Submerged in Savannah

Submerged in Savannah - 2019

On April 21 we pulled in the slides on the motorhome and began our trek to Savannah for the "Submerged in Savannah" RiVoli Rally. We heard about the rally from Jennifer, who lives a few sites away from us at RiverBend. Although we lived in Bluffton, SC, a mere 20 miles from Savannah, and we shopped and at times worked in Savannah, we had never participated in many of the tourist attractions. So... why not?! 

Tucker and Gypsy fighting over the "front" seat!

As we neared our destination our trip up to Savannah concluded with a "bang!". A truck ahead of us hit an orange barrel. We watched helplessly as it rolled one way, then another, and turned to come back into our lane just in front of us. The barrel left some orange and white plastic on our bumper, but did no other damage. However,  to extract the barrel Scott had to bring out the saws-all. Shortly we were on our way to Skidaway Island State Park.

Pulled over on I-95 to cut out the barrel that was wedged under our bumper.

We registered for the rally and thus began 14 days of amazing food, fun and friendship! 

On one of our first days we toured the Georgia State Railroad Museum. We saw some of the huge tools that were used to maintain the trains back in the era of steam. We had an opportunity to operate the hand car.

Jim and Scott powering the hand car with two other RiVoli rallies

The tour included an open-air train ride on the turntable and back to one of the workshops. 

My watercolor sketch of the round house and turntable.

On our return while gazing out the train window I noticed a woman and man waiting for the next ride who looked just like Donna and Carlos, friends from San Antonio. They looked like them for good reason! What are the odds of our being at that place, at that time, coming from two different regions of the country?! Because we were both on tours we had only a few minutes for hugs and how-do-you-do's before we had to go on.

Carlos, Donna, Dreaming and her Mr.

 The RiVoli team promised an all-inclusive first class experience and they delivered. We had many docent-led tours, trolley tours, guided experiences, boat rides and 41 top notch meals, either catered or at fine restaurants in and around Savannah. I wrote the following poem and presented it on the last night fo the rally:

For two weeks in Savannah we have been submerged.

We’ve seen lots of things and on fine food we have splurged.

I have to say that this RiVoli Rally has been quite the trip,

As they say in the south, it’s all that and a bag of chips!

Kay fulfilled her promise that this would be ridiculously fun,

Also that the trip would include spirits, smiles and sun.

On Monday we didn’t know each other, by Tuesday we were friends,

We told jokes, listened to stories, and shared thoughts ’til the end.

We learned about the Mighty Eighth that fought overseas.

It was founded in Savannah but fought the Axis countries.

We met Betty, who enlisted and worked to break codes.

I hope I have that much energy when I’m 94 years old!

Yes, those are live bees crawling around inches from my fingers.

We know about bees and honey and tasted some mead,

I bought a bottle and probably more honey than I need.

We learned of the Siege of Savannah and marched behind a drum

Regiment flags and banners were carried into battle by some.

Pencil sketch of our docent in period clothing

Barri drove our bus from here to there, and back and forth,

While Ron told us jokes, some brought groans, others mirth. 

We took trolleys whose drivers managed to talk and drive,

Dodging tourists, swinging around squares, and we all stayed alive.

One trolley told us everything about Paula Deen;

Another gave us insights about ghosts to be seen.

Hanging with Paul Dean at Creekside Restaurant

Sketch of the Mercer-Williams House

A third showed us places from John Berendt’s book,

And even took us to Bonaventure so we could have a look

At gravestones and crypts, some for those long dead.

The whirlwind of activity just boggled my head!

Bird Girl, now standing at the Telfair Museum. She gained notoriety after being on the cover of  John Berendt's book,  Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil

This is one of the famous headstones at Bonaventure. This is Gracie Watson who died when she was only six. Many stories abound about her spirit in the cemetery.

We toured a few historic houses and the ruins at Wormsloe,

And drove around squares Oglethorpe designed years ago.

The famous "Gingerbread" house - while not on our tour, this beautiful home is sought after for events.

Of slavery, and architecture, and history we learned a bit

Of the impact of prohibition and how yellow fever took a hit.

