June 26, 2021 2 Months, 9000 + miles... and HOME

 

 

 

 

I am in the little house that moves…  forever…  I guess I will sleep.  Oh wait!  Is that the house that doesn’t move?    MEOWT!!!!!

                                        

Our morning walk took us around the town of Winslow.  It is 6 am and nobody is out and about.  It is a cool little town that most people just wizzzzz on by on I40.  We see kayak rentals, so we have to assume that there is a river nearby.

                

Today is going to be a long day.  We are going for home… 556 miles. Onto I40 by 7:15.  First stop is Williams, 90 miles down the road.  Spouse wanted to stop at a leather place there for some custom gifts.  Williams is a bit of a tourist town in that it is the gateway to the Grand Canyon 60 miles up the road.  But it is also a real outdoorsy town.  Sure, there are tourist shops, but many of these shops do real business for the locals.  Spouse stopped at a saddlery and arranged for some work that was very reasonably priced and beautiful quality.  Arrangements made, let’s eat breakfast! MMMMM….  Then we walk back to Hannah and get back on the road…  and drive… and drive… and drive.

Spouse is lamenting that the price of fuel is going up.  As we get to the California border, it is 114 degrees.  In the past when we have made this drive, we stop in Laughlin and spend the night.  But at 114, we just wanted to get home.  Besides, our neighbors are moving and taking their dog with them.  Spouse considers that dog his grandson, so he wants to see him before we go.   When we got to Victorville, I turned on the Dodger game.  This was my first touch of reality in 2 months.  In that time, the TV was on just a couple of hours.  I watched one movie, and Spouse watched a couple of episodes of something or another.  I have not watched the news or looked at the news on my phone.  I have been blissfully ignorant.  And as I listened to the game…  reality started to hit.  Time to tune back in.

When we approached the house, Rudy got so excited.  He bobbed his head and couldn’t wait to get outside without a leash.  Now comes the fun part…

Unloading and cleaning up…  this will take days, and Spouse has a whole lot of repairs to make.  Over 9,000 miles has taken its toll on Hannah so now we need to get her all ready for the next run, wherever that may be.

                            

This is her second trip to the east coast.  That is a LONG way.  Normally, we hang somewhere in the west, and fish, bike and golf.  This was more of a sight seeing and visiting trip, but it was a looooong way to go.  We drove every day since we left Stone Mountain in Atlanta, which is not our normal approach.

And… my Trader Joe’s chocolate melted in the extreme heat…  How rude!

June 25, 2021 Heading towards home

 

June 25, 2021

I have been in the little car that moves FOREVER!  When my maternal human talks to me to come out, I scratch my claws on the floor of the little car that moves.  It makes me feel better.

We had talked about maybe renting an off road vehicle to do one of the trails here, but the forecast is for rain off and on and we would not have a site and…  naw.  Just wouldn’t work.  Thus I took a walk around the area.  Found some beautiful homes with killer views.  One isn’t finished yet and I peeked in the front doors… wow!  I talked to a guy that does work around there and he says it is hard to get people to do the work.  This house has been in process for two years and is still quite a ways from being finished.

Back at Hannah, we decided to eat breakfast at the café in the RV park.  The wait was FOREVER…  but the food was quite good.  Then we hit the road…  Hwy 550 going south… the road that is NOT for anybody with a fear of heights.

The road is a small mountain road.  For the first 8 miles or so, there is solid rock rising from the road to the heavens on our left.  On our right, is a drop off of at least a million feet.  Spouse likes to ‘Doug the right side of the road’, but not here!  That would be a fatal mistake.  The speed limit is 15mph, and that is too fast.  The road curves, then curves.  It is beautiful as long as you don’t look down or to the sides.  Eventually, the road widens so you no longer have to hold your breath.  The drop-offs would still kill you but they are only about 100 feet or so.

