Dang RV

I belong to a group for single RVers to talk and enjoy each other’s company without spouses getting uptight or anyone looking for a date. It is not a dating group. We have a chatroom and MSN group online where we exchange info, issues, and solutions about RVing alone. Now and then someone plans a GTG (get together) somewhere and anyone who can attends the week long event. Since I happened to be in the area this year, I joined the East Coast GTG this week.

One thing you need to know, there is lots and lots of food at these so bring food that can be shared. If you can cook and barbecue, great! If not, bring what you can for someone else to cook. Dinner last night was made up of leftovers and I will take their leftovers anytime. It was delicious. The people are very genial and even went so far as to run out during dinner to offer help to a woman who was just coming into the park alone and trying to get her huge Class A into a spot. Of course they also made sure to invite her to dinner and chat her up to get her home state, etc. LOL

They actually have a banner they send to each GTG to be signed by all the attendees. They add little decorations for each GTG as well to it.

Read the rest of this entry »

Another day I went to see the Ocmulgee National Monument. Here, the Creek Indians once made their home hundreds of years ago. They used earthen mounds for their earth lodge where it is believed meetings were held, for their temple (no structure on top now)which is still holy ground to Indians today, and for their funeral services. Under another mound furrowed rows were found possibly corn rows.

The museum houses many artifacts and tools from the site and some evidence of their culture. There may not be a lot here to look at but it was still interesting to go in the earth lodge and see the seats built into an earthen shelf that runs around the outer edge of the room, the fire pit, and what actually looks like a stage. The entrance is very small so be sure to hunch down.

I couldn’t stand being so close to the Andersonville Confederate war prison site without checking it out. While the structures were gone long ago, archaeologists have mapped out the site and partial replicas and markers are in place to show a taste of it. The National Prisoners of War museum there fills in the rest. Keep in mind, that while this prison may be the most notorius during the Civil War, that is not to say that Union prisons were that much better. Neither side made any preparations for POWs before running off to war.

The prison was built to house 10,000. It began filling up even before it was finished. They did add more space eventually though still not enough for the 45,000 prisoners there at the end of the war. No housing or bedding was provided. The food was scarce. Water came in through a small stream which was downhill from the guards camp (a poor layout) and full of pestilence. Despite pleas from both commandants, supplies were channeled to fighting soldiers and not to enemy captives.

Read the rest of this entry »

Yep. I found the town where the movie was shot and the actual Whistle Stop Cafe. The Rally was offering a tour which did not fit into my schedule so I drove up to Juliette on my own. It is a very tiny spot in the road next to several train tracks. While I was there, at least 5 trains passed by.

Read the rest of this entry »

Ahhh. My very first rally. I have heard about these for years but this is the first one I attended. I wasn’t sure what to expect. I was hoping it wasn’t just another RV show as I have attended numerous of those and I truly love living in my current trailer with no desire to change. Happily it wasn’t.

First thing I learned was that when they say just follow the signs, don’t count on it. They did have signs at the freeway exits and turns from there but if you come in another way, no signs at all. I managed to find my way in any way. Muwahaha.

Registration was very well laid out and handled. I got my packet full of goodies and a new lanyard to keep with a badge hanging from it that tells everyone my name, state, and emergency info if I decided to drop dead while walking around the enormous fairgrounds. They also had free open computer terminals setup in there if you needed to check your email or browse something. For fun, another station was giving out stackable ribbons to add to your badge to show what groups you belong so such as Good Sam, Coast to Coast, Camping World President’s Club, Trailer Life Magazine, etc. They made it pretty easy to get to know one another fast.

They had seminars scheduled all day every day which is what I was looking for. Experts, including people who have been full-timing for 45 years, came in to teach us the basics like maintaining tires and tank systems and how to handle banking and mail on the road as well as more interesting subjects such as how to travel Canada and Alaska and what to expect, what Tracks tours are like, and so on. I believe I saw an RV cooking class and arts and crafts class on the schedule as well. The speakers were excellent and backed up their presentations with books (many of which they had written) and DVDs which you could purchase afterward.

Read the rest of this entry »

Finally time to bid adieu to Florida and head for the Coast to Coast/Good Sam Club RV Rally in Perry, Georgia. I hit up a Geocache I had already found first to pick up a new travel bug to move and started my “Amuse Me” travel bug on its journey by dropping it into the cache.

The day was beautiful and drive not too bad though I had to stop at a rest area to adjust my sways bars. There is so much traffic on the I75 north that they kept drafting me pretty bad so I had to tighten things up a bit.

Since I had decided rather late in the game to go to the Rally, I could not get reservations for a close campground and I can’t dry boondock at the Rally due to my work. I found a convenient campground about 25 miles away in Cochran, GA with wifi and it is a Passport America park as well. I love paying only $11 a night for full hookups! Finding the Hillside Bluegrass RV Park was pretty easy off a wide open highway outside of town. Their bath house while unheated is still of an excellent design with separate rooms which contain shower, toilet and sink in each. It is on a hillside so level it is not and the dirt road could use some smoothing out. No laundry room. Still, the wifi worked well for me in a space on top of the hill, the owners are very friendly, the location was close enough to see everything I wanted to see. Propane there is high so I filled up at Davis propane in town.

Read the rest of this entry »