Just after the Rally, and right before we got to Cooper Furnace, we went to West Point Lake in west central Georgia, right on the Alabama border. It’s a Corps park and just another nice place to stay for a while. We met some folks who came in next to us in an RV just like ours and we exchanged ideas. Other than that we just spent a relaxing week parked next to the lake. Except on the weekend we were pretty much by ourselves.
It wasn’t long after we got to Cooper Furnace that I realized I might very well be the second Sines’ to visit here. Although, it would have been under completely different circumstances when great uncle, Peter Robert Sines, may have been here in 1864.
Sergeant Sines, my uncle Peter, was a member of the 15th Ohio Infantry, attached to General Sherman during his famous ‘March to the Sea’ during the Civil War. At that time it was a thriving town called Etowah. Its major industry was the iron furnace where ‘pig iron’ was manufactured. There was a foundry, rolling mill, spike mill, and a ‘fine’ flour mill. The flour mill was once used by the Queen of England. Products from Etowah included pig iron, nails, spikes, rails, tools, and of course cannons. During the Civil War the iron industry was operated by the Confederacy and was a prime military target. Enter Sherman and his troops. At some point in passing the area Sherman dispatched units of his Army to destroy Etowah and its industry. That was accomplished and is why I say, I may be the second Sines’ to visit the area. I haven’t done enough research to be sure but, it makes a good story, and who knows?
After the Civil War Etowah never really recovered. Floods, the building of the dam, and time have taken their toll. All that is left is the furnace. Now in place of Etowah there is Cooper Furnace day use area, and there are we!
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
The "Rally"
WE MADE IT!!!!
Did you notice I changed the font to ‘Georgia’?
It was one a one night stop in Columbus GA, to do the laundry and then on to “The Rally”. So this should be the last entry in this section of the ‘Trip Journal’.
We drove through Perry around noon and straight on to the fairgrounds. The first thing you encounter at one of these events is the parking of all the RV’s and tow cars. It’s not easy parking 4 or 5 thousand RV’s and making it flow well and satisfy everyone. This is where I seem to get angry every time. Parking doesn’t seem to go well and of course I can do it better! “Or so I think!” But I suppose the volunteers do as well as can be expected. Anyway after getting shuffled around and waiting for a while we finally got parked OK. Except that this time we are right next to one of the big generators used for providing electric to the RV’s. And it’s noisy!!!! In fact one of the techs told us it was one of the worst and if we and the neighbors complained we could get it replaced. We didn’t complain but it did later break down and with a wink and a nod the tech kind of asked Kat if we had done anything to sabotage it. We hadn’t, but maybe we should have sooner, because the new one was ever so much quieter.
“The Rally” consists of educational seminars, RV related vendors and demonstrations, RV dealers and their coaches and trailers, and nightly entertainment, all in the atmosphere of a fair. That’s of course where they’re held; fairgrounds. The first two days are ‘early bird’ and everything isn’t in full swing yet but we did get some ‘fair’ food and walk around and see what we could. The entertainment starts on the first night and this year it was all good. We had Frankie Valli, the Vogue’s (Special Angel, Turn Around) and Bobby Vinton (Blue Velvet) and a couple of others, who were also very good.
Every year, or at least the last two, there is a world record attempt at something. Last year in Redmond OR. it was the largest ‘whoopee cushion’ sit, which failed. Oh, but you should have heard the noise. That was lots of fun even though we didn’t break the record. This year it was the most couples dancing at one time. The record was held in Venezuela at 452 couples. The rules were that you must be doing a recognized dance step and dance for at least 5 minutes. We were to dance the Foxtrot. First though we had all signed in and filed in to the grand stand and sat waiting for the count to be verified by the Guinness people. That took some time so we did the ‘wave’ a few times and did what you do when bored and waiting. Then we all went to the arena (dance) floor and were shown the Foxtrot. The band played and we practiced a little. When we all had the hang of it, or not (!), the band played some more, we danced, and there was a countdown. I don’t think a lot of folks were doing the Foxtrot. I watch “Dancing with the Stars’ (hence I am an expert) and they do the Foxtrot and what I saw wasn’t that. I include us in that. Kat and I aren’t dancers. We try, and we have fun, but we recognize our limitations. But anyway we were all having fun in spite of the bad joints and sore toes and all and we did make the five minutes, plus some more. Not only did we break the record; we shattered the record! We had 1178 couples dancing for the requisite 5 minutes in somewhat the right form and we own the ‘World Record’. It’s back in the good old U.S. of A. You may not see our names in the Guinness Book of World Records but now you will know that we are part of it anyway. Hoo Wah!!!!!
