Tybee Island, GA

Well, it's time to head home...slowly. Our first stop on the way home is at Tybee Island, GA - just East of Savannah - where we'll celebrate the last few days of 2008. After we arrived yesterday, we drove out to Fort Pulaski, one of the many restored Civil War fortresses along the Atlantic coast.

This morning, we went out to explore the Tybee Island Light Station and Museum. This brick lighthouse was first constructed in 1733 and the upper 94 feet was added in 1866. You can see why this is considered Georgia's oldest lighthouse. The view from the top is breathtaking. We celebrated New Years by watching the coastal fireworks from the RV park. Goodbye 2008, you were a very good year and Hello to 2009!

St. Augustine, FL

Now we've headed east and, after an over-night stay in Lake City, we arrived in St Augustine, FL on Saturday, 12/27, where we'll be staying for a few days. After getting the RV set up, we drove out to the World Golf Hall of Fame to see what the 'real' golfers have accomplished. This is quite an impressive place loaded with golf memorabilia dating from the founding of the game plus a wide variety of trophies and awards. A definite must-see for any golfer!

On Sunday, we started our tour of Historic Downtown St Augustine at the beautiful pedestrian mall with its collection of unique shops (we even found some chocolate gellato...yum!).
After lunch at Harry's, we toured the awesome Lightner Museum with its diverse collection of antique furniture, glass and other old stuff.


To end the day on a slightly different note, we stopped at the famous (infamous?) Ripley's Believe It Or Not! Museum where we saw some of the more unusual things to be seen plus a lot of...well...dumb stuff.




On Monday, we began the day with a climb up the nearby St Augustine Lighthouse (well, Susan wimped out and watched from the ground) and enjoyed a gorgeous view of the area from the top. After another delicious lunch at Harry's (we highly recommended it), we took a leisurely, scenic cruise of the harbor.

Fountain, FL

Today we moved on down to the Panhandle of Florida to spend some quiet time. After setting up our portable Christmas tree in the RV, we soon thought we'd moved into the Bermuda Triangle or something when we discovered that not only did our DirecTV not work, neither did our WiFi connection (e.g. no Internet) or our indoor-outdoor thermometer. As it turned out, the DirecTV receiver had just died (we had to drive to Panama City to buy a replacement which worked fine), the WiFi worked fine everywhere else (it must have been some setting on their server) and the thermometer fixed itself once we got home. On the bright side, the RV park was nice, the other campers were friendly, the weather was beautiful and the Christmas pot-luck dinner held by the RV park was delicious. We hope that your Christmas was as nice as ours was.

Macon, GA

We started our stay in Macon by taking yet another historic homes tour (am I seeing a trend developing here?) where we visited several nicely restored antebellum homes including the Sidney Lanier Cottage, the Cannonball House and the Hay House. Of course, all the homes were decorated for the Christmas holidays.

In the afternoon, we went into downtown Macon and visited the Georgia Music Hall of Fame. There we saw everything from vintage instruments, clothes and equipment once played and used by entertainers like Elvis Presley, Ray Charles, Chet Atkins and many others from all type of music. Even old-time music was featured with tributes to folks like Gid Tanner and the Skillet-Lickers.

Milledgeville, GA

Yesterday, 12/18, was spent taking the historic walking tour of Milledgeville. We saw some neat places like the Old State Capital, the old Governor's House, St Stephen's Church and several old homes. We relaxed and enjoyed some lunch (and a good cold beer) at a local pub called The Brick. Yum! We finished off the day by touring the Lockerly Arboretum.

Today we drove the car North along highway 24 where our first stop was the quaint little Uncle Remus Museum in Eatonton where we were greeted by a statue of Brer Rabbit (you may recall that he was born and bred in the briarpatch). From there, we went up into Madison and explored some local shops and historic homes.

Harlem, GA

As we drove along US-20 just west of Augusta, we stopped in at the Laurel & Hardy Museum located in Harlem, GA (where Oliver Hardy was born) where we browsed through the wide selection of memorabilia on display there. Quite an interesting place to visit. From there, we headed on down to Milledgeville, GA where we plan to spend the next few days exploring.

