Monday, August 11, 2014

Day 72, Tampa, FL

Departed Charleston 10:15 am and arrived home 7:50 pm.  Drive time was 7-1/2 hours, excluding stops for lunch and dinner, covering 411 miles.  That is the longest leg of the trip by far but mostly easy interstate driving.  Some trip stats: total mileage on coach 5,365; gallons of diesel used for driving 530.6; price range of diesel $3.54 to $4.23; mpg 10.1; hours engine on 128.34; days without wearing long pants 72; days without a collared shirt 72; memories, priceless.  Back to the real world tomorrow and the office to see if I still have a business to run.  I wonder how long it will be until it feels like we were never away.  We had a marvelous time and I think it will take awhile to get back to our old routine, at least hopefully.  Next trip in one month!  So long until then.

Saturday, August 9, 2014

Day 71, Hollywood, SC (Charleston)

Drove to Wadmalaw Island about 15 miles south of Charleston to the Charleston Tea Plantation, home of American Classic Tea, the only tea plantation in North America.  All tea in the US except the American Classic Tea brand is imported.  We toured the 127 acres of tea plants in an old Philadelphia Trolley car which they bought on eBay.   The plantation began in 1960 by Bill Hall who resides on the farm.  Hall, an expert tea taster, actually spent 4 years in England formally training to be a tea taster.  There is also a tour of the processing plant with a 15 minute film of the process.  We are in harvest season and the tea is harvested Sunday through Thursday and processed Monday through Friday.  Our luck we visited on Saturday when every one rested except the tour guides and gift shop attendants.  The visit includes all the tea you can drink, both hot or iced.  Several different flavors of each to choose from.  I went for the iced tea which now that we are back in the southern heat was good and refreshing.  Rosemary went for the hot tea except on the trolley where we both brought iced tea along since the trolley has no a/c.  This place was a must for the tea fanatic Rosemary is.  She was so excited I considered taking her right back to the coach but the next planned stop, a winery and distillery won out.  At the Irvin House Vineyards, about 15 minutes from the tea plantation, we sampled 5 wines made from 4 different varieties of the muscadine grape.  Let’s just say not my cup of tea.  The next building over is the Firefly Distillery.  Sampled 6 different spirits, some good, some not.  I did buy a bottle of sweet tea vodka which was quite good and refreshing.  Now I have my own tea when Rosemary has hers - 3 times a day!  For those concerned about me drinking and driving, we planned on eating lunch and pausing enough after drinking before driving on.   We had packed a lunch and although picnic tables and live music were present, we ate in the car with the a/c on.  On the way back to Charleston, we made a 4/10th mile detour to Angel Oak Park where the Angel Oak tree stands.  The tree is more than 400 years old and its canopy covers 17,000 square feet.  Dinner at Hyman’s Seafood in downtown.  Fried green tomato appetizer, she crab soup, shrimp and grit cakes smothered in an alfredo sauce with Palmetto Amber Ale.  Rosemary had grouper stuffed with crab.  Food was good but service a little lacking.  Only a couple more days until we are home.  It’s a good thing cause if I keep eating like this, my “baby bump” will soon look like I’m ready to deliver!









Day 70, Hollywood, SC (Charleston)

Drove into downtown Charleston for a ½ hour boat ride to Fort Sumter National Monument.  A museum is located at the dock site telling the history of the Fort which, of course, was where the first shots of the Civil War were fired.  The Fort itself is missing the top levels which were destroyed by the Union trying to take back the Fort.  According to Southerners, after the nearly 600 day siege of the Fort, the Fort was not surrendered but merely evacuated in February, 1865.  Only the lower level remains but it is a must see in my book.  The ranger spoke for about 30 minutes at the Fort further informing of its history.  Back to land and we toured the Calhoun Mansion.  A beautiful three story house still lived in by the attorney owner who has been collecting Victorian items among other things since he was age 9 and which are throughout the house.  No photos allowed inside so you must go there when you visit Charleston.  After a walk around town including East Battery Street along the water, dinner at S.N.O.B. (Slightly North of Broad).  I had the Maverick Shrimp & Grits which were made with “Geechie Boy” yellow grits.  Very good but not quite as good as Savannah’s on Day 1.  Rosemary did not have chicken but another fowl, the Pan Seared Duck Breast with yellow squash & goat cheese custard, asparagus, blueberry compote and honey thyme reduction.  Hers was excellent.  My dinner was accompanied by Palmetto Amber Ale by the Charleston Brewery, a very good, medium hoppy, rich amber ale.








