Westward Ho

Our bags are packed, the beds are made, some improvements have been made to ye ol' Starship Avion and we are heading out tomorrow morning. As you can see we added our lovely red and white floor and think it makes a great design statement.
Our destination is Littleton Colorado to meet up with Jamie's cousin John Merkert and his wife Elaine. Then on to Ridgeway State Park in the southwestern part of the state for a few days of camping and exploring with some of John and Elaine's friends.
We will keep you posted as we travel west and hopefully capture some sights along the way.

April 16--Kingston to Home

Well, I guess it's time to go home. We roared up I-75 like someone was chasing us. For once in our lives we actually got through Louisville before the PM rush hour, and no potholes. We'll be able to enjoy two or three Spring's this year since its just now getting nice up here in the good ol' Hoosier state. Part of me is ready to be home, but another part is asking why. I think for our first extended trip we did well. The only real nasty travel day was the first.
We ended up with a total truck mileage of 3,000 miles which is about 500 more than I expected. But we took a few side trips without the trailer. I purposely didn't keep track of how much we spent on fuel or other items. This was the one trip where I just wanted to enjoy it. Tomorrow we'll start to unpack the trailer. We'll take special note of items packed but not used on the trip. Next time we won't take them. What's next? We would like to re-visit some of our Indiana state parks. We love being able to camp during the week instead of the busy weekends. In mid-May we want to attend our first Tin Can Tourist rally up in Michigan. I want to see all the other vintage campers and see what their owners are like. They are probably nut's like us. Then in July we're going to Colorado and hopefully hook up with John for some fun. In October we'll head to AZ for the birth of Amy and Jim's baby. Haven't decided on whether we'll take the trailer with us on that trip or later in the year. It sure was a great trip. We both felt that The South has to be the most beautiful spot in the US during the spring season. We might have run into warmer weather if we had started about a week later, but that would have prevented us from leaving Tipper in the truck during some of our side trips. We ran into two people who loved our old Avion. We even gave them tours, at their request. I'm sure the other 99% just thought we were poor or odd or both. I loved pulling into a campground and seeing that most of the RV's were huge motorhomes or 5th wheels. Those people never used the showers or toilets in the bathhouse. Must be a status thing. We saw very few class C units in the campgrounds or on the road. Don't know why. We got very lucky regarding RV parks. The only one that we really didn't like was the one in Canton, MS. It was the one that advertised wi fi but didn't have it, had punch pads on the laundry and bathroom doors and didn't tell you the combination, and the permanent campers were just a wee bit scary. I was a bit concerned about finding a place to stay each night, but we never had a problem. However, we always started looking at the directory about noon and were off the road by 3:00 PM. I am amazed at Betsy's cooking skill and the variety of meals that she prepared using the stove or oven in the camper or the grill that we carried with us. I think we had more variety on the road than at home. The seafood at Edisto was fantastic. Tipper was a trooper all during the trip. At first he would climb up on the center armrest and pretty much stay there. Then he would start out on the armrest, but after a few minutes would go curl up in his backseat bed, but everytime he heard the turn signal he would come back to the front seat. At the end he didn't bother coming up whenever I turned the turn signal on. We think he became a little road weary as indicated by the final picture. So I guess it's back to everyday normal life. Tomorrow I'll pick up a months worth of mail, and start the yearly campaign to stamp out chickweed. Jamie
We made it back home with lots of wonderful memories and the thrill of our first successful trip. We both knew we wanted to travel however, we were unsure if we would take to the "traveling life." The adventure of a new place every day was great. I had a ball taking pictures and am now looking at digital scrapbooking. That may prove to be too much of a challenge, we'll see. In the end we did find you can get everything you need at Walmart! We are both looking forward to the next trip. Betsy

April 15--Salisbury to Kingston, TN

The sun has returned and we're off to Jane and Sandy's for a visit. A couple years ago they sold the old house that they lived in for years and moved into a newer home. We saw the newer home just before they purchased it, but not since they redecorated. To get to Kingston we went around Asheville, NC and stopped at the NC Arts and Crafts Center which is located on the Blue Ridge Mountain Parkway. Betsy went in to look at the stuff while Tipper and I waited outside. I started reading about the Parkway and learned that it's very much like The Trace--50 mph speed limit, no commercial traffic. It goes from the Great Smokey Mountain Park to Roanoke, VA. It was constructed as part of the 30's work programs. Could be another trip for us next year.
After our brief stop we got back on I-40 and headed to Knoxville and that took us through the mountains. Our little rig did just great. We finally found the mother load of Redbud trees. They are all along I-40 around Knoxville. Beautiful. We arrived in Kingston and parked the truck and trailer in Sandy's law office parking lot since their driveway was not big enough. Their new house is way up on a hill overlooking the town of Kingston and the Clinch River. Wow. What a view. I could sit up here all day and watch the river and the mountains off in the distance.