The valley is magnificent.  The rocky crags are so steep, and the valley really is so narrow which accentuates the height and strength of the peaks, and the trees, and the waterfalls.  For a few minutes, the road evens and we can even go 55 mph.  Then back to curves, drop-offs and curves and rocky peaks.  This pretty much goes on all the way to Silverton, about 23 miles south.  There are lakes, and ponds and meadows with meandering streams.  The scenery is stunning.  It has been raining off and on the entire way which adds to the fun of driving this road. 

At Durango, we checked to see if our old maintenance guy from our mobile home park was around, and he was so we headed to our old place.  Only he wasn’t there… go figure.  We walked around.  One of the old tenants told us they want us back!  Sweet.  We left without seeing our buddy and decided to head home. 

We could either go through the Grand Canyon which is actually about 30 miles less, or on main roads.  There is rain…  going through the Grand Canyon on the back roads without cell service in the rain did not sound like a good idea, so main roads we took.  The boring 491…  I was driving and was able to stay awake the whole time!

We ended up at the Elks Lodge in Winslow, Arizona.  Tomorrow we should be home… 556 miles… ugh… Unless we change our minds...

June 24, 2021 Are you f'n kidding me?

 

June 24, 2021

MEOWT!!!  I sit in front of my humans face until they take me outside for a walk.  I rub their muzzle.  I make them move.

Our morning walk was to the grocery store.  Why not?  It is less than a mile, unless Spouse looks at google and directs us the wrong way, and then if you take some shortcuts that don’t pan out, it is about a 3 ½ mile walk!  Perfect!

We then ready Hannah and head south on hwy 550 to the town of Ouray.  Ouray sits in a narrow sliver of a valley surrounded by the tallest peaks of the San Juan mountains.  It is a stunning setting at about 8000 feet.  Rocky crags are decorated with pines and aspens.  It is extremely rugged looking.  There are rivers and waterfalls and every angle is new ‘ah’ moment.

We get an RV spot at Riverside… at $90!!  With taxes, it is over $100, the most we have ever spent by far for an RV site.  The town is crowded.  The lady at the visitor center said they were inundated this year, and they lost a campground in Silverton about 20 miles down the road due to fire so things were cozy.  But we got a site for the nite, and that’s all that matters.  WE then unhooked for Spouse’s adventure.

First, let me say I had a pretty bad headache and the medication makes me sleepy.  So I am a fine partner for this experience.  We are going to do the Alpine loop trail, which is an off road trail in the high country.  On a scale of 1-5 with 1 being easy and 5 being suicidal, this trail is a 3.

When we get there, Spouse let’s some air out of the tires to make a more pleasant ride.  I am looking at it and I don’t like what I see right at the get go.  We start the rock climbing.  Spouse is convinced that the beginning is the roughest part.  It starts to rain just a bit to add to the fun.  We are in 4WD, and rock climbing.  This is not some mamby pamby dirt road.  This is ROCK CLIMBING!  Our turning radius is not good so we have to back up to make turns.  This is my thought…

Are you f’n kidding me?  This trail is 90 miles???  No f’n way!  This will eat our truck right up.  Technically, it could do it, but at what cost?  Are you f’n kidding me?  After about ½ mile, we were going to have to really climb some rocks.  Spouse was able to turn the truck around just as a car turned the corner.  Spouse talked to the guy and he said it gets far worse, but it is doable…  No f’n way in our truck.  And he originally wanted to do the Imogene trail which is a 4/5 difficulty.  Is he f’n crazy???? 

After a break for lunch and a shortened walk around town as the rain began to fall in earnest, we headed back to Hannah.  I needed to sleep my headache away, and I drifted off as the thunder and rain serenaded me.

When I came back to life, my headache almost gone, we toured around a little.  This place is absolutely beautiful.  Tomorrow, we just might rent an off road vehicle and tackle one of these trails.  But not in the rain…

June 23, 2021 Detours can be fun

 

June 23, 2021 

MEOWT!  MEOWT!

