Downtime

 We must have been tired because we slept until 8:00 a.m.  That was a first for us but it began a day of downtime and relaxation.  I fixed breakfast which was a good way to start the day.  We had a "to do" list from which to work.  I did laundry and Carol worked on the list.  

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Seeing blue heron in our campsite was a first for us.  They wandered around the campground and at one point were right across the street.

After laundry and other things, we drove to Walmart for a few things and then to a place John and Linda had told us about...Davidson of Dundee Citrus Candy and Jelly Factory.  It is a famous tourist shop that hand makes and sells candy and jelly made from citrus products.  We took a short tour and met Mr. Davidson, the son of the original owner.  Of course, we ate a few samples of their product.  We couldn't leave with buying a sample of citrus candy.  One of the candies we brought is orange peels dipped in milk chocolate...yummy!!

We got back to camp at 1:00 p.m. and because it was so nice, we sat outside.  A motorhome had pulled into the site next to us.  It is probably at least 40 feet long and one of the slides had a slide!  It had three air conditioner units on top.   

This is a picture of our motorhome and site.  To save on our backs, Carol got the ramp out for Sandy.  It was very pleasant to be relaxing outside this afternoon.   Sandy enjoyed the nice weather, too.  She slept under the motorhome while we were outside.  

 At 3:30 we drove into Winter Haven to the place where John works.  He gave us the "grand tour."  The Salvation Army has a great ministry here.  They  provide assistant like money, utility assistance, and food to those who need help.  They also have a women's homeless shelter attached to this building.  Everyone we spoke to were very nice and had very nice things to say about John.  They told us we should be very proud of him and we are. 

We spent the rest of the afternoon with John, Linda, Katie, Aidan and their new dog, Pixie.  Linda served a delicious supper of ham and beams and cornbread.  We enjoyed talking and being with the kids.  Before we left this beautiful sunset filled the sky.  

John said that sunsets like this are not unusual and that the sunrises are just as beautiful.  We headed back to camp.  Sandy was waiting for her supper.  

Friends and Family

This morning was different than we have had so far in that we didn't pack up and drive on down the road.  Instead, I was able to watch the sun come up and brighten up the clouds.  Then we drove into Inverness to spend the morning with our friends, Jim and Karen Peyton.

Jim and Karen are long-time friends from Mt. Zion.  We always enjoy visiting with them.  We catch up with what is going on with their kids and grandkids and how they are living life in retirement.

 

We left their home at noon and returned to camp to pack up.  We  had just started to pack and then it began to rain.  That was to be a forecast for the rest of the day.     We left the camp traveling back up that same bumpy road with ruts and potholes beg enough to swallow our motorhome and car.

We got back on the interstate and Florida Tollway to US Route 27 which is familiar territory for us by now.  Then the skies opened up and it poured and poured.  At times we could barely see the road or car in front of us.  It slowed our travel.  We needed gas and found a Pilot with RV pumps but had difficulty getting into it because it was on the other side of a divided highway.   After several turns and tries we finally got gas.  Then the skies opened up again and we drove into Cypress RV Park in the rain.  When we got to our site, we sat in the RV and waited for the rain to stop.  It didn't stop but it lessened enough that we could unhook and set up.  We wanted to see Katie and Aidan tonight so we drove into Winter Haven for a short visit.  John said that his rain gauge showed nearly 6 inches of rain in the last couple of days.  I hope that it stops so we can enjoy the rest of our time with John and Family.

Hot and Humid - Welcome to Florida

Another good night's rest.  Cool morning but not cool enough to need a sweatshirt.  Sandy and I took a quick walk around the pond while Carol unhooked and packed up.  We each have our things to do toward pulling out of the campground.  I do all the inside preparation  and Carol does the outside stuff.  It works for us.  Good thing we enjoyed the cool night because as we traveled south to Florida, we could feel it getting hotter and more humid.

                                 I love the red dirt of Southern Alabama, Georgia, and Mississippi.  

Can't pass through Dothan, Alabama without taking a picture of the National Peanut Festival grounds.  I feel pretty certain that this year the festival wasn't held.  Another cancellation caused by the Corona Virus.  We heard today that Florida is now in Phase 3 which means no restrictions, masks, theme parks can open to full capacity, etc.  We won't know how to act in that kind of environment!

This picture was taken on I-10 heading east.  These clouds are very pretty but in just a short time after it was taken, the clouds turned dark and we drove off and on in rain.

We stopped for gas at a Flyin J west of Tallahassee.  We brought chef salads at the store there and then stopped at a rest area for lunch.  As we were eating, we saw cars getting washed off with this spray of water.  We had never seen any thing like this before.  I guess it is automatic because when the car pulled up, the water came on.

