Andersonville and beyond

Friday and Saturday were spend touring.  Sunday meant church, laundry and washing of the truck.

Andersonville, GA

I  remember from Civil War history that Andersonville, GA was a prisoner of war camp for captured Union soldiers.   I did not know that it was only in existence 14 months.  If fact, it opened after the south had, in effect, lost the war following the battle at Gettysburg.  

Andersonville not only tells the story of its own history but is a tribute to all American Prisoners of War.  In 1998 the National Prisoner of War Museum opened at Andersonville dedicated to the men and women of this country who suffered captivity.   We started by watching a 30 minute movie narrated by Colin Powell with personal memories of POW's from WWII, Korean conflict, Vietnam and the Persian Gulf wars.  From there we took a walking tour of the grounds led by a National Park Service guide.


The cemetery.   Note how close the headstones are.  This is because the bodies were buried without caskets in a long ditch, side by side.    After the war, Clara Barton, founder of the Red Cross came to Andersonville and with the assistance of a former prisoner, identified all but less than 500 of the dead. As this is a National Cemetery, there are still interments but in a different section from the Civil War dead.  They average of two burials a day.  As we drove through the cemetery there was a burial in process on so we did not stop to walk around.

This is an escape tunnel.  The tree has grown up around it.  Most escapees were recaptured.

Approximately 45,000 prisoners passed through Andersonville.    It held 33,000 men at a time and averaged 100 deaths a day.  This is a replica of the stockade fence that surrounded the compound.  The logs were square cut and rose 15 feet above ground and 5 feet below the ground.   Between the wooden fence and the stockade was the deadline.  Should any part of a persons body cross into that zone they were immediately shot and killed.

Americus,  GA

Habitat for Humanity was started in Americus, Ga in 1976 by a young couple who saw a need and wanted to make a difference.   Many people mistakenly believe it was started by Jimmy Carter and his wife Rosalynn.   They did not become volunteers until sometime in the mid 80's.  At this site is the administration offices, a welcome center and examples of homes being built by Habitat volunteers around the world.  First on the self-guided tour is an example of housing of some of our poorest in this country.

This is an example of a South African house built by Habitat.    Each house in this complex has signage indicating the materials used and method of building.  There are currently 17 sample houses.

Plains, Ga

We drove through Plains.  This was the only thing of interest to us.  A peanut wagon.

Warner Robins,  Ga.

On Saturday we drove about 50 miles north to the town of Warner Robins home of the Robins Air Force Base.  

This is a HUGE complex.   We were there for more than 4 hours.  Not only are there many planes, but there are displays and artifacts telling the story of WWII and all subsequent wars.

This is the inside of a C10 used to drop parachuters and cargo.  This plane will fly inches from the ground while unloading trucks from its rear hatch.

This plane has a cruising speed of 2,000 mph with a flying distance of 3,000 miles.  Sure would be a quick trip of only an hour and a half!  They were getting set up for some type of affair later in the day to be held in this hanger.

This is the helicopter that flew Bobby Kennedy from the Pentagon on November 22, 1963 to Dulles Airport for the arrival of his brother's body as it was returned from Dallas.

Vienna, GA

The Joy Sunday School Class at Vienna church invited us to join them for dinner on Saturday night held in the dining room of the campground.   Then as is our practice, the group goes out to lunch each Sunday after church.  There are few places in the area to dine.   We were told by several people that many folks eat in the hospital cafeteria on Sundays in nearby Cordele.   So when in Rome ......   the hospital cafeteria it was.   Not at all bad.    This sure was a first!

End of another work week and still sore

Vienna,  GA

First, welcome to Jeanne and Allan who are also fulltimers.  We met this fine couple last year while visiting our son in Alabama.    Jeanne and Allen - We will be spending Thanksgiving again in Cullman if you will be in the area give us a shout!  We would love to see you again.

We have now completed our second week of volunteering at Camp Dooley.  This week Len and a couple of the other guys built a shed around the water pump out on the ball field.   Then he took inventory of light bulbs that need changing and built benches at the ball field.

As for me - I spent most of the week power washing.   But each morning while it was still somewhat cool, I painted directional signs.   These signs were first routed by another volunteer, Andy.

The power washing included the chapel which was turning a lovely shade of green.

This area is full of pine trees that drop their large needles, causing mildew and dirt to build up.  After power washing the chapel I did the sidewalk leading to it.  This sidewalk is about  60 feet long.  Here is a picture that shows my work in progress.