Our morning walk was a bike ride.  There is a dirt road right behind us that is actually an easy ride for a bike.   We left before 7 am and it was quite chilly.  The road has mountains on one side, then follows the Arkansas river on the other side.  The scenery is quite intoxicating.  The mountain backdrop against the river is stunning.  We pass a cemetery.  The oldest headstone is from 1874 and is a 5 year old boy.  I saw a few other 1800’s headstones for babies and it actually brought a tear to my eye.  Lots of Strouds and Howards.  Some headstones were recent.  We walked around to make sure I got enough stickers in my shoes and socks, then got back on the bikes and explored a bit more.  We definitely could come back here for more.

Back at Hannah after I picked all the stickers off of me, we readied her for her next journey.  We turned west onto Hwy 50.  It is a beautiful highway through the Alpine country.   We pass through the town of Salida, which is large enough to support a Walmart. 

I see a sign: ‘Motorcyclists – curvy road ahead’.  Ok, should I be offended?  Is the road only curvy for motorcyclists?  Are you warning them or are you telling them to have some fun?  Chances are if a motorcyclist loves the road, the RV’er doesn’t!

 We continue climbing… and climbing… and climbing.  At more than 11,000 feet, we are at the Monarch Mountain ski resort.  The gondolas are taking people up for scenic rides. So many pine trees have been destroyed by the bark beetle.  Here, they have cut the infected trees down to give the healthy trees a better chance of survival.  It is amazing to see bicyclists heading up this steep grade.  Spouse has been amazed at the lack of bugs on our windshield for this entire trip… until today.  It sounded like rain splattering across the windshield.  It wasn’t pretty.  After we were done executing about a million bugs, we had to clean the windshield.

We continue to Gunnison. I have been to Colorado many times during the ski season, and the news frequently has Gunnison as the coldest reported city in the US. It is about 7500 feet and it is a very lively town with lots of restaurants and shops.  It doesn’t feel touristy at all.  We stopped for lunch.  When we came back and opened Hannah to get Rudy, he bolted.  Fortunately Spouse was able to catch his tail and capture him.  He is getting cabin fever big time.  When we get to a new site, he doesn’t even want to wait for us to set up before he goes outside.

As we continue on Hwy 50, we see a sign that the road is closed and only a few cars will be allowed to pass.  Since we have seen this so much, we didn’t think too much of it and continued on.  That is til we were told the road was totally closed and we would have to take hwy 92 as a detour.  That is a 70 mile detour…  Oh well, what else are we doing, right?

We pass the dam at the Blue Mesa reservoir.  One side is the water, the other side is a deep gorge with the river passing through.  It is very scenic.  The road is tiny.  As we wind our way around, we see this enormous butte.  It looks like a fortress.  There is green at its top, then rocky crags, then aspen trees and pines then more rocky crags and so forth.  It presides over the entire valley like it owns it.  The road actually takes you up some of those rocky crags.  We are over 9000 feet once again.  The wild flowers are amazing.  Yellow sunflowers are the most dominant, but purple lupines, and other whites, pinks, oranges and reds pop their heads up.  The sunflowers at this altitude are so much more impressive than sea level sunflowers.  It is definitely slow going so far.

Ultimately, we get over the pass and head into what looks like high desert scrub.  But we can go 65 mph!  As we approach the town of Delta, it is dry.  It is so dry, one would think we are in Nevada.  Not a bit of foliage for about 10 miles before farms come into view and we see a little green against the brown backdrop.

With our detour coming to an end after more than 70 miles of spectacular scenery, we come into Montrose where we hooked up at the Elks Lodge.  Spouse had a few off road excursions in mind.  We talked to the locals…  they offered ideas that would be more suitable…  Oh these delusions of grandeur!

June 22, 2021 Golf and go

 

June 22, 2021

My humans took me for a long walk today.  I got to sniff and snort and even roll in the dirt.  Then I came in and used my potty box.  Then I went outside again.  It was fun.

