Day 6-it just keeps going on

Today was a very nice day-started out at almost 70 degrees-I didn't need a blanket last night, and opened the windows as soon as I got up.

Slept until 6:45 this morning-latest I've slept since I started this trip.  Felt good to wake up to daylight for a change, instead of having to wait for it.

Breakfast over early today, I wanted to get out on the bike in a different direction.  I turned right out of the campground and hit a headwind.   I never really knew what cyclists were talking about when they said they were riding into a headwind.  Oh sure, I know what a headwind is-I've hit them plenty of times.   I just didn't know how much it affected a person on a bike.  I was counting on those winds to get me flying on the way back-again I was wrong.  Dang wind died just as I started back. Oh well..

I didn't really go very far today.  After yesterday, my legs were toast-butt wasn't a whole lot better, but actually, I wasn't nearly as sore as I thought I would be.  That may happen tomorrow.

I rode almost to where I had gone yesterday-didn't know that until I got back and looked at the map though.  Since I was going in a different direction, didn't even think about it.  But, when riding on a tiny island, it doesn't take long to get to a specific spot, no matter which way you travel.

It was a fun day, nothing big happened, and nothing broke today.  I did splash grease on my belly when cooking supper, but with a belly like mine, that's to be expected!  It was still a fun day though, and one I will never forget-day 2 of biking!

                                                                        Not for me!

I leave tomorrow for Waycross, GA, and the Okefenokee Swamp area.  It could be that I will have a story to tell about that place-I'm spending two nights there.  Already have reservations at a camp site.  We will just have to see how it goes.

Until tomorrow, keep the rubber side down and enjoy life-it only comes around once!

Day 5-an old skill revisited (or something like that)

Woke up just as the coffee was brewing this morning-funny how that happens to me so often.  A little different this morning however.  I wasn't cold like on previous mornings-had kicked my blanket off and it had covered the fuse box beside the bed.  When I pulled it up one corner was as warm as a heating pad.  That's not good in a small RV-can blow out the whole circuit.

After coffee and a great breakfast, (yes, I did remember to remove the smoke detector), I went to the bath house.  It's not heated, so that didn't take very long!  Plenty of hot water though :)

Came back and looked at the map for a little while.  I decided I wasn't going to just sit here all day, and that little walk down to the pier yesterday didn't appeal to me a whole lot.  I decided to take my life in my hands and rent a bike.  After all, seeing the sights is what this little trip is all about.

For most of you, not a second thought would be given to riding a bike around this small island-after all, it's only about ten miles long, and I don't know how wide it is, but can't be more than half that.  Not gonna expound on age, since I have a friend here that is older than I am and rides great distances every day.  You know who you are (Jan) :)  Won't make any excuses, except to say that, except for one small experience about a year ago, most of you weren't even born the last time I rode a bike.

A little later I will talk a little about my great bike-but for now, let's talk about the experience:

After renting the bike, I pushed it to my camper-not about to make a fool of myself in front of the young lady who brought it out to me.  this was my first mistake, as you will learn a little later.  I put off riding as long as I could, pushed the bike out to the trail, and prepared to mount.  I couldn't remember how to get on!

OK, this can't be that hard!  Finally got astride the bike (old time girls style bike), got a pedal into position and pushed down-dang bike almost jumped out from under me!  I got control after a few feet, ran off the paved trail a couple of times, and finally got it settled down.

It was smooth sailing most of the time after this.  It's true-once you learn to ride a bike you never forget.  One other thing is also true-when you've been off a bike as long as I have, the bike seems to have a mind of it's own.

All of this seems like some sort of torture-it wasn't-it was a great thrill!  I forgot my age for a little while, forgot about the blood clots in my legs, the frozen shoulder that keeps me from moving my arm in certain ways, and all the other crap that comes with age-after all, age is just a number.  I felt a freedom that I haven't felt in a long time-not even in my boat.  Never thought I would say that!

I had a map outlining the bike path that goes all around the island.  It has trails marked off for short, medium, and long rides-up to and including riding around the whole island.  This is a half way decent little map, but there are a lot of roads and trails that aren't marked on the map.  This was my undoing.

