Tuesday, April 10, 2012

Not All RVing Days Are Created Equal, The Dead Pine and More

Copyright 2012, CABS for Reflections From the Fence

Now and then, when we have a rough day on the road, or getting set up, or whatever, while living this RVing life, I have and will continue to post articles that are along the line of, "Not All * * * * Are Created Equal.".

Today was one of those days.

And, since I am hoping to get into the Library of Virginia tomorrow, I don't have a lot of time, so, here we go:

1.)  Extension aluminum ladder in road, dropped just before we came upon it, it covered part of the center lane, and a LOT of our outside right hand lane.  Man hit the skids, err, brakes, and managed to run around it on the shoulder and never hit it.  To have hit it would have been very very bad news for Jolly and Tana.  By the way, this is our second ladder encounter, the last one was well over 20 years ago on a 4 to 6 lane highway somewhere in the state of New York, that one he managed, somehow, to straddle, again, not hitting it at all.  Pity the 10 or more cars that had and were on the side of the expressway about 1/4 mile from there.

2.)  Motor cycle looses some gear, in the road.  This was in the center lane, we saw them a few moments later parked on the side of the road, shaking their heads in disbelief, deciding what to do about this nastiness.  There was no issue of our missing the gear, thankfully.

3.)  Mr. MH Q, passes sorta, cuts us off.  Close call.  I will not throw around countries, states or heritages, but, this guy was driving a larger motor home, with a toad (towed car) and tried to pass us. He either did not have enough OOOOMPPPPHHH to do so, or he was just stupid??  He barely got around us and pulled in front of us, either slowed down or just could not drive any faster, he forced Man to apply brakes, and caused some angst and a bit of nasty language from Man. Man  stomped on the accelerator, passed Mr. MH Q, and left him in the dust with a toot of the horn and a bit more nasty name calling.  There is little that Man hates worse than someone pulling in front of him, cutting him off, coming close to his truck (and he felt the same way  with Big Butt, in fact, with any car/truck/vehicle he drives.  Gotta say, Jolly had all the power required to leave Mr. MH Q in the dust.

4.) Dead pine tree in the campground, discovered after we are partially set up.  Not just any pine tree but a better than 60 foot tall specimen.  There were dead branches laying around at the back of that campsite, we had to back Tana in, and were about 4 inches from that dead tree.  Translation, any more wind or storms blow through here while we are here for about a week, something could fall on us.  When I realized how this tree was DEAD (when I finally looked UP), I asked Man, mmm, is our insurance paid up??  What I wanted to say is, mmm, my desk is like 18 inches from the trunk of that dead 60 plus foot tall pine tree.  And, my bed is sorta close too.  I did not need to point out the obvious, he looked it over, turned a bit green (that tree could have used some green, eh), and said, nope, won't do.  We were able to switch to another campsite, and the work camper let it be known that he has informed the owner that he needs to remove that tree and several others, and the owner has ignored them. I do believe that KOA will be hearing from me.  Photo taken after we had pulled Tana away from that dead tree, about 10 foot or more away.


5.)  ROUGH roads, resulting in frayed nerves and dishes moved around in the cupboards and the telie came loose a bit from the 15 inches of super duper wide velcro strips that help hold in it (one side only.)  We are still carefully opening cupboards, no real harm done, just need to be careful opening cupboards and beer, especially the beer!

Below:  Pine stuff and pollen, this guy in the next campsite, HAD a black truck, it is now yellow.


Oh, and there is this little issue of pine pollen, which I am mildly allergic too.  Whew!  I won't even try to convey the condition of the fur kids coats, the dust bunny long show coat style hair now filled with pine pollen stuff.

Ohhh, and we have been playing hard, Jolly has filthy floors, filled with sand and some gravel, and those pine pollen thingys with a few long pine needles here and there, just for some variety.  Woot, Jolly is dirty, could not be happier, means we are doing something and Jolly is involved.  Woot!!

No more time to edit, it is what it is, and what it is, is time to get prepared for the research days ahead.  Ya, glad this RV day is over, cause not all RVing days are created equal.



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Monday, April 9, 2012

The Rest of the Story, a Matter of Just Two Miles and Two Minutes

Copyright 2012, CABS for Reflections From the Fence

Yesterday I showed you the photos of the Central Georgia Railway Hospital and shared how that quick stop in Savannah gave me a sense of closure.  This is the rest of the story, how if we had made a decision to turn and not go just one mile more, I may never have had this closure.