My morning walk was on Spreading Antlers golf course.  Since we are parked at the Elks Lodge and the course is there, it seemed the right thing to do.  We only played nine but since we weren’t planning on playing at all, this was a treat.  Spouse thinks all courses should be only 9 holes.

The first hole chewed me up and spit me out.  I showed it who was boss when I made a 50 foot chip shot for a birdie on the next hole.  Then the course took control…  Ok, I give… it won!  But I still had fun.  Spouse had some good shots and did fairly well.  It was a tough nine.

Then back on the road on Hwy 50 west.  And west… and west…  The plains of Colorado are flatter than anything we saw in Kansas.  Lots of farms, ranches and cattle.  It is a little less green than what we have seen.  We pass through Pueblo and the terrain is now high desert scrub.  We are starting to climb some but it is an easy drive at 55 mph except when going through towns. 

Past the town of Canon City, the road follows the Arkansas River.  Spouse grew up calling it the R-Kansas river, but that is Kansas speaking.  It is really pronounced like the state of Arkansas.  There are gazillions of rafters floating down.  The current moves fast, but the rapids do not look too challenging.  We finally settled near the town of Salida in an RV park right on the Arkansas River.  WE are in an Alpine valley surrounded by mountains and it is gorgeous.  We took a short walk and found ourselves at Pleasant Valley RV park… wow…  A local told of us of some bike rides from here, so we unloaded our bikes.  Our morning is now planned…

June 21, 2021 Rudy, we aren't in Kansas anymore

 

June 21, 2021

When I am in the little car that moves, I have learned that I can stretch out.  I can put my forward paws on one human, and my hind paws on the other human.  I can stretch out all over the place and my humans let me.

In the middle of the night, I heard the rain falling.  It had been so hot when we arrived, we closed all the windows and had the air conditioning on.  But now, with rain falling, it had to be cool.  And it was.  There was a cool breeze coming in my window.  It was only 3am, but I opened a few other windows so we could enjoy it.

My walk was totally uneventful.  A light rain is falling, so my rain poncho is on.  Witchita is an industrial town.  But when I walk, I make the best of it.  While I was gone, Spouse went and got an oil change and a few groceries.  Our intent is to head to the Telluride area of Colorado.  We readied Hannah and headed south on I135.  As we passed where Spouse lived, I envisioned a few 10 year old boys jigging for frogs in the canal below.  I saw him pulling his red wagon down the alley scavenging for metal scraps and coke bottles.  He is 72 and he still scavenges for stuff.  He is such a trash dog!  But now, this interstate highway hovers above the canal, which has some water in it but is a small remnant of what it was a lifetime ago.  And on we drive leaving Spouse’s childhood behind.

We catch 400 going west to Dodge City.  This highway is so much prettier than the interstate.  There are farms, ranches, prairies and lots of green.  There are some small rolling hills.  Off in the distance, it looks like rain, but where we are and where we are going, it looks ok.  We stop for lunch in Dodge City on Wyatt Earp Blvd.  From here west, highway 400 is the route of the Santa Fe Trail, which was the major commerce trail of the early 1800’s.  We have an excellent Mexican lunch, then we get out of Dodge! 

There is lots of flat, but lots of green and it is rather pretty.  The sky is blue with white puffy clouds.  The temperature is in the low 70’s – a far cry from the 104 we say yesterday.  And this is the heartland of the country.  While it may get monotonous if you are on the interstate, on highway 400, you see the personal side of farming.  You see the silos, the homes, the small towns.  Right here before our eyes is the workings of what actually feeds our country.  It is very impressive.

And to think, we are towing a tornado magnet and we escaped Kansas unscathed.  We leave the plains, farms, and ranches of Kansas to see the plains, farms and ranches of Colorado.  We made our way to the Elks Lodge of Lamar, and it is on a golf course.  Guess we won’t make it as far as we were planning tomorrow…  it’s here, gotta play!

Best of all… we gained a precious hour as we entered the mountain time zone.