I left the campground, got pretty confident in my abilities within a few hundred yards.  How hard can this be?-the island's high point is 25 feet!  Not a whole lot of climbing involved-I can coast at least half way.  I was wrong!  Now, with a half way decent bike, I would have been right-I didn't have a half way decent bike.  This thing wouldn't have coasted down a cliff!  It had never seen grease or oil, chain wa rusty and hit the chain guard with every stroke.  The seat was a little low, but I knew I could fix that-wrong again!  The lever that lets the seat adjust was rusted to the point of coming apart!

But, I digress yet again.  This is about the experience of riding the bike, not about the bike itself.

Back to this great map that I had.  Like I said, it has the trails marked off.  There is one thing you should know about maps if you don't know it already-in order for them to be worth the paper they are printed on, you have to look at them.  I didn't do that until I was at roughly 4.6 miles into the ride.  I had stopped to take a couple of pictures, but was feeling so good I didn't even think about how far I had ridden.  Also, I had gone from the high point (25 feet) down to almost the low point (12 feet).  I know that's not much, but I had been going down hill all of the time.  Sooner or later I would have to go back up.

I did stop several times during this ride.  There were historic places to see, animals to observe, a restroom that just wouldn't let me pass it, and a pier that called my name for a cold beer-you have to hydrate, or so I hear:)  And, at one point the rain got pretty intense-I found a shelter and waited it out, then went on.

I rode through an Historic residential area, saw some beautiful homes, then out into another historical area that had a hotel, high class bar (I didn't stop), beautiful golf courses, and past a huge church where a wedding was taking place on the lawn.  Sorry, but the bride did get rain on her parade today :)

I got a little lost, but finally found the bike path and started following it.  I didn't care where it was going to take me because I knew it would eventually lead me back to the start point-I didn't know it was going to take me back to the 4.6 mile marker though!  OK, now I know where I am.

I figure I've had enough for one day.--I have to climb all the way back because it was either level or downhill all the way out.  Will wonders never cease?  It seemed it was downhill most of the way back as well!

I saw a small deer on the way back-she stayed in the road just ahead of me for quite a while, then finally jumped off into the woods.  Just before i got back to the campgrounds, I saw another deer in the road just in front of me.  This one was probably the biggest deer I have ever seen.  She got out of there in a hurry.

I got back to camp, made a drink (hydration, remember), then decided I wasn't done.  I just had to have another little ride.  I got on the bike-didn't push it out of camp this time-just rode out like I had an idea of what I was doing.  I rode down to the fishing pier where I had walked yesterday.  Didn't take nearly as long on the bike, and I still enjoyed it.

I now know that I must have a bike.  Nothing fancy like most of you have-just something to tool around on-upright handle bars so I don't have to stretch and bend, a seat wide enough to fit my wide butt, a few gears to make climbing small hills easier.  I don't intend to climb mountains or try to race anyone-I just want to be able to ride again, like when I was a kid-that's almost what I felt like on the bike today.

Legs permitting, I'm going to rent another one tomorrow and leave in the opposite direction.  Still a lot of island to see, and places to explore.

Now, a little about this bike.  I know I've talked about her a little.  Let me explain.  I named her Jezebel for a reason-she is mean and sassy.  Won't go where she is told, and do as she is told.  I don't blame her too much-she hasn't been cared for at all.  Never had a touch of oil or grease on her hubs, both wheels wobble between their supports, chain has never been cared for, and she won't coast at all.  I have to pedal downhill just to keep my balance.  Still, it was a great experience, and, if I can't get a better bike tomorrow, she and I will do it all over again.  I did tell the attendant that I may have stretched the chain a little-it was rubbing the chain guard when I got back this afternoon-wasn't doing that when I left this morning.   At least I rubbed a little rust off at the contact points!

Until next time, keep the rubber side down!  (A new meaning for me)

Day 4-the journey continues.