Man and I are only here in the Savannah area for a few nights, basically honkered down for the Easter holiday weekend.  The crowds are huge, traffic heavy.  We had a short "hit" list, Tybee Island and Skidaway State Park, and Darien, McIntosh County, Georgia to visit the "reported" burial place for Joseph Eugene Bowen, his wife, Minnie Maud (Remley) Bowen and their son, Joseph E. Bowen, Jr. who died so young, just 22 years old and said to be blind.  That is another long story, short version, no headstones and the St. Andrews church records do not record their burials.

We did revisit Darien and the cemetery, on Friday, took some more photos (I had some), paid my respects, and even stopped in the local library, hoping beyond hope that I might find some new clues, none were found.

So, Saturday, we took off in Jolly with the fur kids to see the other hit list places.

This first graphic shows the route we ended up
driving, not necessarily what was originally
planned, starting:  at the campsite, # 1
the drive to Savannah, # 2
Tybee Island, # 3
3105 Bull Street, # 4
Skidaway State Park, # 5
back to the campsite #6

Our route, all mapped out.


(Now you must remember that Man and I are known for NOT over planning our days, we sorta let nature and happenstance take the reins of the day.)

On our way through Savannah on the way to Tybee Island I saw Bull Street pop up on the GPS map.  I had Man pull over, put the address in the GPS and realized it was about 5 or 6 miles maybe further to get back to the address.  I decided to forgo the stop at that point, just sighing and thinking, it was not meant to be.  And, so, onward we go towards Tybee Island.

We stopped first at Fort Pulaski (blog sometime in the future, enjoyed this immensely).  Next, the beach area of Tybee.  Crowds, horrible traffic, no parking, we never stopped.  Found the lighthouse, Man took photos from Jolly, with window down, no parking, we never stopped, missed the Battery, probably would have been pretty neat stuff, but, again, no parking.

We headed back to Savannah and the campground, planning on saving Skidaway for Sunday. I decide, lets see, maybe Bull Street now, put the address back into the GPS and realized it would not be far off our route and would not require any "turning around".  (We don't do turn arounds very well, hate to drive the same road twice, avoiding so if at all possible.)  So, I am now determined to get to that address and somehow we are going to find a parking spot, even if I have to walk blocks back.  My mission was set.

HOWEVER, 1 mile shy of my destination/mission we see the sign for Skidaway State Park and Man starts making noise about not missing it, lets go there, pushing hard for his cause.  At this point, it got a bit warm in Jolly and no, we did not turn off the air conditioner.  Some of the discussion was about only being 1 mile from my mission and we could go back that mile to the route to the park.  I am not sure Man was thrilled with me, but, I was a bit cranky and he finally just said, fine, as long as we can go back to the park.  NOT A PROBLEM (she thinks to herself and says to him).

It was meant to be, we found a parking spot for big ole Jolly with no problem, basically right on the property. I jumped out with Sony, started shooting my photos, shot the building from the left looking right, went out front to get a photo of the names of the occupants of the building now, went around to the right side to look left and take more photos, and saw those inscribed letters, walking closer, gasping at the words "Railway Hospital", immediately grasping the meaning, why Joseph was there.  It hit me like a ton of bricks, literally taking my breath away.


And, in the matter of a one mile detour (OK two miles since we had to go back,  LOL), 9 shots with Sony, 9 shots taken over just TWO minutes, I had solved one of those mysteries of our family history that become little burrs under your research saddle.  I had closure.

And, yes, we drove to Skidaway State Park, it is a beautiful place.

That said, the researcher in me thought those were the best two minutes of the day.  (And, a special thanks to Man for caving in, mmm, giving in, mmm, humoring me, mmm, granting me those few minutes and two miles of detour!)

Morale of this two mile two minute story, if you are that close, don't change your route or your mind. GO FOR IT!  All those years of wondering, questioning, sighing in disappointment are now a thing of the past.  Two miles, a mile there and a mile back, two minutes, and a little voice deep inside screaming - - DO IT NOW!!  DO IT!!  Some planning might not hurt either, but, of course, I wouldn't have such a fun story if we had planned, would I??

I am still amazed, a matter of just two miles and two minutes, and the closure.

Yes, genie researchers, it feels great!




* Graphics from Microsoft Streets and Trips.

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