Heading South

After a few months at home, we felt it was time to hit the road again so we're heading South for a few weeks. Don't know where we're going but that's ok. Today, we drove the RV to Lexington, SC where we'll spend the night. Tomorrow, we'll head on down to Georgia.

Mediterranean Cruise

So much for staying at home. We flew to Italy for a 10-day cruise with our son and his family. To see the details, check out our other blog at http://noordamcruise2008.blogspot.com.

Knightdale, NC

I can't quite believe it...it's over. After 67 days on the road and a little over 5,000 RV miles under our belt, we're actually HOME! What an awesome adventure we've had. I still can't get over how diverse and beautiful this country is and how friendly everyone was and how we survived eating so much good food without putting on weight (of course, all that walking around the many monuments, museums, towns, and tourist traps helped a lot). We'd especially like to thank all of our friends and family we visited on this trip for their warmth and hospitality and thanks to all of you for sharing in our fun via this blog. BTW, if you are a glutton for punishment and would like to see all of our 1,000+ pictures, let us know. Stay tuned, I have a feeling that a Travels with John and Susan II blog will be coming out soon. Now off to bed... zzzzz zzzzz zzzzzz

Mt Airy Part Deux

We've kind of taken it easy around Mt Airy these past few days. Our friends from the Sams-O-Wake RV Club started arriving on Wednesday and have kept us busy visiting and getting caught up on whats been happening with everyone over the past few months. On Saturday, after visiting the Mt Airy Historical Museum, we were treated to a tour of the house where Eng and Chang, the famous Siamese Twins used to live. Then we all went out to The Depot - an awesome restaurant in Dobson, NC - where we totally pigged out on some good food at reasonable prices. Highly recommended if you ever get up this way but keep your belt loose.

Galax, VA

Today, I headed to Galax for the 73rd Annual Old Fiddler's Convention - about 25 miles away from our camp. Susan stayed at the RV...she'd had enough music at Clifftop. This being a new festival for me, I didn't know what to expect. I arrived about 11:00 a.m. and found almost everyone was still recuperating from the previous night's jamming. Pretty darned quiet everywhere. I spent over five hours walking around, occasionally seeing some old bluegrass friends or hearing a few bluegrass jams, but not finding any old-time jams at all. If I'd only had my bass with me. When it started to rain, I left. Oh well... I guess this is one of those late-night festivals. I got some good exercise though...

Mt Airy, NC

After getting settled in and getting the chores done (even us happy wanderers have to do laundry once in a while), we decided to visit the North Carolina Granite Quarry - the largest open face granite quarry in the world. And this thing is downright BIG - over 90 acres in size! Geologists say there is enough granite here to last over 500 years. Granite from this quarry has been used to make the Wright Brothers Monument in Kitty Hawk, paving and curbing for the new WW-II Memorial in Washington, DC, and many other well-known buildings and monuments. I'm sure there are a few kitchen counters out there, too.

Next, we explored some of the many Andy Griffith locations in Mt Airy including his childhood home (now a B&B), the Andy Griffith Playhouse and Memorabilia Museum and, of course, the famous bronze statue of Andy and Opie goin' fishin'. We even saw Barney's squad car giving tourists a ride around town. Shazaam...

Clifftop, WV

We arrived at Clifftop for the Appalacian String Band Festival on Tuesday afternoon and set up camp in our usual spot at the bottom of the hill. There is no internet and no cellphone service here - hence the delay in posting this. If you've never heard of Clifftop, it is a remote mountaintop park called Camp Washington-Carver in the middle of West Virginia where, once a year, it hosts thousands of folks who love to play or listen to old-time music. This year there were over 2,400 of us here. We spent the rest of the week visiting and playing music with old friends and making lots of new friends. Just too much fun...

On Sunday morning, we headed for Mt Airy, NC (almost home...) where we'll spend the last week of this trip. Along the way, we stopped and took a good look at the New River Bridge, Completed in 1977, it is the western hemisphere's longest single-arch steel span bridge. It rises 876 feet above the New River (I actually rafted under this bridge shortly after it was built). From the visitor's center, it is 172 steps down (and up) to the viewing area where I took this picture. Whew!