Day four wasn't nearly as exciting as the first three days.  The coffee was hot, and the breakfast came off without a hitch-no burned eggs or bacon, toast needed just a little more time in the toaster.  That has been adjusted for tomorrow.

Butter is already sitting out on the table, so I'm sure I will be able to spread it on the toast in the morning.

I left the Tybee Island campground about nine this morning-wanted to see a little of Savanna before moving on down the coast.  I didn't program anything into the Garmin before I left the campground-thought I would have plenty of time in Savanna.  I was wrong, as usual.  Heck, I even had trouble getting to Savanna!

Wasn't any trouble getting off the island-best I could tell, there is only one way off.  Where I messed up was when I got almost into town.  I couldn't remember the street names where I wanted to go.  I thought I would just turn on Ms Garmin, hit "City Hall" and all would be fine.  Nope-tried to take me to the new part of Savanna-not where I needed to go.  I roamed a lot of back streets, getting flashbacks of my little tour of Atlanta on the way down

OK, sometimes I get a flash-this time it worked.  I hit "home" on the Garmin, it found I-16 for me, I found a place to turn around, and get fuel.  Then I just programmed it to take me back to the campground.  This worked!  I got back into town pretty quickly-didn't go far up I-16.  Found a place to park, then found all the tours were booked for several hours ahead.  OK, I walked around some, finally decided this wasn't working out as planned.

Went back to the RV and started to plug in the campground where I was going next-Jekyll Island.  Guess what? I didn't have the address.  No big deal, I got out the trusty BB, typed in Jekyll Island Campground-URL not found-message error (insert # here).  I did find a hotel complex on the island with an address.  I plugged that into the Garmin, and was off in a flash.

I had been on the road a little while, decided to get fuel.  Pump cut me off at 75 bucks.  OK, gave me almost a full tank.  Back on the road for about 15 minutes when I saw that I was getting close to my turn off.  I found a place to pull off and sent out a tweet for help.  I couldn't use the computer to find where I needed to go and the BB wouldn't pull it up.  Within about three minutes I had five people respond with the address.  Thanks Tweeps-you know who you are!

I plugged in the correct address and found the campground very easily.  A huge sign said "EXIT ONLY-DO NOT ENTER"  OK, I tooled on down the road for about a mile-still no entrance.  Finally turned around (only took about forty acres), and came back to the exit.  About ten feet from the exit was a little sign about half a foot high that said "entrance".  This is just wrong!

I'm now sitting in my spot with great internet, cable TV (if I had a TV), and full hook-up.  As soon as I publish this, I'm going out to explore the surroundings a bit.  There is a fishing pier very close-at least they say there is.  We will see if their idea of close is the same as mine:)

Until next time, tweet for fun and keep the rubber side down.

The World According To Dadburnett-day 3 plus a little

After three days of trying to access this site, Anita created a new one for me.  Will wonders never cease-it worked!

I really don't have much to add to today except that I did get the canopy down and hooked up the sewer drain.  I will drain tomorrow when I unhook, then head back to Savanna.  I want to have a little time to see some of the town before going on to the next campground.  I have reservations at Jeykel Island for the next three nights.

My main reason for writing this little addition was to just try it out-bye for now.

Day 3 - it continues....

This was the best morning so far-I slept for an hour after the coffee was made.  I've been used to waking up so early and having to wait for my coffee that I set the auto timer to come on at 5:00, then slept until 6:00.  OK, so this wasn't really the best morning, but that part was great.  Still loved waking up at that quiet little place yesterday with the birds singing, etc.

So, I had my coffee, turned the heat up twice due to the very cold temps, the wind trying to tear my canopy off, and figured when I got outside I would just close the canopy-no use trying to get shade when I really need the sun.  I'm still planning to close that canopy before dark-priorities, you know:).

After coffee, breakfast was in order.  I learned a little about the gas stove and frying bacon yesterday.  First step-take down the smoke alarm!  This morning the cooking went off without a hitch-the bacon was crisp, the toast was just a golden brown, and the eggs were tender enough to cut with a plastic fork. That's a good thing, since it's what I'm using on this trip-no dish washing unless really necessary.