We didn’t make much use of our galley (kitchen) during the Rally. I guess we didn’t do much in the RV except sleep (in spite of the generator). There was too much to do and too much ‘fair’ food to eat. There were seminars about RV travel with the ‘experts’, cleaning and protecting your RV, 15 minute meals, how to keep your holding tanks smelling pure and fresh (really), tech tips on most everything, staying healthy, even how to back your RV. We went to several including the one on ‘backing’. Quite honestly we could have written and conducted that one. We are pretty good at backing our RV as a team. We went to one called “How to avoid the brain drain” but it was too much of a drain on our brains and had to leave. I didn’t say they were all good! There was a child behind us (one of few) who was bored too and Kat turned around and said, “I’m with you kid” and we left. We probably stopped to get Kat a ‘funnel cake’ or a hamburger for me. We ate ‘fair’ breakfasts, ‘fair’ lunches, ‘fair’ dinners, and lots of ‘fair’ junk food. Considering how much ‘fair’ walking we did and how many RV’s we climbed in and out of I guess it really wasn’t so bad. I was pretty much ‘grounded’ on one day because of my knees and all the walking, especially ‘in and out’ of RV’s. I even had to put on my knee brace. Kat went to look, touch, and ‘turn over’, everything in the vendor area one more time while I sat some.
We didn’t spend all of our money this time. We did get a surge suppressor and a window vent to allow us to leave the cat inside, while we are gone, with a little more comfort for us both. We got some ‘Cord Pro’ cord keepers to wind our electric and coax cables. They work great and I should have got a couple more. They look like great big yellow donuts. And we got some small stuff, but we didn’t really blow our wad like we did last time in Redmond.
And get this!!! We even won a new camera. The “Trailer Life” people were showing off their new website and having a drawing for a camera for all folks who went on the website and posted some pictures and opened a blog. I said “I can do that”, and did. The girl we were talking too said there were very few entrants and this was the next to last day. So while I was laid up with a sore knee I did the posting and Kat did the leg work. She was on her way to the “Trailer Life” booth to ask a question on another matter when they called her. So we won a brand new “Canon Power Shot 570”. Cool huh? And there were very few entrants I think? When I was posting our stuff there were no other pictures or blogs being posted. It almost seemed unfair. But then, I didn’t make the rules and we ain’t giving our camera back.
A nice way to end “The View Toward Perry”!
Did you notice I changed the font to ‘Georgia’?
It was one a one night stop in Columbus GA, to do the laundry and then on to “The Rally”. So this should be the last entry in this section of the ‘Trip Journal’.
We drove through Perry around noon and straight on to the fairgrounds. The first thing you encounter at one of these events is the parking of all the RV’s and tow cars. It’s not easy parking 4 or 5 thousand RV’s and making it flow well and satisfy everyone. This is where I seem to get angry every time. Parking doesn’t seem to go well and of course I can do it better! “Or so I think!” But I suppose the volunteers do as well as can be expected. Anyway after getting shuffled around and waiting for a while we finally got parked OK. Except that this time we are right next to one of the big generators used for providing electric to the RV’s. And it’s noisy!!!! In fact one of the techs told us it was one of the worst and if we and the neighbors complained we could get it replaced. We didn’t complain but it did later break down and with a wink and a nod the tech kind of asked Kat if we had done anything to sabotage it. We hadn’t, but maybe we should have sooner, because the new one was ever so much quieter.
“The Rally” consists of educational seminars, RV related vendors and demonstrations, RV dealers and their coaches and trailers, and nightly entertainment, all in the atmosphere of a fair. That’s of course where they’re held; fairgrounds. The first two days are ‘early bird’ and everything isn’t in full swing yet but we did get some ‘fair’ food and walk around and see what we could. The entertainment starts on the first night and this year it was all good. We had Frankie Valli, the Vogue’s (Special Angel, Turn Around) and Bobby Vinton (Blue Velvet) and a couple of others, who were also very good.
