First Installment
After a one day delay in departure because of the TV situation (will cover that later) we headed for Charlotte/Davidson on Tuesday the 4th. It was an uneventful trip with Judy following in the Santa Fe with Lilly. The trip moved along at a good pace until we reached Statesville on I77. What should have been 40 minute drive to the speedway took nearly twice that time because of traffic. We set up the Greystone and called it a day. Wednesday morning we were at Mark and Kyra’s in time to walk Niko to the bus and take Aleksei to pre-school. Mark and Kyra departed about 2 for the airport and their Modern Language Association conference in LA and the boys were ours for the next five days. Judy settled in to housekeeping and cooking in a different environment and Jon travelled each day/night to the speedway to handle the animals.
Thursday Aleksei does not have school and as the replacement TV arrived on Wednesday afternoon, we took that time to go out to the Greystone and install it. It worked fine and the installation not hard. As for the TV, when we took the Greystone into General RV on Dec 3 for the TV to be replaced (it had a big black line down the screen) we expected it to be done. Well it wasn’t – long story short they messed up and it took a visit with the General Manager at the dealership to get us a TV.
For a break on Friday we packed the boys up and all went to spend some time at the trailer. That’s when the weather turned cold. It was too cold to work much with Niko on his bike and too cold to even be out. We had promised IHop for lunch and started out to find one when we ran into a real snow storm. Nearly a white-out but it was still too warm to stick. We found a park and the kids played some and then headed for the IHop but traffic was so bad decided to head toward a different one the GPS had found. Well we could not find it so stopped at a Shoney’s instead. Had a very nice waitress who told us that Aleksei could eat free from the buffet (and he wanted pancakes) and that Niko would be half price – cheaper than buying just a pancake breakfast. So we settled in and all ate good for sure. Sunday we headed back to Davidson to prepare for the snow.
And snow it did. It took 90 minutes via the interstates to get from the speedway to Davidson on Monday morning. At 3:30AM no snow, but by 5 nearly 3 inches covered the ground and car. Of course school was cancelled and it looked like Aleksei was beginning to breakout in chicken pox. We really were not sure Mark and Kyra would get back in Monday night as lots of flights were cancelled as the snow had stopped but the precipitation had turned to freezing rain and sleet. They did and we headed for the trailer about 9. It took us nearly an hour to make the trip. Tuesday morning we awoke to more than an inch of ice crust on top of the compacted 7 inches of snow!!
On Wednesday morning it took about an hour and a half to remove the ice and snow from the slides so we could get them in. Consequently we did not get on the road until after 10:30 for our drive south. We stopped at a nice little campground north of Savannah for the night and then headed on to Grassy Pond near Valdosta, GA. When we arrived, the Camp Host was walking his dog and flagged us down. All sites were full, but he double parked us next to his unit and we had full hookups for our two nights there. The sun was shinning during the day, but it was cold at night!!
Friday we went into Valdosta to visit Nancy Juster and after some good coffee cake, Jon headed out to do some shopping and take care of some things at the trailer. After dinner and farewells it was back to the FamCamp for the night.
Saturday’s drive to Tyndall AFB near Panama City was pleasant and easy. We took some back roads so got to see sights you would not see along the interstate. When we arrived about noon Central Standard Time (one our time) we were put into overflow (just water and electric hookups) and were told it would be 4 or 5 nights before we could get a regular site. After we situated ourselves we took a walk with Lilly around the campground and recognized some of the people we know by the camper or usually by the name sign hanging on their site post. We did stop into visit Arlene and Jerry Snyder for a bit as they were the first couple we met when we came to Tyndall seven years ago.
Sunday was church and a little shopping at the BX and just some relax time. On Monday we stopped at the office to pay for another night in overflow. The duty Camp Host said that we should only be in overflow one more night so we took off to do some grocery shopping and have lunch out. When we arrived back ‘home’ about 1 there was a note on our door that site 23 was ours. So we spent a couple of hours getting moved and set up more permanent. It’s a nice wide site and not all shaded in, which we both like. It felt good to set up home for at least the next two, maybe three weeks.
Now that we are settled in we have ourselves in a routine for the next few weeks. After breakfast Jon heads to the clubhouse for coffee and chat with the guys and Judy heads off with Lilly for a long walk. Later in the morning it’s time for some chores and projects around ‘home’ and after lunch Judy heads to the clubhouse for craft time with the ladies. Many of the campers return to the clubhouse at 6 for cards, jokers, dominos or some other games. We are not going to go every night as that can get to be a challenge (sitting for 2 plus hours) and besides some nights we have certain TV shows we want to see.
Some of the ladies are going to the big new base fitness center on base to ‘workout’ with a trainer on Tuesday and Thursday and have invited Judy to go along. On MWF mornings one of the ladies leads a large group in ‘exercises’ in the club house from 10 – 11 but we walk Lilly or ride our bikes around the park roads
Pot-luck dinners are held each Tuesday and as usual with these activities there is plenty of good food to go around. Drinks and table service is provided by the campground.
Wednesday night is VFW hamburger night. About 1/3 of the campers head over to the nearby VFW hall for great hamburgers and must say they are really good. But, there is one big downside - it is so smoky that when you come home you have to put everything in the laundry. It was a good thing we were planning on doing laundry Thursday morning.
The weather could be a bit nicer, but by the internet it looks like it is a heck of a lot better than NE Ohio……11 degrees right now (11AM on Friday EST).
Sorry no pictures with this installment. Will work on getting a few to add next time.
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