APRIL 27 - FRI. & APRIL 28 - SAT., 2012

FRI.- After about a 4 hr. drive, we came to our last campsite of this trip - Lithia Springs in Shelbyville, IL. Our campsite is right by Lake Shelbyville, a really pretty lake, but no WiFi & only 2 TV stations. After we got the RV all hooked up, it was about 3:00, so we decided to drive to Arcola, IL. to Rockhome Gardens, which I heard about which is in an Amish Village, about 30 miles away. We called first to make sure they would be open, and it was good that we did, because we found out that they open for the season May 1. So we took a drive to the next little town - called Arthur,also an Amish town. But most of the shops were closing at 5:oo and it was already after 4 when we got there. We found a little Amish deli & was able to get some cheese & bakery (which was very good)There were several Amish horse driven buggies along the road. There was a storm during the night, with lightening & thunder and lots of wind, it was even slightly swaying the RV! That was a little scary, of course Richard slept through it all! This is our last night "on the road". Tomorrow we will be home.

SAT. - Well we arrived home at about 3:00. It was a wonderful vacation. We had a great time and we saw & did so much! We thank God for a safe, healthy trip. After being gone for 2 mts., it did feel good to see home. We had a nice surprise when we opened our door, our grandsons, Matthew & Zachary had made a colorful welcome home banner for us! It brought tears to my eyes. That's what home is - family. Thanks for being with us through our blog. We hope you enjoyed reading about our adventures. So until the next time Paupers Pride goes on the road - hopefully this fall, we say so long. (still having problems getting pictures to post, but when we figure it out, we will post them.)

APRIL 26 - THURS., 2012

Well we made it up that hilly road without any problems. Because I was so nervous about going up that road, Richard took the RV up it without pulling the car - I followed him up it in our car. Our old "Pauper's Pride" went right up it, Richard said he did not have a problem. When we got to the top, we had to pull into a parking area so he could put the car back on the tow dolly. The rest of the drive was just fine, some big hills, but at least they were not winding. We crossed over the Tenn./Kentucky state line & then crossed over the Kentucky/Illinois state line. Two state lines in one day! Our campsite is at the southern tip of IL. Ferne Clyffe St. Park in Goreville, IL., we actually have WiFi & several channels on TV! We got here early afternoon and we checked the park out & saw a hiking trail. So we got our walking sticks & backpack & started down it. We went about 1/4 mile & Richard said we should start back. He didn't tell me till we got back to our RV that the reason we turned back was that he saw some very big animal poop -not from a dog or small animal - maybe bear! I'm glad he waited till we got back to tell me, otherwise I probably would have tried to run back & could have fallen! We stayed at our campsite the rest of the day, cooked out on the grill & played a game of "spades" (which Richard won of course). There are several other campers here with small children, so there is plenty of noise to keep animals away. We are told that as long as there is no food or trash left out, animals keep their distance. Tomorrow we head north toward our last campsite this trip, in Shelbyville, IL.(Pictures to follow when we get the camera to correctly post them).

APRIL 25 - WED., 2012

We spent the night at Cheatham Lake State Park in Tenn.(no WiFi) We started the day with a good breakfast which I made at our campsite in Alabama. It was a little windy on the road to Tenn. We were about 1/2 way there & all of a sudden we saw black smoke ahead on the road, and traffic came to a complete stop.Police cars, fire trucks, ambulances went blaring past us on the grass on the left side of the road. We were stopped there on the expressway for over 2 hrs.! We also saw medi-vac & news helicopters circling above. When we were finally able to move, we saw that it was a horrible accident. A truck cab was completely incinerated & what was a car, was a ball of steel. Had we been 5 min earlier --- all I can say is thank God! After seeing that, we had to go down a very hilly, winding road to get to our campsite. It was a "white knuckler" I really don't like roads like this in the RV, but it is the Tenn. hills. The park was very pretty. Our site was right along the lake. I didn't get much sleep because I kept thinking that we have to go back up that hilly, windy road. Richard doesn't get nervous, but I do!

APRIL 23 - MON. & APRIL 24 - TUES., 2012

MON. - Well we have started our journey home. It was a good day to leave FL. because we woke to a chilly windy morning, (not a beach day). It was very windy on the road. We made it to our first stop after 230 miles of driving, Lake Seminole St. Park in Bainbridge, GA. It is right on the GA/FL state line, in fact the ranger said that the front of the ranger station is in FL and the back of it is in GA! We were given a sheet warning about Argentine ants that live in the area. They told us to put boric acid or comet (both of which we had with us) around our tires and to be sure our water & electric lines are not touching the ground. They are not dangerous to humans, but they can get into vehicles by the droves and are very hard to get rid of. They told us that we probably would not have a problem due to the wind (thank goodness we didn't) Our campsite was right by the lake, but the wind was so strong that the waves were crashing onto the rocks on the shore. It is a very well maintained park and there are several other campers here. We have no internet service (that's why I am posting this a day late), but surprisingly we got 4 channels on TV.

TUES. - We got an early start on the road to Alabama, where our next camsite is. We drove 240 miles. We are spending the night in Brierfield, AL at Brierfield IronWorkers St. Park. We got here around 4:00 because we went through a time change & gained an hour. When we got to the registration office, there were two roads, Richard was going to take one but I told him to take the other one -- I was wrong! The ranger said we should have taken the other road because there is no place to turn the RV around and we can't back it up with the tow dolly attached with the car. So Richard had to unhook the car to turn the RV around -- as my grandsons would say "my bad". Anyway it was early enough, after we go the RV set up, we went for a bike ride around the park. We are able to pick up the internet. We are staying at State Parks on our way home, so we won't always have WiFi. I will post when I can. (we are still having a problem posting pictures)Just realized that if you click on the picture, it goes to its original size.

Mon April 23rdat Lake Seminole GA

APRIL 22- SUN., 2012

Well today is our last day here in Fl. Tomorrow morning we start our trip home. We are allowing six days travel time and plan on being home Sat. 28th. In the RV & pulling my car, we try to only go about 300 miles a day, that's about 6 hrs. of driving. Being that I can't drive the RV, all the driving is on Richard. We treated ourselves to breakfast, being our last day here, at the little family owned restaurant here at the campsite. The food was very good. The rest of the day we spent getting things stowed away for travel. After a month's stay here, we had a lot to do. We had to sadly pack away all our beach gear. The time we spent here went by fast. We saw & did a lot, and really enjoyed ourselves, but after 2 mts, it will be good to see our family again. We pray for a safe trip home .

P.S. - Having trouble again posting pictures - the pictures posted are of the horses that were on display at the farmers market yesterday. They really were very colorful, but only half each picture would post. (Chicago had cows, Alabama had peanuts, & Florida has horses)

$-21-12 AT FARMERS MARKET