild adventures around the running track that surrounds the market area.
We even splurged and bought some specialty sausages to use later for making kolaches back at the Toccoa kitchen.
Kelly and Ava had a birthday party to attend this afternoon, so Gramsy and Gramps were entertained for a couple of hours by Jack and Benjamin. Later, when Kelly and Ava returned home, we all went to one of the local parks for long walks and playtime.
While we were moving the car around this afternoon, we noticed that the Vances lived right across the street from the Littles. We thought that was funny, as our pastor and his family are also the Vances. Barbara took these photos and created a collage to share with pastor Craig Vance and his family.
Our last evening with Kelly and the kids was bittersweet. With Mike being gone to be with his mother and sisters for the week, our routines and activities were somewhat altered, but the kids were real troupers and made it a fun week for us anyway. We told the little ones that we'd be leaving before they would wake up tomorrow morning, so they shared special "goodbye" love with us tonight.
It was a wonderful visit, but with Mike coming home tomorrow and work awaiting us at Toccoa, it was time to go.
Sunday, April 17
We were up early, early this morning, well before Kelly and the kids got up. After finishing the packing and loading the car, we left some special notes for the kids and then headed back toward Toccoa.
Since our goal was to get back to Big V as quickly (and safely) as possible, and since this is the same trip we've made a number of times, we didn't even break out the cameras until we got back to the campground and unpacked after a long, long day of travel.
In view of all that has happened in the last two and a half weeks, we thought this was the perfect quote for this blog:
From our Toccoa home at the Georgia Baptist Conference Center Campground,
Jim/Dad/Gramps and Barbara/Mom/Grams/Gramsy
After spending the morning packing and loading the car, we prepared the house for an extended absence and drove to Quitman for a doctor appointment for Barbara. She had to see Dr. Martinez (who graciously granted her a last minute appointment) before she could get a new refill of some of her meds.
Dr. Martinez gave Barbara a clean bill of health and then wished us well as we left the hospital, got into a packed car, and headed north toward Sulphur Springs and Paris, Texas, and then to McAlister, Oklahoma, via the Indian Nation Turnpike, before turning off on U.S. 69 North.
We were wrung out from a morning of packing and loading, and an afternoon of driving, so we stopped at a Best Western we really like in Muskogee to get a good night's rest before continuing our trip.
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Friday, April 2
Happy Anniversary to Us!!!...22 years and counting!
We wanted to get an early start so we could be at Olathe Ford and RV to ransom Big V as soon as possible, so we were up well before dark-thirty and on the road toward Olathe. It was a dark and chilly morning, not very conducive to good photography, but Barbara gave it her best shot, which according to her isn't saying a lot!
We got into Olathe in time to meet Whitney, Jim, and Jimmy for brunch at a nice eatery near their home (no photos, because we all looked a little rough), and then we said our goodbyes and drove to Gardner to get Big V.
After going over the repairs report with the crew at Olathe Ford & RV, we paid out, got the keys, hooked the car to the tow system, and took off across the interstate system through Kansas City until we caught I-40 and headed east. We had hoped to get close to St. Louis, but traffic and weather conditions slowed us down, so when we got close to Columbia, Missouri, Barbara started looking at our guide book for an RV park in the area.
It looked like Cottonwoods RV Park would be our best bet for a place to stay tonight, so we left I-40, drove to the north side of Columbia, and checked in, getting a load of propane before going to our site and setting Big V up for housekeeping.
Now, we have a division of duties when we set up camp. Barbara levels the rig, opens the slide-outs, and gets the utilities set up inside, while I go outside to plug in the shoreline and hook up the water and sewer connections.
When I had finished my duties outside, Barbara called out and said to turn on the electricity. I told her it was on, and she replied that there wasn't any electricity in the house. After checking everything twice outside, I went back inside to find that we did have electricity, but one of the meters wasn't reading correctly, and none of our appliances were working.
I knew that there could possibly be a problem at our main electrical connection, so I asked the management of the park to send someone to check the voltage at their post, but that was in order. Further investigation showed that we had 50 amps coming in, but none of the appliances would work, even though the outlets were live.
We later called our friends Sonny and Carol Bade, explained our situation, and asked for their advice. After going checking everything again while Sonny gave instructions, we determined that the appliances (microwave-convection oven, TV, clock radio, and TV signal converters were all fried). There was nothing to do but plan to get up in the morning and return to Gardner to face the service manager and his crew to find out what happened.
