WELCOME TO PENSACOLA FLORIDA

Our last day of cleaning restrooms at Dreher Island State Park in SC, we had a good viewing of the deer.  They were crossing the road after watering at the lakes edge first thing in the morning.  First time we got a decent picture of the strange one.



A lot of white on this one!!

















Our travels through Georgia and Alabama were uneventful until we were nearing Florida and called in to our campground in Pensacola.  We found that our site might not be available until late in the day since we were arriving a few days early.  Since our days on the road usually end early, we decided to stop at Wind Creek Casino in Atmore AL.  They always welcome you to stay in their parking lots.  I wonder why??

A few days later we drove back to Atmore and stopped at David's Catfish House for seafood for lunch.  Yum-m-m and the ambiance was neat. 

When we arrived at Drifters RV Park, we dropped the Jeep, changed clothes and went on to church.  We decided on the spur of the moment to stop in at Olive Baptist Church rather than drive across town to the church we had attended before.  When walking in and seeing the size of it, we were not sure that we would like something so large.  We like to feel at home!!

We got there for their introduction to the Christmas season and their first program which was that evening.  Notice the eleven grand pianos!  They were on loan from a store in Pensacola for their Keyboard and Carols Concert that evening.  After setting up housekeeping that afternoon, we vegged out and did not go to the concert though.  It sure was our loss as the sampling that morning was awesome!!  The sermon was good also and we left feeling blessed and deciding to try Sunday School next week as well.  And that turned out to be great and welcoming.

Inside of David's Catfish House!! 

Wish I'd had a Raggedy Andy suit for Gary!!



Wouldn't that have been cute??

Down the road a piece we happened upon this house ready for the Christmas season!!

Do you suppose the snow is manufactured??  Wish I had shrubs to decorate??

Last evening we went to Olive's second concert of the season and invited Audrey's nephew and family to go along with us.  It was very nice and we went back to the motorhome for pizza afterward.  The boys were very intrigued by the motorhome and Issiah was very inquisitive asking Gary many questions.

We are looking forward to being with them again since they are right here in Pensacola!

The Children of the World Concert held the boys interest!!  So all was good.



We learned of the children's hardships and near death states before they were rescued and treated for malnutrition and contaminated drinking water!



The children here were from Uganda, Nepal and the Philippines.




No missed beat here.


















We were clapping and wishing that we could dance along with them!!
It is time to stop and go to the airport to pick up Audrey's sister, coming south from Ohio.  So long for now.

THANKSGIVING AND GOODBYES TO SOUTH CAROLINA FRIENDS

Hello again!
We left Valley AL at the GA border west of Atlanta yesterday morning early and arrived about noon at Atmore AL just about 35 miles north of Pensacola, our final destination. And now you are scratching your heads and asking where is Valley and where is Atmore? - - - just little black dots on the maps. We were to arrive at the campground in Pensacola about the 5th and since this is just the 1st, I decided to call ahead and check to see if our spot was available. She said yes, come on in, that a gentleman was to leave sometime today and we could take the lot next door and then move over after he left. But have you ever backed up one of these things?? So we decided to stop at a Casino not far from there and use their lot for the night and be able to PULL out in the morning. So hope to leave early and park in our spot at the campground and then make a beeline for church and leave the connections at home for the afternoon when we get back. So we'll see!!

