Sharp's Travels

We had some rain showers again today, nothing that caused much of a problem. I did mow our lawn and Grandpa and Grandma’s lawn, I got a little damp before I got done. I also put up the satellite dish for TV. I want to be able to use the bedroom receiver; I am having a problem getting it to work. I will try to figure it out tomorrow. Cheri did some more cleaning and checking to see if there is going to be any painting classes this year. She hasn’t found any yet. We did both morning and evening walks.

A lot of people have come in the last three days, earlier then past years. This morning we went down to the office and paid our rent for the year and then went to the post office to mail a package and get stamps. Then we stopped at a place looking at new storage sheds for Grandpa and Grandma. We found one we liked and now have to contact the park manager to make sure the one we like will conform to all the park rules. Then we stopped at Lowe’s and picked up a new smoke detector. The old one quit working or I should say it wouldn’t stop chirping. We also made another stop at Wal-Mart to pick up a few things. We had to hold off for a while to do our evening walk because of rain.

We went to church with Grandpa and Grandma this morning. After church Grandpa and Grandma treated us to dinner at I-Hop in Dade City, it was very good. I spent the afternoon watching the NASCAR Race and Cheri read and took a nap. We did our walk this evening. On our walk we saw the park manager and he said that there are only three vacant spots left in the park for this winter.

It looked like rain this morning and we found out on our walk as we got wet. By 10:00 am the rain was over. Cheri cleaned and did laundry plus helped me get the motorcycle frame and cover off the trailer, set it on the ground behind the 5th wheel, now I have a garage for the motorcycle. We put the motorcycle trailer under the back of the 5th wheel. Also put down the patio mat and put out the awning. A guy on a motorcycle was riding by and saw our bike and stopped to see if I wanted to go riding with him (Bud). We talked for a while and seem to have the same interest in riding. We both use to ride Gold Wings. I took the bike out for a short ride before putting it in the garage.

We were on the road by 9:30 am and arrived at Baker Acers in Zephyrhills, FL. around 12:30 pm. We spent until 3:00 pm getting setup. We were pooped and decided to wait until tomorrow to finish getting settled in. At 4:00 pm we went over to Grandpa and Grandma’s. Then at 4:30 pm we went out for a fish fry with 3 other people. At 6:00 pm we went Wal-Mart to get groceries. We were back home by 7:00 pm and I was in bed by 8:00 pm. Cheri didn’t come to bed until 10:30 pm.

We were up to the Rec hall at 7:30 am for free pancakes. Then we took our morning walk, it was 54 degrees. We got packed up and on the road by 10:30 am. We only had about 150 miles to go today. We arrived here in White Springs, FL. about 2:00 pm. It turned out to be a beautiful day with a high of 78 degrees and sunny.

I have uploaded pictures of the Andersonville Prison, peanut fields and cotton fields. It was raining when we got up this morning. We went to the Rec hall for free pancakes. They do this every morning. We tried to do our morning walk, but got rained out. Later this forenoon we took a ride to We’re Nuts. It is a factory where they take in Pecan nuts. They also have a retail store with all different flavors of pecans, also fresh pecan pies. We wanted a factory tour, but said they were to busy this time of the year to give tours. From there we took a ride out through the country side. I got some pictures of some old barns. We went out for supper to Country Boy’s Cookin. They specialize in bar-b-que cooking. It was excellent.

This morning we were ready to head up to the hall here in the park for a free pancake breakfast at 7:30 am. All we had to bring were our dishes and silverware. We also brought along our peanut butter to put on those pancakes along with the syrup. There were quite a number of couples there already enjoying their breakfast.

We were back at the 5th wheel by 8:15 and did our ½ hr walk around the park.

Our plan for the day was to head for Andersonville to check out the Andersonville National Prisoner of War museum, the Andersonville National Cemetery and the prison site. It was about 32 miles from our campground.

By 10:30 we were on our way. We passed a number peanut and cotton fields. It was neat to check out the countryside around here.

We arrived at the Museum about 11:30 just in time for the first of their 2 movies on life inside this civil war prison. It even gave outtakes from diaries of the inmates. They were both very informative and made you feel you were right there in the prison. We stepped out the rear door of the lobby and saw the Prisoner of War Commemorative Courtyard. A small stream flow through the granite courtyard and encircles three walls of sculpted brick—men, women, and barbed wire molded from the clay. A bronze statue of a prisoner of war hunches over the water, water dripping from his outstretched hands into the stream below. It was a beautiful tribute to the people that served our country.