We parked Hannah, and when I opened the slider, POW!  It ate a cabinet door!  It had done this before when Spouse left it open and from that point, never really closed well.  I knew that this would eventually happen, and it did.  By the time we get home, Hannah has a whole list of repairs she is going to need.  I guess we will just have to live with her flaws for another week or so.

June 20, 2021 Home to Witchita

 

June 20, 2021

MEOWT!  MEOWT!  I am sitting in my chair looking cute and waiting for my humans to hook me up and let me out and they are not doing it.  MEOWT!

There is a creek behind our RV park.  Since we are at Turkey Creek RV park, I will assume it is Turkey Creek.   To access the creek, Spouse and I had to walk up to the street and around and back down.  The creek flows to the Taneycomo Lake.  To me, it looks like a river.  Although the city of Branson does nothing for us, the location is terrific. The lake offers all sorts of opportunities for recreation.  This morning, there is a mist over the water.  A few fisherman in boats look like they are floating on the fog.  As we walk around the park, we are greeted by a gaggle of geese of various ages.  Across the lake, we see the landing, marina, an RV park (it was full), and beyond that is the city.

While Spouse walked back, I headed up the road and around the corner.  It is a modest neighborhood, but many of the homes have the lake as their backyard.  Nice, nice and more nice!

We readied Hannah, and headed south on business 65, then onto the scenic highway 86.  There is a Bass Pro resort there for fishing and hunting.  The highway has gentle ups, downs, and curves.  Ranches with rolls of alfalfa here, woods there.  A home here, and Table Rock Lake everywhere.  IT is a huge lake maybe 30-40 miles long with several fingers stretching about.  Jet skis, boats, kayaks… you would be crazy not to have some type of floating device in this area!  And yet the countryside is so rural.  There are marinas, and boat yards scattered about, but nothing seems close together.  A home on a hillside here would be pretty nice!  I apologize to all the cars that got stuck behind us.  I don’t think the state of Missouri has a single pullout on their rural roads to let traffic go by, but we tried as best we could.  So sorry!

Yes, Lady Gagarmin and I had a disagreement, but I am much better at getting Spouse to see my side of things now.  There must be a setting on her that indicates to take the longest route possible.  We stopped in Cassville at a family restaurant for lunch.  I think it is the only real restaurant around and it was packed.  The menu was diverse, the food was decent but not the best, but it fit the bill.  As we left Cassville, we left the hills, and entered the flatlands.  Farms, big farms with silos, and more farms for as far as the eye can see.  But there are still trees.

We fenagle ourselves around Joplin and over to highway 400 in Kansas.  We plan to take 400 all the way to Colorado.  It is green, it is farmland, ranchland, trees and it still has some mild ups and downs.  There are no trucks to speak of, but there is an occasional farm vehicle hugging the shoulder.  The speed limit is 55, 65 and whatever the town you are passing through might want it to be, but because there are not a lot of cars, it moves easily and is stress free.

We ended up making it all the way to Witchita, Spouse’s home town.  He speaks the language fluently.  After we got an RV site, we went to his old stomping grounds.  His old house is gone, but some of the other houses are there, not that he remembers them, but you can tell by looking at them they are ancient.  The school across the street has had a facelift.  The house that is standing where his house was is not the same address and it looks like it may have been a small commercial building.  It doesn’t fit in with the rest of the neighborhood.  The lot next to it was a house and it is just a lot now.  So maybe a fire, maybe a tornado, but his corner as he once knew it is gone.  We went down to the canal where he used to play.  The canal is still there, but not like it was when he was a kid.  The freeway is now above.  There are bike trail and walking trails.  Amazing what 65 years can do to a town…

And don’t even think of trying to go out for dinner on a Sunday, even if it is Father’s day.   CLOSED!

Oh, did I mention that it is hot?  104?  HOT!  Our air conditioner keeps kicking off…  And it looks like the rain is coming…  At least they have a tornado shelter here at the park.