At Fort Jackson we learned some more about the wars,

Our guide was enthusiastic, but became a bit of a bore. 

Then on to the Savannah Scottish games where it was hot,

But Ron, in his kilt (no disrespect intended) perhaps was not. 

From one boat we saw dolphins and viewed the sun going down; 

Tybee Light House at sunset

Cockspur Lighthouse taken while on a sunset Dolphin tour

View after climbing 158 steps up to the top of the Tybee Lighthouse.

On another we enjoyed dinner and an awesome view of town.

Hutchinson Island and Talmadge Bridge

Oh, did I mention food? We had so much to eat,

Every meal was taken care of, oh what a treat!

It was wonderful to be a tourist and not have to cook,

We ate so many things we could write our own A to Z book!

A is for apple fritters, while B is for baked beans,

C is for chicken, do you see what I mean?

Ron, Jennifer, Rick and Linda... ready to serve yet another fabulous meal

One night we had pork chops so big they fell off of the plate,

Amazing oysters, tender filets, and grits we all ate.

And shrimp, and muffins, and southern pecan pie,

And ice cream, and biscuits, and meatloaf three inches high,

And pizza, and salmon, and a sandwich or two,

Clam linguine, She-Crab soup and pulled pork barbecue.

Cracking open Bluffton oysters at the campground. Mary (2nd from right) was the last person at the table!
From L to R: Scott, Pete, Karen, Rick, Guy, Jennifer. On other side of table: Ron, Kay, Virginia, Pat, Mary and Mo.

If I wrote about it all you’d be here all night, 

Suffice it to say, we ate a lot, and saw lots of sights. 

I want to thank the Rivoli team for all that you do.

Thank you Linda and Ted, and Jennifer too,

And Dottie and Rick, and Ron and Kay,

You all worked hard each and every day

In an effort to anticipate and take care of our needs.

It’s through your hard work that this trip truly exceeds

Our expectations for what a rally should be,

You thought of everything, including soft TP!

Our time at this rally has come to an end. 

We came as strangers and leave as friends.

Tomorrow we will all leave this Skidaway park

From whence we’ve ventured forth, from morning to dark. 

I won’t say good-bye, for I know this to be true,

Somewhere… sometime… I’ll bump into you!

Next Stop, Jacksonville

The Tiffin Rally was fun. We Dreamers came up a day early, and boy were we glad that we did. We had the opportunity to sit back and watch as over 150 motorhomes tried to come into the KOA campground on opening day (There were 300 motorhomes in attendance). KOA campgrounds are usually nice. They are clean. They are predictable. They often have narrower roads with more camp sites tucked in here and there that require a bit more maneuverability.

Oops!

This post was wiped out by one of the rally attendees. Apparently he turned too soon and now he'll need some bodywork and painting.  At one point we heard that the motorhomes were backed up on the highway trying to get into the KOA, where they had three lines of motorhomes at the entrance feeding into two roads in the campground. One fellow told me it took him one hour and 20 minutes from the time he entered the park until he was parked at his campsite. On top of that, the area is experiencing above average temperatures. Hot tempers and hot temperatures aren't always a good mix.

The first night of the rally we had folks over for Happy Hour. I discovered that there were 7 other couples from RiverBend coming to the rally. I gave them each an invitation to our site on opening day. In addition, we Dreamers met some folks in RedBay on our way to Florida before Christmas. I sent them an email. I knew of a couple from Colorado who were also attending, and sent them an email. What fun!

Throughout the days of the rally we often bumped into each other. It was nice to see some familiar faces in the crowd.

Gay, Jerry, Jim, Lani, Greg, Vikki, Donna, Dreaming, Judy, Bill & Mr. Dreamy

In addition to the three items that Tiffin offered to fix there were other vendors who had service folks for their components. So, while we were here we also had maintenance performed on our tow bars and AquaHot system, and received a free radio system update and a check on some component of the A/Cs. How pleasant to have technicians come to us!