We headed into the museum that is laid out to shows all the miseries our prisoners have gone through in all the wars we have been involved in, along with the worries and hardships their families went through not knowing whether their loved ones were dead or alive. We heard about the 45,000 Union prisoners that were held at the prison and the terrible conditions they lived in. We toured the prison grounds by using a CD auto tour. It explained everything on the prison site and the cemetery. Out of the 45,000 prisoners, 13,000 died. They were buried side by side, shoulder to shoulder in shallow graves. There was one prisoner that was in charge all the death records. Out of the 13,000 there are only 450 graves that are marked “unknown”. Each prisoner was given a number and as they were buried all that marked their grave was a stick with their number on it. Today, because of the death records that were kept in the prison each site is marked with a headstone with their number, name and state they were from.

The prison grounds and the cemetery also contain monuments from each state that had prisoners that were kept at Andersonville Prison.

We enjoyed checking out and learning about some of our Civil War history.

We headed back to Montezuma to Yoder’s Restaurant for supper. Everything was cafeteria style and was very good, even the pie!

We were home by 6:30 and watched some of our taped shows before turning in.

I have uploaded some pictures of the Andersonville Prison.

It was pack up and move day. We stuck our head outside ready for our morning walk and it was raining. Thinking we would melt we stayed inside and got ready to leave. I ended up getting pretty wet closing everything up. We left Atlanta in the rain and it rained all the way to Macon. From there to Unadilla the roads were dry. We got to our home campground (Southern Tails) about 1:30 pm. After we got set up it started to rain. At least we got set up before it started. We made a trip to the Post office and to a couple of stores. We got back to the 5th wheel around 3:30 pm. It was a night of TV.

We went to church with Darren and Jodi this morning. Then it was back to their place for lunch. Jodi made potato salad and Darren did brats and burgers on the grill. We played a game of Uno, which we guys won; it was a close game that came down to the last hand. We watched the NASCAR Race. Later Darren and I went out and picked up pizza for supper. We watched some TV and said our goodbyes as we are leaving in the morning, headed farther south.

Today was a big and exciting day for me. I was up at 4:30 am and had to be at Darren’s house at 5:30 am. We had to meet 2 other guys at the Waffle House for breakfast. We were going to the Atlanta Speedway (Corvettes for Cancer Research). We picked up two more guys on the way. For the trip down there were three Corvettes and two Vipers. It was 9:00 am when we got there. We got to park in the NASCAR garage. After we signed up we got to take 5 laps around the Atlanta Speedway with 14 other Corvettes (what a rush). Darren got it up to 110 miles per hour. After it was over they lined up all the Corvettes and did a parade lap around the speedway. There were so may Corvettes that they wouldn’t all fit on the track at one time. From there the police lead us all to Summit Racing Equipment. They had a Corvette car show and lots of food and door prizes. Darren won a $50 dollar gift certificate from Summit Racing plus a couple of hats. We got back to Darren’s house at 6:15 pm. Jodi picked up Cheri at 9:30 am they went shopping for the day and got home around 6:00 pm. After supper we watched the movie Wild Hogs. It was 10:00 pm before we got home. I have uploaded pictures (Atlanta Speedway).

We walked this morning in between the rain showers. After we did a few things around the 5th wheel we went over to Darren and Jodi’s. We printed off some Geo-Caches and went out and found six of them. After Jodi got home from work we went out for supper (Mexican). On the way home we made a stop at the DQ for ice cream. We played a game of Uno when we got back, Darren and I won.

Darren took the next two days off, but Jodi has to work. Darren came over and took us out for breakfast and then we went to a large mall north of Atlanta. We went through a large Bass Pro Shop along with many other stores. There was also a large game room and a 10 lane bowling alley. We bowled one game. After the mall we went over to Darren and Jodi’s to hang out and Darren did some updates to our computer. When Jodi got home we had supper and then played a game of Uno, Darren and I won.