Williamstown, WV

We're on our way down to Clifftop for some good old-time music. As soon as we crossed the Ohio River, we stopped off for a while to visit the Fenton Art Glass factory in Williamstown, WV. Their factory tour gave us an excellent close-up view of the steps used in making the gorgeous glassware for which they are so famous. During the tour, we stood on the production floor and watched as a master glass blower created a beautiful vase from a glowing blob of glass. Once he was satisfied, he heated it again and stamped his initials on the bottom. From there, we watched some of the finishing operations where designs are painted or etched onto the glass and any burrs or sharp edges are removed. The tour ended at the gift shop (where else?) where Susan purchased a nice piece for her collection - of one.

Zanesville, Ohio

A short drive from our campground and we're at the Longaberger Basket Factory in Frazeysburg, OH - one of Susan's "must-see" stops on our trip - so this was totally Susan's Day. We started by touring the humongous factory from the second level walkway where all segments of the basket making process could be viewed. Next, Susan got to weave her own basket using one of their production workstations. She even got her new basket autographed by two members of the Longaberger family. She'll treasure this basket for a long time. Then there were several more hours of shopping and looking around the giant, well-landscaped grounds. We even saw the world's largest apple basket which is over 20 feet tall! Quite a place.

Elkhart, Indiana

Yesterday, we had a six hour drive (most of it in heavy traffic thanks to our proximity to Chicago) from Iowa to the little town of Shipshewana, Indiana (near Elkhart) where someone had recommended a nice RV park and an excellent Amish restaurant. They were so right - those Amish really know how to prepare food and we left feeling like we'd eaten it all!

This morning we drove to Elkhart to tour the RV/MH Hall of Fame. This facility, which was relocated last year to its new building, houses one of the largest (if not the largest) collection of vintage recreational vehicles in the world. We saw everything from early 1900s tent trailers to some of the first pop-tops, trailers and innovative motor homes - including many handmade prototypes that led to the future of RVing as we know it today. Highly recommended for all you RV lovers out there.

From there, we went back to Shipshewana (pop. 550) which is actually one of six Amish settlements in this state. We toured the Menno-Hof Amish and Mennonite History Museum where we learned a lot about the history of the Hutterites, Mennonites and Amish people, their current culture and their way of life. Simply fascinating. Everywhere we looked as we drove around town, there were families traveling around in their horse-drawn buggies and carriages doing their shopping or whatever. We were definitely in their town and we loved it.

West Branch, Iowa

On Thursday morning we drove to West Branch, Iowa to visit the Herbert Hoover Presidential Library and Museum. Yep, there's Susan with yet another dead president. ;-) What an amazing person he was! So many things we take for granted today would not have been possible without Hoover. Also on display was a collection of Caroline Kennedy's dolls that really fascinated Susan. As we left the museum, we visited his birthplace, a tiny two-room cottage in a small Quaker village. His father's blacksmith shop, the school he attended and their place of worship were also on display. It is hard to believe that such a great man came from such humble beginnings.

WIT GNR Winds Down

Our last days at the rally were fun. On Tuesday evening we had dinner with the other RVers from NC. As we finished, we were entertained by a traveling polka band complete with a hilarious she-male performer who was looking for a dance partner. Guess what... I got elected... and I don't even know how to polka... but I had fun anyhow. On Wednesday, there was an antique automobile parade through the area. There were over 100 nicely restored cars including a 1914 Ford, a Ford Cobra, an old Willys convertable and an Amphibicar - the first one we had ever seen. Pretty cool rides... One last note to our Sams-O-Wake friends: We ran into Jim and Donna Lamb as we were going to the parade. They are now representing Freightliner at RV rallys and loving the experience. They said to say 'Hi" to everyone.

WIT Grand National Rally in Forest City, IA

Well friends, here we are in corn country - and I'm not talking about the type of comments I'm known for making either. We're at the Winnebago factory with about 1200 other Winnebago and Itasca RV owners enjoying the celebration of Winnebago's 50 years of making quality RVs. The whole theme here is the 50's from Elvis to old cars as you can tell from our first picture taken in the Winnebago Visitors Center. Saturday, we went downtown and watched a local parade that featured not only the usual town bands and celebrities but also RVs of all ages plus some antique tractors and farm equipment ('Only in Iowa', someone commented).