June 19, 2021 Branson

 June 19,2021

Each night, I guard my humans.  I lay on their lower paws, or maybe their haunches and protect them from floating away.  It is exhausting, but I must ensure that I have food in the morning, so it is the only way.

This morning, our walk took us down a county road.  It is dirt, but in good shape.  There is a nice canopy of trees and the temperature is quite comfortable.  Homes are sparse and the properties are quite large.  Spouse went with me the first mile, then I continued on for about another mile.  There is a pond, and a black dachshund that decided she wanted to escort me.  I talked to her, but did not pet her as I did not want her to get to far from her home, but she didn’t seem to mind.  When a truck came by, he told me this dog wanders all the time so just let her be.  A couple of times I turned around just to see what she would do, and she turned around too.  So, we ambled back to the RV park together.

We readied Hannah for her next journey, which is to Branson, Missouri.  We have heard about it through the years, and it is right on our path, so why not.  I had another fight with Lady Gagarmin.  She refused to take highway 160 no matter how I coaxed her.  I finally got tired and we went the extra 25 miles she insisted on.  I hate her.  At least it was a beautiful drive.  She took us down one road, and Spouse was kind of complaining about the smallness of it.  I told him Lady Gagarmin has an even smaller road that is totally out of our way that she is taking us on. 

It really is a pretty part of the country.  There are ranches with alfalfa rolls all around.  There are rolling hills.  We go up, we go down.  I call these ‘whee’ roads.  But then we go left and right.  We are not moving too fast.  It is green, with ponds and streams.  It is RURAL.  There are no other cars, as who would be stupid enough to take this route unless they had to (or unless the GPS gods were messing with them).  At one point, we passed this beautiful water wheel, with a dam.  Even though this was so out of our way, it was definitely pretty.  We finally got to highway 160.

Highway 160 was a little wider, and occasionally had a business on it.  It too was windy.  We pass a huge lake with submerged buildings and power poles and such.  I think it was by design that they created the dam and everything that was there would just get wet.  We ultimately made it to Branson, and found an RV spot at Turkey Creek Rv park.  They give us a newspaper circular with a gazillion coupons to every attraction around.  Oh, I can tell this is not my schtick!

Getting into the RV spot…  well, this was fun for everybody!  It is a back in site, however, with the rig across the road, there is very little room to maneuver.  People don’t realize that to back up a rig like Hannah, you need lots of swing room up front.  We had an inch, maybe two…  Back and forth, back and forth… our neighbors had to move their truck and lawn furniture, another came to assist with the backing.  It was a community event!  But, Spouse pulled it off.  We set her up and decided to explore.

Branson is everything I thought it would be.  I look at it as Las Vegas without the gambling.  Tourist, give me your money!!!  There are lots of discount ticket offices, amusement rides, theater after theater for live performances.  Wax museum, Ripleys Believe it or Not, souvenir shops and all sorts of things that Spouse and I have absolutely no interest in!  But we had to check it out.  One night will be just fine for us. We did have a good Thai meal in the historic area, and Spouse actually bought a wallet at a leather shop.  He whined about the cost but he still bought it and I have it on digital!

We checked out the local Elks Lodge.  Actually, it isn’t too local, it is 13 miles away on the windy highway 160.  And although they do have RV spots, it was too far for us.

Rudy sure is demanding some outside time.  I think he has cabin fever big time.  I took him for a walk.  It was dark, and the fireflies were out. They are magical to me!  Rudy paid them no attention.

June 18, 2021 Catching up with Cheryl Ward

 

June 18, 2021

My humans took me on long walks this morning.  Things smell so good.  I got to sniff and snort.  I whined when they picked me up.  I whined loudly!

My morning walk took me to… well, nowhere really.  I walked the park grounds several times.  Did not want to go beyond the park onto the busy highway, so I made the long entrance and park roads work to get some exercise.

