October 26th, 2008

Well, it has been 1 month and 6 days since I arrived in Red Bay, AL and the Tiffin repair folks just started work on our motor home last Wednesday. Kathy and I had figured October would be a good month to get here because the kids would be back to school, etc., and boy were we wrong! October is one of the 2 busiest months here as all of the snow birds are heading for winter quarters and stopping here to let Tiffin Motors fix all of their warranty things. Last weekend there were over 120 motor homes here waiting to be worked on and many of them were parked out on an abandoned runway dry camping (which means no power, water, or sewer hook-up).

There are over 50 RV's looking down this run way. We are the 1st on the right.

We met two very nice couples -- Mark & Sue, and Connie & Manuel -- we had a couple of dinners with them, learned how to play Mexican Train dominoes, and taught them how to make and drink Old Fashioneds. Mark & Sue are having a 2009 Tiffin Phaeton manufactured just for them -- it's a 40-footer (ours is 34 ft.) and they are following it's building process very carefully. Just two days ago it went in for it's painting -- and we had a chance to tour the "paint plant" that Tiffin has -- there were over twenty motor homes in there -- all in various stages of painting!

Connie and Manuel have a lovely Phaeton too -- it has four slide-outs, so had lots of room for the six of us to party. There are many nice people here at "Camp Red Bay" -- which is what the Tiffin owners call our campground -- and we meet up with folks daily when we end up in the "Customer Lounge" waiting for our coaches to be worked on.

Red Bay's town border is on the Mississippi state line and one has to drive 30 to 50 miles to get anything but fried cat fish, grits, hush puppies, Georgia Fries (they have lots of cheese and bacon bits on them); however, there is a Mexican Restaurant here and the food isn't bad. We can't get a drink or buy booze in town as this is a dry county so on the road we go. I have driven to Tupelo, MS to get prescriptions and that all-important booze. Tupelo is the birthplace of Elvis Presley.

Kathy got back here 2 weeks ago today and both Tiger and I were so glad to see her. Although, it was very quiet, that's another story, and I wasn't subjected to loooong lists of things to do each day. Our parking spot for the last 4+ weeks is on an old airport runway with over 100 other motor homes. About 30 feet behind us are residential homes and one of then has 6 or 7 coon dogs that bay and howl for a good part of the night -- often after 1 AM. Then at 5 AM the local rooster starts crowing and wakes us up. Sometimes the rooster gets in front of the dog pens and teases them to the point where all of the dogs are howling at the top of their lungs. Tiffin says the dogs keep people from staying too long! We use our ear plugs to sleep!!

Our motor home has had a water leak since we got it and although we had gone several places to have it fixed, the repair people were never able to find it and take care of it. We had a list of 20 other things to be fixed -nothing serious - but the floor turned out to be really bad. $7,300 bad so we are currently staying 27 miles from Red Bay in Russellville, AL in a hotel while they tear our whole tile floor up, dry it out and replace it. Fortunately it is covered by insurance and they should be finished by the middle or end of next week and then we get to leave.

We did find 2 places of interest so far. The National Coon Dog Cemetary and, because this is hunting country, a place to get your deer processed. The deer processing place has the motto, " You Whack 'em, We Pack 'em!" I have attached photos of both places.

The National Coon Dog Cemetary started in 1937 where a gentleman buried his prize coon dog at the exact place where he treed his last raccoon. There are now over 200 coon dogs buried there and recently they had a burial with 200 people in attendance, including human pall bearers and dog pall bearers. They have a committee that screens each application to have their dog buried there and they have to be pedigreed coon dogs. They don't want any poodles or lap dogs to contaminate these hallowed grounds. It's quite a place. The gravesites even have artificial flower bouquets on them!

When we leave here we are going to Hilton Head Island for a couple of weeks and while in that area we will visit Charleston, SC and Savannah, GA.

More to come......there ain't a lot of things to do here!

Williamsburg & Charlottesville, VA

August 29th

On to Williamsburg, Yorktown and Jamestown and more of our American heritage.

August 31st & September 1st

We 1st visited Yorktown which is the site of the last big Revolutionary War battle where the British gave up in a humiliating defeat to George Washington's army. The national park system has done a great job recreating both Yorktown and Jamestown with very knowledgeable people educating you with great true stories. It is well worth visiting.

