September, 2002
Sunday, September 1 --
Day 113 (279 miles
/ 11 toad miles)
Today we drove thorough even more lake country and
(slowly --
50 minutes) across the International Bridge that joins Sault Ste. Marie
Ontario with Sault Ste. Marie Michigan. Along the way we had lunch in the
RV. We saw the first color in the trees, some of them are beginning to turn
to yellow-green. Spent the night in the crowded Chippewa RV Park just south
of Sault St. Marie. After getting the car washed, we drove into town to see
the Soo Locks, and watched a tug/barge combination, a tour boat, and a
private speed boat make their way through the locks. We had dinner at the
Antler's
Restaurant. The ceiling is decorated with a lot of items, many of them
antlers, and instead of singing Happy Birthday, they sound a loud collection
of bells, horns and whistles.
Monday, September 2
-- Day 114
(101 miles / 5 toad miles)
We took the scenic shore side drive along the south side
of Lake Superior and through the Hiawatha Forest from Soo to Newberry. The
morning was overcast, and the thick woods really reminded us of the
Longfellow poem about Hiawatha. The local hunters were apparently training
their dogs along the side of the highway through the forest. Along the way
we stopped to take in the Upper Falls at Tahquamenon State Park. There was a
well improved trail and steps to the top (94 steps) and base (116 steps) of
the falls. On the way back, we took a short gravel trail through an old
growth forest. After setting up camp at the Tahquamenon KOA campground in
Newberry, we drove to the local subway for lunch then back to the RV to get
cleaned up before calling Steve and Cheri Ford, friends from our University
of Michigan Law School days. Apparently the only folks who camp in Michigan
after Labor Day are " newlyweds"
and "nearly deads."
We spent the afternoon and evening visiting with Steve
and Cheri. They came by the RV, where we caught up on what has happened in
the last 20 years. They have four boys -- two married and a pair of 16-year
old twins at home --
and a 5-year old granddaughter. Steve is a District Judge (for the past 12
years) and is running unopposed this year for another 6-year term. Cheri
teaches kindergarten, drama coach, and Episcopalian minister who sometimes
also fills in for the Presbyterians. While Steve picked up his boys from
football practice, Cheri showed us their home and gave us a tour of the
town. We continued to visit over dinner at a local restaurant before calling
it a night about 10 p.m.
Tuesday, September 3
-- Day 115
(206 miles / 0 toad miles)
Today we drove from Newberry on the Upper Peninsula to
Traverse City on the Lower Peninsula. We stopped for pasties at a road side
stand that Cheri Ford had recommended. Due to high winds, we had to slow to
25 mph to cross the Mackinaw Bridge. We then took back roads into Traverse
City, including one lane-and-a-half winding canopy road that ran along the
shore of Lake Michigan. We stopped for the night at the Holiday Campground
on Silver Lake. This wood and lake campground caters to Airstream owners,
many of whom are seasonal guests. Took a before dinner walk along the
pleasant lake and decided to stay over in the campground for another day.
Wednesday, September 4
--
Day 116
(0 miles / 59 toad miles)
Today we hopped in the toad and window shopped in a
number of antique stores in and around Traverse City. Also finally found
wiper blades that fit at the local Winnebago dealer. Had lunch at the Subway
downtown and, after grocery shopping and laundry, had dinner at a Mexican
restaurant.
Thursday, September 5
--
Day 117
(252 miles / 0 toad miles)
We drove today from Traverse City, through Grand Rapids
and Battle Creek to the small town of Sturgis in extreme southern Michigan.
The drive took us through farmland and a lot of small towns. The Green
Valley Campground is behind a golf course and is well shaded by very tall
trees. We had lunch at Schlotsky 's
deli and dinner in the RV.
Friday, September 6
-- Day 118
(245 miles / 54 toad miles)
We drove today from Sturgis, Michigan to Nashville,
Indiana, where we stayed in the Last Resort RV Park. After moving from a
site where we could not get level, we parked in the last available
pull-through site. The RV park was full on Friday and Saturday nights and
almost empty on Sunday. The weather was getting hotter
--
in the high 80s. Most of the trip was through areas of small farms and small
farming cities. Lunch was at Wendy's;
dinner at Arnie's
restaurant in nearby Columbus, Indiana.