We only had about 175 miles to go to get to Atlanta today so we took our time getting on the road. We took a long walk around the campground and park. We finally got on the road at noon (also lost an hour due to time zone). We got to the campground in Atlanta around 2:45 pm. It is 78 degree here today. Darren and Jodi came over after work and we went out for supper and then back to the 5th wheel for a visit.

We got on the road a 9:00 am. The temp is morning was 63 degrees, now this is more like it should be. It did get up to 78 degrees. We are staying in a state park campground on the Tennessee River which is about 25 miles west of Chattanooga just off Interstate 24. We arrived here at 5:00 pm. We filled up with diesel on the Kentucky/Tennessee state line. Put in 101 gallons for $2.87 per gallon. That’s much better then $3.19 in Wisconsin. The good news is the fuel gage started working again; the bad news is it quit working before the day was over.

Well we are finally on our way south. We left Fond du Lac at 9:30 am. We made our first stop at a rest area near Janesville, WI. The back of the motorcycle had moved to the back of the trailer, I ended up strapping it to the front of the trailer. The only other thing that happened is the fuel gage in the truck quit working. We are spending the night at a campground about 15 south of Effingham, IL. We got here around 5:30 pm.

I have uploaded pictures of the motorcycle trailer and the pin box extension. They are located under motorcycle trailer. Neither Cheri nor I slept very good last night and didn’t get up until 7:30 am this morning. It was warmer this morning, 47 degrees. It was foggy and rainy all day. After church we picked up sub sandwiches and headed to Coz and Nikki’s to watch the Packers play and Coz being a Cowboy fan, we also watched them play. Packers won and the Cowboys lost. Tomorrow we head south

It was 37 degrees this morning and a high of 55 with a lot of sun this afternoon. Nikki came over for breakfast. After breakfast Cheri and Nikki went shopping and I took my morning walk. I checked the air in all the tires getting ready to leave Monday. I also did some internet surfing, looking for a cell phone repeater for the areas that have a weak cell signal. So far the one that seems to meet my requirements is the 4KMR-30M made by Digital Antenna. Coz got home late this afternoon, said he didn’t see or hear any turkeys. This evening we went over to Coz and Nikki’s for cribbage and we guys won three games.

It was 41 degrees this morning and a high of 50 today, cloudy most of the day and no wind. After our morning walk I went right to work on installing the pin box extension. I had to make a trip to Fleet Farm to get a large allen wrench to fit the set screws. After drilling some of the holes and putting in some of the bolts, I realized I was going to have to tap some of the holes So it was back to Fleet Farm to get a 3/8 tap. It was 4:30 pm when I got done. Cheri did a couple of loads of laundry and cleaned the trailer. Coz left after work to go turkey hunting, so Nikki came over after work and we went out to eat, then back to the 5th wheel to watch some TV.

It was 43 degrees this morning and still windy. It was a cold morning walk. It was another day of doing nothing. Our pin box extension came today; Coz dropped it off around 6:00 pm. That will be my project for tomorrow. We plan on leaving here Monday and heading south to warmer weather.

The wind blew all day and all night with rain this afternoon and a high of 52 degrees. We did do our morning walk. We didn’t do anything else today. We are still waiting for the pin box extension to come for the 5th wheel. As soon as I get it installed we will be heading south. Once again Coz and Nikki came for supper and cribbage. Girls won one and we guys won one.

Not much going on here today. It is very windy here today in fact it was already windy when we walked this morning. The wind was still blowing when we went to bed. We went to Wal-Mart to pick up groceries and look around (Cheri calls it shopping). Nikki, Coz, and Cece came over for supper and cribbage. Girls won one and we guys won one.

Cheri is feeling much better today; in fact I think she is back to her old self. We did our morning walk. Cheri did some laundry and I worked on the stabilizer jack and finally got it working again. This afternoon we went to Timber Valley Millworks to check on knotty pine doors for Jason and Kari’s Camp Bow Wow. We got to see their display of doors and they even gave us a tour of factory, it was very interesting. They have been making doors in Fond du Lac since the early 1900. We lived around the area for 30 years and never knew about them. Kari found them on the internet and wanted us to check them out; they make a very nice door from many different kinds of wood. We went over to Coz and Nikki’s for supper and cribbage, we guys won two games.

