On the way from Georgia to Clinton, IN, we wanted to check out some of the historical Abraham Lincoln sites in southern Indiana.  After a bit of a search, we found an RV park in Santa Claus Indiana, called Lake Rudolph.  They were open for the weekend, and even had some Halloween events happening.

The park itself is pretty nice.  We’d hoped to be able to rent a golf cart, but got there too late for that.  It was also a fun challenge to disconnect the car on a hill, then back into our site going backwards uphill, and in the dark.  Made it though!

Santa Claus is a town with a bit of a Christmas theme.  Shocking huh?  We headed over to the village to see the Christmas store, and pick up some groceries.  Santa was actually there!  I guess since the town is named after him, he’s got a bit of an obligation to be there.  Well, he honed in on the one kid in the store that hasn’t sat on his lap since her first Christmas.  I was shocked to be able to get this picture…

We had a nice time at the carnival they had at the RV park, and Molly and Diane got in the first trick-or-treating for the year.  I was also able to get ahold of my brother Lewis, and we had him over for dinner Saturday evening.  It was great for him to meet Diane and Molly, and for us to catch up.  He’s a bit of a recluse, so who knows when we’ll see him again.

On Sunday, we packed up, and headed over to the Lincoln Boyhood Home National Monument.  I remember being there when I was a kid, on one of our summer vacation trips to Indiana State Parks. It was a drizzly day, but we had a nice viewing of the movie narrated by Leonard Nemoy, which provided a good overview of the park, and some Lincoln history.  After a quick tour of the main building and its exhibits, we headed out on the trail to see the site of the home, the working farm, and the trail of Lincoln historical markers.  In this shot of Molly, she is next to one of the rocks from Gettysburg where Lincoln stood to deliver his famous speech.

We wrapped up our visit to the boyhood home, and headed north to Clinton, for a stay at Horseshoe Lakes.

Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2012 David Gardner

We arrived in Cumming, GA on September 4th in the evening.  Diane had called ahead and reserved a site for us.  Good thing too, as it had a lot more campers there then last year in November/December.  So much so that our site was one with the back end of the RV sitting right next to a road.  Also, as luck would have it, most of the residents were working on a local construction site, and all had nice loud diesel trucks that they drove down that road every morning between 5 and 6.  It was awesome.  Diane is prepped for the normal loud noise (me snoring) and slept right through them.  I was lucky enough to get the early wake up. :/

I spent most of the weekdays working in the office, but did stay at the RV for one of those to work on a setup for me to conduct some training from the road.  Diane and Molly had several excursions planned, including an overnight at the local Marriott where they have a special American Girl doll package.  They had a great time there, and Francie (the cat) only meowed at me for 8 of the hours they were gone.

We also were able to have a dinner with Toby, Monica, and Christopher at Mellow Mushroom Pizza.  Monica’s parents were there as well, and it was a great time with some great food.  It was nice to meet Monica’s parents, and to see the cousin and family again.

On Sunday, the “Jeep and Ammo” club at work had an organized outing.  Molly and I got all the details and joined them at a state run outdoor shooting range.  Most of my coworkers have guns of one form or another, and there were other coworkers there shooting for the first time.  Molly was a bit nervous at first, but worked her way to firing a .22 rifle, and enjoyed it.  She ended up firing about 5 clips worth of ammo as we rotated through all those that wanted to shoot.  Once the range closed, she was looking forward to the next one.

During the last week there, we had the chance to meet up with the Garrison family that we first met back in February in Quartzsite, AZ.  We then spent a few weeks with them (and other families) at Pio Pico, then Wilderness Lakes, and even in Las Vegas.  They’ve been off the road for a few months now, and it was great to catch up with them and see how their doing.  Their two girls and Molly had a good time getting to hang out again and catch up.  We all had a great meal at Papasita’s too!

Diane and Molly headed into Atlanta during the last few days to see the Martin Luther King home and exhibits, as well as some other Atlanta attractions.  Since they are doing pretty well at posting, I’ll let them give the details on their visits.

On Friday, Diane and I got up early, got everything prepped, and headed over to the parking lot at the office.  The girls hung out in the RV till after lunch, and we all headed on up the road to Santa Claus, IN. More on that in the next post.

Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2012 David Gardner

Driving for 5 days straight from CA to GA was .. loooong!! I posted now and then on Facebook about where we were, what we did, and what we ate, and perhaps .. you might even say I whined a smidge!