There is an outside worship area that sits next to a small stream.   There is a large wooden cross on a red brick base sitting in front of 15 concrete benches.   I could not imagine anyone sitting on these benches. They were black and dark green with mold.  I washed the benches and red brick base.  These are before and after pictures of some benches.

I was glad to power wash.    If not, I would have to paint walls.  And I HATE PAINTING WALLS.  I know some day I will have to paint but fortunately I missed that bullet this time!  Not every NOMAD hates to paint.   Here are two fine ladies who did a super job on the conference center.   This is Connie and Barb.

We feel so blessed that we are able to serve in this way.    One more week here and we will be off to Alabama for two weeks.     Our next NOMAD project is not until January in Tucson, AZ.

Check out NOMADS at http://www.nomadsumc.org/

Cotton, pecans, buffets and BBQ

Vienna, GA

Cotton

We are seeing a different kind of white stuff covering the fields down here.  Not the cold, wet, white stuff that we are used to up north.  The white covering the Georgia fields is cotton, a major crop.

Square bales.  We also see lots of huge round bales.

Pecans:

The other large crop in this area is Pecans.   We were given a tour of a local pecan farm by the owner

of Ellis Farms - Elliott Ellis.

The larger of these trees were planted in 1918 and still provide a substantial crop of pecans every other year.

Once the pecans drop from the trees, they are blown into piles then loaded into trailers and brought to the processing facility. The pecans are then sorted to remove debris. 

After sorting they are stored in cold storage until they are packaged.  

Mr. Ellis stresses to never buy pecans sold along the road and sitting in bags in the sun.  He says pecans need to be kept cool or they will turn rancid.   Visit the Ellis Bros. web site at

http://www.werenuts.com/

Buffets:

Our first buffet of the weekend was Friday night at Pats Camp just outside of Vienna.   It was okay, just okay,  On the line were catfish fillets, whole small catfish, baked beans, cole slaw, salad, hushpuppies, cheese grits. and french fries.  Not worth a trip back.

On Sunday after church we went to Sheilas in the neighboring town of Cordele.  The restaurant is connected to this store.

A much better buffet. (AND FOUR DOLLARS CHEAPER)   Fried chicken, ham, roast beef, BBQ pork, white beans, green beans, cole slaw, seafood salad, green salad, collards, cornbread, mashed potatoes, mashed sweet potatoes, bread dressing, and all kinds of pies and cakes including (what else?) pecan pie.

Bar B Q

Each year the town of Vienna hosts the Big Pig Jig.  This is a competition with teams from all over the country.    I took lots of pictures of the various cookers but I am having a difficult time uploading pictures here.   It has been taking about 15 minutes a picture.   

The one picture I will upload is that of a whole roasted pig.   The first prize winner in that category was the local Vienna Volunteer Fire Company.   Stacey, the director here at the campground and her husband Matt were on that team.

Tomorrow - it's back to work!

A week of work and now sore muscles

Vienna,  GA.

We have completed our first week here at Dooly Campground in Vienna, GA.   The only employee at this campground is Stacey, a young mother and wife who is solely responsible for the maintenance and upkeep of the entire complex.   She does a great job but is so very thankful for the twice-a-year assistance she receives from NOMADS.

Some of you reading this might assume we are working at a campground for RVers.  That is not the case. Dooly was founded in 1875 as a Methodist Camp Meeting.   It currently is being used for various activities such a Vacation Bible School, Walks to Emmanus groups, occasional weddings and other community events.  This weekend there is a Prison Mission group meeting here.

There are 9 of us working on this project.   As is our usual practice we attended the local Methodist church on Sunday morning.

Stacey prepared dinner for us on Sunday night in the camp dining hall.  Her husband Matt did a bang-up job grilling steaks!    After dinner we reviewed our goals for the next three weeks.

On Monday Len got to work on a stubborn pipe leak that had been giving Stacey problems for some time.  

It was stubborn for Len too.   After several attempts at fixes, he finally got the leak repaired on Wednesday.

I had a fun job on Monday.  They have a very large baseball, volleyball and soccer field that was in desperate need of mowing.  The lawnmower is a type I had never operated before.  I will say this - if I ever have a large yard again, this would be my choice.  

Hey Rick - is this like your John Deere baby?     As I said, it was a large field and took a full day of work to get the tall grass mowed.

