9/6/08 - Sweetwater, Tn - Sweetwater KOA

AL24>US75>I24>I75>I40>I81 Nice drive over to the big road and then just big road for the rest of the day.

Think we'll call this the Week In The Woods. If you follow the "Where's J&S" link you'll notice that it's still got us back in Melissa, Tx - it's not updating anymore - but even if it was working I'm in the woods this week and can't get the satellite connected. Good thing we recently go this Verizon Aircard for just this type of situation.

Lot of tight turns getting into the space and a road that seemed more like a long driveway to get in here, but it's a great park and a great location. Think I'll go for a run in the morning - that long driveway looked like it wound back through the hills behind the campground.

I81 - we're on the big road for the rest of this trip. Wandering the back roads in the northeast is real scenic, but it's not a good way to get where you're going if you want to be there in a few days - to many distractions. We'll have to see if we can do more of a wander through here on another trip. For now we need to get on up to Pa for a business meeting and then head back towards Florida :(  Summers coming to a close and it's time to head back south.

In the meantime we stopped at another KOA for the night and it's another really nice one. Again it was a challenge making a few of the turns, but we fit. And then along came a convoy - 3 more tag axle coaches came in right behind us and ended up in the spaces next to us. There's getting to be a lot more tag axles out there on the road, but this is the first time we've have 3 of them traveling together for neighbors.

This is also the part where I found the picture of the month - as we pulled in I couldn't help but notice the flamingo in front of me, so I want over and chatted with the owners after I got parked. Real nice couple, workcamping, have an Ultra and a Road King :))

I81>I76 (PA Turnpike) - the turnpike leaves a lot to be desired for a toll road. Has some real rough sections on it - not the kind of road you're happy about paying a toll on, but shorter and a lot less traffic. Rest of the drive was a normal drive up the big road. A little more scenic than some, but it's still the big road and in this area it's mostly crowded and busy.

We'll be here for a couple days, business meetings and possibly a little riding :)) Have to check out the map and see if we can find a back road to go explore. Dinky's starting to think we forgot him :( but the weather just hasn't been conducive to riding the past couple weeks. It's supposed to be cooler here this week, so if the meetings don't eat up the whole week a ride is definitely in order.

Working on this early today - thus the dawn picture. It's kind of dark and I debated about waiting until later for a brighter shot, but it's kind of different and what's the perfect circle that showed up above us? A reflection? A spot on the lens? Maybe our guiding light :)) You'll notice the satellite is down - yep, we're in the woods again.

Fort Chiswell RV Park - I76>I81

Didn't get a shot of this park, but thought this shot was more interesting anyway :)) Not a bad day, a little more scenic than some interstates but a lot of traffic in the north part. Fort Chiswell was a nice park - and right behind us the driveway filled up with 8 rigs checking in. Should have gotten a pick - there was a Zephyr and another Allegro Bus in the row.

Now to the runaway ramp - it was a foggy morning and from a little further back you couldn't see the ramp at all. It's a steep uphill with mounds of dirt running across it. There were a couple more on the way down the hill.

9/14/08 - Conover, NC - I77>I40>US371>I85
Quick decisions are often not good ones :((  The route planner sent us on a screwball road, then I made a wrong turn and looking for a place to turn around saw this big lot and misjudged how steep the driveway was. Didn't look that steep but it was. And I dug it in good - and it took a tow truck to get us out. He had to lift up the back to get us out and let it roll back down the hill.

Was a big event in town for a Sunday morning though. We got 3 officers, who by the way were extremely nice and helpful. The got us a tow truck, fortunately there was a big tow company right up the street with a big truck wrecker, and it only took a few minutes to get us back on the road. I did need to get another trailer hitch - the rack held up fine, but it bent the trailer hitch. The new one doesn't have as much drop - which is the reason we dug in so much, a bad aspect of the cute LOW car - so I'll have to get another one like my old one, but at least I got something to get us back on the road.

Experience is the best teacher - this one won't happen again :))

9/15-9/16 - Not a fancy place, motorhome park with a row in the front (a long row) with full hookups and good rates for a park on the outskirts of Atlanta.

We'll be here for a couple days visiting with my brother and getting a little work done.

917-9/19 - A real nice little park and just a couple miles from my step-mom's place so it's real convenient for us.

Just stopping by to see how Eileen is doing. She fell and broke her knee and is on the mend and I think is looking forward to getting out of the house. Plan is to run errands and of course go out for lunch and dinner :))

After the fact - Eileen took us out for dinner at the Bone Fish. If you are ever in Pensacola give it a try it was some of the best food we've ever had. It's a varied menu, reasonable prices and DELICIOUS food :))))

Only complaint is our stay is too short, but business calls and it's time to get back into the office and take care of some things that wait for our return when we're away.

9/20/08 - Perry KOA, Perry, Fl.

Just an overnight stop and not a very flattering shot of TisIt - but the love bugs were out today and the ladder and bucket were a definite requirement when we go settled in to our spot. Our Trailer Life Campground program has this campground in the wrong spot - but we found it in spite of rather than because of the program this time - first time it's steered us wrong this year.

We're on our way back down to Malabar and will be back to Camelot tomorrow. It's been a GREAT summer. Productive but with enough time to also smell the roses and this year the scent has been especially sweet.

9/21/08 - Camelot RV Park, Malabar, Fl - our winter home :))

This shot was taken the morning of the 22nd, seems mother nature wanted to welcome us home, so here's our first morning back sunrise. Being and early riser I get to witness most of the surises here and then are almost always breath taking.

We decided that we liked this spot so much that we'd just do a yearly rental on it, it's only slightly less than the 6 months in season rental, and it guarantees us that our spot is always here. If there's a need to return for medical, or business we know our spot is waiting for us and that view out the front is worth a few extra dollars every year. It's also a mobile home space so it provides us with a street address for voting, etc. and gives us more of a yard and space of our own than you get in the RV section.

This finishes the travel for this year. To any still out on the road -

Safe Travels