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.