In between attempts to fix the leak, Len built a portable ramp to be used to enable wheelchair access into the conference building.  This is only the frame.  I haven't taken a picture of the completed ramp.  He did a super job.

Most of Len's Tuesday was spent completing the ramp and working on the leak.  I, not having enough of riding around on that large mower, mowed the rest of the campground, including around the pool area, the dining hall, the conference room, the parsonage (Stacey and Matts house), the cabins and general grounds.  In the afternoon I did my very least favorite task, I PAINTED!    Oh how I abhor painting but I know I can't always avoid it.   The little painting I did was to prime one wall in the parsonage.   Enough of that I say!

On Wednesday the correct parts were received for leak repair, allowing Len to complete that job.  I picked up branches and dead limbs which were all over the place.   I loaded then into a golf cart/trailer and unloaded them on the brush pile.  In the afternoon Len assisted me as there were some that were too heavy for one person to lift.

In rained most of Wednesday night into the morning.  Therefore, we found inside work to do.  Len and I hung blinds on all the windows and doors in the dining hall and changed smoke detector batteries.

Every day Stacey prepared lunch and break snacks for us.  

On Wednesday we attended a dinner and bible study at the Vienna UM Church.   The guest speaker that night was our own leader Gene Wengert.   They do this each week.   They have a simple dinner from 6:00 to 6:30 with a short bible lesson following.  This week they served vegetable soup, pimento cheese sandwiches and banana pudding.  The whole event took less than an hour.

Every one of us agree - four days a week is about all we can work.   Friday was very welcome.  Time to rest those aching muscles.

Moving day

Vienna, GA

I am so glad to see Karon as a follower of our blog.  Karon and her husband fulltimed for a few years but recently came off the road and settled back home in Arkansas.  Karon is another virtual friend I had hoped to meet at a Rally in Branson a few years ago.   Back in May we just missed each other when we were passing through Little Rock on our way back to NJ from Louisiana.  We will be in Arkansas again and expect an invite to meet!!!  I'll keep in touch, Karon.

One of the thrills in this lifestyle is meeting new people.   But one of the downsides is meeting people you really like, getting to know them a little and then it is time to move on.   This was very much the case as we spent the last three weeks at the Escapees Park in Heiskell, TN. 

This is Judy.  Judy is from Baton Rouge, Louisiana. What a fun, caring person.  I mentioned her in my last post.  We really would like to meet up again.

Here are Joe and Linda, who where the campground managers.   They leave next week to work at the Deming, New Mexico Escapees park.   I got to thinking.   We are going to Tucson, AZ in January for a project.   The route from Louisiana to Tucson is I10.  HEY- Deming is right off I10.   We just might see Joe and Linda again.  We also have two months to stay in the AZ and NM area between the Tucson project and having to move up to OK for another project in April.

  The man on the right is Larry.   He also worked at the campground.  He and his wife Babs (what a character) head to the Alabama Escapees park next week where he will be taking over the cooking duties.

This is Dan and Barb.   Saturday was Barb's last day of work.   They lived only 8 miles from the campground.  They decided they wanted to fulltime so they put their house of the market and it sold in 83 days!   Until Barb could retire they moved into the campground.   Just last week they sold her car.  They also are heading to the Summerdale, AL Escapees park for the winter.

After breakfast in the clubhouse we said our goodbyes and headed out at 8:20.  We arrived in Vienna, Ga around 2:30.   We will be working at a Methodist Campground for the next three weeks.  We easily found the campground and got hooked up.  

There are two issues here.   The gnats were thrilled to see us.  Fresh meat!   It was so bad we could  not stay outside once we got set up.  However, in the early evening they seem to have left.  At least enough that we were able to walk around the camp.  The second issue - we are right next to a train track.  The train rumbles by about once an hour.   I must have slept tight.  I heard it all yesterday afternoon and evening.  It went by as I was writing this.  I heard it at 5 this morning.  But - I slept though the middle of the night runs.

These are some pictures I took yesterday as we walked the grounds:

As I was uploading the above pictures, there went that train again!   

This morning we meet at 10:30 to attend the local church.  Then we will go to lunch with the rest of our group.   This is a small group.  Only four couples here now with one more man expected to arrive today.  We are invited to the camp directors for dinner tonight.  She and her husband and three young children live here on the grounds.

So, here we are - starting one more adventure!

Forgot the camera

Heiskell,  TN

I am also thrilled to have two familiar names added to our list of followers.  First there is Froggi (Donna).   For the last few years I have occasionally caught up with her whereabouts by dropping in on her blog. 