Monday, we took a tour of the Winnebago plant. We saw everything from the bare chassis getting fitted, to installing flooring, walls, cabinets, roof and final assembly. It's all done in a series of large buildings and I was amazed that, other than the Class B line which appeared to be the same model, the Class A's were all different models going down the line and yet the right parts and operations were done flawlessly. Quite an operation!

This morning, we had a special treat. Dave Price, the CBS Early Show weatherman, was here doing the show just a short ways down from our RV. He was only on during the weather portions of the show but he covered a lot of the goings on here. I don't know if you happened to see it, but I even got on nationwide TV this morning (I'm in the green shirt in the upper right) during his last scene. Now that I'm famous... yeah! As I write this, I'm sitting out front of the Winnebago service building awaiting some minor repair work. It's always nice to have good service on the road.

SPAM Museum

Today we headed south from the Twin Cities to Austin, MN on our first rainy day of the whole trip. We hoped that the rain would wash off the RV and the car but no such luck. Once we got there, we visited the SPAM Museum. I think I'll just let their brochure explain it:
"This SPAM Museum contains no artificial stories or preservatives. Items within may be replicas or substitutions but the truth is there. Let's face it. You can't make this stuff up.
Serving size: 16,500 square feet.
Nutrition Facts: This museum is good for you. It contains all the necessary vitamins and minerals required by law. Based on a daily museum diet, the SPAM Museum contains over 20,000 museum calories. That's a lot of museum in one dose. Technically, there is no protein in the displays. They are, however, meaty with information.
Ingredients: SPAM history. Water. Nostalgia. Carpet. A viking. Chairs. Facts. Displays. Old cans. Audio visual exhibits. Shopping carts. A letter from Eisenhower. Interactive kiosks. A conveyor belt. Advertising. A wagon. A tent. A puppet show. Glass. An old refrigerator. A game show. Rope. A light show. Fake pork chops. A map. Statues. A shop. Subliminal pigs in cloud murals. Wooden crates. Truth." That about says it all...

Tomorrow, we head down to Forest City, Iowa to visit the Winnebago Factory where we'll spend the week at the Winnebago-Itasca Travelers Club's Grand National Rally. I doubt that we'll have Internet there so the next blog post might not happen until we leave. Stay tuned...

Mall of America

OK, so the Mall of America is just a shopping mall...on steroids! This place is downright huge! There are four floors of stores and eating establishments all surrounding a gigantic indoor amusement park with multiple roller coasters, a plume ride, mini-golf course, a Lego play station, games, and other devices all designed to mess with your concept of reality. Other than the usual Sears, Pennys, etc, there were some unusual and even interesting stores like the Lake Woebegone Store and a Halloween Store. We actually walked around three of the four floors and toured the amusement area (without riding anything somehow) before heading for the door. Whew! I'm glad this isn't in Raleigh...

Minneapolis / St. Paul, MN

Yesterday, we drove up to the Minneapolis area and went to visit my old Navy buddy, Bill Obedoza, and his lovely wife Grace at their home. We enjoyed some good food and some great company.

Today, Bill & Grace picked us up and gave us a tour of the Minneapolis / St Paul area. Along the way, we saw some of the nice old neighborhoods near the State Capitol; then went into the Capitol itself so Bill could take part in a special ceremony honoring the state's Attorney General, Lori Swanson, and her staff for their special treatment of military reservist employees. Then we visited Minnehaha Falls and walked around the park. What a pleasant day. Tomorrow we'll go shopping at the Mall of America. Susan can't wait...

Pipestone, MN

Here we are in yet another new state... Minnesota. We're staying in Pipestone, MN which gets its name from the soft red stone found here that the Plains Indians have used for centuries to make their peace pipes. We toured the Pipestone National Monument where native indians still quarry this stone for making pipes and other art.

Now for a few random observations we've made about our travels so far:

1. RVs. It seems that the further west we go, the more motorhomes and travel trailers we see parked alongside homes. In some areas, I'd say there is at least one RV for every two homes. And the percentage of RVs to autos is pretty darned high out here too.