Then we readied Hannah for her next journey.  We leave Tupelo on I22 north west to Memphis.  I think we have seen more or Mississippi than people that are born here!  It is about 110 miles to Memphis and I22 is an easy drive til it turns into Hwy 78.  Then the road construction begins.  The roads are awfully bumpy, there is traffic with loads of trucks, it is slow slow slow.  At one point, I see Hwy 175 and I see on the map where I can cut over to I55 using that.  But the street sign says I75 EAST.  I want west.  Can’t I turn left?  Why would they specify only the east.  Better stay put for the 2 more miserable miles to I240.  I240 will take us around to I55 where we will cross the Mississippi with a million of our closest friends.  You see, the I40 crossing is closed as the bridge needs repair work. It is a scandalous situation where they are thinking of bringing criminal charges against the bridge inspector.  Anyhow, I40 is closed so everybody is using I55.  Going in our direction, it at least moved reasonably well.  The other direction looks paralyzing!  Oh well, not our problem anymore.

Staying on 55 to 555 then onto 63 heading to West Plains, Missouri.  Once we leave Jonesboro and the 555, the road gets rural.  We go through farms, pass streams and it is all green.  Then we start hitting the Ozarks.  Up we go, around the corner, then down then up.  We slow through towns, but in general, we are moving at a good clip.

We have a park lined up in West Plains so Lady Gagarmin is showing us the way.  Hmmm…. She says we still have 11 miles to a turn, then another 6 miles after that, but I just saw a sign on the street that said the RV park was 7 miles ahead.  Since I am driving, I have Spouse verify I have the right thing in Lady Gagarmin.  He re-does it… still the same.  I pull over and call the park.  They told me to follow the signs.  When we pulled into the park, Lady Gagarmin said we still had almost 6 miles til we turn and another 6 after that…  Once we got in the driveway, she changed her mind…  I hate her! If I hadn’t seen the sign on the street, who knows where we would have ended up!

We set up Hannah, then headed over to a friend’s house.  Cheryl Ward and I worked together many years ago.  When the Northridge earthquake hit in 1994, she decided she had had enough fun in Los Angeles and moved out here.  We have kept in touch occasionally through the years, and when Spouse decided he wanted to see Branson, the route took us right through Cheryl’s town.  WE had a great visit, and we ate at one of the few restaurants in town (Ruby Tuesday) where they had a fabulous mai tai!  It is always great to catch up with folks.

                                        

Back to Hannah… Rudy needed an outdoor fix.  He is getting cabin fever…

June 17, 2021 You mean maps really do change?

 

June 17, 2021

I want one of those critters with the furry tail.  Oh no!  My humans are putting me in the little car that moves!!!  I will never get that critter now!

My morning walk took me all around the RV park, all the way to the golf course.  What a nice RV park this is.  There are yurts and rental trailers, most with lake views.  Most of the spaces are quite large and private.  Some are in the woods, others are near the lake.  It really has been one of our favorite RV parks.

But alas…  we hit the road.  Although I had a disagreement with Lady Gagarmin, I let her win this one.  The most direct way to go west would be to take I285 to the I20 west and that cuts right through the heart of Atlanta.  Both are interstates, but I285 goes all around Atlanta while I20 goes right through.  I285 adds about 25 miles to the trip, but driving thru Atlanta…  It was probably worth the extra mileage.  There was an accident going the other way and the traffic was backed up for miles.  There are a gazillion trucks on the highway… or maybe even a bazillion but we are headed away from the chaos.

I20 west is supposedly a scenic highway according to the AAA map.  But, we have noticed that frequently these ‘scenic’ highways are just a bunch of trees.  In this case, there are trees, and there are trees with kudzu climbing up them.  The Leslie school of ‘scenic’ drives includes water features (pond, lake, river, ocean, waterfall, etc.) and/or rock formations, mountains, hills, glaciers and things like that.  But trees are what we have, but at least it is green.

