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Wrap Up

3/12/2015

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On Sunday, we began our trek home. The first leg from Montgomery to Memphis was a long one. Just north of Montgomery, a white SUV passed us and the woman in the passenger seat was making frantic gestures at us. We couldn't interpret them but knew something must be amiss so pulled off at the next exit, as did they. The tailgate was down on the truck and she had been trying to simulate that. They were Alabama folks but he wanted to know 'where in Iowa are y'all from?' because he does business in Mt. Pleasant.

When we hit Birmingham, we had to backtrack because the exit we planned to take doesn't exist yet. It's under major construction and of course the alternate route has a plethora of stoplights. By the time we got to northern Mississippi, rain had started.  The early mist and sprinkles had turned very deliberate by the time we reached T. O. Fuller State Park on the southwest edge of Memphis. The good news was nice pull-through sites and an automatic 50% discount for seniors in Tennessee state parks. The park had just finished clearing the pads the day before, after three days of snow. Ken and Harriet whipped up an amazing supper of pork steak, squash and asparagus.


We got a pretty good start the next day since we left our truck hitched up, did a double check on the tailgate, and continued north. As we crossed into Arkansas and up into Missouri, fog and drizzle made the scenery look like, in Harriet's words, a black and white movie. We reached a county campground north of St. Louis in late afternoon and were able to meet some old friends for supper. Oddly, the further north we got, the warmer the weather got. And Tuesday morning, rain again that continued about halfway home. Butch got to spend his birthday driving about five hours and unloading when we reached home.

We traveled over 4000 miles and stayed in 12 campgrounds in nine states. There wasn't one of the places we visited that we thought "That was a waste of time." We spent time with family in Dallas and Atlanta and had a lot of bonding time in between. We met people who are full-timing--one couple in a customized pickup camper--and people who were seeing as much as possible on their trip, like the two women who had been tent camping across the country and Canada for the past 11 months. In order to take suggestions from park people and other campers
, we stayed fairly flexible and changed our route at times with excellent results. As soon as I finish cleaning the camper, get rid of the ants, catch up the laundry, and restock, I'm ready to go again.



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A Sobering Turn of Events

3/8/2015

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We didn't plan our winter trip to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the march from Selma to Montgomery. We didn't even plan to go through Montgomery. But because of weather and other considerations, we ended up here at Gunter Hill Campground between Montgomery and Selma for six days, the longest we have stayed anywhere. It was a happy accident. Or more appropriately, a meaningful one.

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After spending time in Selma on Wednesday and seeing all of the preparations for the President's visit on Saturday, we opted to go to Montgomery yesterday to the Rosa Parks Museum. This is different from most museums we've been to because it focuses on one event. They have done an amazing job of using media and technology to present the events leading up to Rosa Parks' act of civil disobedience and the immediate results. In one section, a time capsule looks at the treatment of Black Americans before 1955 through a ride on a time-traveling city bus. At the other end, visitors stand on a sidewalk as spectators to the history changing event of Mrs. Parks refusing to give up her bus seat. It is very well done and I'm sure especially effective with kids.

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We finished our visit to Montgomery with lunch at Dreamland Barbecue, a sports bar with several of the TVs actually tuned to the President's speech and the observance in Selma. It was very moving as was the reaction of the crowd at the end. A big change in fifty years. We are proud to have a very diverse family and I am so glad that circumstances led us to experience this event.

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Adam Ant and Frozen

3/7/2015

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Subtitle: Life with us is nothing but a cartoon. Thursday morning, I got the electric skillet out to fix breakfast and it was covered with tiny ants. Further investigation revealed the little suckers marching up the wall in the pantry cabinet. The day before had ended at 10:00 pm with 71 degrees; apparently the warm weather produced a hatch. Anyway, Butch sprayed outside around the jacks and tires while I emptied and cleaned the offending cabinets inside. Now I won't be able to find anything.

The Halds arrived in the afternoon and over supper of steak, German potato salad and asparagus, we rethunk our plans for the weekend. Dire weather forecasts for Nashville resulted in cancellation of camping reservations and the BBQ contest judging. We secured our present sites for two more nights and settled in.

Friday morning, I managed to eke out enough water for a pot of coffee before the trickle completely disappeared. Butch investigated and found the water frozen at the campground spigot. Much of the water in our hose was also frozen but the trailer plumbing appeared to be okay. Whew. He unhooked the hose and hoped the sun would do it's work. It was clear that no amount of singing "Let It Go" was going to take care of the problem. By noon we had water again.


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We pretended that a high of 53 degrees was excellent camping weather and Butch went in search of firewood. He returned with a reasonable pile and good stories about his adventure. We  worked until we had a nice fire while Ken fixed chicken on his new smoker/grill. Roasted potatoes and sauteed Brussels sprouts completed another delectable meal.