After breakfast and pill taking time, kitchen and other things in order, it's time to take care of hygiene-very important, especially in such tight quarters.

I found out the shower house on the other side of the campground is unheated.  Temp was about 48 at the time.  This won't do!  I turned on the water heater, poured another cup of coffee and waited about 15 minutes for the water to heat.  With a 6 gallon water heater (it's not a "hot" water heater people-why would you heat hot water?), the 15 minutes to heat with gas is plenty.

The shave & shower were great-even got out that ingrown whisker in my neck.  A good point on a pocket knife comes in handy for more than just cleaning your fingernails and eating vienna sausages out of a can.  Got dried off, clean clothes on, brushed my teeth-this is where the crap hit the fan!  Was trying to get the toothbrush back into the cellophane wrapper end to help keep it clean when all of a sudden it flew out of my hands.  I batted that thing all around the bathroom like someone trying to keep a bee from getting under his hat.  Wouldn't you know it-right into the toilet like there was a target painted there!

Needless to say, I really didn't want to get it out of there.  I looked around and grabbed the tongs-nope, these are used for turning the bacon-not gonna do that!  Dumb fool that I am, I didn't even notice my fishing pliars laying right there on the sink-I just got it between my thumb & forefinger, put it in the trash can, then disinfected my hand (s) all the way to the elbows!

A trip to the camp store is necessary!  OK, took inventory.  The salt is hard as a rock-it's a year old.  There are two boxes of it, and a little in the shaker.  All are hard as a rock.  Leaving that in the camper is a mistake-doesn't take a lot of moisture to ruin salt.

At the camp store, all they have is these little picnic containers of salt and pepper together.  I have plenty of pepper, but have to buy it to get the salt.  You wouldn't believe how proud they are of things at the camp stores.  I was able to get a new toothbrush also.  You can bet, I will brush my teeth in the kitchen from now on:)

It finally warmed up enough to head to the beach.  I had walked to North Beach yesterday-quite a walk for an old guy.  Decided to walk to River Beach today.  This beach was a lot closer-saved a couple hundred yards, at least:)  No one on the beach but a guy with a metal detector.  He had found a few coins, but not much to speak of.  I sat in a swing right at the entrance to the beach until my legs were rested, then decided to move down the beach a little.

This is when I first started noticing a lot of jellyfish washed up.  A little ways on down I started seeing these ugly critters moving around at the edge of the water.  Some were about the size of a softball-others up to the size of a football.  I had never seen anything like this except in horror movies about aliens critters from outer space.  I took a bunch of pictures, but when I posted them on twitter, everyone, including my grandson knew what they were-Horseshoe crabs.





I walked on down the beach, then saw the lighthouse where I had gone onto the beach yesterday.  I figured it was closer to just go on down to where I was yesterday than to go back-I was wrong!  Distances can deceive a guy when there isn't much to reference by.  It took me two and a half hours to get down there!   By this time I was hungry, thirsty and cold.  Yep, it was cold with the wind blowing in off the ocean.

I found the bar where I ate and had a beer yesterday.  It took a few minutes of sitting there, but all of a sudden the gal who waited on me yesterday showed up with the same beer I had before.  She must have liked the tip to have remembered me.  Unless it was my ruggedly handsome face :-)

I had a delicious burger and two beers, then started the long three block trek back to the campground.  I'm now sitting here, vodka & tonic at hand, still thinking about taking that canopy down!

Adventures here are over.  Tomorrow morning I tear down and move out.  I'm going to stop in Savanna for a while, then I have reservations at a campground on Jekyll Island.  Just by looking at the map, I think I can make it in a little over an hour, but not going to rush it.  That's not what this trip is about.

I really hope it's a little warmer tomorrow.  Since I will be a little farther South, it should at least be up by a few degrees.

Until tomorrow, my friends-keep the beer cold and the rubber side down!