Cheri was still sick today, she thinks she has flu. So I did the morning walk by myself again. I rode the motorcycle to church, after church I went over to Coz and Nikki’s for lunch. This afternoon I worked on one of the rear stabilizers on the 5th wheel. I will not go down. I had this problem once last year. I have to take it apart, as it is jammed. I tried and it wouldn’t come apart, so I soaked it with WD 40 and will try again tomorrow. Cheri took a nap while I watched the NASCAR Race. We watched the Packer get beat; they played good ball the first half and did nothing the second half. They lost to Chicago, a game they should have won. Cheri said she was feeling better this evening.

Cheri got ready early as she was going shopping with Nikki and Cece. I did the morning walk by myself. I did some maintenance work on the 5th wheel. I went over to Coz and Nikki’s and pick up the motorcycle and went for a ride. Coz had to work today and thought he would be done by noon. As it turned out he didn’t get done until 3:00 pm. So we didn’t get to ride together. This evening Cheri wasn’t feeling very good. She said she had chills and her stomach didn’t feel good. I walked over to Coz and Nikki’s to get the truck, made for a nice evening walk. We are having unheard of weather for this time of the year. We had a high of 86 degrees today and at 9:00 pm it was still 76 degrees.

We didn’t take time to walk this morning as we need to get the 5th wheel packed up and down to the welding shop this morning. They are going to add two additional receiver tubes to the frame and then a steel tube to tie all three together. It was going to be done by 1:30 pm, but got a call from them saying it would take a little longer. We hung out at Coz and Nikki’s while the work was being done. I got another call saying it wouldn’t be done until 3:00 pm. We got there at 3:00 and it still wasn’t done, I helped him finish the job and got on the road by 4:15 pm and $ 450.00 poorer. We went back to the fairgrounds and were set up by 5:00 pm. We went over to Coz and Nikki’s for supper. Coz cooked chicken and brats on the grill. After supper we played cribbage. The girls won the first game and we guys won the next two. In fact we double skunked them one game. It was about time we guys finally won two games in a row.

It was a nice morning for our walk and with a high of 78 degrees today. We made a trip to the grocery store to pick up a few things for supper tonight. Then it was trip around town looking for a UPS place to send out a package, ended up at a FedEx. We had a box to send to Jason and Kari. We made a trip over to Coz and Nikki’s to pickup the motorcycle trailer. Tomorrow we take the 5th wheel and motorcycle trailer to the welding shop to get the hitch reinforced. Coz and Nikki came for supper and cribbage. We split on the cribbage.

We got around early this morning as we were invited to breakfast at John and Linda Tschanz in Brandon. We had a good time hashing over old times and what has been going on for the last year. We left their place around 2:30 pm. Cheri wanted to stop a couple of craft stores and I wanted to stop at the Brandon Meat Market to get some beef sticks and brats. Also got a beef roast for supper tomorrow night. We go home around 5:00 pm. It was a fun and relaxing day.

It was a damp and foggy morning. The sun finally came out around 10:00 am. We went to Fleet Farm so I could buy a new pair of pants. All my pants are getting tighter around the waist, It must be because they are old and shrunk from all the washing (I also have a bridge for sale). We stopped at Sub Way for lunch and then filled the truck with fuel, diesel is now at $3.19, but found a station for $2.99. That is quit a savings on 60 gallon. On the way home we stopped and picked up some groceries. Coz and Nikki came over for supper. It got very windy with some rain this evening.

It’s hard to believe it is October already. We didn’t walk this morning as it was wet and muddy here in the campground. We took our time packing up and getting on the road. We arrived in Fond du Lac around 1:00 pm. We stopped at Coz and Nikki’s and picked up the motorcycle trailer hitch and went to the welding shop in Byron to see about getting some fabrication work done on the 5th wheel and hitch to make it stronger. They have to order some materials and we have an appointment for Friday. We went over to Coz and Nikki’s for supper and three games of cribbage which the girls won. We guys can’t seem to win anymore.

Jason and Kari came over for breakfast this morning. Jason and Kari decided to take their trailer home with them today. It has been parked here at the campground for the last year. So I helped Jason and Kari get thing packed up and ready to leave. They where ready to leave by 12:00 pm. We said our goodbyes and they were on there way home. We watched the Packers play, another good game. Then I watched the NASCAR Race and Cheri read and took a nap. Later in the afternoon it started raining and had a couple of storms moved through with a lot of lighting and thunder.