LOW'S adventures

Can you hear a wild scream ? That is Ben as the wife drives him around hill and dale. We left our RV in Leesburg, fl shortly before 9 :00 am. The gps tuned for northward bound, the road clear and traffic light. WE decided that we needed to take a scenic route rather than the mondan tour, After exiting Lake county we headed north through the Ocala National Forest

http://www.fs.usda.gov/wps/portal/fsinternet/!ut/p/c4/04_SB8K8xLLM9MSSzPy8xBz9CP0os3gjAwhwtDDw9_AI8zPwhQoY6BdkOyoCAPkATlA!/?ss=110816&navtype=BROWSEBYSUBJECT&cid=FSE_003853&navid=091000000000000&pnavid=null&position=BROWSEBYSUBJECT&ttype=main&pname=Ocala%20National%20Forest-%20Home


And a scenic tour it was with cement based highway ( unfamiliar to us of the great NORTH- of course there is no great heaving as in the land of the snow and frost) winding roads, outlined with 20 foot pines. Many offshoots of the main Hwy 19 artery led to small inlets with various entrances and facilities into the park. Almost wished I had our rv so we could make use of their camping spots. WE drove along this route until we were north east to Highway 95 exiting on the norther fringe of St. Augustine. And wouldn't you know it - in site of the outlet malls. Too bad no room in the car!

The weather was perfect for driving and we stopped every several hours to swap drivers , unfortunately my hubby is very fussy on how wife drives HIS car and he slept with one eye open all the time. Just when I thought I would change gears he would come to life.

Just when the ride appeared to be a little boring, we saw the familiar Pedro signs. Just south of North Carolina is an amusement park. We have never actually been there when it is operating, we have stayed in the RV park onsite, and walked and window shopped the many arcades, rides and restaurants. We imagine what kind of a place it is riddles with thousands of kiddies, candy floss tinting their teeth and stuck in their hair., Oh what fun they must have.
FOr 30 miles before the entrance into Pedro's land there are billboards, littered with cute and humorous saying to entice to you visit the amusement park

http://www.thesouthoftheborder.com/

This is a marker that soon we will be pulling off the road for the evening.
A guaranty that our journey for the day will soon end.
We now know it is time to consult or bible for accomodations that are affordable with wifi and the best breakfast in town. In the state that we will be spending the night we make sure we pick up our copy - usually at the welcome center. Of course I was organized on the way south to print the coupons online and be forwarned. However I was not all that put together on the way home. Must have been the sunburn~!

http://www.roomsaver.com/


We continued up the 95 into to North Carolina where some 8 hours later we settled into a Days Inn in Fayetteville. The motel was cheap. clean, and comfortable. The breakfast was alost scrumptious - we weren't looking for the Hilton but a clean bathroom and beds. That is what we got, a quiet nights sleep and polite staff. Onb ward ho!!!

Day two

Again another uneventful day of nice sunny warm weather, high fuel prices olf $4.35/gallon for diesel , so construction on the roads and a little slowdown here and there. We buypassed Richmond Va, and Washington DC> Fooling the GPD we veered onto Hwy 17/66 through to highway 81. By taking the smaller highways we passed towns Fredrickburg, Warrington. Up hill and dale, obviously at one time an agricultural center with it's rich land. Now lending to newer developments, shopping centers, school and community centers. The landscape has changed over the past decade from small cladboard homes to homes of grandeur. Rolling hills with tuffs of wheat at the roadside gives away the secret that plentiful pastures once adored the valleys, now pristine with no cattle in site, save for a horse or two

http://www.warrentonva.gov/General/History.aspx

http://www.visitfred.com/visitors/history/

Pennsylavnia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interstate_81_in_Pennsylvania

We are now entering the second last state before we cross into the Canadian Border
The highway twists and turns as I rush past, behind and around what seems like a multitude of truckers. I think I should rename this corridor truckers alley. Up and down, I strips the gears, chasing after mountainous terrain, glancing at valley with deep pitches, glad I keep the four wheels on the pavement. Noticing the grand landscape and enormous housing developements of the valleys below. I remember all too well pulling a trailer up and down this terrain, I am glad I am not doing that anymore, not only because of the fuel prices, but the draw of the trailer on the truck. Not to mention the terror of worrying about a run away rv as you descend the tsit roads and wonder if that RV will soon be pushing you down hill.
I see a truck I pass riding his brakes, and it is only when I pass him I realize the little car in front of him has a jumpy foot, changes speeds at will. The smell of the trucker riding his brakes are evident. I think to myself I am out of here. I don't want to be anywhere near the trucker when he does do in his brakes, I have no choice I floor it far past the speed limit. I WAIVE as I pass "smokey the bear" aka state troopers!

Home promises to be 8 hours away. The hour grows near when we should pull off the road, dusk is on the horizon. We are still on I-81 and entered our last US state. We settle in Binghamton , NY
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Binghamton,_New_York

Yikes

It is a good thing I am not headed home today
The road is washed out after heavy rains!

http://ottawa.ctv.ca/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20110411/OTT_STORMS_110411/20110411/?hub=OttawaHome

With only one road into and out of my community I would have to park the car and swim home!! Whew glad I was not counting on getting through today!

The Culpret

wham!

OOPs

My friends Russ and Rosemary took me over to see this vehicle a few doors away
How sad to have this happen on a holiday!

Seek and thou shalt find

Opuntia phaeacantha Engelm.
Tulip prickly pear, Brownspine prickly pear cactus, Purple-fruited prickly pear, Brown-spined prickly pear, New mexico prickly pear, Desert prickly pear
Cactaceae (Cactus Family)
USDA Symbol: OPPH
USDA Native Status: Native to U.S.


Click on the title post to get the blown up view!

Cactus??

 
 

I apparently have two types of cactus, one all leaves and spikes the other seems to be flowering
Not sure what type I have , nerve of people throwing out scraps and not labeling them
Guess I will have to run a contest to discover the name

Guess who came to Dinner

Not the Queen, not the President BUT a wild boar........................
One of the neighbors passed this on.
They were settled to have a spot to eat when an uninvited guest ran through the screen door. Intrigued a picture was taken and the flash spooked the boar into a flash escape the way he./she came in. Over hill and dale into the swamp said hog ran. Saved the park manager a few dollars in having him/her humanly removed!!

SOrry it is a blurry pic the photographer was a little shaken

We lead an exciting life here in FL..

http://www.cfnews13.com/article/news/2011/april/228021/Power-slowly-returning-after-storms

What does Jane do when it is one storm after another
I dodge the rain bullets and help some neighbors with their conputer
Knitting is a good pastime and reading, but now I really have cabin fever.
Every time I go out, I see those big clouds looking back at me

RUN

Kentuck Duckie on the loose

Can you smell it.. Breathe in ..........Breathe deeply!
After 2 years of abstaining from Kentucky Fried Chicken I gave in...
Was it the big flag that said buy 8 pieces , get 8 free or the restaurant workers at the curb waiving signs and smiling brilliantly?

Oh no it was definitely the aroma spreading in the block
The car knew the way and I was destined to buy buy buy.
In I went only to return with a cardboard flashy carton filled with hot
grilled chicken . ALL SIXTEEN PIECES..

Once home the chicken adorned our plate with the already pre made potato salad
MMM MMMHHHH
The dinner finished, the left overs bucketed for another 3 meals
Dishes washed and garbage bagged and the whole RV smells like Chicken

Late night snack anyone???

http://www.kfc.com/

http://www.kfc.ca/home/en/index.html