Fried appliances...not a pretty sight...
This was not the way we planned to start this Big V adventure, but we made the best of it and then settled in to get as good a rest as we could under the circumstances.
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Sunday, April 3
When we got up this morning, we voted on whether to leave early and return to the Olathe area or find a church to attend before leaving. Barbara found a church that was relatively close to the campground, so we drove the short distance to Faith Baptist Church and discovered that it was exactly the place we needed to be. The people were friendly, we enjoyed the music, and the pastor's sermon was exactly what we needed.
The two main points that made us sit up and listen were that God is the only one who can make the impossible possible, and that a person's faith has to be at least one percent greater than his fear. Since we were dealing with a seemingly impossible situation and our fear factor was pretty much out of control, this hit us where we lived, and we felt much better about our decision to return to the shop in Gardner, rather than going toward St. Louis and hoping to find someplace that could help us get the electrical problems in Big V corrected.
With much lighter hearts, we returned to the campground, hooked the car to Big V, and headed back west toward Kansas City. The wind was rough and the traffic was a little rugged, but we made it safely back to Rutlander Outpost, a campground south of Olathe on U.S. 69 in a little town named Louisburg which is relatively close to Gardner.
Since our calendar (given to us by Jerry and Nancy) said to "set aside an hour today to do something that makes you happy," we decided to go take crazy photos even though it was very windy outside!
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Monday, April 4
We were up early enough to enjoy a light breakfast before driving Big V away from the campground and taking the back roads to Gardner.
We pulled into the parking lot at Olathe Ford and RV just as the service department was opening, and the first person we saw before entering the building was the young man who had done the electrical work on Big V last week. We explained our problem to him and he made the comment that he knew we were getting 220 volts to the system, but that he had noticed that the meter inside wasn't showing we were getting 50 amps.
We went inside to talk to the service manager, who immediately suggested that we might have caused a problem when we hooked up at the campground in Columbia and that there wasn't any way to prove that our electrical system wasn't working properly when we left. When we told him what the technician had said about the meter, his face clouded and he began testing the system.
To make a long story short, our fear had now been replaced by faith. Further inspection showed that it was highly probable that when the shoreline was replaced, a surge of electricity burned two holes in a primary electrical panel and fried everything that was plugged in except the main television set in the front of the coach. Within an hour, the panel was replaced, the meters were all working properly, and we were ready to hit the road again.
We explained that we were already behind schedule on our trip to Toccoa and we couldn't leave Big V to get a replacement microwave/convection oven, so the service manager told us that when our trip was over to find a shop close to Mineola, get an estimate on the replacement cost, and notify him for approval. By now, he was much more genial, and we parted on good terms as we left for the next stage of our adventure.
We returned to Louisburg, stopped to fill Big V's thirsty fuel tank, and then headed south on U.S. 69 for a few miles before taking some back roads east through Kansas and then into Missouri. Feeling much more comfortable about the trip and very grateful for the way the morning had gone, we motored on down the roads while Barbara took pictures of the scenery along our way.
After stopping for another fill-up in Springfield, Missouri, we drove to the Ozark Highlands mobile home community to set up and spend the night. We quickly discovered that it was not a highly rated facility, but it had what we needed for the night. Everything was normal again, except that we had to relearn using a crock pot, and electric skillet, and a toaster oven to do all our cooking. Along with that, we had to relearn which circuits to use so we wouldn't blow the circuit breakers. Oh well, we've said that life is a learning experience, so if we're still learning, we must still be living, and that's a good thing!
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Tuesday, April 5
Today was a l-o-n-g travel day...much longer than we wanted, but a necessity because of the time we had already lost.
We headed east out of Springfield, enjoying good weather, moderate traffic, and some beautiful scenery.
The highway got narrower and a little trickier as we approached the confluence of the Mississippi and Ohio rivers. I missed a turnoff and we made a short, unintentional trip into Cairo, Illinois, before turning around and crossing a couple of very narrow bridges to get into Ohio and continue our journey.
We continued the drive, stopping at the Tennessee Welcome Center for a much-needed break.
Then we continued toward Nashville and what may possibly have been the world's largest traffic jam. With three interstate highways intersecting and Friday afternoon traffic filling all of them, it became apparent that we were not going to be making very good time. In fact, it took us over two hours to go nearly thirty miles.