Day 2

I woke up this morning a lot earlier than I had planned.  I had the coffee set to come on at 5:30, but just couldn't stay in bed.  I got the coffee going, washed my face and used the bathroom, then just sat listening to the sounds of the birds waking up.

It was very quiet at first-just the sounds of the coffee gurgling through into the pot, then slowly one bird, then another began to take up the morning song.  We should all take a lesson from them-be glad you woke up to another day!  They let the world know how glad they are.

I sat drinking coffee and listening, then I heard a call I've been missing for a long time-a Bob White quail.  I was asked this morning why they are called "Bob White".  When they make their call, it sounds just like they are saying "bob white".  There used to be many of these quails around my home, but most are gone now.  A victim of predation by coyotes, feral cats, and habitat loss I guess.   They used to be hunted for their meat, but hunters really didn't have much to do with their loss of numbers-if anything the hunters usually help populations of wildlife.  I know a lot of you tree huggers won't agree with this, but it's my story and I'm sticking to it :)  If anyone wants to debate this, let me know-I'll be glad to spar a few rounds with you.

Anyway, I lazed around for a while, finally fried the bacon.  I remember now how I know when to turn the bacon when cooking in this camper-it's when the smoke detector goes off.  First thing to do is grab the detector, twist it out of it's mount, turn it over and get the dang battery out.  By then the bacon will just be ready to turn.  After that, you need to watch it-the detector isn't gonna work again until you put the battery back in.

After a nice breakfast of crispy bacon, eggs burned to perfection and toast that somehow gets very crisp even in the new toaster, all washed down with an ice cold glass of milk ( I did remember to turn the fridge down a little), I had one more cup of coffee, cleaned up and packed everything away, then cleaned myself up a little.  Did I mention the campground I was in had showers?  I carry my own bathroom-shower and all, but it was great to use one where I didn't have to take a "sailor's" shower.

I programed the Garmin to take me to a little museum on Tybee Island.  I wasn't so much interested in the museum as I was in just getting to the island.  She performed flawlessly today.  I still haven't seen the museum, but when I made the last turn and she said I was at my destination, I actually was at River's End Campground & RV park.  OK, I'm not gonna fault the Garmin for this-it was actually what I was looking for!

Now I'm sitting here in the park, RV hooked up to water, power, sewer, and I was able to get internet off someone here-they don't say they have it in their brochure, but I don't really care, as long as I have it:)

I'm about ready to start walking around and seeing the sights.  As some of you know, with blood clots in my legs I can't walk too far at one time, but hey, I don't have to be in a hurry-I'm booked for tonight and tomorrow night-plenty of time.

One more thing.  I did have to drive right through the old part of Savanna to get here-no other way to do it.  From what I saw just in that short time, I'm going to have to find a spot to park in that town and just walk around and see the sights when I leave here.  It's just like in the movies-moss hanging from the trees right over the road, people walking or riding bikes everywhere, sitting at outdoor cafes, and taking carriage rides.  I want to do some of that before I leave here.

One final note before I sign off-I want to thank Anita, @anitabfranklin, on Twitter for both making  this blog possible, and for financing it.  I'm spending her inheritance!  I do understand I lost a bet to her, and have to buy her a couch though :)

Day 1 (Was it really just 1 day?)

I've been off and on about this trip since last fall.  It started as a simple trip to Fort Benning, GA for a reunion with my old army buddies-we had our first reunion last year.  It had been 43 years for me since I had seen any of the guys. This was to be our second "annual" reunion.

I didn't have any doubts about the reunion, and this isn't what this little story is about, but I just wanted to give a little background before starting the real story.

Anyway, like I said, I had been on and off about the trip for quite a while.  I finally decided I was going to just do it-I have always liked to travel, and this would be my chance.  I decided to leave home about ten days before the reunion, go to see a couple of places I've always wanted to go, but just never took the time to go see them.