Then there is Ellie.  I used to "talk" to Ellie on a Weight Watchers site.   Ellie is one of the good ones - she lost the weight and KEEPS IT OFF!  Good for her.  Me, not so much. We had planned to meet at a Rally in Branson, MO. a few years ago but it was before we were fulltimers and that summer diesel costs skyrocketed.  We did not attend the rally.  But, I do hope to meet both her and Donna down to road.

Well we are winding down with our time here at the Raccoon Valley Escapees Park.  We have really enjoyed meeting people here and visiting the surrounding areas.   We have not done much of note the last several days:

Saturday - a run to Walmart and that's about it.

Sunday - church and then Len helped a camper here named Judy who is also from Louisiana - Baton Rouge.  She had some problems with her Pressure Pro going off.  He showed her how to monitor the tires and air them up.   She needed a better air gauge so we went to Walmart (again) and picked up one for her.  To thank us she bought us ice cream at the afternoons ice cream social and also bought us over a bag of good Louisiana shrimp she had cleaned and frozen. Judy has been a treat to get to know and spend time with.  She is RVing alone because she says her husband back in Louisiana can not leave his STUFF.  In the evening we took our walk up the hill (mountain to me) behind the campground.

Monday - to the post office and THAT'S IT!  Except we did take our walk up the hill and then spent some time with a neighboring camper couple who had questions about NOMADS.  Most of the night we (I should say I - Len slept through it all) layed awake listening to thunder and hard rain.

Tuesday - we took a ride over to Sieverville to the Apple Farm, stopping at Longhorn for lunch.   Hence, today's title- I wish I had taken the camera.   I would have liked some pictures of the Apple Farm complex.  There was a bakery, grill, restaurant, ice cream shop, gift shop, Christmas store, candy store and a store with all kinds of apple products along with hams, jams, preserves, etc.   We also stopped at a knife store and a tool store.  I have to admit - I found a bench while Len did the store thing.  Later in the day there were severe storm warnings in several areas of TN including tornado watches. Luckily just heavy rains here that continued most of the night.

Wednesday - to the grocery store then the 4:00 social hour at the clubhouse.   At 6:00 we went back to the clubhouse for a covered dish dinner.  I made my baked pineapple.   Right now I am completely full!  

Yup, these last few days have been really lazy ones.   So much so it is almost 8 and I am tired enough for bed!

Music, music, music

Heiskell,  TN

After going to Dollywood yesterday, I got to thinking.  In our time here in Tennessee and during our stay in North Carolina we have been privileged to attend several functions involving music.

Our first was in Brasstown, NC at a folk center where a gentleman performed singing folk songs and playing "mountain" instruments.  Next we attended a glass blowing demonstration where a duo also sang folk songs, many of them written by themselves.   The night before we left NC we went with another couple to Old Fort, NC.  Every Friday night there is a blue grass jam session.   Several different groups played for about a half hour each.  Most of them quite good, one not so much.   That is when we left.

Here at the Raccoon Valley Escapees Park they have a jam session every Thursday night and Sunday afternoon.   People camping in the park can perform but most of the performers come from the surrounding area.   We have attended every one.  Now, if only there was room for some dancing!

So yesterday we went to Dollywood.  The month of October they have their Gospel Festival.  But first things first.  I read that if you bought your tickets online this month you got a free buffet.  Naturally this was our first stop in the park. It was really very good.

Being properly nourished, it was off to see some shows.    The most popular attraction was Guy Penrod.  If you have seen the Gospel group The Gaithers either on TV or at one of their live performances, you will recognize Guy.   He put on quite a show and gave a meaningful message on the importance of relationships.

The next show was a musical called Sha-Kon-O-Hey!   They said this is the Cherokee word for blue mountains.  

While waiting to take the train ride around the park, we watched the squeezing of sap from sugar cane. Appears the horse does most of the work.

Then it was a ride on the Dollywood train powered by a steam engine.

This one is for my blogging friend Sam:

Two more gospel groups.  The first one is called 4 the Lord and the other one is Tribute Quartet.

We also spent time in the Dolly Museum.  This museum holds her trophies, pictures of her with other stars, childhood belongings, clips of TV shows and movies and lots and lots of outfits.   No photography allowed.

By this time it was 5:00, one hour before closing so we hiked back to the truck.  We stopped at Golden Corral for another buffet.   BTW, sometime during the night my jeans SHRUNK!