This is site #26 at Holder Mine State Forest Campground.  It is a very beautiful spot.  It was quite an adventure to get to this site.  Google maps was a great navigation guide but it didn't tell us that the road to the campground was rock and dirt and rut-filled because of the rains that had been falling off and on all day.  Carol showed his skill as a driver as he drove the two-mile road to the campground.  We found the site I had reserved and we discovered it was too short to accommodate our motorhome.  The campground didn't seem very full but we decided we needed to contact someone in charge to see what sites were available.  I made contact with Melissa and was told that because of "social distancing" only every other site was available and the one that was long enough was unavailable.  She put me on hold and when she returned gave us permission to pull into that site and said if anyone asked us, we should say that "Melissa with the approval of Eddie gave us permission."  About that time the campground host stopped by and told us that we couldn't camp in that spot because it wasn't the spot normally used when the reserved spot isn't going to work.  He took Carol to site #26 and it turns out that it is the best spot in the whole campground.  So he called Melissa and they hashed things out so we could be in site #26.  We asked him if the road into the campground is always that bad and he said no but that financial resources were prioritized and this campground was low on the priority list.  It is a beautiful campground and it meets our criteria for a great campground...spots well spaced and plenty of trees for shade.  

This is a picture taken of the eastern sky from our site. 

We were treated to a beautiful sunset.  Despite it's being hot and humid, we sat outside and enjoyed our surroundings and the sunset.  After hot showers to wash off the humidity of the day, we are relaxing.  We are running our air conditioner so I don't think we will hear any night sounds.

A Pleasant Sunday Drive

It cooled down nicely last night so sleeping was very good.  We were very tired and actually went to bed at 9:00 p.m.  We were on the road by 8.  The picture of Sandy shows what she does most of the time we are traveling.  She can no longer get up the the chair by herself so I lift her up and she sleeps the miles away.  We  had three cities to drive through today...Nashville, Birmingham, and Montgomery.  Carol successfully cruised on through them without a hitch.  There seemed to be a lot of traffic  I guess everyone else was taking Sunday drives.  We only stopped once at a rest area and once for gas.  We made great time and were in the Ozark KOA by 3:30, driving a total of 400 miles.

It is hot but there is a nice breeze blowing so we opted not to turn on the air conditioner so we could enjoy the night sounds.  After supper, we took Sandy for a walk around a small pond on the campground.  It was pleasant.  There is a huge snapping turtle in the pond.  Some kids at the park teased it with a stick and it jumped up and bit the stick so we could see how large it was.  We are sitting outside and I am working on this entry.  It is so nice to sit outside and we are able to hear the frogs singing.  If the motorhome doesn't cool down enough, we may turn on the air.  

This is site #20.  It has a concrete pad so leveling was easy.  It is a small campground with only three other campers.  It is located off of US Highway 231 but I don't think there will be much traffic later in the evening.  Tomorrow we will lose a hour as we cross into Florida.  Our next stop is a Florida state forest campground outside Inverness, Florida.  

On the Road, Again

 We left home at 8:00 a.m.  We spent the last two days leisurely packing the motorhome.  It is amazing how much less stuff that needs to be packed when you are only going to be gone two weeks.  We decided to take US 51 south to Sandoval and then US 50 east to Salem and I-57.  The highways were very rough.  It nearly jarred our teeth out.  Sandy settled in for the trip.  Every year for the past two I have said this trip may be her last but like a Timex watch, she keeps on ticking.  She can no longer climb the steps onto the motorhome so we have to life her up the steps but with help she can make it down the steps.

It was a nice day to drive, very overcast so we didn't have the sun in our eyes.  Temperatures were in the 70's.  Our first stop is Clarksville RV Park, Clarksville, Tennessee.  Their internet is very, very slow and the pictures were downloaded in reverse order.  We are camped in Site #3.  It is long enough that we don't have to unhook the car and level enough that we only had to pull through and set up.  That is the way we like it!

This vintage  camper sets by the office and they use it as their logo and the shirts of the staff are the color of the camper.  Mom and dad had an old camper like this one that they kept here in Illinois.  They named it "pup."  This one is named Miss Lucy.  This campground is small but nice.  We think that it used to be a KOA.  The office  building and restrooms look like KOAs.  Also, it is situated by the interstate which is a hallmark of most KOAs.

We did cross the Kentucky state line before Tennessee.  The campground is at Exit 1 just as you enter Tennessee.

                                                  The  Ohio River was busy with barges.

We only drove  300 miles today so we were set up and relaxing by 3:00 p.m.  We ate an early supper and then took Sandy for her evening walk.  In keeping with tradition, we stopped by the camp store for ice cream for dessert.  No masks necessary here.  When we stopped for gas at a Flyin J in Kentucky, masks were required inside the store.   The campground is full.  It was a good thing we had reservations.

