Dale & Patti Schumacher's Travel Log

Sunday, November 15, 2015

Home Sweet Home - Holmes Beach FL

The Patti and Dale Schumacher 2015 Fall Color Tour is complete. We arrived back on Holmes Beach, at Nana and Papa's Beach House on Monday; November 9, 2015 after 78 days on the road. What an adventure. And, we'd do it again. In fact, come April 2016 we're headed WEST, for that final State - Montana. This may be a six month trip, including a trip to Denali (Mount McKinley) Alaska.

We left Savannah late on Sunday morning. We were having a bit of a problem with our tow dolly lights and needed to stop by a U-Haul store for a replacement part. No big deal; but not an easy task on Sunday. The narrow streets of Savannah were not designed for a motorhome, towing a van. All's well that ends well. This trip has given Dale an opportunity to rekindle some of those home improvement and mechanic skills he once had. LOL

Our initial plan for the day was to meet friends from Orlando in New Smyrna and spend a couple of days RVing together. Because we were late to the party, detained by the beauty of nature throughout the Appalachian Mountains, that opportunity passed us by. It was raining. So, we opted to stop off in Palm Coast for one night and finish the trip on Monday. We wanted to backflush the septic and sanitize the fresh water storage, so we parked at the Sun N Fun RV Park in Sarasota for Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday nights. But, we slept at the Beach House each night, actually leaving to park "Dorothy I" in storage early Wednesday afternoon.

What a great trip. We saw things we'd never seen before; some things we'll likely never see again; and, friends we hadn't seen in awhile. And, we're still talking civilly to one another. Looking forward to the next trip: Spring and Summer 2016. Follow our Blog and enjoy the trip with us.

Narrow Canopy Streets
of Savannah

I-95 South in the Rain

Beach Swing on
Tybee Island GA

Still Friends

Made it Home for Veterans Day

#dorothyone #veteransday #stillfriends #wonderfultrip

Saturday, November 7, 2015

Savannah GA - Getting Close Now

As we headed to Charlotte NC on Wednesday, we decided that it made sense to push a little farther, so Thursday wouldn't be such a long day. We diverted to Columbia SC. Nice little city.

We started off in the rain on Thursday (November 5), but soon drove out of it. We had forgotten about the big bridge that connects Savannah with South Carolina. While we've only been to Savannah a couple of other times, it is one of our favorites cities to visit. Always feel safe. Lots of history, well preserved. It seems that everything is within an easy walk. Highly recommended. Take a tour to get the lay of the land, then take "a walk." The City Squares are nice and well thought out. Designed for the old traffic (horses), accommodating for the new traffic.

An interesting thing about our current neighborhood (RV Park) is the abundance of Live Oak trees. This is the time of year when the acorns are mature and begin to fall from the trees. Well, the sound of an acorn on the roof of the RV is pretty loud and can sound like a hammer at times. Patti says it reminds her of a pinball machine. For you younger readers, pinball was before video games. We're surprised at their constant pelting on the roof, like rain drops, hasn't kept us awake at night. Bang, there's another one. Then it rolled across the roof. LOL

One of our favorite books and movies is: Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. It is a non-fiction novel by John Berendt. And, Kevin Spacey played the lead role of Jim Williams in the movie. The Mercer House was the scene of the events in the book and the focal setting in the movie. Very cool.

We were not aware of any special activities going on in Savannah this weekend. As we approached the area, Patti called the RV Park we had selected to reserve a spot. The person from the park asked Patti what was going on this weekend, we were about her 10th call that day. Turns out there is a Marathon on Saturday. A friend, Heather Cawley, from Tampa is scheduled to run. And, her mother, work colleague, Pat Trachsel is bringing the kids to cheer Mom on. Wow! What a coincidence.

We were able to meet up with Heather, and husband Sean, at a place called Six Pence for some conversation. We wished Heather well on her adventure (first marathon). Because of the heat today, the marathon was cut short - 13.1 miles not 26.2 miles. Oh well. Lots of training that was not used today. We hoped to get to see Pat, but the schedules are just too crazy. We'll meet up in Tampa in a few days.

Two more stops and two more days - we'll have concluded the 2015 Fall Color Tour. Next and final report from Holmes Beach FL on Wednesday; November 11, 2015. Veterans Day!