Once we cross into Alabama, we switch drivers, and I ‘get’ to drive. We also get one of our precious hours back as we enter the central time zone.  Alabama is much more scenic, there are hills, and woods.  We pass the Talladega Forest and the Talladega Speedway and Motor Sports Hall of Fame.  As we come into Birmingham, there is a sign saying there was an accident where we are going.  Ugh..  And it happens to be on an interchange like the 101/405.  And I am driving, and I need to get over one lane…  and I am towing Hannah…  why, oh why…  somehow, I maneuver through the cluster f*k onto I65 north.

Now, here is something.  We are planning to take Highway 78 north west to Tupelo.  Well, we have an old map apparently.  I was wondering why our Mississippi map said it was I22, yet the Alabama map shows it as 78…  It is now a nice I22, bypassing all the towns we thought we would be going through.  Those towns are all probably dying a slow economic death as we fly by without a thought.  Note to self:  GET CURRENT MAPS the next time we go somewhere as they really do change!  It is a beautiful, stress free drive.

We figured that if we drove 250 miles a day, it would take us 10 days to get home.  Day one, we exceeded that from Savannah to Stone Mountain… then we stayed two days.  Guess we are not totally done having fun…

As we came in to Tupelo, we thought we would stay at the Tombiggee State Park.  We passed a sign for it because Lady Gagarmin told us to…  We took her advice…  went about 6 miles out of our way to find that the road taking us there is closed.  And there is no detour offered…  Ok, Lady Gagarmin, what do we do now?  If we back track, that would add so much time.  We found another RV park nearby that wasn’t Elvis related…  They were full, but as we started to turn around, they ran after us as they had just received a cancellation! 

Guess we just got kissed by the RV gods!

June 16, 2021 Top of the Stone

June 16, 2021

There are CRITTERS here!  I love it!  Look at that tail wag…  I will get you if my humans let me go free!

 

This morning, we decided to hike the trail that goes to the top of Stone Mountain.  It is about a mile up with a 900 foot climb.  On the drive over, we see some deer, with those cute little faces.  The trail is stone, how surprising.  But it is also dotted with pines.  The temperature is about 70 degrees so it is really quite comfortable.  And we do not have the humidity that we had on the coast. 

It is a gradual climb over large wide rocks.  There are lots of people out and about and it is only 7 am.  Some are racing up, but we go slow and steady.  As we near the top, it gets steeper and you are walking on granite stone, not stones.  Many people have carved their name in the stone.  The earliest we saw was 1876, but we saw several in the 1800’s as well as the 1900’s.

At the top, the views are amazing.  You can see Atlanta in the distance and all the greenery.  It is a little cooler and a bit breezy but totally comfortable.  Spouse has his binoculars, or you can pay to use the viewing glasses up there.  One thing we found out, everything you do here will cost you!  Want to go into the historic square and look at the homes of the period?  $15.  And when you have already seen so many things like that, no need to do it again. Some of the exhibits were closed but they probably cost too.  But up here, the views are free!  We wandered around then headed back down.

Back at Hannah, we gave Rudy some outdoor time.  He had his eyes on a squirrel.  He wanted it badly, but we keep him on a leash, much to his dismay.

After relaxing a bit, I loaded the golf clubs in the truck, and I headed to the golf courses at Stone Mountain.  Spouse stayed behind so I was all by myself… on a really nice golf course.  There are two courses and I played the Lakemont course.  I like playing by myself… kind of.  I tend to rush for no good reason.  When I played through a twosome, fortunately, I looked like I knew what I was doing and hit a good shot.  Not so much with the next twosome, but what can you expect.  I had to take a cart, and if I didn’t I probably would still be walking between hole 9 and 10!

  It was a beautiful course in good condition and with lots of challenges.  I shot 104, and I was proud of it!  If I had course knowledge, as usual, I would have done a few things differently, but oh well!  I played the entire round in just less than 3 hours, which is amazing!  The weather was in the 80’s and totally comfortable.  We have been lucking out so far.

Back at Hannah…  we get ready to push west.  Tomorrow, we should cross into the central time zone and get one of our precious hours back!