The rally had a buffet dinner each evening followed by entertainment. The first night's dinner was a fiasco. I am thinking that Golden Corral, the provider, had never dealt with 600+ hot, hungry people. Each evening improvements were evident and the process of acquiring our food became faster. We were entertained by a country music group, and a blind singer and piano player - Sarah Getto. Look her up, she is amazing!

And Elvis came back for an evening, as Dwight Icenhower wowed the crowd.

And of course, there were new motorhomes to drool over. We Dreamers hopped on and off the coaches several times. We saw a few changes we would enjoy having, but not enough to want to buy a new motorhome. We were intrigued by Tiffin's new Class C 24' motorhome, the Wayfarer. It was quite roomy inside and the use of space was well thought out. Perhaps some day we will buy something like that. We could leave our big guy in Florida and travel back and forth in something a bit easier to maneuver, and something that has far better gas mileage. Who knows. Could be. Some day....

Fix It

We are heading home. Finally! Well, to be honest, we are heading home with a number of stops along the way. It will be a while before we are seriously on our way!
First, we are leaving our new piece of paradise at RiverBend to attend a Tiffin RV Rally at Lake Okeechobee, FL. One nice thing about the Tiffin rallies is that they bring a service crew in to fix  three minor things on each motorhome. So, a few weeks before the rally Mr. Dreamy and I looked around to find three things.

Amazing!! 

We had to look... 

and think about it!

After the experience we had with our previous motorhome, this is a novel experience.

OK, we have a blind that isn't working. That's one.

Hmmmm..... Think. Think. Think!

Do you think the LED light strip over the door awning is sagging a bit?

Think. Think. Think!

We are missing a screw cover in the closet.

And, so it went. We couldn't find much to be fixed at all.

I guess our motorhome understands our thinking and our conversations.

Suddenly, the water and tank gauges stopped reading levels accurately.

Then, an edge of the counter simply fell over.

Next a light cover fell off, in the wee hours of the morning when nothing was touching it.

Then something else went awry. Something that is really worthy of being fixed by the Tiffin crew. But... do you think either of us can remember what that thing is?! No!

Do you suppose they can fix my brain?!

Home Again.... Again!

We are home. 

We have been gone for 6 weeks. 

It doesn't seem like that long...
sometimes it seems far longer.

How does time do that?

We travelled 2,382 miles.

This summer's trip was mostly about connecting with friends and family.

We began our trip at the FMCA Rally in Gillette, WY,

camping with 2300 other motorhomes.

source

We traveled from there to McCall, ID to spend

some time with my brother and his wife.

Mr. Dreamy laughing at my SIL

Then, we began our trek back home,

stopping for a small owner's rally in Estes Park, CO,

where we explored the Rocky Mountain National Forest, 

enjoyed meals, took a tour of the Stanley Hotel,

 and played a few games with 8 other motorhome families.

(I lost miserably at Mexican Train dominoes!)

(By the way, the owners aren't small... the group was small!)

A fabulous way to start the day!

Trek to the top at the Alpine Visitor's Center

in the Rocky Mountain National Park.

Oxygen was a bit scarce at just under 12,000 feet!

Our group outside the Stanley Hotel

So, what's next?

I'm not exactly sure.

First I have to unload the motorhome...

Restock the fridge...

Do the laundry...

Clean the motorhome...

Wash the car...

Weed the gardens...

Mow the grass...

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But before that, I'll finish this post and enjoy the luxury

of real, high speed Internet!!!

Rally Round the .... Country

(This month I will be participating in the A to Z Blogger Challenge. Each day my post will be inspired by successive letters of the alphabet.  My A to Z Blog Challenge topics are inspired by our recent 90-day trip on our motorhome. Click here to see links to other responses to this challenge.)