Well, about half way through our last day my friend Maura posted, “Diane, remember to enjoy the journey, not just the destination……the ‘destination’ is the journey, no?”

I thought about that for a bit, and this was my response:
Thanks for the reminder, Maura! I’m not much of a sit still person, so I struggle with this type of journey .. the virtual non-stop drive across the US journey!

BUT I have enjoyed: reading (after 44 years of feeling ill when reading in a car, I discovered I can read just fine in a RV); my Flying J snacks and nice truckers, who always open the door for me; much of the scenery; singing along to 80s music; talking about this, that, and the other with David; listening to all the accents (just spoke on the phone with a woman in GA – loved it); counting how many U-hauls are heading East vs. West (about equal); reading road signs aloud and trying to figuring out if we should embrace chik’n or beef; trying to figure out what kind of bug just sacrificed itself on the windshield; checking out cop uniforms in different states; stopping at The Thing, THEN reading reviews on it; realizing I actually like CA drivers – at least they admit they drive too fast, hate to merge, and rarely signal; a feeling of accomplishment at making lunch while we are driving – for a disabled person, my sense of balance is not too shabby; seeing towns that further increased my feeling of being oh so blessed; the a/c and ability to use the generator; the kindness of strangers, like the truck stop cashier who let me forego returning to the RV for 6 cents; seeing LIVE animals (like deer, cows, birds, horses, sheep, butterflies) – not a fan of all the DEAD ones (like armadillos, tortoise, wolves or coyotes); showers at night; being able to use the restroom while driving; trying to capture “Welcome to the state” signs – a joke with David, since on numerous journeys in the US and Europe I never caught signs/attractions .. even if standing in front of them; the realization that we have purged so much that we have almost everything we need with us (minus Megan, my parents, and best friends) and not much we don’t; appreciating my husband more each day, as he gets out of bed early to prep us to leave without waking me, AND showing him I care by getting myself up anyway to share the journey with him!

BTW: Molly enjoyed limitless DVDs, Internet, iPad apps, books, drawing .. pretty much just like any other day!

Francie (if I am interpreting her meows accurately) hated the entire journey, generally holding her desire for food/drink and need to pee/poop until we pulled in for the night .. completely her choice, as we offered all of the above every stop we made!!!

AND David says he enjoyed .. The Conclusion!!! If you know David, you will understand that he actually means he liked the beginning and the middle parts (and many of the same things I appreciated), but .. mainly he loved that the drive itself was coming to an end!

We left Jellystone this morning, but not till around 10:30 local time.  With a nearly full tank of gas, we rolled for about 300 miles, all the way into Georgia in one swoop.  It was a monster run.  I think that’s the longest non-stop run so far.  There was a couple small spots with some HEAVY rain.  Came nearly to a stop due to there being a couple inches of water on the road.  But, for the most part, it was simply normal driving.

So, we called the Twin Lakes RV Park in Cumming, Georgia, on our way.  Lucky we did, as they were going to close the office soon, and, only had a couple spots left.  When we were here last November, it MIGHT have been 25% full.  I guess the warmer weather of September is what has people here.

Anyway, I’ll get three days in the office this week, and five days next week.  The original plan was for two days in the office this week, then two weeks on the road doing some shows, but the show portion has been cancelled, and so we adjusted a bit.  The calendar on the main page has our schedule as it stands now.  I believe the Ohio piece will be changed, as there’s some other work travel I have to do.

Diane and Molly have an American Girl Doll event planned for Saturday at the local Marriott, and we hope to be able to visit with some family, friends, and maybe another (not currently active) fulltime family we met earlier this year in California.  Fingers crossed and hoping we get all of that in before heading up to Indiana.

Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2012 David Gardner

Got a late start today.  I slept in a bit, but, I knew we had 2 days, and 12 hours worth of driving, so not too big of a deal.

We were about 30 miles from Meridian, MS at 4pm, and I pulled off at a Rest Area to look for a place to pull in for the evening.  I had noticed clouds building ahead of us, but it seemed to be a long way off.  As I looked at my phone, I noticed a weather alert had come in, and this one was a tornado watch that was going till 11.  A closer look and the center of the alert was 7 miles away.  I spent some time reviewing other weather info, and found that we were heading into a huge area of tornado watches, and we’d been planning on spending the night right in the middle.