Raining on the Way
from Columbia SC

Entering Savannah GA
from South Carolina

The Golden Dome of
Savannah GA

Tree Canopy Streets

Old Town's Finest

With Heather & Sean
Cawley

Christmas Store

Beautiful Architecture

Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil

#savannah #marathon #sceniccity #oldtown #sixpence #fallingacorns

Tuesday, November 3, 2015

Moving South - Homeward Bound

We're in Fancy Gap VA tonight, population 238.

Too far north for good Fall Color; past peak. We're headed south and should be back in the Tampa Bay Area - HOME - in about eight days, about two weeks behind our original schedule. But, we have been committed to the colors, not the calendar. Next stop, Charlotte NC.

It's been a great trip - and we're still talking to one another. We're even planning our next trip; a swing out west from April through October of next year. We've learned a lot this trip and that should make next year even more enjoyable. Here are some learnings:

Travel Days - Tuesday and Thursday
Limit distance on Travel Days to no more than 200 miles
Enjoy the RV Experience - not every day should be a sightseeing day
Good Sam RV Club Park Rating System is EXCELLENT
RVing is Seasonal, most Parks are not open 365 days, April 1 to November 1

160 miles traveled today.

Started the Day in Sunshine

Clouds and Mist
Before Days End

#headinghome #fancygap #seasonalrving #enjoytheexperience

Monday, November 2, 2015

Shenandoah Valley - Staunton VA

Made our way to Virginia on Halloween. What a beautiful place, the Virginia Appalachians. To us flat-landers, even 4,000 foot elevations are spectacular. There are three parts of the Appalachian Chain in this area: Blue Ridge Mountains; Shenandoah Mountains; and, Allegheny Mountains. One interesting fact is that Dale grew up in Staunton IL. The RV Park we chose is just outside Staunton VA. In Illinois the name is pronounced STAWN-ton; in Virginia it is pronounced STAN-ton. Patti wondered if it was weird for Dale with all the Staunton references. "Not so much," he says.

On Sunday we decided to take a short drive to the George Washington National Forest and visit West Virginia. Interesting - no cell service for either Verizon (Dale) or Sprint (Patti). We saw some beautiful sights and only got lost once - GPS not working without cell service. Seriously, we did drive around one mountain near Brandywine WV once too many times. When we ended back in the place we started, we asked for directions. Dale was certain he heard the Deliverance Banjos playing, but all was good. We got back on the road to our home away from home and noted our misstep when we got to it. Then it became funny, but only then. That short trip turned into an almost all day trip. Beautiful Trip!

Then Monday we headed across to the eastern side of the Shenandoah Valley to the Blue Ridge Mountains. This range is the site of the Appalachian Trail through Virginia. We first drove north along Sky Line Drive, through the Shenandoah National Park. After an hour, we turned around and went south. After retracing our route on Sky Line Drive, we headed south along the Blue Ridge Parkway. Both directions were beautiful. We could have traveled 100 miles in each direction. When we looked west we could see across the Shenandoah Valley to the Shenandoah Mountains. When we looked east we could see toward Charlottesville and Richmond VA. Many of the views were breath-taking. We were amazed at the lack of guardrails on some of the roads, pretty steep drops.

174 miles traveled October 31, 2015.

Shenandoah Valley

Valley, Mountain, River

Blue Ridge Looking at
Shenandoah

Almost Tame

Looking at the Blue Ridge

Interesting Work by the
Utility Company

Downtown Staunton

Past the Peak
Beautiful None the Less

Lake in the Mountains

Sea to Shining Sea

#shenandoahvalley #blueridgemountains #blueridgeparkway #skylinedrive #stauntonva

Gettysburg PA

Up early for a ride to Gettysburg PA from College Park MD. The weather was beautiful and Fall color was all around, though starting to wain. The Battle of Gettysburg is seen by many as a turning point in our Civil War. The Army of Northern Virginia was making its way into the north, specifically Pennsylvania. The Confederate Army was making headway and was actually in control of the Gettysburg area. On the third day of fighting (July 3, 1863) the tide turned and the Union Army prevailed.

The Battle of Gettysburg took place over a large area, including the street of the small town. There is so much to tell and so much to see (over 1,700 monuments) that we'll just tell you that it is worth the trip. And, it is a multi-day trip, especially if you want to visit the Eisenhower Farm. President and Supreme Allied Commander, Dwight David Eisenhower, lived here after retirement with his wife Mamie. We did not have enough time for that tour. And, it would have been nice to revisit many of the sites that were part of our guided tour and spend more time at certain ones.