R is for Rally

rally 1 |ˈralē|verb ( rallies, rallying, rallied ) [ no obj. ]1 (of troops) come together again in order to continuefighting after a defeat or dispersion: De Montfort's troops rallied and drove back the king's infantry.• [ with obj. ] bring together (forces) again in order to continue fighting: the king escaped to Perth to rally his own forces.• assemble in a mass meeting: up to 50,000 people rallied in the city center.
We are members of a several different camping groups. The groups often camp together for a "rally". At the rallies the participants may eat, drink and play games, or visit local sites, take in a movie or attend a seminar or two. We participated in two rallies while we were on our trip. We 'crashed' a rally in Florida. I found out that a Tiffin owner's group was meeting in Tampa when we planned to be there in January. After contacting the group's Secretary we were invited to join them.  It was fun to meet new friends. 
We also rallied with our local owner's group in Casa Grande, AZ. Several of our members stay there for several months during the winter, so we kicked off the camping season by meeting there.  We were able to stop in Arizona on our way back home and join in the fun with 9 other motorhomes. We had a fabulous time catching up with old friends.
Some rallies are small. Others, like the one we will attend this spring are not.  We are going to the 50th anniversary celebration for the Family Motor Coach Association in Gillette, WY. They tell me that they have over 1900 units signed up for the rally, and estimate that it could grow close to 2500. Wow! That's a lot of campers!

Dreamy Drives

Dreaming was in Tampa for a few days. She and Mr. Dreamy attended a "rally" with other owners of the same type of RV. Rallies like this usually have a number of get-togethers and activities... often involving food and/or libation. This particular Rally was held at a huge RV center and campground. The RV center offers a beginner's RV driving course. Mr. Dreamy and I were lucky to get reservations to attend the course. The morning classroom session involved the basics about driving an RV as opposed to driving a car. For example, the RV is 2 1/2 feet wider than a car and much longer! Since the driver is sitting on or just in front of the front axle, turns have to be made at different points. Our motorhome has an "at the hip" turning position. We have to wait until the path we want to follow is at our hip before we negotiate a turn. The instructor explained that it was like sitting on the hood of your car and trying to turn it.
The rear wheels of motor homes are so far forward that the tail end of the RV can swing out two to three feet - so not only does the driver need to think about where the front end is going,  but she has to consider the back end as well. Evidently this unlucky owner didn't know about this and was a bit too close to something when he turned. Note the wire holding the back trim on the motorhome.

In addition, we were cautioned to know how tall our RV is. This is why....



Ouch.... I'd hate to have that happen!

This particular training shows us how to put dots on our mirrors and windshield to help us determine where we are in space. So, a red dot on the mirror shows me where the rear axle is. I can use this to judge when to turn out of a parking space, for example. A dot on the windshield shows me what is15-16 feet in front of the RV.  I can use that dot to keep me in my lane when I am making a sweeping turn to the left or the right.
In the afternoon we all had the opportunity to drive around the campground in a 38 foot motorhome, negotiating left and right turns.  I managed the course with ease. It was a wonderful experience. Hmmm.... I wonder if Mr. Dreamy will ever let me drive?!

Circle Your Wagons

Recently we participated in a rally for owners of our make of RV. We traveled to Pueblo, CO and participated in a number of tours and activities...

oh, and let's not forget eating!

The dogs attended the rally, too.

They got to meet bark at 3 Papillons, 

2 Beagles, a Bassett cross

and a Cocker Spaniel.

We attended Octoberfest in Pueblo

and enjoyed upbeat German music,

beer and brats.

 This is our group at the festival:

We drove into the mountains to visit Bishop's Castle.

The castle has been under construction for almost 45 years.

Almost all of the work has been completed by Jim Bishop, alone,

using timbers and stone from the National Forest that surrounds the castle.

 Jim grew up working for his father doing ornamental iron work.

Much of the castle is adorned with this type of work.

Dreaming is showing that she is 'large and in charge'

sitting in a giant chair at the base of the castle.

The park had a wonderful trail system that

Tucker and Gypsy enjoyed.

This was the 'Conduit' trail that ran along

a decades-old conduit which used to carry Arkansas River water

to the steel mills near Pueblo.

The first picture offers a bird's-eye view of part of the trail.

We visited an air museum.

One of our group members is a docent there.

We enjoyed a private guided tour.

This is a MASH helicopter used in the Korean War.

We also visited Rosemount Museum, the Pueblo waterfront

and the Center for American Values.

We did a little drinking...

Here I am enjoying a 'dry' beer!

And we did a little eating...

Then it was time to say 'Good-bye' until our next rally with this group.