The main question now-mode of travel-not a question of flying since it was so close, but rather, what to drive?
I had two options-the Jeep Cherokee with 108K miles, getting about 18 MPG, or the fifteen year old RV that I use for camping when I'm fishing.  This RV is old, with 103K miles, but I've gotten it into pretty good shape for it's age.  I knew the gas milage would be bad, but decided I could make up for it by spending my nights in it, cooking my own meals, and just generally living in it like I would at home.  All this is well and good until I made my first fuel stop. $110.00 filled it up, but the dang fuel gauge was sitting on half a tank when I stopped!  I decide I may be in trouble, but that wasn't even half the trouble I really got myself into.  I'll back up a few hours, and fill you in on the trip:

I had planned to leave at 8:00AM-didn't take me long to revise that to 8:30.  Actually got on the road at about 8:45-not bad, if I do say so myself:)

The Garmin performed flawlessly until I got to the end of the driveway-that's when the fun started.  I'm glad I know my way to Chattanooga-the Garmin gal wanted me to go toward Knoxville. Could be she has a thing for my grandson, Preston. Lots of ladies do you know:) But, I digress.

Anyway, after recalculating a couple of times, she pointed me toward Chattanooga.  As we got closer, she tried to get me to go to Highway 153-over the dam on the Tennessee river.  Now I've been to Chattanooga enough times to know that highway will get me to where I want to be, but I also know it has heavy traffic and enough red lights to make a New York Yankee proud!  I just held the wheel straight, stayed on Hwy 27 right through downtown without a single traffic light.  There was plenty of traffic, but I made it without killing anyone. I won't say I didn't make a few of those Chattanooga drivers a little nervous though.  They don't know that I can't see them in those big mirrors when they are right on my tail!

Anyway, I finally get on I-75 headed South to Atlanta.  After going through that congested traffic, you can't believe how bad I needed a pit stop!  It's one thing to carry your bathroom with you-it's another thing to find a spot to pull off and use it!

I finally got to a rest area-the welcome center in Georgia.  Whew, what a relief!  Then, back on the road to Atlanta.

Things went pretty smooth for a while, traffic, large trucks, cops, and my weaving all over the three lanes notwithstanding.  Not a bad couple of hours.

About the time I was beginning to feel the need for another pit stop I got to Atlanta.  This is where the fun begins.  The Garmin was telling me to keep right onto I-75 South.  Well yeah, that's where I want to go.  It has a pink line showing me the road I need to be on-every half mile telling me to keep right onto I-75.  Now I'm beginning to feel a little uneasy-I-75 South is on my left.  Nothing I can do though-6 lanes of traffic full of every vehicle in the state of Georgia.  In short order I'm headed to Birmingham-Garmin lady still telling me to keep right.  All of a sudden we go through a tunnel-then she starts her little "recalculating" bit.  Dammit, I knew I should have gone left!

I get to an exit, she tells me to take this exit.  OK.  I take it, turn right, and am suddenly on the back streets of downtown Atlanta.  I really don't want to be here!   I'm cruising along this little street just barely wide enough for the RV, cars whizzing by me like I'm sitting still.  I'm just hoping my door locks actually work!  Suddenly a cop pulls out behind me.  I wonder if he is gonna stop me for speeding, then notice I'm doing 20 MPH below the speed limit!  I'm glad he is there right now though :)

I finally see a sign to the interstate, Garmin lady tells me this is the way to go.  I wonder if she knows what she is talking about, but go there anyway.  Turns out to be a good move.

To shorten this up a little, I will spare you the details of the next couple of pit stops, trips into truck stops trying to find a place to spend the night, and just generally trying to fight fatigue after driving for over eight hours,

I finally saw a sign for an RV park, decided to take a chance, and found a great little place only .03 miles from the interstate.  They were closed, but a lady who turns out to own the campground was kind enough to open up and rent me a place for the night.  It's a great place, plenty of shade, restrooms, showers, free internet service, full hookups and a small camp store.  Very quiet-a nice place to spend the night.

In closing, I hope the rest of this long 20 day trip goes just like today! I love traveling when I don't have a deadline:)

Ps-after doing a lot of sightseeing, then the reunion that started this whole trip, I hope to get to see a bunch of you at Athens Twilight, where this whole trip will lead to, before going on back home.