We were both physically and mentally exhausted by the time we finally cleared the Nashville are, but we continued for another hour to Manchester, where we pulled in to a KOA campground and collapsed for the night.
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Wednesday, April 6
We managed to get out of Manchester with only minimal difficulties (due mostly to construction on the access road leading from the campground to the interstate highway).
Traffic was manageable and we made good time as we drove toward Chattanooga and enjoyed the scenery (except for the time an 18-wheeler came alongside of us and began cutting into our lane, forcing me to swerve into the breakdown lane).
After leaving Chattanooga, we journeyed south on I-75 to Atlanta, where we caught I-285 east to I-85 North, and then I-985 North to Gainesville and then into Toccoa, where we finally reached our Big V destination at the Georgia Baptist Conference Center campground.
When my nephew, Gary Dan Little (son of my late brother, Jerry Little) and his wife, Teresa, heard that we were going to be in Toccoa, they decided to come up for a mini-vacation with their sons, Caiden and Colson.
We knew we wouldn't have much visitation time this evening, so we arranged to meet them for dinner...only to find out that the main restaurants in Toccoa (all both of them) were closed on Wednesday nights. So, we found M and J's Country Cooking, a little mom and pop diner out on the fringes of town and enjoyed one of the best meals we've had in a long time (outside of Big V, that is). The food was wonderful, as was the company. We hadn't seen the two boys in several years, so it was fun getting caught up with them.
The kids had to get back to their motel several miles away and we were ready to hit the hay, so we said our good-nights and returned to the campground and Big V for some serious down time.
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Thursday, April 7
One of our favorite places to visit when we are in the area is Goats On The Roof, a tourist attraction for sure, but fun and entertaining, especially for the young ones. We met the kids at GOTR and the fun and photo-taking began...
After a couple of hours of entertaining the kids and being entertained by the goats, we ate lunch at the little restaurant and then drove back to Toccoa so the kids could see where we worked and lived when we do our volunteer work at the Georgia Baptist Conference Center.
The first stop was at the dining hall, and then we went to the King Hotel to show them some of the facilities...
Then, we drove back up to the campgrounds to show off our living quarters...
After wandering around the campground and watching Caiden and Colson do their exploration bit, we all drove to downtown Toccoa to enjoy a family meal at Cornerstone X-Factor Restaurant. The food was great and we enjoyed every minute of the visit, but the weather was turning bad and the kids had to drive back to Atlanta, so we said our goodbyes, ran to our respective cars, and headed out to our homes.
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Friday, April 8
The GBCC campground on Lake Louise is a wonderful place for photography. With each moment (or step), the view takes on a different perspective.
I was up early this morning and took the photo on the left during the dawn light. Not knowing what I had done, Barbara took much the same shot (on the right) about three hours later.
Today was a day we set aside just for ourselves. We did some laundry at the campground laundry room, and accomplished a major house cleaning in Big V. One of the big chores was to remove the fried appliances (TV, signal adaptor, DVD/VHS player, and clock radio) from their cabinet in the bedroom and throwing them all away. The most difficult part was maneuvering the TV (which seemed to weigh about a ton and a half) and getting it to the car to haul to the dumpster. That left a big gap in the cabinet, but Barbara saw the potential for a handy-dandy cabinet and fashioned some curtains to go over the opening. We then filled the cabinet with CD's and other things that didn't have a regular storage place and, in the end, it looked just like it was designed that way to begin with.
By the end of the day, we had everything set up and/or stored just the way we wanted it and settled down for a quiet evening of doing nothing in particular.
This evening we received some photos of son-in-law Ryan and soon-to-be grandson Kaiden doing some fishing in Burleson...
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Saturday, April 9
When all the last minute work of closing Big V and packing the car was finished, we strapped ourselves into the car and began the drive to Midlothian, Virginia, to see Mike, Kelly, Ava, Jack, and our newest grandson, Benjamin.
Aside from a couple of stretches of road maintenance, the drive was nothing out of the ordinary. And, because we've made this trip so many times in the past, we didn't bother to break out a camera until we saw the one sight we not only wanted, but needed to see for confirmation that we were getting close...
The kids were busy with activities away from the house when we arrived, so we were able to take our time unloading the car and getting our "stuff" unpacked and put away when we got to the house.