So, some calls, and a couple miles of backtracking, and we found a Jellystone Park that was outside the weather trouble area, and only $25 a night.  It would have been nice not to have used up the extra gas, but it’s worth it to have some feeling of safety for the evening.  I’ll be reviewing the weather for tomorrow, and hopefully we can make it the rest of the way to Cumming, GA.

The Jellystone Park has a big lake, and a nice big water park.  The girls tried to get over there and check it out, but we got in a tad too late.  Seems the staff is really anxious to get home now that everyone left earlier today from the long Labor Day weekend.

If you’re in the area, this is a pretty nice location.  It has the lake, water park, lot’s of nice clean sites with full hookups, lot’s of tree’s, a big store, and golf cart rentals.  Kinda wish we were staying here longer. 🙂

Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2012 David Gardner

Well, we’ve made it to the other side of Texas.  We got a really early start, made one quick stop at an In-N-Out, and then made it all the way to Tyler.  Fortunately, there was a nice and easy to get to Passport America park right off the 20, and it was just $16 for the night.  The Texas Rose RV Park made for a nice quite stop, even though it’s not to far off the highway.

Should make it through the rest of Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and hopefully spend tomorrow night in Alabama.

Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2012 David Gardner

We made it quite a ways today, and should do about the same tomorrow if all goes well.  For our overnight, we’re staying at the Eagles Nest RV Park, in Van Horn, TX.  They have a 10% discount for most all the camping clubs, but no Passport America.  Still, full hookups for less than $30 is always nice, especially when it is right where you need it for a good nights sleep, is in great condition, and has such a friendly staff.

On our drive today, we ate lunch in the RV, and just made gas stops, except for when we saw the signs for “The Thing”.  We had watched a video over on the Gone with the Wynn’s site from their visit, so we had to check it out for ourselves.  Funny thing was that the girls ended up being more frightened by some large colorful grass hoppers we found than they were the thing.  I expected “The Thing” to be some kind of Big Foot or something, but it isn’t.  Not sure if it’s real or not, but wouldn’t be surprised either way.  It won’t be what your expecting though!  All the antiques and such that you see along the way is pretty cool.  It’s worth the $1 admission, and then you can head on in to the Dairy Queen for a treat.

Off to catch up on making adjustments to our plans.  I found out yesterday that part of my work trip has been cancelled, so we’ll adjust a couple things.  Likely we’ll get to Indiana a week earlier, which will be nice.

Couple of photo’s…

Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2012 David Gardner

Well, we got a fairly early start this morning, and headed on down the road by about 9 am.  My pre-planning for gas stops is working well, as are the distance targets.  Hopefully we get an earlier start tomorrow.

Today we made it to Tucson, AZ, and we’re staying back at the Valley of the Sun Mobile Home and RV Park.  Diane and I stayed here on our way to California last December, and I knew they had a Passport America Rate, as well as really new and clean hookups.  Given the temperatures out here in the desert, I really want a good electric setup.

The drive was HOT.  The front engine area AC works well, but it’s only going to keep the front two seats cooled off.  We ended up firing up the generator and the roof AC’s for most of the afternoon.  Should only be an extra gallon of gas per hour.  It’s quite a bit different than the trip last November.  The temps then were quite mild.

After we got the RV all setup and cooled off for Francie, we headed out to a Cracker Barrel just down the road and had a nice dinner.  It’s going to be a bit more remote for the next couple days, and we’ll be eating at the RV, so it was a nice treat before we push on.  Molly was happy, as she likes Cracker Barrel, and it was all the way back in November when she last ate at one.  I suspect she’ll get her fill over the next 5 months.

Off to bed so we can roll out early tomorrow.

Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2012 David Gardner

Well, it’s time to make a big change.  We’ve been here at our Southern California home base of Wilderness Lakes for almost 3 weeks now, but it’s time to move on.  We’ve got the rig nearly prepped, and we’ll be loading up on some supplies this afternoon.  Tomorrow morning, nice and early, we’ll be disconnecting the shore hookups, sucking in the slides, pulling up the leveling jacks, hooking up the car, and rolling on down the road.  Our plan is to take 4-5 days getting from SoCal to the Atlanta, Georgia area.  There’s some work to do, and some fun stuff planned for the girls.  Hopefully everyone has a good time.

After that, we’ll head up to Indiana for a bit, then Pennsylvania, then NY/NJ, then Virginia, then ??? and eventually in Florida for parts of December and into January.  After that, not sure.  Florida, and then head back to California at some point in time, and by some path.  Hoping to fill in the US Map on the side of the rig where the stickers are missing.

