FIRE

The fire is still burning. It has burned over 3,000 acres. They are now sure the fire was started by arson and where it was started. We get an occasional rain, but never enough to help put the fire out.

THANKSGIVING

We had a quiet Thanksgiving. Vern went for a long bike ride and I watched the Macy's parade while I addressed my Christmas cards. After the parade was over we went to the Farm House Restaurant for Thanksgiving dinner. We had turkey, cornbread stuffing, mashed potatoes and gravy, cranberry sauce, and a choice of 2 vegetables. (we could choose from about a dozen veggies) All this for $9.99 and the drink was included. I had enough left for a second meal. It was so good.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

We want to wish all our family and friends a HAPPY THANKSGIVING !!!!!!! Hope you all have a great day.



Zach and Zoe --- HAPPY BIRTHDAY !!!!!!

FIRE UPDATE

Unfortunatly the forest fire is still burning. Tuesday will be 2 weeks. The rain we had last week didn't amount to anything, just a few showers. We are to have rain Thursday and Friday, so we hope we have more than showers. The fire has burnt over 900 acres so far.



A couple of days ago we went for a drive to the city of Nashville, GA. It has a population of around 5,500 people. A couple who camp at the Ledges (3 or 4 times a summer) that we've made friends with are retiring to Nashville and we wanted to see what the town was like. We were surprised at what it had. It had shops, a medical center, a hospital, a couple of strip malls, and 15 restaurants. Dave is already retired and Patsy will retire next summer. They have a son at Moody Air Force in Valdosta and want to be closer to him.



We had lunch in Nashville and then headed back to Lake Park. We were gone maybe 3 hours. When we got to Valdosta there were flashing lights all along the edge of the road. As we got closer we saw several fire trucks parked along the ditches. There had been a fire in the ditch that had burned into some trees and a meadow. It had been put out by the time we got there, but there were still some smoldering spots they were watching. The fire had probably had spread for at least a mile. I'm so glad they were able to put it out. It is so dry here, it doesn't take much to start a fire.

FIRES

For the last 4 or 5 days we have been under a fire warning. South Georgia has had very little rain this summer and fall, so it is very dry here. There is low humidity and that will enhance fire growth potential. There has been a forest fire for the last 4 days about 50 miles Northeast of us. It has burned about 400 acres so far. The last couple of mornings there has been smoke in the air when we got up it was usually gone by late morning. They're not having much luck putting the fire out, so they're hoping for rain. It is supposed to rain Tuesday and Wednesday, so hopefully that will help put the fire out. The fire was started by an arson. Sunday afternoon we went for a drive to see if we could see the fire. We drove for about an hour and saw this huge mushroom shaped smoke cloud. It was something else. We were about 5 to 10 miles away from the fire. We decided not to drive any closer and headed home. On the way back we drove by an area where there had been a fire. It had been put out, but was still smoldering. It was probably about a 15 to 20 acre area that had burned.

BUSY CAMPGROUND

We couldn't believe how busy the campground was when we got here. There were twice as many campers here than there was last year. I talked to the staff and found out there are 2 different construction crews and a seasonal crew that works for the produce farmers. One crew is doing road construction and the other one is putting up a building at a paper mill. Both crews are going to be here about two years. The seasonal workers will be here as long as the farmers need them. They are taking at least 20 sites and all the park models. Freddy is making good money on the crews.

CAMPGROUND

There were a few changes at the camp ground when we arrived. The office for the campground is in a strip mall and it was all owned by the same person. The camp ground is still a KOA, but it has a new owner. Uncle Freddy. That's right Uncle Freddy. He bought the strip mall and has added some new business and has done a lot of advertising. There are billboards for miles advertising "Uncle Freddy's" He has added a bar and grill, a preschool, and the Chamber office. The camp store is carrying more supplies the deli is open for lunch everyday. The staff is new except for the manager and the campground has been dressed up. There are 11 park models and they were dark brown, now they have been painted bright colors (neon green, bright yellow, a bright rose pink, bright blue, a bright teal). You can't miss them. Also in the mall is an indoor flea market, a store call Buy 4 less, a tanning salon, and a Y.

TRIP SOUTH

Saturday morning we got up and started the last leg of our trip south. We had a pretty easy trip with not to much traffic. One of the things we did see, was that almost all the weigh stations were open. The down fall was that Vern was driving through Atlanta on Saturday. The last couple of times through Atlanta were on Sunday. Traffic is real light on a Sunday. We were a little surprised that traffic wasn't to bad. We were going to drive about 5 hours and stop in Perry, GA for a couple of nights. When we were getting close to perry, Vern said it was only 2 hours to Lake Park and we could keep driving. I told him he was driving and he could do what he wanted. We kept going. It was about 3:00 when we got to Lake Park and it was time to stop. It only took a few minutes to check in, because we had a reservation. There have been a lot of changes at the camp ground, but I'll tell about them in another post. We're home for the winter. :-)

MOTOR HOME

Friday we took the motor home in for repairs. When we checked in they told Vern if they were ahead of schedule they would call us to let us know. We had a 12:30 appointment and they called at 10:20 and said they were ready for the motor home. When they picked it up they said it would take about a half hour to fix. We decided to go to a mall a few miles away and look around and have lunch. We got back about 1:30, but the motor home wasn't back in our camping spot. Vern went in to check and see if there was a problem. There was. All they were going to do was replace a valve on the air dryer. There was a problem with the air dryer it self and they were on the phone with the company trying to figure out the problem. Well, they ended up putting in a new valve and air dryer. When we got back at 2:30 the motor home was back in out camping spot. A half hour ended up being 4 hours. If there are any problems with the air system we're not moving. The one good thing was we had a free camping site while we were at freight liner.

HEADING SOUTH

Tuesday we started our trip south. We drove to Staunton, VA in the Shenandoah Valley and spent Tuesday and Wednesday nights there. The first leg of the trip was quiet with no problems. Wednesday while we were out driving around we saw a street named Tinkling Springs Road. We both laughed at the name and wondered where the name came from. You never know what you're gong to see.



It started raining Wednesday night before Vern could get everything put away, so we hoped it would stop by morning. No such luck, it rained all night. I got up at 6:00 a.m. and the weather radar showed a break in the rain, so Vern changed and was ready to go when it stopped. The rain never really stopped, but went to a heavy mist. Things got put away and we were on the way by 8:00. We were rained on all the way to South Carolina.



We made it to Gaffney, SC around 1:30 and drove to the freightliner service center. The service center is on the campus of Spartanburg Community College. I guess we'll have students working on the motor home. The good thing is they have a camping area for those having work done and we can stay for no charge. We have electricity and that's it. But it is free.



On our way here we drove through mountains in Virginia and North Carolina. On the weather tonight they said the same mountains would have snow tonight. Yes, that's right snow. I'm glad we went through them today.



If the motor home gets fixed on Friday we'll leave here on Saturday morning and drive to Perry, Georgia. Before we get to Perry, first we have to drive through Atlanta. Not fun.