Where do I begin? I do know that God answered my prayers for a safe trip. For a few hours on Monday, January 2nd. I have to be honest; wasn't too sure we would make it in one piece. Or for that matter, make it at all. Let's put it this way; our high blood pressure medication must be working. Otherwise both of us would have had a heart attack.
Awakened early as we wanted to be on the road by 8:00 a.m. There was snow on the ground but since Jack was able to drive the 5th wheel up a mountain last year in the snow I wasn't too concerned. That is until we were headed to the garage to pick up the 5th wheel and a car in the other lane did a 360 in front of us. Panic set in. Woo-woo-woo....breathe, Janet, breathe. Jack can do it. 5th wheel attached and we head out. Roads are slick. I ask Jack whether we should wait until the roads are cleaned, salted or the temp rises to 70 degrees. He laughs and comforts me telling me that everything will be fine. Yell, well, I wouldn't exactly call the day fine. I would call it Depends aren't just for old people and where in the heck is the Valium kind of day? Monday, January 2nd, on 465 and I65 around Indianapolis is a day I won't soon forget. We and many, many others learned that day, firsthand, how Indiana budget cuts can be deadly. Areas of I65 were nothing short of a skating rink. We hit Indy around 10:45 and the salt trucks had not yet been out. Numerous vehicles were in the ditch, in the median, even in holding ponds. We came upon a pile up (I counted 16 trucks, cars, etc.) right after it happened. Car parts were strewn everywhere; people standing dazed outside of their damaged cars. I saw a mother crying, quietly comforting her small child. It was as if time had stopped and life was moving in slow motion. I really had never witnessed anything like it. You knew it was only by the grace of God that you weren't sitting somewhere in the middle of the pile up. Jack maneuvered slowly but expertly through the destruction bringing us out safely on the other side. While we faced a 16 car pile up on our side, another, smaller pile up had occurred simultaneously on the other side of the highway. We learned later a man had died. I read on line that the highway department had not been prepared for the weather condition that "had not" been forecasted and did not react as quickly as they should have. You think? We traveled through numerous total white outs where seeing the car in front of you was impossible. When pulling a 15,000 lb. RV you cannot stop on a dime. We knew if anyone was stopped in the road, we were in deep trouble. I prayed a lot that day and thanked the good Lord (and Jack) when we finally saw the sun breaking through in Tennessee.
Evening of January 2, 2012
Our first overnight stop was in Bowling Green, Kentucky. We stayed at a KOA where we have stayed a few times before. Had we not been so tired and our stay was only for one night I'm sure we would have found another place to park. A total dump with a very expensive rate. It will be our last stay there.
January 3, 2012
The morning sunshine was beautiful; it was cold day but the warm sun made everything just seem better. Our second stay was another KOA in Forysth, Georgia. The difference between night and day. Their rate was $20.00 less than the night before and the park was beautifully kept, clean and cared for by people who took pride in their work. An hour or so after we set up there was a knock at our door. One of the employees held a box of freshly baked chocolate chip cookies as an offering to us, and thanked us for staying with them! That was a first ever but their act of kindness (and good marketing skills) will stay with us for a long time.
January 4, 2012
Our final leg of the trip went without event. Took us a little over 6 hours to find our new place of residence.
I had butterflies just picturing what may lay ahead of us. Even though we weren't moving to this RV park permanently, the idea of spending 3 months next to barking dogs, another RV so close we wouldn't be able to sneeze without someone hearing us didn't sit well with me. All I could think about was spending days next to Bubba, a big ole' bear of a guy in a wife beater t shirt, a plumber crack, no teeth. I had myself in such a tizzy I was ready to turn around and go back home. Jack made me promise to keep an open mind. I promised but my mind wouldn't stop reeling from the "what ifs".
We chose Shady Oaks RV Resort for several reasons. 1) Close to a 47 mile bike trail 2) Had great reviews and 3) Has no no-seeums. Having no no-seeums was enough for me. I still carry the scars from last year's bites.
January 8, 2012
We have been here now for 5 days. Our site, while smaller than some is really perfect for us. It holds the motorcycle, bikes, trailer, 5th wheel and truck with room to spare. We sit on a corner lot directly across from the recreation center and new heated swimming pool. But what makes this place unlike any we have ever stayed in is the people. When we pulled in to back in to our spot so many people came out to offer help and to introduce themselves. If it hadn't been for one neighbor I'm not sure I could have been of any help to Jack backing in. Trees sit on both sides of the drive which makes for an extremely tight backing in area. But Jack got it and we quickly, between neighbors introducing themselves, got set up.
We went out to dinner with our neighbors, Joann and Wally Friday night. He was a bus driver in New York City for 32 years. She worked in the school system for over 25 years. I can't wait to hear their stories. They seem to know everyone here and anything we want or need they can tell us where to go. They introduced us to an awesome Chinese restaurant in a neighboring town. Saturday they took us to a place called The Villages, an all inclusive retirement community complete with grocery stores, doctors, a hospital, shopping of all kinds and many nice restaurants. Everyone there seemed to own a golf cart. Didn't see many cars on the streets but saw tons of golf carts. People use them to go to the store, the theater, anywhere and everywhere. The all inclusive little city was made up of villas, condos and homes of all shapes, colors and sizes. I loved it. They were having their semi-annual upscale craft show and the designated streets were packed with wall to wall people. It was a lot of fun in spite of the crowds.
It seems, though, that since we pulled in to our site we've been busy every minute. The park has lots of entertainment planned each week. We can be involved or not. It's like one of our neighbors said, "If you get bored in this place it's all on you." Tomorrow we do plan to start a bike trip on the 47 mile trail. While the park does have planned bike trips we are choosing to go on our own right now. It's been awhile for me and with my luck I'd get leg cramps or butt pain about 3 miles in. Thinking I'd better go with Jack the first few times. We've taken no pictures to speak of at this point. I told Jack that he was going to have to get his "artistic flare" going again. He's the picture taker. I'm so short I seem to always capture crotches and boobs. I did take a few tonight while Jack was cooking dinner. The moon was beautiful.
One more thing before I forget.....I love to snorkel and around here it appears that guided tours and snorkeling with Manatees is a heck of a way to make a living. Offers everywhere. They all seem to have one thing in common in their offers of snorkeling; they take a video of you snorkeling with the Manatees. Today I reminded Jack how much I was looking forward to snorkeling although I would prefer to find a company that let the customer take their own pictures. I do not want to be video taped fully clothed let alone in a wet suit or worse yet, a bathing suit. Jack quickly added, "Oh hell no. People would have a hard time telling which one was me (referring to himself) and which one was the Manatee!" Funny guy!
Chances are I will only be blogging once or twice a week. Since we are staying in one place I won't have too many exciting new things to share everyday.
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| You can see our truck in the foreground on the right. |