We are watching the Gaithers Tent Revival music held at the Graham Museum in Charlotte NC. Wish we had thought of the Museum when we came through there!! Famous last words!! Not the first that I have uttered those on this trip!! Two days before leaving SC when going through our address book, I found an address for a couple from Salem who now live in Chapin SC - - - - just about five miles from the park where we were!! .  His uncle attends our Sunday School class back home and had given us the address to check in on him.  We had also lived near his parents back in the 80's.   So sorry not to have remembered it when we first got there. Gary then called them and left a message and the next morning on our way to do laundry in Chapin we left our card in their door as no one answered. I hope that they find it!! We will definitely try again when we get back through there.
When doing Christmas Cards this week, I also found the address of one of our babysitters from our boys younger years who moved to Richmond VA to be near her daughter. Yep, you guessed it!!! We passed right by there and even had the car unhooked for Sunday when just south of there!! Problem is the next time could be a year or two away. Some day I will get a list made by state!! I have said that before!! I am getting more and more information on spreadsheets, so maybe one day!! If carpel tunnel does not get the best of me.
Hope that all is well with you all. The weather here is wonderful!! Shirtsleeves again!!!  We are looking forward to calling Pensacola home for a little while. It is bittersweet for me though. We have been on the road for six and a half weeks now. The month in SC was nice. Many relationships renewed and hope to meet at least four of them when they come south in the next month to be near Pensacola. We cleaned bathrooms for our rent at the state park in SC and it really was not a bad job!! I am sure that some parks might not be so good, but our manager gave us his personal cell phone number to call when we come back through in the future. So we must have done okay.
We did get a couple more walks around in the park.  If you could walk onto the sites backing to the lakes edge, you could get some good pictures with zoom of homes on the other side of the lake. Most of the weekends were full sites though and Sunday was our day off, so was spent somewhere other than in the park.

Much difference in SC in housing.  Many lovely large homes, but often they were in close proximity to below average homes and many mobile homes that should be hauled away.  They must not have the zoning as we know it in northeast Ohio.  I don't think that pricing differs much from Ohio though.

 

Thanksgiving was wonderful at Sandy and Mike's house.  Mike's daughter, Amanda, counted 22 dishes that we had made and carried in!!  I'll bet that Mike got pretty tired of it before it was gone!!  Maybe Sandy froze some.  We took some home, but our tiny fridge will not hold much.
We always sent to the Independent Fellowship of the Living Word church where a friend, Jack Whitlow, is pastor.  We may get to see him and his wife, Vicky, in the Florida panhandle while we are there.  They have a daughter there and go down often.



This little gal always entertained us at church.  So much personallity!!  She really kept up with the music, clapping always, whether it be a slow song or fast.  I took the picture as Gary would love to do a drawing of her.  He also asked that the mother get pictures to us to help with the drawing.  She was the center of attention.

Audrey got to do scrapbooking with Sandy a couple times and would have done more, but Sandy was getting over a bad cold when we first got there.  They also got to spend a day doing the Thrift shops and Craft stores.
Sunday rolled around again and we went back to Sandy and Mike's for spaghetti and more visiting.  Mike took Gary out to see the truck that he drives for a living before he left on a one day trip to Virginia.  So now we will look for him on the road.  He did a trip to New York after Hurricane Sandy and said that it was devastating beyond belief. 

Mike and Sandy came out to the park to see our home before we left and we spent about three hours visiting and eating pumpkin roll.  We have been so blessed to have found such wonderful friends to spend time with in SC.  Oh, I failed to mention that Sandy is from Akron back thirty years ago.  I think that is where she and Mike met, though he is a southern guy.  Mary and Johnnie are from here in SC also.  But they did travel overseas many years when he was in the military.  So we enjoyed their stories also.

And finally the last week was upon us!!  We had to get together one last time to eat and visit.  Mary and Johnnie joined us at Shealy's Bar-BQ buffet.  Awesome chicken and I learned what the pully bone is!! 
Can you tell that Mary does not like her picture taken??  I was lucky to get one picture without her hand in front of her face though.

That just about wraps up our time here in SC.  We hope for many more trips back in the future though, God willing.  We love it!!

Be with you in Pensacola next.

REDCLIFFE PLANTATION AND AUGUSTA GA

We traveled down to Redcliffe Plantation and Augusta GA for a day.  It was sunshining and beautiful!! 

