No, we really haven't fallen off the face of the earth and yes, we are still well and moving along. We left Florida (magnificent state!) on April 6 and headed north up to South Carolina. As we passed thru northern Florida into Georgia we could see the landscape changing. The trees were different, still green but more variety (less palmettos!) and lots of different greens. The landscape became more rolling and the further north we went the higher the hills were. In North Augusta, SC, we visited with our friends, Bernie and Jackie Court. Bernie and Jackie both retired from the City of Hemet like us but a few years earlier.....lucky ducks! Bernie was overseeing the running of the Simpson Neighborhood Center and Jackie ran the Literacy Dept. During the time that we visited the Masters Golf Tournament was going on in Augusta, Georgia (just a few miles from North Augusta, SC) and all available space was booked. That meant that we weren't able to find a space in an rv park. Jackie's sister, Rosie, quite graciously offered to have us park our 5th wheel right in her front yard in Plum Branch, SC (actually McCormick but I like the name Plum Branch better). Her house is actually on a farm in a very rural area and we were parked (she told me) on pasture land. Plum Branch is a very small town and if I got it right, this is where Jackie and her sister actually grew up!
On the 6th, we had our first tire blow-out just south of Wadley, GA and by the time we had gotten it changed (Ed did it himself!) we decided to stay in a motel for the night to clean up and rest. The next day we had a short drive to Plum Branch and then the Courts took us off to visit a plantation in Washington, SC. We spent the day having first a tour of and then wandering the Calloway Plantation. Wealthy people sure lived well back in the good old days! Several generations of the same family lived on that plantation on into the 1900s. The next day, Jackie drove us all over the area to see the many beautiful homes (mansions, by my standards!) and the gorgeous rural vistas in their area of SC. For dinner, Bernie and Jackie treated us to all-u-can-eat catfish, hushpuppies and grits.....real southern cooking! Ed sure enjoyed those grits!!
I tried to watch my waistline but I really love fried catfish and hushpuppies! Don't get this kind of food much in CA!
Next we traveled further north to Oak Ridge, Tennessee where my sister lives. We spent a couple of days picnicking and walking around the beautiful mountains of TN. The first day Vern, my nephew, drove us to Frozen Head (?) Park and we ate a picnic lunch then hiked up a trail to view waterfalls. We were able to see my niece, Kat, that day which was a huge privilege as she is a very busy woman lately with music students, church choir commitments and a day job. On Sunday, Vern agreed to chauffeur again as we headed to the Smokey Mtns up thru Sevierville (Dolly Parton fame), Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg. We picnicked in Cades Cove and drove back to Oak Ridge thru some of the most beautiful country I've ever seen.
Yesterday we moved on again and are now in a Thousand Trails Park named Cherokee Landing near Memphis. Today we rest and take it easy. Tomorrow we'll visit Memphis, TN and see what there is to see.