Day 69, Hollywood, SC (Charleston)

Departed the Charlotte Walmart which was the noisiest place we have encountered.  It was next to a highway and an airport.  I thought the highway may have been the Charlotte Motor Speedway as we heard several races going on.  The good news was the road noise drowned out the airport completely.  After a 90 minute drive we visited Columbia, SC.  Toured the State Capitol which has six gold stars on the outside marking cannon ball hits from General Sherman’s Union troops.  Ate lunch at O-Bok Korean Restaurant, the first payment to Rosemary for the BBQ.  However, I enjoyed it as much as she did.  With full bellies, we headed to Charleston, SC, about a 2 hour drive and checked into Lake Aire RV Park in Hollywood, 12 miles southwest of Charleston.  About 5 minutes prior to arriving at the campground, our front shade dropped a few inches on the driver side.  Fortunately it did not drop further which may have obstructed the view  while driving.  After checking into the campground, I effected repair which hopefully will hold until we return home.  The shade is attached at four points and only one point failed so the shade cannot come down to impair driving.


Wednesday, August 6, 2014

Day 68, Charlotte, NC

Arrive at Charlotte Walmart on South Tryon Street and park the coach.  Head to the Historic Rosedale Plantation for a private tour of the house built in 1815.  Then we head downtown (which Charlotte calls “Uptown”) where we walk our feet off for 2 hours.  We visit the Mint Museum Uptown showcasing American and contemporary art.  Included were very interesting glass and wood exhibits.  Then dinner at City Smoke BBQ.  I get the ‘Cue Combo which includes pulled pork, brisket and a ½ slab including 2 Memphis style ribs, 2 Kansas City style ribs and 1 Texas dry rub rib, cheese grits, Brunswick stew and jalapeno cornbread.  I wash it down with a Lazybird Brown Ale by the Birdsong Brewery of Charlotte.  Finally, good southern BBQ.  Outstanding meal but it will cost me Asian food at least twice for Rosemary who had chicken tonight.



Day 67, Elkin, NC

First on the agenda is the Lost World Caverns.  Turns out it is 5 minutes from our Hotel Walmart.  Caverns are a self guided tour which took us about 1-1/2 hours.  The Caverns are more like the western caverns having several big expansive “rooms”.  A very active cavern with drippings all around.  Back to the coach and head to The Natural Bridge in Natural Bridge, VA.  Cedar Creek, a small tributary of the James River, has carved out a gorge forming a natural limestone bridge 215' high and 90' wide.  The bridge is quite impressive.  The bridge is at almost the beginning of  a 1-1/2 mile hike to a waterfall.  The waterfall is not impressive being fairly small especially when compared to some of the falls we have seen on this trip.  A nice walk nevertheless.  When departing, we actually drove over the bridge which is part of US Highway 11.  Our 13 tons was within the 20 ton limit.  From the top you cannot see below and you would have no idea it was there unless you visit the bridge below.  Onward further south with a stop at a lovely and quiet Walmart in Elkin, NC.






Day 66, Lewisburg WV

Got a late start and finally departed 11:45 and begin our trek south toward home.  Our target was the Lost World Caverns in Lewisburg, WV which is about a 225 mile drive.  Google maps failed us and sent us on a wild goose chase.  We wound up in Alderson in error on a one lane road.  We missed a hint when a sign said trucks should think twice about proceeding.  We missed a second hint when we realized we had not see any signs to the Lost World Caverns.  Finally arrived at Lewisburg Walmart about 7 pm after about a 260 mile drive.  Actually, this is our first one day drive over 200 miles since days 1 and 2 of the trip.  That’s one of the great things about the New England area.  So much to see and not very far apart.  Also, after 64 days, this is the first wrong turn of more than 2 miles we have incurred.  Will chalk up this day to a travel day.

Day 63-65, New Stanton, PA (Pittsburgh)

Drive from Punxsutawney to our campground in New Stanton is only about 75 miles but takes nearly 2 hours due to the very rural, winding mountain roads.  Had a very enjoyable visit with the kids and grandkids.  Adam really enjoyed our gift of a train set.  He also enjoyed our gift to Ari of a shape sorter.  Both grandkids seemed to be excited that we were there.  No doubt why kids are for the young as playing on the floor is not as comfortable as it once was.   Ate out 2 dinners at Tamarind Indian cuisine and Everyday Noodle which has soup dumplings among other interesting selections.  That’s soup inside the dumpling.  Delicious!  The time went by really fast and the reality of living apart from family hits us once again.