We also want to take this time to wish you all a wonderful Thanksgiving Day and season.  We will be going in to Lexington SC to have dinner and fellowship at a friends home with them, their daughter and another couple from church.  We are looking forward to it.
Gary has received an offer for workamping in Alaska for next summer.  Not sure what we will do.  I really want to spend another summer at home before our grandson begins working, especially since we did not have much free time this past summer because of our workamping job.  The Alaska job sounds good as it is May to Sept and only four hours a day.  A neighbor here in the park said that is the only time to go!!  Not sure what the job will be though, probably clean motorhomes that are rented out.  So time will tell.

Redcliffe Plantation, a Greek Revival style mansion, was built in 1859 by former US Congressman, SC Governor and US Senator,  James Henry Hammond so that he could show off his wealth.  However, it is not now furnished to show their oppulance as much of the furnishings were removed over the years by his decendents.  There have been three generations that have lived there after him.  It was one of three plantations that he owned and the smallest of the three with four hundred acres.  Many changes took place over the years as the following three generations lived in it.  The greatest change was when Mr. John Shaw Billings, the managing editor of Timeand Life Magazines, left New York and moved into it in the 1930's.  The biggest change that he made was a small addition and three modern ceramic tile bathrooms.  He removed his modern furnishings ammenities including a television before he donated it to the State of South Carolina for a historic landmark in 1975.

We were an hour too early for the tour, so we just relaxed on the porch.  It was very relaxing and such pretty landscape.These awesome trees with large low branches always make me think of many hours as a youth in a swing.

Ballroom serving as Entrance from both front and back.

Bread warmer for in front of fireplace.

Moving on to the the second floor and bedrooms we find samples of the original bathroom!!

 

This is only half of the library shelves, which held family collections of books some that were as old as the 1700's and through the mid nineteen hundreds. 


A replacement stable from later years.

Driving on into Augusta GA, we stopped by the Riverwalk Ampitheatre and Plaza. 



Analematic Sundial for Eastern Daylight Time



However, when Gary stood on November it showed 4 pm though our watches said 3 pm.  Hm-m-m?

Our manager over the Park told us to be sure to go to Rinehart's Oyster Bar to eat.  So we did - - - but when stepping through the door my mind was sure saying "scuzzy"!!  We did go on in though and ordered shrimp and fries backets.  While we sat there to eat at our picnic table with the grafitti on the walls, many people who passed through from the open air seating area were very well dressed!!  So it must be the food reputation!!  The woman who opened it in 1983 began with a small refrigerator and toaster oven.  She still uses the paper china as we do in our motorhome, but has expanded to have a large bar and a much larger kitchen.  We did not check those out as we were not sure what we would find.  Just call us chicken.  However, the food was good.

The computer is running so-o-o slow that I am ready to give up!!  Will try again tomorrow and see if I can get the Thanksgiving pictures in.  Take care and hope that you enjoyed your holiday.

ANOTHER WEEK AROUND LAKE MURRAY AND COLUMBIA SC

After the trip to Iva last Monday, we spent the rest of the week doing laundry, shopping another day at Walmart and then spending Friday in Columbia trying to find a Joann Fabric.  We never did find Joann's but saw plenty of other things on our excursion.
We started with the side roads before leaving State Park Road.  We knew that there were homes along the lake shore, but could not see them from the Park Road.  We were in awe of this new home under construction.  I would bet that it is at least 500K though you can't see much.   We could not get in any closer without trespassing. 

Next door was this home with the lake behind it.  I would be these people drive clear in to Columbia to work!!  That would be at least 45 minutes away.  These are probably about five minutes from us.  We always wondered what was down some of these side roads.  Now we know!!  But in SC you see so many areas that have this extreme almost next door to the opposite.  We wonder if they have zoning??

We went across the Saluda Dam at the east end of the lake, nearest Columbia.  I have been wanting to get some pictures of it, but we were driving too fast to get much.  I hope to get back for more pictures.  The original earthen dam was built in the early 30's or a little before.  It was the largest earthen dam in the world at that time.  Since, there have been three more larger ones built in the world,  but this one still remains the largest in the United States.  However, recently the government decided that it should have a back-up.  So a new dam was built beside it in case the original would ever weaken or leak.  You can see that structure across the other side of the highway and it is also backed by earth. 
Awesome!!  The next time I hope to stop to take more pictures.

