Sunday, June 21, 2015

back at the Manor

Made it back to the Martin Manor a little past 2:00 this afternoon.  Drove through showers off and on most of the day but our GWF stepped up to the plate on arrival and held off the precipitation until we had all the dirty laundry unloaded.

Our next planned departure is July 8th but we have a little thing called jury duty that may interrupt our plans for the next three months.  In my reply to their notice I told them we would be out of the country between August 10 and August 24.  The sheriff's deputy might have a hard time finding me between those dates while we roam around Ireland and Scotland.

Saturday, June 20, 2015

gained our hour back

Back in the Central Time Zone where our biological clocks are most comfortable.

Tonight we are back in the Lynnville, IN city park where we have now stopped for the 15th time.  I had a little concern for an available site here on the Saturday of Father's day weekend but the rains of "Bill" have left the campground almost empty.  Now tomorrow we have an easy drive back to the Manor.

Friday, June 19, 2015

Great show

The show this evening was great with Mike Snider.  He played as much on the mandolin as he did on the banjo plus several numbers with the harmonica.  His band was a dog house base, violin and rhythm from a lady playing a 10 string cross between a mandolin and a guitar.  It was a super show.

Hello Bill

This afternoon we are feeling the remnants of "Bill".  After this storm system dumped on TX and OK it hit MO and is heading right up the Ohio River valley.  We have had scattered hard showers this afternoon and the forecast is for a high percentage chance that I will need my rain gear tomorrow morning as we hitch up for travel along the mentioned Ohio River Valley.

Might need our umbrellas as we head to the music show this evening.

Thursday, June 18, 2015

Renfro Walley

Tonight we are back in Renfro Valley, KY.  We were here in 2012 for an overnight stopover and again in 2013 when we enjoyed a couple of country music shows and toured the area around Rock Castle County.  After two days of driving we will have a day of R&R before we head toward the Manor.  We do have tickets for a hillbilly music show tomorrow night with Mike Snider on the banjo, should be fun.

Wednesday, June 17, 2015

Spartanburg

Well we got away from the beach and low lands and now the temperature is only 98° instead of 105°.

Even if we hadn't been scheduled to leave this morning we would have anyway as the campground in Myrtle Beach was in need of improvements in electricity capabilities.  With all the high temperatures and as large as that campground is (500 campsites plus a couple of hundred park model units) our voltage dropped low enough that our Electrical Management System (circuit protector) kicked us off a couple of times yesterday and another couple of times this morning for voltage so low that it could have damaged our AC units.  We had to turn off one of our AC units, the hot water heater, and couldn't use the microwave.

Okay we are away from that situation and in Spartanburg, SC.  Our goal tomorrow is for Renfro Valley, KY for a couple of nights and a banjo show on Friday night.

Tuesday, June 16, 2015

dinner out

We went out last evening to dinner.  While the weather was extremely hot the AC in the truck works well and we didn't have far to walk from the truck to the front door of the restaurant.  The restaurant, with the name "Mr. Fish", was very good and with that name we didn't order steak or chicken.  We both had the Wahoo over a bed of mashed potatoes with leeks and bell peppers.  As usual with restaurant portions we had to have "to-go" boxes and there are nice leftovers for another time.

Tomorrow we head for higher (hopefully cooler) ground toward northwest South Carolina on our way toward Renfro Valley, Kentucky.

Monday, June 15, 2015

Heat wave

This really wasn't a good time to visit the beach.  Each day has been in the upper 90s with heat index of 105+.  I did get out this afternoon to a grocery store for a few items and found what I believe would be a good restaurant for a nice dinner out before we leave on Wednesday.  At least the campground is full of big trees providing shade but still both AC units are working overtime.

Sunday, June 14, 2015

heat and humidity

Today has been very hot and humid so we haven't stirred much after yesterdays tough drive.  We don't believe that this area is a place that we can enjoy as much as we thought.  The handful of information that the campground gave us at check-in was mostly discount coupons to chamber-of-commerce attractions such as Ripley's believe or not, wax museum, and Dolly Parton's Pirate themed dinner show.  These are not our idea of things we want to enjoy as we prefer natural attractions.  I believe this is one large amusement park.

Saturday, June 13, 2015

@$*%# Traffic

It wasn't supposed to be a long drive today, only about 4 hours, BUT, the traffic was unbelievable.  Around Columbia it was so bad that we took a detour route that helped some but even that route was choked with stop-and-go between lights for several miles.  Then after we left I-20 the roads were again choked two lanes, one direction, of stop-and-go bumper-to-bumper for many (20-30) miles.  It took us a little over 6 hours before we got set up in our campsite.  The traffic has been real bad ever since we left our beautiful lake front site at Lake Lanier.  This area is definitely a tourist destination with all the hype so we don't know just how much we will get involved other than a good dinner out before we leave.  The campground has a free shuttle to the beach so we may take advantage of that for at least one outing and a few pictures.

Friday, June 12, 2015

Joanna

Joanna, SC is where we are this evening, about half way between lake Lanier and Myrtle Beach.  It was hard to leave the beauty and quiet of our lake front site but have had Myrtle Beach on our want-to-do list for sometime.

Thursday, June 11, 2015

very nice day

Yesterday was a very nice day.

The winds were calm so the lake was like a mirror and the temps didn't go too high so the AC didn't have to work too hard.  We went out to dinner and had a very good meal at the coo-coo's nest and then re-stocked the pantry at Kroger's.

Tuesday, June 09, 2015

fun on the lake

These are views from the dock by the boat launching ramp.




 our front yard

Monday, June 08, 2015

Great day

A very nice day enjoying the views that we found yesterday.  I did get our satellite dish set up and aimed so we now have all our satellite programming along with the over-the-air network stations.  We also are enjoying the quiet as we are miles away from any major highway, railroad track, or airport.  Only the sound of a motor boat or jet ski occasionally.  These next few days are going to be very relaxing while we watch fish jump in the lake.

Sunday, June 07, 2015

Lake Lanier

We have arrived and our spot in this campground is super.  We have a strong internet connection, good over-the-air television reception, and a good view of the satellites that I will set up our dish for tomorrow.  We will enjoy these views for the next five days.  The rest of the campground is behind us.
from our front door looking East
 our side yard looking south
 our side yard looking north

Saturday, June 06, 2015

winner

We have a winner, ya!  Watched the Belmont Stakes this afternoon with the first winner of the triple crown of horse racing in 37 years.  Those horses are well trained athletes and the races are run with strong strategies.  American Pharoah started the race in the lead and stayed there to the end, great race.

nice day number 2

Another days drive of the length we like and the weather has been great.  Tonight we are in Manchester, TN which is south central TN and a new campground for us.  Tomorrow we reach our first destination campground of this trip where we sit for a few days.

Friday, June 05, 2015

nice short day

This was the kind of driving day that we really like, short.  We left the Manor a little after 9:00 this morning and pulled into our campground a little before 2:00 pm.  This route is identical to the route we drove last month except different campgrounds.  This time we will start a new path just before we get to Atlanta.  The COE campground where we will stay a few days is on the banks of Lake Lanier about 30 miles northeast of Atlanta.