Every year, or at least the last two, there is a world record attempt at something. Last year in Redmond OR. it was the largest ‘whoopee cushion’ sit, which failed. Oh, but you should have heard the noise. That was lots of fun even though we didn’t break the record. This year it was the most couples dancing at one time. The record was held in Venezuela at 452 couples. The rules were that you must be doing a recognized dance step and dance for at least 5 minutes. We were to dance the Foxtrot. First though we had all signed in and filed in to the grand stand and sat waiting for the count to be verified by the Guinness people. That took some time so we did the ‘wave’ a few times and did what you do when bored and waiting. Then we all went to the arena (dance) floor and were shown the Foxtrot. The band played and we practiced a little. When we all had the hang of it, or not (!), the band played some more, we danced, and there was a countdown. I don’t think a lot of folks were doing the Foxtrot. I watch “Dancing with the Stars’ (hence I am an expert) and they do the Foxtrot and what I saw wasn’t that. I include us in that. Kat and I aren’t dancers. We try, and we have fun, but we recognize our limitations. But anyway we were all having fun in spite of the bad joints and sore toes and all and we did make the five minutes, plus some more. Not only did we break the record; we shattered the record! We had 1178 couples dancing for the requisite 5 minutes in somewhat the right form and we own the ‘World Record’. It’s back in the good old U.S. of A. You may not see our names in the Guinness Book of World Records but now you will know that we are part of it anyway. Hoo Wah!!!!!
We didn’t make much use of our galley (kitchen) during the Rally. I guess we didn’t do much in the RV except sleep (in spite of the generator). There was too much to do and too much ‘fair’ food to eat. There were seminars about RV travel with the ‘experts’, cleaning and protecting your RV, 15 minute meals, how to keep your holding tanks smelling pure and fresh (really), tech tips on most everything, staying healthy, even how to back your RV. We went to several including the one on ‘backing’. Quite honestly we could have written and conducted that one. We are pretty good at backing our RV as a team. We went to one called “How to avoid the brain drain” but it was too much of a drain on our brains and had to leave. I didn’t say they were all good! There was a child behind us (one of few) who was bored too and Kat turned around and said, “I’m with you kid” and we left. We probably stopped to get Kat a ‘funnel cake’ or a hamburger for me. We ate ‘fair’ breakfasts, ‘fair’ lunches, ‘fair’ dinners, and lots of ‘fair’ junk food. Considering how much ‘fair’ walking we did and how many RV’s we climbed in and out of I guess it really wasn’t so bad. I was pretty much ‘grounded’ on one day because of my knees and all the walking, especially ‘in and out’ of RV’s. I even had to put on my knee brace. Kat went to look, touch, and ‘turn over’, everything in the vendor area one more time while I sat some.
We didn’t spend all of our money this time. We did get a surge suppressor and a window vent to allow us to leave the cat inside, while we are gone, with a little more comfort for us both. We got some ‘Cord Pro’ cord keepers to wind our electric and coax cables. They work great and I should have got a couple more. They look like great big yellow donuts. And we got some small stuff, but we didn’t really blow our wad like we did last time in Redmond.
And get this!!! We even won a new camera. The “Trailer Life” people were showing off their new website and having a drawing for a camera for all folks who went on the website and posted some pictures and opened a blog. I said “I can do that”, and did. The girl we were talking too said there were very few entrants and this was the next to last day. So while I was laid up with a sore knee I did the posting and Kat did the leg work. She was on her way to the “Trailer Life” booth to ask a question on another matter when they called her. So we won a brand new “Canon Power Shot 570”. Cool huh? And there were very few entrants I think? When I was posting our stuff there were no other pictures or blogs being posted. It almost seemed unfair. But then, I didn’t make the rules and we ain’t giving our camera back.
A nice way to end “The View Toward Perry”!
Saturday, March 8, 2008
Uncle Charlie
You’ve all heard of Uncle Charlie. He’s Kat’s 94 year old Uncle in Montgomery AL. He and his wife of 68(?) years*, Aunt June, are still at home. Aunt June can’t get around very well but Uncle Charlie went out to dinner with us to Kat’s favorite oyster place. And we talked more of family and the way things use to be. Charlie went into the Army in 1935 and trained as a glider pilot. From that he went into intelligence and then into the Air Force when the old Army Air Corps split off to become the U.S. Air Force in 1946 (?), if memory serves. Anyway Charlie is a kick to listen to. He is definitely a product of his time and it is an education in itself to hear the way things use to be.
Charlie has been invited to Washington D.C. for some kind of dedication at the new WW II memorial. He is excited about it (!) and I don’t think when you’re 94 you get excited very much. Anyway good for him!
* I think its 68 years? Charlie told us, and that’s what sticks in my head, but I could be a little off.
Charlie has been invited to Washington D.C. for some kind of dedication at the new WW II memorial. He is excited about it (!) and I don’t think when you’re 94 you get excited very much. Anyway good for him!
* I think its 68 years? Charlie told us, and that’s what sticks in my head, but I could be a little off.
