There's No Place Like...

So here we are on the little farm in Kentucky where we spent twenty years, raising chickens, fighting weeds, patching the roof, growing veggies--all while driving nearly 40 miles one way to work, usually on different shifts! But we were younger then, and coming home from work was entering another world--one with clean air, peaceful sounds (except for the trains!) and a place of our own.

Now we are enjoying the huge trees, birds of every description, and the company of our great friends who now own the property. Donnie and Linda are family to us. And at last we can truly appreciate this beautiful place.

If This is Tuesday, This Must Be...

If we were drawing a diagram of our current travels, it would be most confusing.

We left Texas, traveled across Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama. The plan was to drive across the Florida panhandle as far as St. Augustine. We tried to have some repairs done in Gulf Breeze. When that didn't work out, we thought we'd continue on; but there was smoke in the air. If you look at a map of northern Florida, you'll see that Gulf Breeze is a considerable distance from Lake City, where wildfires are still burning. I checked the Internet--parts of I-75 and I-10 were closed for low visibility. Southeastern Georgia is afire as well. It seems a fire started in the Okefenokee Swamp in Georgia, spread across the state line to Florida, and has now crossed back into Georgia--payback!

So we checked the map and all of our discounted camping plans. It was back to Alabama for the night, then into Georgia from the west this morning. The air was still smoky but has since cleared.

Tomorrow we'll head through the northeastern part of South Carolina and into North Carolina, where we'll stay in Salisbury. That is, if the plans don't change again.

By the way, we're staying on Lake Oconee tonight, full hookups, 50 amp service, for two bucks. All those discount books come in handy. We have neighbors from Canada and Australia. We can see the lake through the trees. After all, home is where we park it.

Bad Coach! Bad!

Yesterday we stopped in Livingston, Texas to have the coach inspected. Coming out of the lot, paved with potholes, the back of the coach bottomed out. As we were driving through Louisiana, a kind semi driver with an air horn let us know something was wrong. Herb discovered the mud flap had come loose and taken some fiberglass with it. He creatively tied it up with all sorts of cables and cords. This morning we removed the mud flap.

In preparation to leave Breaux Bridge, Louisiana, we discovered the big slide on the driver's side would not close. Instead, it made a sound I believe I heard in the movie "Alien." Of course, the cell phone only worked outside in full sunlight. Coachnet called a road service company from Lafayette--they showed up two hours later and used the wrecker to push the slide in, accompanied by a most unpleasant grinding sound. The mechanic was of the opinion that the gears were stripped and two motors, at $700 each, would need replacing.

On the road again, I called several RV service centers along our route. The best we could do was in Gulf Breeze, Florida in five days.

We ended the day in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi in a miniscule campground. We parked in a site, put down levelers, extended the slide that still works, connected to water and 50 amp electric, and then discovered the 50 amp electric wasn't working. So we undid everything and moved to another site where we couldn't level the coach unless one wheel was off the ground and there's a long step down from the door. Oh, well.