April 14--Raleigh to Salisbury

Alas, our time with Jeff, Lisa, and James has come to an end. We're headed to Salisbury, NC and Rowan County which is where my Rev War ancestor lived. We only found two campgrounds listed in our directory and selected Dan Nichols Park. I think we assumed that it was a state park, but it's actually a county park and absolutely amazing. It has a small lake, petting zoo, tennis courts, baseball/softball fields, plus all the other stuff like nature trails. There were only about 3 other campers in the campgrounds so we had our pick of the sites. We chose one down by the lake.
After unhooking the trailer we headed into Salisbury to find the library. I spent the next three hours in the genealogy section while Betsy roamed the town. The first thing I learned at the library was that the part of Rowan County that my ancestor lived in was split off into Davidson County. Luckily they still had a lot of records for Davidson Country. I didn't find much of anything new on the Rev War ancestor, probably because he was only there for 30 or 40 years and all his children moved south or west.
However I did find that his son, my great-great-great grandfather Jeremiah married into the elite of Quaker families, the Mendenhalls. That probably accounts for my easy going, kind and gentle, likable personality.
When Betsy and I met up she was just raving about how much she enjoyed her walk through town so we drove around and
it really was a neat place. Many old homes with a nice downtown area. It sort of reminded us of Columbus but older. jamie

I had a ball shopping knowing no one was waiting for me to finish looking at everything. Met a wonderful old man whose family owned the Okey Dokey General Store for the past 110 years. He said not much had changed in the store in all those years and I tend to agree with him. They had collectables, twine, toys, seeds, seed onions and potatoes and metal garden benches and art. An awesome collection! Salsisbury is a wonderful old town. Betsy
Picture The lake at Dan Nichols Park

April 10--13, Raleigh

Well, we're finally seeing the sight that stared the idea for this whole trip--James! My how he's grown since Christmas. He will be two years old on Sunday, April 13th. I'll tell you, chasing after a 2 year old all day is not easy. We have parked the trailer in the Wm. Umstead State Park which is within the city limits of Raleigh and about 10 minutes from Jeff and Lisa's house. We've basically left the trailer so that we can spend more time with Jeff, Lisa, and James. Saturday we attended James soccer practice. Watching fifteen two year olds running and crawling and kicking the ball was a hoot. I was amazed that the little one's were actually following instructions for the most part. The kids today are certainly doing more at two years than we were expected to do. When I was two I think my higher learning activities were sucking my thumb and eating dirt. Jamie (Grandpaw)

We had a great visit with the young Kimbrough's. Yes, it takes alot of energy to keep up with little James. We were excited to find he and Tipper have both grown up enough to co-exist. Lisa and I left the boys at soccer and took off for Ornamentea a very cool bead shop in downtown Raleigh for a day of beading/jewelery making basics. We had a great time and came home with some very nice jewelery. Betsy (Grammy)
Pictures 1. James playing soccer in the front yard 2. James enjoying his birthday gifts--boots, rake, gardening gloves, trowel

Day 21 and 22 - Edisto Island, SC to Lumberton, NC

Day 21 & 22, April 8-9, 2008
Wow, can’t believe that we’ve been gone three weeks. I thought I’d be sent home via
Greyhound long before this. One of our “to do’s” while we’re down here is to tour a plantation. So back to Charleston. We found a visitors center outside of town and looked at all the brochures and decided on Drayton Hall. It’s a National Historic Site and the oldest plantation house where the public can tour in America. We wanted colonial vs.
Antebellum. Had a great tour. The guide was somewhat pompous but in a funny way.

We headed back to the island via 174 which is the main road. Betsy had spied a giftshop several miles from the beach and thought it looked “artsy”. The day before we had stopped but they were not open. However I found the house I’d been looking for.
If I was looking for property down here this is what I would buy. It’s not on the beach, but it’s close. It’s got a little land. The plantings are spectacular. I’m sure it would be a money pit, but hey we’re dreaming here. A picture is above.

We looked in the gift shop and knock me down with an anvil, Betsy found something to buy!! We were paying for the item and the clerk looked up in shock and said, “I have no earthly idea what the date is today”. I looked at her and said, “I’m pretty sure it’s April, but other than that I haven’t a clue.” We all sorta decided that the 8th or 9th sounded okay.
She chose the 8th, and that happened to be correct. We’ve been to long without TV, newspapers, and a regular schedule.