September 3rd

We spent a good part of the day touring Williamsburg and there is a lot to see. We toured the castle, old homes, watched British generals ride in and try to convince everyone the British cause was the best, toured the art museum which is beautiful and mostly underground. We snacked in an Inn and by the end of the day we were very tired as you have to walk a lot.

September 4th

Jamestown and the Powhaton Indian village were awesome. They have recreated the ships, 3 of them, that the original settlers spent months in while sailing to Virginia. We watched them load and fire long rifles and howizersOnce again a great place to learn about the our history and what the settlers went through to establish themselves in America.

We took the next day off and because of the approaching hurricanes we went to Charlottesville to visit the home of Thomas Jefferson.

Our friends, Chuck Waespy and Diane Christian in Washington DC were going to meet us in Charlottesville at the Boars Head Inn but the hurricane changed that so we will have to wait until we get to Borrego Springs this coming March to see them. They are considering meeting us there and we do hope they will. Here is the Boars Head Inn. We had an afternoon snack there and it is really nice place.

September 7th

Monticello is beautifully restored and one of the great places to visit in the US. They have even rebuilt the gardens and have wonderful tours. Jefferson was a very good architect and did things in those days that were not heard of before.

September 8th

We spent this day driving along the Blue Ridge Parkway and coming back through Culpepper and the Virginia horse country. It really is a beautiful state.

The rest of the week we just moulted and relaxed before we headed September 12th for Ohio via Dawson, W. VA.

September 13th

We only spent one night in Dawson and while we were there we met 3 people who were riding 2 Appaloosa horses from Idaho to Richmond, VA. They were starting a fund to support children who were in need of help. They were on the final leg of their journey and we hope they accomplish what they set out to do.

September 14th

We arrived back at the Lazy Village RV Park and little has changed since we were there last. The next day we went to my Step Mother Dot's and with jars in hand we went begging for more of her spaghetti sauce. It's the best we have ever had and she graciously gave us 3 more quart jars. We spent the next few days visiting with Dot, my Brother Don and his wife Sandy and watched while the Eastern and Northern part of Ohio got hammered with very high winds from hurricane Ike.

September 17th

We received the sad news that Kathy's Mom Pat had passed away last night. She had been in poor health for some time and we were very sorry to see her go but she is finally at peace and with her great love her husband Frank. We were able to get a flight for Kathy out of Cincinnati, a 2 hour drive from Portsmouth, on Friday morning using frequent flyer miles.

We also decided Tiger & I should stay with the motor home and head for Red Bay, AL where the Tiffen Motor homes are manufactured. We had planned on doing this as we have some needed repairs and they do it for little or no cost.

September 18th

We were scheduled to visit with my niece's and nephew in Cincinnati over the weekend but they had been out power for almost a week. We decided to meet with them on the 18th for dinner at a Skyline Chile restaurant which you will only find in Cincinnati. I had a 5 way which includes, spaghetti, chili, onions, beans and cheese. It was really good and we had a good time visiting. Kathy & I spent the night at a hotel by the airport and I put her on a plane to Seattle the next morning and then drove back to Portsmouth, OH.

I spent the next day and a half getting the motor home ready for a long trip to Red Bay and took off on Sunday the 21st.

September 22nd

Kathy's in the Seattle area with her 2 Son's and Daughter making the necessary arrangements for Mom's memorial services. We, Tiger and I, miss her very much. I'm now in Red Bay, AL and will be here for at least 3 or 4 weeks. I think the high light of this segment of our journey will be the National Coon Dog's cemetery. More to come.

Washington DC

August 15th

We left S. New Jersey today and headed for Washington DC. -- College Park to be exact and we arrived at a really nice RV Park. They are very good at helping you get around DC and showing you the best transportation, etc. I called my good friend Chuck Waespy who is my Daughter, Julie's, Godfather and we made a date to get together tomorrow for dinner with Chuck and his friend, Diane.

August 16th

This is our 5th wedding anniversary and what better way to celebrate than to have dinner with a good friend at a very good Irish restaurant. We met at Chuck's house in Chevy Chase. He has done amazing things to his house. The house is a show piece complete with an exercise pool, (the kind you swim in one spot). We had a great dinner and good time and made tentative arrangements to meet them tomorrow at the Washington Nationals baseball park.

Chuck, Diane, Kathy & Dave

August 17th

Off to a Washington Nationals game via the Metro subway. It is a very good system and we used it a lot during our stay in Washington. Chuck & Diane did meet us at the park and we had a good time--except the Nationals lost. There was very little energy at the game. It will take awhile to get a good team and fans going. Chuck and Diane took us to Georgetown for dinner and to tour us through the area. We even went by Chuck's old condo that he referred to as his "safe house."