Saturday, September 7
--
Day 119
(0 miles / 49 toad miles)
Today was in the 80s again. In the morning we drove west
to the town of Nashville and to Bloomington for some antique shopping. Lunch
at Arby 's
followed by a stop at Barnes and Noble. We got back to the RV to watch the
Miami rout of Florida and to have dinner in the RV.
Sunday, September 8
-- Day 120
(0 miles / 87 toad miles)
We drove north on the freeway today to the Exit 76
Antique Mall, a 72,000 square foot facility. Had lunch at a Subway located
in the mall. We then drove south to Columbus and another small town for more
antiques before returning for a frozen pizza dinner in the RV.
Monday, September 9
-- Day 121
(180 miles / 0 toad miles)
Drove today from Nashville, Indiana to a nice Corps of
Engineer campground located just outside the small town of Wax, Kentucky.
The first hour of the drive on IN 135 was a narrow, windy road through small
hills. Stopped en route for lunch at Arby 's.
It's getting
even hotter --
in the 90s today, making it hotter than Tallahassee. The large campground
was almost deserted, though it had been completely full a week earlier on
Labor Day weekend. After an early evening walk around the campground, we
returned for a fajita dinner in the RV.
Tuesday, September 10
--
Day 122
(0 miles / 93 toad miles)
Drove the back roads this morning to go to Mammoth Cave
National Park where we took a short tour of the cave, which is the longest
cave in the world, over 350 miles. The route to the park took us across a
small ferry --
good we were driving the toad, and not the RV. After the tour we had lunch
at Burger King then went to a number of antique shops in a small town next
to the freeway. Returned to the RV for a light supper. It was in the high
90s again today --
supposed to begin to get a little cooler tomorrow.
Wednesday, September 11
--
Day 123
(125 miles / 33 toad miles)
Today was a short driving today from Wax, Kentucky to
Nashville, Tennessee. En route we stopped at one antique mall and had an RV
lunch in the mall 's
parking lot. The campground is on of several on Music Valley Drive and is
surprisingly full for this time of year. We bought tickets for the Grand Old
Opry on Friday night then went for a brief shopping trip to Camping World
and Sam's Club.
Returned to the RV, where I watched the CBS interview with George Bush and
Bush's 9/11
address to the nation. We then went right up the road for dinner at the
Santa Fe Restaurant, where I stuffed myself on all-you-can-eat fajitas.
Thursday, September 12
--
Day 124
(0 miles / 37 toad miles)
Started this morning watching President Bush 's
address to the U.N. Then drove to Andrew Jackson's
residence, the Hermitage, for a short tour. After lunch at Hardee's
and finding a fabric store for quilting material, we window shopped at Opry
Mills, a large shopping mall. Returned to the RV for dinner and television
-- Big Brother
3 for me and CSI for Carol.
Friday, September 13
-- Day 125
(0 miles / 50 toad miles)
This morning we drove to the far side of Nashville (the
Athens of the South) to see the Parthenon, which was built as a full-scale
plaster replica in 1896 for the Nashville Centennial and retooled in
concrete in the early 1930s. After a lunch at Burger King, we walked through
several furniture type antique stores. We grocery shopped and had an early
dinner at Cracker Barrel before catching the campground bus to the Grand Ole
Opry to watch the 2-1/2 hour Friday Nite Opry show. The Saturday night
version is the longest running live radio show, broadcast on clear channel
650 AM every week since 1925 (77 years).
Saturday, September 14
--
Day 126
(203 miles / 0 toad miles)
Today was our first day on the Natchez Trace Parkway, a
National Park Service highway which roughly follows the route of the old
Natchez Trace from Natchez to Nashville. Except for a few miles of 40 mph
road, most of the well maintained two-lane highway has a 50 mph speed limit
and runs through Tennessee, Alabama, and Mississippi farmland. There are a
lot of turnouts along the highway, making it a pleasant change from freeway
driving. On the northern part of the road, the trees are beginning to change
color and we saw a number of flocks of roadside turkeys throughout the day.
We went about 15 miles off the parkway to spend the night at the Piney Grove
COE campground just south of Burton, Mississippi. Again the COE seems to
have first-class campgrounds. With no commercial activity in sight, we ate
both meals in the RV.