Today is the 50th anniversary observance in Selma forty miles away. We will not brave the traffic and the crowds but hope to see Air Force One pass over head. We may take in some sites in Montgomery. The Rosa Parks Museum, F. Scott Fitzgerald Home and Chet Atkins Museum are all possibilities.


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A Bridge to the Past

3/5/2015

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We are the lone tenants of the Antioch Loop of the Gunter Hill Campground between Montgomery and Selma AL  Our change of itineraries brought us close to Selma right before the historic 50th anniversary of Bloody Sunday, March 7. So we drove over and stopped first at the National Voting Rights Museum. This is not an imposing building but has wonderful displays inside.  Butch had to move the truck because they were moving barricades in to prepare for a possible Presidential visit on Saturday. Secret Service agents milled around outside. We visited with one who is part of the Presidential detail. However he was not anxious to have his picture posted online.

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We crossed Edmund Pettus bridge and arrived at the main street of Selma. My eighth grade curriculum included a booklet on the American Revolution which used Pettus Bridge as a modern case study so I was particularly interested to see it. (It was only a few years earlier at that time.) Again, guys in suits swarmed all over the place. There is a small interpretive center across from that end of the bridge. So after taking that in, we had lunch (guarded by the Secret Service of course) and then drove by Brown Chapel where a lot of the organization was done.

Selma is an old town and not prosperous looking. There was obvious sprucing up going on for the upcoming commemoration but lots that needs doing. It feels strange to visit a site that is certainly not a proud moment in our history, but yet contributed to change and needs to be remembered.

Back at the campground we had a couple of odd incidents. We were just leaving for a few groceries when a tornado siren went off to the west of us. A few minutes later, another sounded to the southeast. It was cloudy but didn't appear threatening. Since there's no one else in this loop, we couldn't ask about it until we got to the registration shack. They didn't know either. They said there was nothing on the radio.  Then when we returned, we discovered the water hook up a few sites over from us seemed knocked at a slant and was shooting water twelve or thirteen feet in the air. Butch called the campground number; the guy who answered said he would check it out--that 'they' didn't like him reporting things that he hadn't seen with his own eyes. What, they have a lot of damage reports that are pranks?


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Warm Springs, Warm Day (sort of)

3/3/2015

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By the time we were done with our cereal, the decision was made. We would trek from Atlanta to West Point Lake on the Alabama-Georgia border. R. Shaefer Heard is our sixth Corps of Engineers campground in a row and another winner. Almost all of the sites are right on the lake so we got a goody. The host was very helpful about sites and site-seeing.

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After consideration, it didn't seem the best time of year for a visit to Callaway gardens so we opted for FDR's Little White House at Warm Springs. This is a fascinating place and well worth the time. The focus of the museum is on the impact that FDR's visits had on this part of Georgia and the treatment of polio. A collection of hand carved canes sent as gifts from all over the world emphasized how the extent of his disability was not widely known. It was also while he was here that he became aware of how the lack of electricity affected the farmers and developed the idea of rural electrification.

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The cottage is just that--a small but comfortable three bedroom house designed by FDR himself. Paneled in Georgia pine with furnishings built by workmen in the Val Kill workshop started by Eleanor to help the unemployed, it is a definite contrast to the White House and Hyde Park. The bedrooms are small and the dining and sitting area are combined with a great view of a ravine and the mountains beyond. There is a wheel chair FDR had built from a kitchen chair in the local brace shop. It is easy to see why this was a favorite retreat from the world at that time.

Today we will continue on to a campground between Montgomery and Selma, AL. Today and tomorrow are supposed to be in the 70s, with a drop on Thursday to 45. There must be another front coming through.

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The Last Week Begins

3/2/2015

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Saturday remained fairly dry and occasionally sunny. We made a supply run, got the fire going after lunch and the stew on. I had planned to make Linda Riley's famous turkey thigh stew but couldn't find turkey thighs so substituted beef. If our campsite was a little more south-facing and retained the sun longer, it would have been much appreciated but there was no wind, drizzle or sleet.
 
Gretchen brought an excellent salad and Natalie, the queen of desserts, made an upside-down blueberry-plum-poppyseed cake which was yummy with a little ice cream. After an early supper, we walked down to the lake to see the sunset. This campground has some really great lakeside sites, a fact we were unaware of when we made our reservation.

Sunday was a kick-back day, taking advantage of Gretchen and Bob's laundry, and enjoying a lunch out. Today's destination is not yet determined. We had planned to head to Montgomery AL until Friday but are now thinking we may want to take in the Little White House at Warm Springs and Callaway Gardens so could spend a night or two there. The only hesitation is based on the forecast. Warm Springs is supposed to get rain every day this week; Montgomery has the chance of a couple of dry days.
Stay tuned.

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