Southern Pines, NC

We  did make it back to Southern Pines to do some exploring. It was threatening rain so our visit was short. The town has railroad tracks that run right through the middle of the business section of town. To make this a positive instead of a negative the town placed an old fashioned train station in the middle of town and then planted trees and bushes on either side of the tracks that go through town. In other words there are a row of buildings with various stores, sidewalks and in some places cafe tables and chairs then curbs with diagonal parking, then the street, then the park setting of trees and bushes, then the railroad tracks, park again, the street, more parking and more shops on the other side. The trees and bushes are so high and plentiful that you can't see the train tracks or the other side of the street.
Here is a picture of the train station.

In the middle of each block there are small walkways to go over the tracks so you don't have to walk a block out of your way. Here is a picture of one of the walkways. You can see how lush the vegetation is. There are even park benches to have a sit to watch the train pass if that's what turns you on.

Next is the ice cream shop with outside as well as inside tables to lick your favorite flavor.

And finally the local candy store has everyone beat. Attached to the flower planter that is below the front store window is a bubble blowing machine. You walk through bubbles everytime you go by. The bubbles are hard to see in this picture.

There is also a large recreational park at the end of the business district that had tennis courts, basketball courts and I counted 4 different playgrounds. It was a really nice sleepy type town with lots to offer. If it was further south, I'd consider it a contender for a retirement town. 

Bathrooms

Okay Wendy, just for you. Here is a picture of 2 of the bathrooms in the lodge. The main bathhouse is a bit more utilitarian but still clean, individual private rooms and spacious. They don't have fireplaces like these and are completely tiled from ceiling to floor.

John insisted on taking the Jeep to a repair shop to have the brakes examined. They were perfectly fine.... and they didn't charge us anything for the "look see". I took a class on glass etching. It was surprisingly easy and fun to do. We also took a ride around the area and found a quaint little town called Southern Pines. I want to go back, explore some more and take pictures.

It is suppose to rain this afternoon, so we put the chairs under the RV and pulled in the awning as there are high wind advisories. We are here until Thursday. We are headed into town for a little grocery shopping..... we are almost out of dog food. We did salmon on the grill last night. We like cooking out and the places permitting fires get fewer and far between the further west we go so we are taking advantage now.

Sycamore Lodge

We are now settled into our "home port" for Coast 2 Coast in Jackson Springs NC. We arrived here on Saturday the 16th after leaving Hershey TT. We stoped outside Charlotte NC for a Walmart layover to touch base with my sister Maeneen. Her husband Jim was out of town that evening so "Ne Ne", as we called her as a child, came to the RV and we spent time catching up. We saw pictures of the grandchildren, 2 so far, and I shared pictures of the NY wedding.

I have mentioned to several of our RV friends how much we enjoy the beauty of this park, so this time I have taken some pictures. I am posting a few of them here but I have a small slide show ready for when we can get togeather.

The first picture is the front of the lodge where some of the communal activities occur. The second picture is one of several small sitting rooms in the lodge where you can watch television, read, play cards or do things alone or in small groups. The next shot is of a portion of the lake where you can fish or boat. There is no swimming in the lake but there is a large swimming pool and hot tub in the recreation area. And the last one is the site area. I tried to convey the open space between sites and rows. The trees are enough to keep you cool in the sun but yet allow enough filtered sunlight to be cheery. We can also receive television signals to our antennae through them.

Speaking of the antennae, John had to climb up on the roof to put it up when we arrived. He since has gone up and "fixed" it so it will go up and down using the handle inside the coach. So number 4 is back in business and still up there.

This seems to be our year for glitches. John thinks the brake on the Jeep is sticking a little. He spent the afternoon "diagnosing" the problem. The rear wheel was removed and I heard clanging and banging. As of now the wheel is back on and he says he is not going to fuss with something he doesn't know about.    WHEW!!

We will be here until the 28th when we take off once again and head towards Georgia where we will spend about 10 days. There are some friends we met last year that we will spend time with before traveling on down to Orlando Fl.

Meandering South

As I write this, I am sitting in a Walmart parking lot in Galax Virginia. Let me catch you up as to how we arrived here. We left Poughkeepsie New York the day after the wedding. We got on the road later than planned because after we hooked up the jeep to be towed, the lights didn't work. We always test them prior to driving because they are so important and a good reason to get pulled over by the police. It took John 30-40 minutes to rewire and tape the connection. The tree colors along the route were beautiful. We went to the Hershey Thousand Trails Park. The minute we arrived we were greeted by hundreds of Canadian Geese..... squaking and walking everywhere. The dogs went crazy....     Eventually the dogs settled down and just ignored them. The park was pretty, well kept and winding down for the season. Here are a few pictures.

We only planned to spend 2 nights there, just to check things out. We put the antnnae up and received 2 stations. John added water to our supply and got back in sinc with the hook-up and tear down procedures again. When we were ready to leave we were delayed, once again, because we couldn't get the antennae to go back down. At least we remembered to try and lower it. Number 4 still intact. John climbed up on the roof and mannually put it down. We don't plan to put it back up until we arrive at Sycamore lodge in Jackson Springs NC where we will be staying for 10 days.

We have been averaging 200+ miles per day for the past 2 days and John is exhausted. So today we did 170. He has decided he needs to ease back into driving the distances. Last year on the way back to Pa we averaged 300 miles per day. Tomorrow we set out towards Charlotte NC. We will be staying nearby and hoping to touch base with my sister who lives in that area. The day after we go to Jackson Springs.

The Wedding

As I mentioned before the first phase of our journey this year was to Poughkeepsie NY to attend my niece's wedding. We traveled up the day before and stayed in the Walmart parking lot in Fishkill. It was a very nice place actually. They cut the grass just after we arrived so we had a manicured lawn at our doorstep, blooming mums and quiet shoppers. But the wedding.... absolutely beautiful. It was held outdoors next to the Hudson river. Here is a picture of the pavillion where they exchanged vows and the tent where the dinner was served.

And here is the happy couple.....

There was plenty of food and drink. We all had a good time. A few of my sisters and their spouses as well as one of my brothers were able to make the trip. My eldest son, just home from a gallery show in France, came up from New York city and a favorite cousin from Pa also attended. Here is the family rogues gallery. 

2460 minutes and counting...

We hit the road on Saturday (today is Thursday)....  We have been busy preparing. That means repacking the RV, cleaning and closing up the house, garage, and 2 sheds (filled with John's stuff). Vegtables left over from our garden and any foodstuffs we couldn't take in the RV we gave to our local foodbank. We had considered renting our house this year while we traveled but things didn't work out. We didn't want to advertise in the paper, and no one we know, knew someone in need of a place. 
 For me, part of getting ready is to get a haircut from Gretchen (my beautician). That is one of the surprises I had when I returned this spring. Gretchen left the establishment she was working at for years and went out on her own. That took a lot of courage in this economy, but she is one spunky lady. Here I am getting a trim today.

The last few weeks have been filled with preparation, but also fun. We joined friends for a trip to the Apple & Cheese Festival in a community north of us.

I can't wait to get going. Our first stop is Poughkeepsie NY for my niece's wedding. Then we will stop in Jackson Springs NC for a week at Sycamore Lodge. It is one of our favorite places to stay. We have established some way points and times but we will meander in between. Here is a listing of the targets.

Crabbing and Fishing in Georgia the end of October

Celebrate Thanksgiving with Millie & Ray in Orlando Fl

Celebrate Christmas in Texas

Boondock in the desert in Quartzsite Az forJanuary

Tour Yellowstone the beginning of June

What happens in between, we will decide as we go and as the mood strikes us. That's the fun of it