Sunday, September 15
-- Day 127
(250 miles / 0 toad miles)
Today was the second day on the parkway. There is a 15
mile gap in the parkway at Jackson, MS, and we spent the night just south of
Jackson at the inexplicably named Swinging Bridge Campground which is
located behind a small strip mall. The highlight of the day was seeing three
pair of doe/fawns, and barely missing the first pair which bounded across
the roadway directly in front of us. We ate both meals in the RV again.
Monday, September 16
-- Day 128
(113 miles / 18 toad miles)
Today was the final day on the parkway, and took us into
Natchez, MS. We stopped for the night at the River View Campground, a new
campground just across the Mississippi River in Vidalia, LA. We had lunch in
Natchez at Taco Bell then briefly drove downtown to eyeball the local
antique stores --
all of which had real (expensive) antiques. After returning to the RV for
computer and sewing, we ate at the Pig Out Inn BBQ before returning to the
RV for an evening of TV.
Tuesday, September 17
--
Day 129
(409 miles / 0 toad miles)
Today we drove a long day from Vidalia, LA to Dothan, AL,
where we stayed at the Clean RV Park, which we knew from an earlier trip to
Dothan. The entire day was on US 84, which was mostly four lane divided
highway, with a couple of two lane stretches. The " highlight"
of the day was an overturned log truck just outside a small town in Alabama.
We had both lunch and dinner in the RV.
Wednesday, September 18
--
Day 130
(152 miles / 10 toad miles)
Today we drove to Lake Park, GA and camped at a new
Suncoast RV Campground just up the road from Georgia Winnebago, where we
purchased our motorhome. We had lunch at the Pizza Hut in Lake Park then
shopped at the half-dead outlet mall. I got a pair of casual slacks and
Carol bought a suit to wear at Myron 's
wedding next weekend. After shopping we window shopped in the Georgia
Winnebago showroom and did not see any motorhomes that look like they would
have worked any better for our Alaska trip. We called Anne while doing
laundry at the RV park, then ate dinner in the RV and watched TV.
Thursday, September 19
--
Day 131
(81 miles / 81 toad miles)
Today was another short driving day on I-75 to the
Travelers RV Park in Alachua, about 14 miles north of Gainesville. En route
we stopped at Webb 's
Antique Mall. After checking in early afternoon, we ate lunch at Subway then
drove the toad to Smiley's
Antique Mall south of Gainesville. Returned to Gainesville where we met Toby
at their new apartment before he left to teach a Shim Shim Do class. Christy
then went to dinner with us at Olive Garden. Christy is acting as a teaching
assistant in an undergraduate improv class for credit. The instructor has
teaching experience, but no improv experience, so Christy is taking a big
role. She seems busy and happy and she and Toby are planning to stay in
Gainesville until at least fall 2004.
Friday, September 20
-- Day 132
(132 miles / 22 toad miles)
Today we drove about 130 miles to Lutz, where we will
stay for 10 days at the Encore RV Park. After lunch at Wendy 's
we went to David and Marina's
to see our grandchildren, including a new grandson who was born shortly
after we left on our Alaska journey. Tessa, our 3-1/2 year old
granddaughter, is now talking in whole sentences and is 90% understandable.
Zachary is a quiet baby, holding his head up but too young to crawl. Went
with the kids and grandkids to Sweet Tomatoes, where David treated us to
dinner. Back to the RV to sort through the package of mail that Anne
forwarded to us.
Saturday, September 21
--
Day 133
(0 miles / 54 toad miles)
We went to David and Marina 's
in the late morning. Carol and Marina went to a rummage sale while David and
I babysat the kids and went to the bakery. They had lunch at Wendy's,
we had lunch at Sonny's.
We watched the Florida/Tennessee game at David's
house, then had homemade pizza for dinner before returning to the RV for the
night.
Sunday, September 22
-- Day 134
(0 miles / 57 toad miles)
We went to David and Marina 's
about noon today. David had just picked up Marina's
parents, Francis and Hedy, at the airport as they returned from a week's
vacation on Maui. We all had lunch at the kids'
house. Carol and I then went to Camping World and returned to the RV for
evening television. We had dinner at a nice Italian restaurant, Benedetto's,
just across from the RV park.
