Back at the beginning again

August 14, 2007





The campground that we stayed at in Tennessee had a driving range. Murtle and Taco wanted to try. This was something that Murtle had never done before. Taco, of course, had whacked balls before. Not sure who was better.





At least this campground had more green. Trees, and grass. It was still very warm, but we did get a chance to walk around.





Thought that Murtle might be really good at golf but she had a bit of trouble with the club. (It was a tad too long for her.)

The two of them tipped over the bucket of balls. Taco just about fell over laughing and made Murtle pick them all up.





I thought Murtle was going to put Taco in a bucket or at least turn the bucket over the top of him.





Once they got going on the course, they did pretty good.















We traveled on to Virginia the next day, and camped at a campground that had a pond. Oh, Murtle was in seventh heaven. Poor Taco, he thought that Murtle was going to swim away and never come back. I don't think I had seen him so frightened. You would have thought that he was going to lose his best friend, (well, I guess Murtle is his best friend, so I see why he was so upset!)





"Come back, Murtle! Don't leave me!"

Good thing that Brad went to the rescue. He heard Taco scream, just as Murtle reached the water. Murtle just laughed. She thought it was fun to make Taco squeal.





Murtle's Uncle was in the pond. He came over for a visit and made Murtle very happy. Taco didn't like the ducks that came looking for food. He thought that they should not beg.





The temperature was nice enough to go for a long walk. It was a nice campground (no street lights). We did see a little boy fall into the water, but his mom could run fast and pulled him out before he even got too wet.






These are some of the mountains in Virginia. It was a tad hazy even though the sky was clear. Again we climbed up a mountain. It was a beautiful view. The temperature was still rather warm, around 94.





We decided not to take the Skyline Drive, thought we would save that for another day. We opted to go through Charlotteville and Culpepper instead.





Years ago, my son-in-law took me to Culpepper and we saw the General Lee from the Dukes of Hazzard. I looked this time going through Culpepper, but didn't see it.






We made it to Christi's! Some of you wanted to see what her home looked like. It fits her to a tee! It is in a really nice neighborhood. The kids have a nice dooryard to play in.

The street is quiet. Lots of walkers! (It was actually cool enough to walk! We took the kids and walked to the end of the road and back.)

They even have a peach tree in their yard. Just before we arrived, Sydney was waiting for us and saw a deer run through the yard. She was so excited to tell us.

The kids were so excited to see Murtle. (Taco decided to stay in the truck, he wasn't really keen on little kids. He was afraid that they might get stuck on his horns.) But he watched them play.

Murtle had a ball with the kids. They took her for a ride, they read to her (that Sydney can read really well for a four year old!)

Ty gave her such a big hug she thought she was going to pop out of her shell.


We stayed with the kids for a few days, but then we had to get going. Our next stop was in Pennsylvania just north of Scranton. (We took Route 15 north then 81 into New York.) We decided not to take the highway from the campground. (I set NUVI to avoid highways and we happened by this wonderful bridge.

You just never know what you will find off the beaten path. We met a couple here looking at their map. They were on a motorcycle and asked if we could help (not that we knew where we were either, but NUVI could come to the rescue if need be). They were from Australia and had been touring the US longer than we had. They had been in New England already and were making their way back to California from where they had started.

We thought that we had heard a lot of different accents, but I think theirs was the most distinct.

From there we went through Saratoga Falls, NY and headed for Vermont on Route 4. We camped in Hubberton, VT right on a lake. We met some people from Bow, NH and had a long chat with them. Come to find out that we knew someone in common, such a small world!

Again, it was cool enough to walk. It must have been in the 80's when we arrived. So before dinner we took a short walk. Then while dinner was cooking, we took another short walk. Then after dinner, we took a longer walk. We walked, we chatted, we walked and chatted (Oh, with other people this time. Guess it felt a little more like home with green and white license plates.)




We just had to take a picture of the giant ice cream cone. This seemed to be the theme of the whole trip. We even had one here at this campground. We checked NUVI for the nearest Dairy Queen, but it was in Burlington. (We could have gone to Ben and Jerry's, we weren't that far from there, but we didn't.)

Murtle and Taco are at the base of the cone. This one didn't melt. When we got up in the morning we put on our long pants. (This was only the second time we put them on the whole trip. Once in Williams, AZ after the monsoon, and once today!)

We left the campground fairly early and headed northeast. It was sort of a sad day. This was the last leg of our journey. We kept trying to figure out where we could park our camper for a few more days, but Brad was eager to see his father. (Bill had just gone home from the hospital on Friday and it was Tuesday now.)

We did stop at the Farmway store in Bradford, VT on our way home. (We stopped there on our first day out, so it was fitting that we stop on our way home.) We both picked up a few things, and then headed north again.

We stopped in Lisbon to see Bill. He looked better than we thought he would. (You just never know what to expect.) The nurse came while we were there, so we left shortly after she came.

Then we headed HOME. That sounds so funny, because all the time that we were on our journey, we kept calling our camper HOME. The house was still standing when we arrived. Things looked like they were in one piece. The pumpkins were growing! (But some of the leaves were black! Had to have had a frost the night before we got home, boohoo.)

I can't say that I am glad to be home. I think I could be a full timer very easy. We did see a lot on this trip and we traveled a long way, but we did not even scratch the surface of this vast country of ours. I look forward to planning another long trip again.