August 18th

This is our day to head to Baltimore and Camden Yard and see a game between the Orioles and the Red Socks. What a game! There were more Red Socks fans than Orioles and the park was packed. It is a very good park but it took us over an hour to get out of the parking lot and on the road back to College Park. This looks like our last game for this year; however, we have fourteen pins for our baseball hats that we're very proud of!

Balitmore's Camden Yards





We took the next day off to recuperate and get ready to tour Washington, DC.

August 20th

We took the Metro to Union Station; it is really nice. From there we signed up for the "hop on/hop off" double decker bus tour, did a complete loop of DC and went to the Smithsonian. We toured the Smithsonian Castle, Museum of Natural History and the Freer Art Museum. One could spend days just in the Natural History Museum. Our legs finally gave out and we headed back to Union Station to catch the Metro home and stopped at the bar, what else, and met the bartender who has been working there for 18 years. He talked us into a 2nd vodka tonic (pretty easily).

Smithsonian Castle Union Station

August 21st

The National Cathedral - what a place. We got a complete tour of it including several small chapels on the lower level. It is the 6th largest cathedral in the world and it took 83 years to complete. Everyone who visits DC should see it. That took us most of the afternoon so back to our home in College Park via the Metro.

National Cathedral

August 22nd

Off to Arlington Cemetary via the Metro. We watched the changing of the guard, saw John F. Kennedy's grave site and took the tour of the park. It's really something to see. We then went into town and toured the Holocaust Museum and finally ran out of steam. Everything is very far apart and you do a lot of walking. Back to Union Station and home.

Tomb of Unknown Soldier John F. Kenneeddy's Grave
Changing of the Guard

Changing of the Guard

August 23rd

Chuck and Diane came out to our R.V. park and we dazzled them with our motor home. They had volunteered to take us on a tour of Annapolis where Chuck had graduated from the Naval Academy in 1951, and Diane had grown up. We arrived just in time to see a naval wedding at the chapel complete with crossed swords, toured the building where Chuck lived while at the academy, the grounds and then onto a wonderful dinner overlooking the Annapolis harbor. Another great day with our friends.

August 24th - A Day of Rest?

Ha....Kathy got the bright idea that we should wash the motor home, top to bottom. 5 hours later we collapsed for the evening and had 2 old fashioneds. It's quite a job!!

August 25th

When we got up, we were so sore from washing the motor home we could hardly move. Back on the Metro for a 10AM tour of our nation's Capitol. We called our Texas Senator earlier in the week and they were happy to provide the tour. We were fortunate that there were only 4 of us so the tour was the equivalent of a private one. The Capitol is very impressive and we were able to sit in on a debate in the House of Representatives on the need to pass an energy bill. We limped the entire day.

From there we went to the Lincoln, Korean and Viet Nam Memorials. All of which are very impressive and stirring.

Korean War Memorial

Lincoln Memorial

Vietnam Memorial

August 26th

We drove to Dulles Airport and to the new Smithsonian Air & Space Museum. Very impressive with the SR71, Enola Gay B29 that dropped the atom bombs on Japan and a bunch of old restored aircraft with a lot of history. We finally decided to leave as it was so cold in there you could hang beef.

SR71 Blackbird Enola Gay

August 27th

Back on the Metro to the National Zoo. We watched Panda's eating bamboo, cheetahs, hippos, elephants, meercats, prairie dogs, river otters and a mess of other animals. What we didn't realize is the zoo goes down hill for a very long way and the only way to get back to the Metro is to go all the way back up. I was exhausted but we made it.

August 28th

Kathy did laundry, I did some minor repairs on the motor home, shipped a wonderful piece of art work Chuck Waespy gave us, to my Brother Roy for safe keeping, and prepared to head for Williamsburg, VA for a week. We had a great time in Washington and there is still a lot to see when we come back. We could have spent two weeks just at the various Smithsonian buildings - so we hope to come back and see the rest someday.

Bar Harbor to Washington DC

Bar Harbor - July 24th to the 27th.

We spent most of our time here touring the Acadia National Park and weren't able to see a lot. It was overcast and foggy but beautiful. The coast line is spectacular. We did get one more lobster dinner, minus the wild blueberry pie, the night before we left. We left the morning of the 27th and headed for Salisbury, MA.