Thursday, July 31, 2014

Day 62, Punxsutawney, PA

A great night’s sleep at Penn’s cave.  No roosters, cows or traffic.  We head to State College and park the coach at Office Depot.  I buy a printer cartridge and we take off in the car to explore Penn State U.  We go to the creamery at the food science building but alas, we find the crew cleaning the equipment not making ice cream or other items.  Virtual tour does show process from “Cow to Cone”.  Next we visit the arboretum which makes for a nice walk.  After lunch we head to Punxsutawney and check into Hotel Walmart.  Visit Gobbler’s Knob just outside of town.  Then visit Phil in downtown.  Absolutely nothing else in Punxsutawney except for 32 statutes of Phil.  Looked for the spot where the movie was filmed to find out it was shot in Illinois - shucks.  Town seems somewhat poor.  Not even a decent restaurant so we eat in after grocery shopping in Walmart.  After dinner, we spent more time in Walmart and I got my bug zapper among other things.  Glad I got to see Phil but no need to come back here.






Day 61, Centre Hall, PA

In spite of the no overnight parking signs, we had no problems at the Milford Walmart except the delivery trucks made a bit of a racket.  Hit the road on a cool morning with temps around 60.  Six miles later on the interstate the hot coolant light comes on.  I pull over onto the shoulder and turn the engine off.  Pull out the manual which says to let it idle to cool.  I turn the engine back on and the hot indicator comes on but a few seconds later the gauge steadily decreases and a few more seconds registers cool.  We start back driving and no more problem.  Still at a loss as to what caused that spike in temperature.  Possibly a false indicator.  On to Scranton, PA, and a visit to the Lackawanna Coal Mine Tour.  A caged rail type car attached to a cable goes down by gravity to a depth of 300'.  Then an hour hard hat walking tour through the mine which includes how the mine worked.  The mine operated from about 1800 until about 1950's.  Veins of coal everywhere.  Some areas required miners to work in an 18 inch vertical space.  Fascinating.  Another highlight in our trip of highlights.  Next we head to Penn’s Cave outside Centre Hall, PA, in farm country about 160 miles away.  The trip runs into many construction delays and takes almost 4 hours and we arrive just before 5 pm.  Penn’s Cave is open until 7 pm so we go on the 5:10 tour.  The cave/caverns tour is done completely by boat with a small, gas outboard and connects to a lake outside the cave on which we take a spin.  Back to the coach about 6:30 and it begins to pour.  We call Penn’s Cave just before 7 pm and ask permission to stay overnight to avoid the winding mountain roads in the rain or at night.  Permission granted.  I trust this will be a very quiet night.










Day 60, Milford, PA

Newburgh Walmart is next to a construction site so we got an early start.  Left the coach and headed to Hyde Park to visit the FDR Presidential Library and Museum and the FDR Home, named Springwood.  The home, built around 1800 was purchased in 1867 by FDR’s father and expanded in 1915 by FDR.  It was fairly simple and not at all like the opulent Gilded Age Vanderbilt Mansion.  The museum was interesting and indicated that the Manhattan project was under way very early in the war.  However, it also indicated that not until the concentration camps were liberated did the US know of the extermination of the Jews.  It did mention that this “fact” was subject to debate.  Not surprising that the museum left FDR’s antisemitism for other venues.  We also visited Top Cottage which was the house FDR built in 1938 for his retirement with handicapped accessability.  The cottage was about 4 miles away from Springwood but still on contiguous Roosevelt land.  The cottage is fairly stark and only one room is furnished.  The tour was primarily an hour discussion with the ranger on the porch overlooking the Hudson River.  Rosemary sat in FDR’s rocker, I in Churchill’s.  Very neat, only thing missing were the drinks and cigars.  Next was the tour of Val-Kill, the home of Eleanor, also on Roosevelt property not far from Top Cottage.  Built in the 1920's, Eleanor used this as a business first and then as her getaway when FDR was not in Hyde Park.  After his death, she lived here exclusively and handled her many UN duties and other projects of hers from here.  She also met dignitaries there including Churchill and JFK.  Val-Kill is the only Roosevelt home that had a swimming pool which is where many films of FDR in a pool were taken.  Back to the coach at 6 pm for dinner.  Since this Walmart was noisy, we decide to hit the road to the Milford Walmart about 45 miles toward our next destination.






Day 59, Newburgh, NY

Woke up to find the campground electric and water restored.  Departed MA and drove through Connecticut on way to NY.  Checked into the Newburgh Walmart and then headed to Huguenot Street in New Paltz.  Original houses dating to the 1600's.  We walked around the outside but the inside tour guides were disappointingly nowhere to be found so we crossed the Hudson Mid-river Bridge and headed to the Vanderbilt Mansion in Hyde Park which is a national park.  Great ranger lead tour of the mansion which was donated shortly after Frederick Vanderbilt’s death in 1938 so the original furnishings are intact.  Franklin Vanderbilt was the third generation of Vanderbilt wealth but grew his wealth to be the richest man at one point in his life.  The mansion reflects that as it was a symbol of showing off his wealth with portions modeled after Versailles.