When all was ready and we had rested a bit, we drove up U.S. 360 to find one of our favorite take-out places, Panda Express, to get something to take back to the house and eat. Along the way, Barbara twisted, turned, and craned her neck to get this shot of an American flag that we pass each day that we drive through Midlothian.
Later, Mike and the kids came home and the fun and photos began...
This was our first face-to-face meeting with Benjamin, who welcomed us with open arms and a beaming smile (or maybe he was excited to get the new dancing/singing stuffed animal.
Kelly didn't arrive until much later, but we took every opportunity that time and circumstance allowed to get some photos.
Things got pretty hectic for a few hours after Kelly returned and the kids started the evening routine, so the cameras and computers got set aside for a bit. When everything settled down and we got a chance to check our mail, we found another photo of Kaiden (Ryan must have told him to go fly a kite), and a photo of our Friday Night church bunch who reminded us that they were thinking of us as they enjoyed an evening out.
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Sunday, April 10
Today was a typical Sunday for the family. We got up relatively early and everyone got dressed and ready for church. We figured we'd take two cars, but Mike arranged their SUV so all of us could fit comfortably, and we headed out to The Village Church, where we met and visited with some of their friends and heard a wonderful praise and worship service. There is no question about where we would attend church if life somehow scooped us up and dropped us in the Richmond, Virginia, area!
After lunch we all had some serious nap time and then went out for a walk (for the adults) and a bike ride (for Ava and Jack). Grams and Gramps took turns pushing Benjamin and helping Ava and Jack stayed balanced on their bikes.
Of course, Mike and Kelly were always in the picture (so to speak)...
The kids treated us to a Japanese dining experience this evening...lots of fun and good eating for everyone!
,By the end of the day, we were all exhausted. Mike and Kelly got the kids through their baths and ready for bed, we all joined together while the kids listened to some favorite songs and said prayers, and soon after, we all headed to bed...tired, but happy.
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Monday, April 11
While we were driving to Midlothian on Saturday, we got word that my former wife, Barbara Jean, had been taken to a hospital in Lawrence, Kansas, in critical condition. Without knowing the full implications of the situation, we talked it over with Mike and Kelly and everyone agreed that Mike should get back to Kansas as soon as possible to join Heather and Whitney with their mother. We would be here all week to help Kelly with the kids, so nearly all bases were covered.
This was one of Ava's pre-school days, so she went to one place while Jack and Benjamin went to Ms. Jodie's for daycare. At noon, we picked Ava up and took her to Miss Jodie's for the afternoon while we returned to the house to take a nap and get supper started.
Later, we picked up Ava and Jack and took them to a nearby playground to give them a chance to work off a little steam...
While we were driving back to the house, Gramsy took this photo of one of the many flags that can be seen flying daily in this area...
Kelly got Benjamin when she got off work, so by the evening, we were all together again (except for Mike, who flew out of the Richmond airport this afternoon).
The kids are wonderful about following their evening routine and we thoroughly enjoyed listening to them talking about their day, hearing their music, and watching and listening as they said their prayers before heading off to bed.
Benjamin didn't have much to say about his day, but we figured it must have been a pretty good one judging by his mood this evening.
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Tuesday, April 12
Kelly got away to work this morning and then we took care of getting all three kids to Ms. Jodie's house.
On the way back, we treated ourselves to a Sonic break, a quick trip to Walmart (not that it was much of a treat), and then returned to the house to do laundry and some light housekeeping (as well as a little photography around the area).
Later, we picked the kids up and returned them to the house to get everyone fed and ready for Kelly and the little ones to go to their regular Tuesday night church group.
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Wednesday, April 13
Tragedy struck the household this morning as we discovered early that the hot water heater had died. We had lukewarm water for a few minutes, and then nothing but (what seemed like) ice water.
We let Mike know what was going on and he made arrangements for a plumber friend of his to come out sometime during the day and get the water heater fixed or replaced.
Meanwhile, life went on pretty much as usual (except for the cold showers). Well, there was one little glitch in the works...In all the hustle and bustle of switching cars around, Kelly left for work with both sets of the keys to the car we were supposed to use to take the kids this morning. Luckily, we got to her before she had gone very far and she was able to get a set of keys back to us without getting too far behind schedule.