This campground has a nice swimming pool, dog park, playground, and a gaga ball pit.  I had no idea what gaga ball was until last year when we took Hunter and Keegan to Kentucky.  That KOA had a gaga ball pit and Hunter spent a lot of time in the pit playing that game.  We will have a longer day tomorrow.  Our next campground is nearly 400 miles away and, unlike today, we will have to drive through some big cities like Nashville, Birmingham, and Montgomery.  We are glad that it will be Sunday and  maybe the traffic will be lighter.  We have not turned on the air conditioner.  It is very pleasant here.

                                                                    Site Number 3.

                                  Sandy looks happy as she waits for me to come back inside.

Home

We were on the road by 7:00 a.m.  It had rained in the night and the temperature dropped to 50.  It was chilly so we actually turned on the heater in the car.

We love driving I-80 across western Iowa especially this time of the year when the crops are beginning to ripen up.

 

We filled up with $1.95 a gallon gas at the I-80 Truckstop and had lunch.  This is the third time in three weeks that we have been here.

This is the bridge over the Mississippi River from Iowa to Illinois.  At Omaha/Council Bluff we crossed the Missouri River and, at Peoria we crossed the Illinois River.  On this day we crossed three major rivers in the midwest.

We made it to Decatur by 4:00 p.m. and quickly unloaded the car so we could pick up Sandy.  She was very happy to see us.  They treat her well at Ruff-Inn-It, but it just isn't home.  We had a great time and saw and learned so much.  We ate lots of good food, enjoyed time together, and made many wonderful memories. Covid didn't affect us much.  If the place we went into required masks, we wore them; if it didn't, we didn't wear them.  The motels substituted sit-down breakfasts with "bags-to-go."   There were no condiments on restaurant tables or refill drinks without a clean cup.  We adapted but look forward to more "normal" trips.

Back Where It All Began

After a good night's rest, we packed up and decided to have breakfast at the nearby Cracker Barrel.  

We left Missouri and cut across the southwest corner of Iowa.

Finally, we made it to Nebraska and took Highway 75 north to Bellevue and Offutt AFB.

Below is Erling Berquest Military Hospital, Offutt AFB, Nebraska, where John Andrew was born.  

Below is the main gate into Offutt AFB, Nebraska.  When mom and I drove from Salem to the base, this is where we waited for Carol to sign us in.
 

When Carol was stationed here, SAC Headquarters was  located in a building where this new building is now.  I worked in that building.  In 1982 SAC was decommissioned and renamed Strategic Command.  This new building replaced that old SAC Headquarters building.  At the time I worked here it was a three-story building with an additional three-stories underground.  I don't know if the new building has the underground stories.

This vacant lot is located just outside the Bellevue Gate to Offutt.  In 1966 when we got married, the vacant lot was a trailer park and we lived in a 30-foot trailer...our first home!  The small building in the top corner of the picture was there at that time.

This is the second place we lived in Bellevue, Apartment #3, Lindyview Apartments.

This is the third and last place we lived.  At that time, the basement was an apartment.  We lived here when John was born.  

This is the church in which we were married on Sunday, September 4, 1966.  The sign wasn't there but 

otherwise it looks the same.  The Friday before that Sunday, Carol and I had visited the pastor to see if he would marry us on Sunday afternoon.  He didn't know us from Adam, and we weren't members of the church; but he was a kind man and agreed to perform the wedding.  

  

This is Bellevue Florist and in 1966, I brought my wedding bouquet at this shop.  It is amazing that it is still in business and my memory tells me it looks the same.

When we lived in Bellevue, this was the Southroads Shopping Mall.  For Carol and I in 1966, a shopping mall was something new.  The  little town of Salem sure didn't have one.  Nearly every weekend, we would visit the mall; usually, we didn't buy anything but a record album and ice cream cones.   We did enjoy going to the mall.  Now, this shopping mall has gone by the way of a lot of malls today.  It's no longer is a place to shop but has been repurposed.  Thanks to those shopping trips, we do have great collection of vinyl record albums from 1966-1969.  Vinyl is coming back!!

After driving around Bellevue and the base, we drove into Omaha on some of the streets we had driven when we lived here.  The western edge of the city used to end around 80th street but now it stretches out to 150th street and beyond.  Boys Town was outside of town and now it is a part of Omaha.  There are new streets and highways everywhere.  We ate a late lunch at Red Lobster before driving back to Bellevue to stay at the Comfort Inn there. It has been a good day filled with old, sweet memories.  Tomorrow we head home.