Check out the history, its sobering. Copy and paste this link in your browser: http://www.civilwar.org/battlefields/gettysburg.html

Color on the Way to Gettysburg

Beautiful Day

Panorama of the Gettysburg Battlefield
From Atop Little Round Top

Dale Posing with Abe

Dale Caught Unaware in
the Cyclorama of Gettysburg

Cyclorama was Amazing
Front Stones of the Well
are Real, Rest a Painting

Tour Bus - Not Crowded

Over 1,500 Monuments

Devil's Den at the Foot
of Little Round Top

Stone Wall Defenses Still
in Place on Little Round Top

Tour Guide was Animated

Etched in Stone, by Survivors

National Cemetery - Its Dedication
is when President Lincoln Gave
the Gettysburg Address

Eisenhower Farm - Adjacent to the Battlefield

#gettysburg #civilwar #cyclorama #eisenhowerfarm

Wednesday, October 28, 2015

Rainy Day in Maryland

One of the few rainy days on our Fall Color Tour. The rain on the roof of the RV is such a peaceful sound. We created a short video this morning, but have been unable to download it onto Blog Spot. So, Dale will post it on Facebook later today.

We had planned to go to Gettysburg today. We'll wait until tomorrow - some sunshine in the forecast. Today, a movie - Steve Jobs. But first, breaking news. As we approached Maryland from the north on Monday, we noted two objects that appeared stationary in the sky. As we approached, they appeared to be blimps. Our only experience with blimps has been the Snoopy Two (and other sports related blimps) that visits Tampa several times each football season to assist in the broadcast of NFL Sunday and holiday college bowl game telecasts. Not stationary, moving slowly around the stadium. We wondered what they were. Made jokes about UFOs, etc. Well, today we found out. One of them broke its tether and drifted on the wind about 200 miles north, into Pennsylvania. The picture below shows them: they're the two specs, left and right of center, you may want to clean off the screen (LOL).

The movie was good, but not very flattering for Steve Jobs. More like an effort at redemption for him based on how poorly he treated those around him - with perhaps some explanation why he was not very likable most of the time. Good movie, perhaps 3.5 stars. Not as good as the first one. This movie presented a similar caricature of Jobs, from a different angle.

Nice relaxing day.

The Two DC Area Blimps that are in the News Today

Ready for a Private Viewing

Nice Theater

Comfortable Seats

#rainyday #blimpsontherun #privateviewing #stevejobs

Tuesday, October 27, 2015

Lancaster County PA - Home to More than 30,000 Amish

We're in College Park MD this week, with day trips we'd like to do to Lancaster County PA; Gettysburg PA; Mt. Vernon (Washington's Home); and, Monticello (Jefferson's Home). We were up earlier than normal this morning to make the two hour trek to Lancaster County PA. We've always heard so much about it and seen it in the movies; while we're in the area we want to see "the simpler life" first hand. We headed north.

It is about two hours to Lancaster County PA. As we arrived, we were greeted by the Susquehanna River and the Veteran's Memorial Bridge - Stunning! Of course, we are here near the peak of fall color, so we see beautiful trees at every turn. Our first choice to see this new to us world was in a horse drawn carriage. Experienced it first hand. Jewel pulled us around for about an hour. Great sights.

We learned a lot about the Amish Culture. First, no motorized vehicles; no traditional electric power. They have indoor plumbing and running water. We were told they are not afraid of electricity; only what electricity can bring to their culture - TV, Radio, Internet. They do use generators to power battery chargers and air compressors. Most cooling for milk, etc. is done with propane.

Children are educated in Amish schools through the 8th grade, in one room schoolhouses, one teacher, one room, all grades. No other classroom education is provided. They can all read and write three languages: English; German; and, Pennsylvania Dutch. Interesting. When the youngest son in the family is married, he and his wife take over the family residence with the expectation that he and his family will care for his parents as they age. The house is expanded to accommodate the size of the growing family.

We had lunch at a local restaurant and sampled a variety of authentic foods. Two things we'd heard a lot about is Shoo-Fly Pie and Whoopie Pie. Both were tasty; but, didn't live up to the hype.

Time to head back to our temporary home in Maryland.