We tried the Edisto Historical Society, but they were closed. We did however answer the age old question, “how many historical society members does it take to put up a small tent?” Apparently five, but they needed more so they could form an exploratory committee to determine the feasibility of erecting a small tent. Man, talk about some clueless looking people.

We then decided that since this was the last night at the beach we would have shrimp.
Betsy went into our favorite seafood shop for the shrimp. She and the skipper/owner were small talking and she mentioned that she was from Indiana. The seafood guy says that he just sold one of his shrimp boats to a guy from Greenwood. The Greenwood guy was the roommate of the skipper/seafood market owners son at the College of Charleston. I’ll bet the skippers son was at the college to escape becoming a shrimper, and here comes Billy Hoosier a stumblin’ down the pike. Betsy said that she met the kid from Greenwood very briefly and he wasn’t much of a talker. Good luck Billy. Hey, if Forest Gump can do it, you can too.

Our Edisto Island interlude is over but we had some fun, met some nice people, laughed at Tippy at the beach, saw some sights, and enjoyed the seafood.

April 9th—Left Edisto and the plan was to take SR17 from Charleston to Wilmington and then find a spot to stay. As we got closer and closer to Myrtle Beach the traffic kept getting heavier and heavier and as we passed by campgrounds we kept seeing no vacancy sign’s. We decided to forget the plan and head inland to escape the spring breakers. We found a Good Sam campground in Lumberton, NC. We’re 92 miles from Raleigh whichis good, since we can’t arrive at our next campsite until tomorrow. Got an e-mail from Jeff saying James is going through a MINE period—everything is his. For some unknown reason James is taking possession of all gardening tools. Betsy suggested that since his birthday is coming up maybe we should stop tomorrow and buy him a little Mantis Rototiller. We’re sure that no harm can come of that!! Jamie

Soooooooooooo with a tear in our eye and sand in our shorts we depart our beach vacation…………………………. The seafood was great!!! The sound of the surf will have to stay with me till we are able to return. We also visited the Edisto Island Interpretative Center yesterday to learn more about the ACE basin of which Edisto is a part. ACE we found out stands for Ashepoo, Comachee, and Edisto River Basin. It is a system of fresh and salt-water rivers and marshes that house an enormous variety of plant and wildlife. We saw heron, pelicans and gulls soaring over the marshlands every day. I loved looking over the marshland and I think they just creeped Jamie out thinking about all those bugs and alligators! Betsy
Picture 1. Jamie's favorite house 2. Drayton Hall Plantation 1735

Day 18-20 Low Country, SC

Day 18-20, April 5-6-7, 2008, Edisto Island
After our lucky break at the dump we quit early today. Jane stayed at the house waiting for a repairman. Betsy and I took off and since it was actually sunny we headed for the beach. We put Tippy on a long, long rope and he had the time of his life running into the surf, chasing seagulls, and rolling in the sand. Betsy and I sat in the sun and just enjoyed watching the ocean.

Saturday Jane drove us into Charleston for a tour. We had already seen part of Charleston when we attended Josh and Natalias wedding, but Jane has been coming to the area long enough to know all the really neat area’s. For once Betsy and I could set
back and enjoyed the view. We did take a mansion tour and enjoyed it very much. This evening we didn’t have seafood, but opted for barbeque instead.

The longer I’m here on Edisto Island, the more I like it. Everyone is very friendly.
Of course we have the advantage of being with Jane who is accepted as a local.
We were talking with one of the owners of a restaurant who has been here since the mid 1950’s. He said that back then there were only about fifteen people at what is considered the beach portion of the island in the winter! You see all sorts of homes on the island.
I tend to like the old one’s that have some personality. And of course, as I mentioned before there are very few businesses.

Picture 1. Charlestown street scene 2. Edisto Island dirt road 3. Tippy at the beach!

Sunday-- Deputy Jane departed for home. Before she left she gave us our certificates of completion of the McPherson Work Release Program and said that we were now authorized to travel about the south. It’s a good thing we found all this work to do down here or we would never know about the “work rule of the south.” Golly gee, it pays to have people help you out and make sure you abide by all the unknown local laws. Funny thing is that I keep having these dreams about never ending crystal cabinets and mounds and mounds of shoes.

Since we failed in our attempt to see Beaufort on the way in, we headed back that way without Starship. Beaufort was established in 1711, which was before Savannah. Beautiful old homes. We did drive through the downtown area and it was packed so we opted just to look at the homes.

To end the day Josh and Natalia came down for dinner. Josh said that he was in the downtown Charleston area and saw a car bearing Indiana license plates from Bartholomew County. He engaged the couple in a conversation about being from Indiana and that he had relatives in Columbus and mentioned Amy and Jeff. The lady said that she was their 3rd or 5th grade teacher. We’ll have to try and figure out who it was.