I’ll be putting a new map up here on the front page that will track our progress, as well as creating a Tag for posts that are about this big trip, including this one.  I’ve also added the ability to use the new WordPress JetPack subscribing so you can follow via email.  FYI to the Mom’s and Dad’s of myself and Diane, you’re covered, and you should be getting the email’s, like you hopefully will for this post.

Ok, enough sitting.  Time to finish up the preps, and get some sleep.

Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2012 David Gardner

After leaving Sacramento, we headed to a Thousand Trails park in Morgan Hill, CA.  We left later in the day on Sunday, giving Molly and Diane time to participate in all the sessions they wanted to see at the conference.  It took a couple hours to get to Morgan Hill, and we got there just in time to get a spot and hooked up before it was totally dark.

Morgan hill is in a nice area, in that it’s not near any highways, railroad tracks, airport, or other noise generating equipment.  The sites all look pretty level, and there are lot’s of tree’s.  It has a huge pool, especially compared to the number of available sites in the park.  All the sites have water and electric, but none have sewer.  They do have a honey wagon service, but it could get old paying $25 every few days to dump the gray tank.  I would invest in one of those portable tanks if I planned on staying here longer than just a week.

Internet and cellular services worked fine.  I think we were right on the edge of Sprint coverage, and a booster might have helped.  The AT&T and Verizon phones worked just fine.  We got Satellite TV too, but that is a tough one here for the roof mounted dishes.  Not too many spots with the right clearing.  The spaces here can be kinda tight too.

We may be spoiled by our experiences with staff at Lake Conroe, Wilderness Lakes, Idyllwild, and even Pio Pico, in that they’ve all had some pretty friendly staff.  At Wilderness Lakes, you cannot drive, walk, or ride a bike, and not have one of the staff wave at you when they see you.  Even if they’re off scooting around on the golf carts, they’ll throw a wave and a smile at you.  Pretty much the same thing at Idyllwild.  But, at Morgan Hill, it was hard to even know who the staff were, let alone get a wave, or a smile.  Not sure if they’re more seasonal, and just getting worn down by what seems to be a constant state of being filled with campers, or what.  Nothing bad really, just not as friendly.  All in all, I got most of what I want in a site.  Respectful neighbors, electricity, level, some shade, water, and a generally calm atmosphere.  Oh, and good Internet for the worker type, and the YouTube watcher.

Enough about the park…

While there, we all went out to dinner one night with a colleague, his wife, and daughters (he has a new tiny one!)  We had a fantastic dinner at Maggiano’s in San Jose, CA.  The food was very good, and there was lot’s of it.  Both families walked away with a couple days worth of leftovers.  It was great to see Thao, and spend some non-work time with the families.

Another family outing was off to the Santa Cruz boardwalk.  This is like the runway of a larger county fair, with permanent rides, food vendors, and games.  We went on dollar hot dog and soda night, so dinner was cheap.  You buy tickets for the rides, and this night had some special ticket prices as well.  Molly had a great time on some of the rides by herself, a couple with Diane, and then one final “see if we can make him hurl” ride with Dad.  Ugh.  The ride home was on some twisty roads too.  It was all I could do to keep from letting loose of the cheap hot dog and soda.  I’m officially too old for such things now.  If you’re in the area, it’s a great spot to hang out.  There’s no fee to get in, so you have some hooligan’s hanging around that you need to keep an eye out for, but there’s lot’s of families there too, till it gets dark and cold.

Since the boardwalk rides were not quite enough, Molly and Diane also headed out to San Jose to California’s Great America (http://www.cagreatamerica.com/)  We had gotten some great tickets from another Fulltime family that was not going to be able to use them.  They both had a great time, rode several rides, and spent nearly the whole day there at the park.  It sounds like it is similar to Knott’s Berry Farm that is in Southern California, and they do have some affiliation as well.  If you’re in the area, and it’s open, it would be some good fun for the kids.  Way cheaper than the Disney prices.

Our stay at Morgan Hill ends Sunday, August 12, and we’re booking it down to SoCal that day to stay back at our favorite, Wilderness Lakes in Menifee.  We’ve got some appointments lined up before we head east, plus moving Megan into an apartment, and a couple RV projects.  Sorry this post is so late, but I’ve been working on those projects, and time has gotten away.

Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2012 David Gardner