This past Sunday was a Homecoming service and dinner at the church we attend.  It was a very inspirational service, with some testimonies and much music sung by Chesnee.  She and her family came from North Carolina specifically to lead this worship.  She was a wonderful soloist!!  I would love to hear her again.  After dinner was over and clean-up begun Chesnee's father was to sing a song for our friend Sandy.  I did not think of the camera until he was about finished, so missed that one!!  But her sons were showing their expertise afterward.  

Jared on the drums had played during the service. He has been playing drums in church since he was four!! He began to show his interest on pots and pans in the kitchen when very small. He had to rotate the pans to get the sounds that he wanted!!  Adam is the one on the piano.

They sure looked very talented to us.  We wouldn't be surprised to see them perform as a family group later as well.

Leaving the church we followed Sandy to her home for the afternoon.  It was our second time to scrapbook together.  So Gary had his time for a nap since Sandy's husband, Mike, was out on a truck run to Texas.  We might not have gotten too much accomplished in the scrapbooks, but we sure had a good time visiting!!  We are hoping to do it again before our time runs out here in SC.  I need to get a few more pictures printed first though.

Stay tuned and we will take you on our trip to Redcliffe Plantation and Augusta GA.  Hope that you are all well and having good weather.  Happy Thanksgiving to you all if I don't get back with you before then. 

VISITING OHIO FRIENDS IN SOUTH CAROLINA

Hello from Dreher Island State Park again!!  I wanted to include a map picture of Lake Murray and where we are located, especially for Donna and Ray, to see how large the lake is(all within the jagged lines)!!  There sure is a lot of fishing done here.  We are located in the park on the island where the star is in the center of the picture. 

On our day off, Monday, we took a planned trip to a little town of Iva, SC to meet up with Jan and Jack from our home church in Salem OH.  They have relocated to Iva and we were curious what the attraction was to draw them there.  The attraction happened to be family who settled in that area for employment, but the area also turned out to be a quite nice.  We enjoyed the scenery as we went into the hills for our two hour drive.  The colors are still good here and the green pine sets it off well!!

We found Jan and Jack doing very well in their new home!!  It is a lovely home with room for company which they have been making good use of!! Jack was out blowing leaves.  He said, "No grass, just leaves!"  They have tried many things to get grass growing, but the sand just comes to the surface again.

It was wonderful to visit and so nice to get better acquainted with them!!  We look forward to a next time!!  They had experiences from past travels as well.

Thank you Jack and Jan for a wonderful time and a delicious dinner!!  Our trip home was interesting and most of it was done before full darkness.  We saw four deer as soon as we got into our park.  On the way I also took some pictures of interesting buildings.
This house was not too far from Iva.  Quite a house, huh?

We also thought the town of McCormick to be interesting looking. Have you checked it out?

I also took this next picture hoping that we could find out on the Internet what kind of business it is.  I thought that I would remember the name on it, but did not.  I do know that it had something to do with wire and cables.  Jack, have you noticed it before?

We spent today going in to Columbia to Camping World to get a new mattress for our bed.  We were a little apprehensive as we have never had a foam mattress.  And it was pressure packaged in a box that appeared much to small.  But it turned out quite all right and seems very comfortable!!  We had been looking for quite some time for something suitable.  It had to be a queen short to fit our home and they are difficult to find.  So we were glad to have the mission accomplished!!
Not much else planned.  Just know that Thanksgiving is coming up and they expect the park to be full that week.  I understand there will be plenty of deep frying of turkeys.  Guess we will have to get to know our neighbors!! 
This coming Sunday will be Homecoming day at the church we attend here.  We are looking forward to that.  Take care and we wish you all a Happy Thanksgiving!!