We took Ava to pre-school and then drove the boys back across town to Ms. Jodie's place for their daily routine. Our first photo of the day was of Benjamin all strapped into the car seat and ready to roll...
When Ava was finished at pre-school, we took her on some "date-day" activities. First was lunch at Arby's, one of her most-favorite places to eat.
Then, we were off to Cracker Barrel for some serious Gramsy and Ava shopping time.
Gramsy and Ava stayed at home while I got Jack from Ms. Jodie's place. He and I went to Arby's, and then rode up the street a bit to Target for our own shopping spree.
Kelly picked Benjamin up from daycare on her way home and when we were all together again (and the plumbers were finishing installing a new water heater), Jack and Ava showed off their new purchases and lounged around with Gramsy.
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Thursday, April 14
We took the kids to daycare early this morning and then went out to do some big-city shopping. Big-city for us is going to Kohl's (which we don't have in Mineola), but for some reason, almost always has something we can't live without at the Midlothian store. Barbara found a couple of really nice jackets, and I found a couple of hats, so we declared our shopping trip to be a great success.
When we returned to the house, we fired up the washer and drier to help get caught up on laundry before Mike returned.
Tonight we treated Kelly and the kids to a meal at Jersey Mike's, a sub sandwich shop that we really like. We topped off the meal with Sweet Frog yogurt, a family favorite.
And then it was back to the house for some quiet time and the evening routine...
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Friday, April 15
The normal Friday schedule is that Mike takes Jack and Benjamin to Ms. Jodie's and then Ava rides to the office with him until time for her to walk across the parking lot from Mike's office to pre-school.
With Mike gone this week, we had to improvise a bit while trying to stay close to the kids' routine.
This morning we took the little ones to Ms. Jodie's and then took Ava out for a special treat...breakfast at Panera with Gramsy and Gramps.
After we finished at Panera, we got back in the car and turned the camera over to Ava to take some pictures while we drove her to school.
We picked Ava up at noon and took her back to Miss Jodie's, and then we went to the house to try to make some sense of all of our stuff and begin packing for our return trip to Toccoa on Sunday.
When we got the kids from Ms. Jodie's, we drove out to Monkey Joe's, a bouncy-house playground that they really love. To say they had a good time would be a huge understatement. Just watching them play wore us out!
On the way home, we stopped at Pizza Hut for a couple of pizzas to take back to the house for supper, and then settled into the evening routine.
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Saturday, April 16
Our last day with Kelly and the kids.
For a real change of pace this morning, we followed Kelly west of town on U.S. 360 to a farmers market. The highlight of the adventure was a trip to the donut truck, where we bought some of the largest donuts we've ever seen.
Ava spent most of the time with Kelly and Benjamin, while Jack led us on some wild adventures around the running track that surrounds the market area.
We even splurged and bought some specialty sausages to use later for making kolaches back at the Toccoa kitchen.
Kelly and Ava had a birthday party to attend this afternoon, so Gramsy and Gramps were entertained for a couple of hours by Jack and Benjamin. Later, when Kelly and Ava returned home, we all went to one of the local parks for long walks and playtime.
While we were moving the car around this afternoon, we noticed that the Vances lived right across the street from the Littles. We thought that was funny, as our pastor and his family are also the Vances. Barbara took these photos and created a collage to share with pastor Craig Vance and his family.
Our last evening with Kelly and the kids was bittersweet. With Mike being gone to be with his mother and sisters for the week, our routines and activities were somewhat altered, but the kids were real troupers and made it a fun week for us anyway. We told the little ones that we'd be leaving before they would wake up tomorrow morning, so they shared special "goodbye" love with us tonight.
It was a wonderful visit, but with Mike coming home tomorrow and work awaiting us at Toccoa, it was time to go.
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Sunday, April 17
We were up early, early this morning, well before Kelly and the kids got up. After finishing the packing and loading the car, we left some special notes for the kids and then headed back toward Toccoa.
Since our goal was to get back to Big V as quickly (and safely) as possible, and since this is the same trip we've made a number of times, we didn't even break out the cameras until we got back to the campground and unpacked after a long, long day of travel.
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In view of all that has happened in the last two and a half weeks, we thought this was the perfect quote for this blog:
From our Toccoa home at the Georgia Baptist Conference Center Campground,
Jim/Dad/Gramps and Barbara/Mom/Grams/Gramsy