2. Roadside litter. The most amazing thing is that there isn't any...anywhere! The south needs to take a few lessons from the midwest.

3. Traffic. There isn't much of that either. Hooray!

4. Wind. There may not be any litter or traffic but there is no shortage of wind around here. That must explain why there are so many windmill farms around here. One windmill can supply enough power for 500 homes. Now that's impressive.

Mitchell, SD

We met one of Interior, SD's 65 residents this morning. His name is Pat, he works on cars at his house and he is one heck of a nice guy. He helped us repair the slideout awning this morning so now we're back on the road again. It didn't turn out to be a completely uneventful day though. We stopped for lunch at a rest stop. Susan turned on the water pump to clean up and got no water. I checked and found the bay with the pump to be full of water. All it was was a loose water hose so I quickly repaired it. I wonder what tomorrow will bring...

Two hundred miles east on US-90 and we arrived in Mitchell, SD where we'll spend the night. Mitchell's big attraction is the Corn Palace - an auditorium covered inside and out with art made from various species of corn on the cob. The Corn Palace is over 100 years old and has most of its art re-done every 10 years or so to keep it fresh. Who says corn goes bad... The auditorium is used for shows and local high school basketball games, but mainly to host a lot of vendors selling corn-related things. Certainly one of the corniest places we've ever seen. (Sorry, I couldn't resist.)

Badlands National Park

We awoke this morning with the RV shaking back and forth. A strong...make that very strong...cold front came through and we've had northwest winds of 35-50 mph all day long. Our planned 1 hour drive to the Badlands National Park wound up taking over two hours because the wind gusts broke one of our slideout awnings and I had to keep the speed down to 25-30 mph to avoid blowing it off. We hope to get it repaired in the morning.

Once we reached our campground in the absolute middle of nowhere (e.g. go about about 5 miles past a town of 65 people, then turn left down a gravel road for a mile or so...), we jumped into the car and headed off to tour the Badlands. What an awesome site. Miles of grey mountain formations with streaks of other colors thrown in for interest. Then, instead of mountains, there were twisting canyons going every which way. The scenic waysides were nicely done with wooden paths and many hiking trails for the more adventurous.

Then one last stop at the famous Wall Drug Store in Wall, SD. Probably the biggest conglomeration of tourist shopping in the world peppered with everything from life-sized animated country bands singing Johnny Cash tunes to Susan riding a Jackalope. Lots of stuff you'll never need but still fun to see...

Lead and Deadwood, SD

Today we drove north to the town of Lead (pronounced Leed not Lead because finding gold could lead to great wealth) to tour an old gold mine called the Homestake Gold Mine. We saw both the open cut mine (see picture) which is over 1,200 feet deep that was mined from 1876 to 1998 and the deep mine with two vertical shafts over 8,000 feet deep - the deepest gold mine in the western hemisphere. We saw the equipment that was used to power the elevators that moved the miners in and out of the mine and also lift the gold ore up to the processing area. Really massive stuff...

Next we went to Deadwood, a touristy little cowboy town and did some sightseeing. Deadwood is the gaming center for the area and it was loaded with bars and gaming salons down both sides of the street. We didn't gamble at all, but I did have a beer at Saloon No. 10 (see picture) where "Wild Bill" Hickock was shot by Jack McCall on August 2, 1876.

1880 Train Ride

Today we went to the big city of Keystone, SD - population 330 - and boarded the 11:15 train for a three-hour round-trip ride on the Black Hills Central Railroad through the Black Hills to Hill City, SD and back. The weather was perfect and the views were most enjoyable. The locomotive was a steam engine built in 1880 and it pulled seven passenger cars with wide open windows so we could enjoy the view. We saw a variety of wildlife, some old mines and ancient homes along the way.

Then we went back to Mount Rushmore to see the Visitors Center and Exhibition Hall that we missed yesterday. I mention this only because we ran into Amy and Bob Buckingham - some dear old-time musician friends I have known since I started going to the Blue Ridge Old-Time Music Week at Mars Hill over 10 years ago. They live in SC and just happened to be arriving there as we were leaving. What a small world! To make matters even more weird, I was wearing my Mars Hill BROTMW t-shirt.