Monday, September 23
-- Day 135
(0 miles / 29 toad miles)
This morning we went to Border 's
and had lunch at Subway before dropping by Marina's
to watch the kids during her dentist appointment. Tessa hurt her leg last
night (the doctor said it was just a bruise), so David was taking the day
off, but he took a nap while we watched the kids. After Marina returned, we
went grocery shopping then had everyone over to the RV to grill hamburgers
for dinner. By this time, Tessa's
leg was fine --
or at least good enough to climb on the sofa and hop on the floor. We had
bought rice cereal for Zachary, but he did not think much of his first taste
of solid food.
Tuesday, September 24
--
Day 136
(0 miles / 47 toad miles)
Carol and I drove to Tarpon Springs, where we shopped at
a number of antique shops in their antique district before heading to the
Sponge Docks for a Greek lunch and a quick trip through the souvenir stores.
When we returned to the RV for TV and dinner we had a hard rain storm. We
had to go out in the wet to put down the awning, which was flapping
dangerously in the wind.
Wednesday, September 25
--
Day 137
(0 miles / 54 toad miles)
Marina had an appointment today to have two wisdom teeth
removed. Carol drove her to and from the dentist while I babysat the two
grandkids. Zachary ate almost the entire time. Carol and I then went to the
mall and had lunch at Johnny Rocket 's
before seeing the new thriller, "Ecks vs. Sever." We went back to the RV and
had dinner across the street at Beef O'Bradys.
Thursday, September 26
--
Day 138
(0 miles 143 toad miles)
This morning we drove about 60 miles south to an outlet
mall where Carol and I did a fair amount of clothes shopping. We returned in
a driving rain storm and went by the kid 's
house to visit for a while with Marina and to pick up a garment bag to use
on our upcoming flight to Philadelphia for Myron's
wedding. We stopped at KFC to get chicken to eat with the leftover beans and
potato salad from hamburger night.
Friday, September 27
-- Day 139
(0 miles / 20 toad miles)
Up early this a.m. to drive to the airport for our flight
to Philadelphia for the wedding of Carol's brother, Myron. I forgot to
remove my watch and set off the metal detector. Learned that I also have
metal in the soles of my new tennis shoes. The flight was uneventful and we
drove to the Wyndham hotel in Wilmington where we had lunch while waiting
three hours for a room to be cleaned. We napped then joined Pat and Janice
(Carol's sister and brother-in-law) to visit and drive to the rehearsal
dinner. Met Myron 's
bride and a number of Myron and Sarah's
friends.
Saturday, September 28
--
Day 140
(0 miles / 0 toad miles)
The wedding was at 11:00 this morning followed by a
reception that lasted until about 2:30. Before the wedding, we had a buffet
breakfast in the hotel. The ceremony was nice
--
it included three hymns and lasted about half an hour. After the wedding, we
returned to the hotel to relax for a few minutes before joining Pat and
Janice for a drive through the Delaware countryside that included a stop at
Barnes and Noble. We all then went to Sarah's
house where we socialized with Sarah, her sisters Holly and Susan, her son
Doug, Myron, his daughter Kaitlin, and Pat and Janice and their daughter
Julie. Upon returning to the hotel, we bought "Divine Secrets of the Ya Ya
Sisterhood" on
the in-house movie channel.
Sunday, September 29
-- Day 141
(0 miles / 30 toad miles)
Up early this a.m. for the return flight to Tampa. We got
through security uneventfully and I spent the entire flight reading about
80% of the Sunday New York Times. We swung by David 's
house, then took the family to a late lunch at the German restaurant. I
bought another meal to-go for lunch tomorrow. We visited for just a short
while before returning to the RV to pack things up for tomorrow's
departure. Because of the late lunch/dinner, we had a light supper in the RV
and watched the new Sunday night TV shows.
Monday, September 30
-- Day 142
(235 miles / 0 toad miles)
We returned home today, with a stop for an in-RV lunch
(the German take-out for me) at the rest stop just north of Perry. We bought
diesel fuel in Monticello and unhooked the RV at Books a Million before
returning HOME at about 3:15. We began unpacking the RV, visited with Anne
(who did a fantastic job of house-sitting), went to Sonny 's
BBQ for dinner, and watched more TV.
Journal
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