The Massachusetts Coast and Boston - July 27th to the 31st.

We had a great time and were once again treated to great tours of the area with Ray Jenkins. He lives here part time and keeps his boat in Newburyport. We even did a tour of the "ugly" homes in the area. The Massachusetts coast is beautiful and the tour was great. Ray took us for lunch to one of his old hangouts and he seems to know everyone. We spent time on his really nice boat, drank beer and enjoyed the harbor scene.

On one of the days we went to Glouchester and Rockport where there is spectacular scenery and wonderful restaurants. Our friend Judy Whitman loves Rockport and said the lobster sandwiches were the best. I decided to drive up a one lane road that extended out onto a pier and ended in a tiny circle. As we were turning, a gentleman asked us if we were looking for a parking place, gave us his and then said we should eat at this restaurant. It turns out it is one of Judy's favorites and the lobster sandwich was perfect and delicious. The view out to the water was spectacular. The gentleman's sister owns the restaurant. We'd like to revisit Rockport at some future date and stay longer!

We spent a day in Boston and on the way in we got lost because of a detour with no directions. We finally made it and decided to do the red line walking tour. Big mistake because later in the day we went to Fenway Park on the subway to see the Red Socks. Another long walk. We had standing room only tickets but did find a couple of chairs for the first two innings that allowed us to recover from what seemed like a 20 mile hike. Fenway is one of the last old parks and the spirit there is incredible. We had a great time at Fenway and in Boston and finally made it back to Salisbury where we collapsed for the night.

The Green Monster

Sturbridge, MA - July 31st to August 2nd.

Two nights and a full day of touring old Sturbridge Village. I was there in the late 60's and it is many times bigger and beautifully restored.

Hand colored yarn



August 2nd and on to Andover, NJ where we spent part of a day checking out where I used to live. We went to Wyckoff and Ridgewood, NJ and that is a beautiful part of New Jersey.


We then spent 3 days touring New York City. Kathy will tell you driving in NYC is an experience. I spent a few years driving in the city and it all came back to me and it seemed easy. We visited Rockefeller Center and toured Radio City Music Hall (we would recommend that to anyone visiting NYC).

Earth, Wind and Fire were rehearsing

We went to Times Square,

We took in a Broadway show (The Phantom of the Opera), saw Ground Zero, the Empire State Building had a snack at the Plaza Hotel and did a carriage ride thru Central Park,



We rode the subway and twice hired a rick shaw -- one of which whisked us down Broadway, weaving in and out of the traffic and Kathy was sure our lives were in jeopardy.






One day we drove from downtown NYC to Flushing Meadows via Queens to see the Mets play at Shea Stadium.


That was exciting. We also drove to the Yankees Stadium and bought a pin for our hats as we couldn't get tickets for a game or even a tour of the stadium. We put the pins on the back of our hats, since that's our son, Jason's, least favorite team. We had a great time in NYC.

August 7th and on to South New Jersey

where we visited my "old" neighbors and friends and saw a Phillies game.





We toured Vineland, NJ where I lived for 7 years and it has changed a lot. Not necessarily for the good. Our 1st visit was with Jack & Diane Whiteway at their beautiful condo in Avalon on the Jersey shore. They have spectacular views and we had a fabulous dinner at their place.





















We then visited Jay & Carol Parks and had a wonderful dinner at their house. Another evening the four of us went to a lovely restautant adjacent to the Tuckahoe River. Jay is a fantastic photographer and helped me get started taking pictures many years ago.




One of the highlights of our S. Jersey trip was a visit with an old Air Force buddy, Tom Long and his sister Ann. They live in Warminster, PA.








We also visited another "old" friend, Tony Barbaro and his wife Joanne in New Hope, PA. along with good friend Jim Hahn. Tony's basement is twice the size of the home we sold in Sunnyvale. Great dinner of salmon and good drinks and memories. They have a parrot that likes gin & tonics so, being a nice guy, I let him drink some of mine.















While near Philadelphia we went to see the Phillies and we really like their park. Great views of the city and we had wonderful seats right above home plate. Our visit was great. Severe thunderstorms came through just before the game started, so our Disney World ponchos kept us warm and dry, and the game started two hours late - but was really fun!


While in South Jersey we did find a wonderful set of wind chimes and also a place to hang out at when you needed some rest.....Kathy wasn't as thrilled as I was!






















August 15th and on to the Washington DC area where we are currently and will be for the next 2 weeks.

More on that later!