Mount Rushmore and Crazy Horse

Today was National Park Day for the wandering Frieds. Our first stop was at Mount Rushmore and it was most impressive indeed. After being awed by the entrance to this monument to America, we walked the Presidential Trail along the base of the mountain and viewed the presidents from many different viewpoints. We also saw some of the tools, equipment and workshops used by the men who created this monument.

From there, it was off to see the Crazy Horse Memorial which is just south of Mount Rushmore in the Black Hills of South Dakota. BTW, we were told that the Black Hills got their name from the Ponderosa Pines that cover the hills. Their bark is so dark that it makes the hills look black...and they do. Anyhow, Crazy Horse is a work in process. We could see workers and equipment working on the horse's head. Their visitor's center is beautiful and told a lot about the carving, the native indians and their history.

Devil's Tower

This morning we arose early and headed off to Devils Tower National Monument - an easy 35 minute drive from Sundance. Anyone who has gone up Hwy 52 from Winston-Salem toward Mt Airy has seen Pilot Mountain. Well, Devils Tower is kind of like a Pilot Mountain on steroids. After spending a few minutes in the Visitors Center, we took the 1.3 mile walk around the base of the mountain. Quite a sight indeed! We saw several groups of fearless rock climbers climbing up one side of the tower and rappelling down the other side. Not me, Kimo Sabe. I like the view from down here on the trail just fine. ;-)

After lunch, we drove on to Rapid City, SD where we'll spend the next few days at places like Mt Rushmore and Custer National Park. Stay tuned...

Wapiti to Sundance, WY

Today was a travel day...a loooong travel day. So far, our trip has been fun and easygoing. Not today though. After we left Cody, there was almost no signs of civilization until we reached Gillette (about 300 miles away). Along the way, we saw some of the flattest and most treeless land we've ever seen followed by a trip through some gorgeous and very steep mountains. We also watched as the gas gauge dropped down to the Empty mark. When we finally got to Gillette and entered a Flying J to fill up with gas, we only had about 30 miles of gas left. Whew, that was close! Along the way, we ran over a small 2x4 laying in our lane. As I was pumping the gas, I saw that the 2x4 had hit the car right behind the front wheel and bent the wheel well back. At least it didn't go through the windshield and didn't harm the RV. We had planned on going to see Devil's Tower once we reached Sundance but instead I had to repair the damage so the passenger door would open. We'll go there in the morning before heading off to Rapid City, SD. For now, it's a cold beer and a good night's sleep. Good night...

Thermopolis, WY

Did he say Thermopolis??? Yes, there really is a place called Thermopolis. It is about 85 miles south of Cody and is famous for its hot mineral springs. We took the plunge and enjoyed a nice, relaxing 20 minute soak (the max allowed) in the 104 degree mineral water in the outdoor pool shown here. Actually, the water wasn't much hotter than the air was - it was just a lot more humid. ;-)

From there, we went to the Wyoming Dinosaur Center and not only toured its interesting museum but we took the hour long bus tour to the actual excavation site in the nearby mountains. The dark grey areas in the picture show actual fossilized bones from the Jurassic Period and the reddish areas are footprints left in the mud by some large dinosaur (name forgotten). There were several other active digs in process in the immediate area. All in all, quite interesting.

Cody, WY

After touring the Buffalo Bill Dam (the oldest in the USA) on the way into Cody, we spent most of the day at the Buffalo Bill Historical Center in downtown Cody. What a unique museum this is. Besides a wide variety of bronze statues, there are five major sections: Plains Indian Museum, Cody Firearms Museum, Gallery of Western Art, Museum of Natural History and, of course, the Buffalo Bill Museum.

From there, we walked around downtown Cody and saw some of the 4th of July activities that happen in this unique little cowboy town. Tonight there will be a rodeo (which we won't see) and fireworks. We've decided to chill our heels at the RV park and watch the fireworks from here. BTW, I'm posting this blog from the western bar here at the campground since that's the only place with internet access. There may be another reason but you'll have to use your imagination...