Wednesday, March 5, 2008
Mary Esther
We had a delightful time with Kat’s cousin Shirley in Mary Esther FL. Kat was born in Washington but most of her family is/was from Tennessee. You have heard mention of Uncle Charlie, Cousin Eddie and Cousin Shirley. Shirley is the family genealogist and historian and Kat, until recently, didn’t know much about the family. So they (actually we all) did a lot of talking about family and families. So much so that we didn’t have much time for cooking, so it was lots of talking and going to eat. But we were all real good at it! No complaining!
We also visited the Ford dealer to have the ol’ Escort worked on. It developed a problem and needed spark plug wires and some stuff. That was the ‘bad news’, the ‘good news’ was that the mechanic said it was in “pretty good shape and should last a long time”. We hope so! Not only is it ‘paid for’, but it is the nearly perfect “toad” (tow car). If I had to replace it I’d want one just like it! Just not 12 years old!
We did make one exception to the ‘eat out’ rule at Shirley’s. She and Jared, her grandson, fixed us a very good chicken dinner. She dipped chicken breasts in egg and then coated them with crunched up French’s, french fried onion rings(recipe is on can). Real easy and very tasty. Jared was a great help to his grandma and in general a real polite and helpful young man. Grandma has every right to be proud. We tried to take him with us but Shirley wasn’t hearing any of that!
We also visited the Ford dealer to have the ol’ Escort worked on. It developed a problem and needed spark plug wires and some stuff. That was the ‘bad news’, the ‘good news’ was that the mechanic said it was in “pretty good shape and should last a long time”. We hope so! Not only is it ‘paid for’, but it is the nearly perfect “toad” (tow car). If I had to replace it I’d want one just like it! Just not 12 years old!
We did make one exception to the ‘eat out’ rule at Shirley’s. She and Jared, her grandson, fixed us a very good chicken dinner. She dipped chicken breasts in egg and then coated them with crunched up French’s, french fried onion rings(recipe is on can). Real easy and very tasty. Jared was a great help to his grandma and in general a real polite and helpful young man. Grandma has every right to be proud. We tried to take him with us but Shirley wasn’t hearing any of that!
Sunday, March 2, 2008
Big Lagoon
Well we’re in Florida at Big Lagoon state park. We walked the board walk over the swamp and down to the beach and made a trip to Wal-Mart and the Laundromat. What a deal huh? I couldn’t think of anything else we did and asked J/Kat. It didn’t take her long to respond and I quote. “Well we found the first ‘latte stand’ we’ve seen in a thousand miles and went to the crappiest Laundromat ever!” That’s pretty much true so I’ll elaborate. We were looking to do the laundry, so when we noticed an ad on the park map we assumed it would be OK. Well we all should remember that when you assume, you make an ‘ass’ of ‘u’ and ‘me’. We pulled up to this Laundromat and J/Kat started unloading the laundry right away while I took a look (this was a case of role reversal here, because I always carry the laundry; just so you know!). But I looked in and told Kat she may want to look before she did anymore unloading. This was a working Laundromat because things were going around and around, but you talk about a filthy rust bucket of a place. We loaded our stuff and got out of there before we were ‘guilty by association’. What a piece of crap. I really don’t know how things stayed together and ran they were so rusty? Sooooo. We drove around a little and looked until we saw the aforementioned ‘latte stand’ and made an emergency stop*. The very nice ‘coffee girl’ told us of a Laundromat down the road a way and passed Wal-Mart and even called to make sure it was the place she was thinking of, and, were they were open? They were, and Kat got a latte, the ‘coffee girl’ got a pretty good tip and we got the laundry done. It was a very nice place and it was not far passed the Wal-Mart which is almost never a bad thing.
*You may know this if you’re from the south, but if you’re from someplace else you would find that there are very view coffee shops down here. Oh you might find a “Starbucks” in a new shopping mall or in a newer more ‘yuppie’ section of town, but that’s about it. Ain’t no “Starbucks” in southern, rural America! Best you’re going to find is a stale cup of coffee at the “Circle K”.
But they have ‘sweet tea’ and that is a very, very good thing! And that is another story!
*You may know this if you’re from the south, but if you’re from someplace else you would find that there are very view coffee shops down here. Oh you might find a “Starbucks” in a new shopping mall or in a newer more ‘yuppie’ section of town, but that’s about it. Ain’t no “Starbucks” in southern, rural America! Best you’re going to find is a stale cup of coffee at the “Circle K”.
But they have ‘sweet tea’ and that is a very, very good thing! And that is another story!
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