QC94-03 Starting North

July 28, 2008 (Tue) Englewood, FL (19) - Everything was done that could be done until Goodwill Industries picked up the remaining furniture so we'd hoped to get off today. But the truck didn't come until after lunch. We called yesterday to confirm the pick up and to get an estimated time. "No, it depends on how the driver organizes his route for the day". So we spent the morning waiting. Reading and crossword puzzles were our entertainment and they got stale after 4 hours. We couldn't go anywhere for fear the truck would come while we were gone so we just sat around and waited. At noon, Mark took his bicycle up to Burger King and brought back a couple of high carb lunches. Then we waited some more.

When the furniture was finally gone it was too late to do the rest of the chores needed to close up the condo and drive any distance worth the effort so we decided to wait till tomorrow and went over to see Bom. On the way back we dropped off some small things at the Goodwill drop-off facility and some books (donations) at the library. Then it was indoor camp out time with necessities brought in from Q - stools, TV, etc. We'd thought about moving into Q for the night but it was way too hot for that - better roughing it than suffering in luxury.

July 29, 2009 (Wed) Englewood FL, to Savannah, GA (397/1656 miles) - Since our bed (an old studio couch) went out with the trash on Friday we've been sleeping on a 3 in. "memory foam" mattress topper the floor. Surprisingly it's not been as uncomfortable as it may sound. Even so there's not much temptation to linger there once awake. Like most other mornings we were up before dawn and after a quick breakfast we began the task of last minute packing, loading, cleaning and shutting down the utility systems. Finally at 8:55 we took our last look around the now all-but-empty (we left a couch, an end table and a lamp as sales props) condo that has been the home and retreat for Bom and her daughters over the last 25 years and started north (85° sunny with big fluffy clouds)

Before actually hitting the highway we made stops at Goodwill to drop off a few more items, a Publix supermarket for supplies and for another quick visit and goodbye to Bom. A stop at the Flying J off I-75 in Dade City at 11:40 got us a full tank of gas ($2.41) and holding tank relief. Another stop in a rest area at 12:15 took care of lunch and we were off again. The temperature outside got up over 95° and the skies to the Northwest steadily darkened to almost black before the skies opened up with heavy rain dropping it down to 74°. The temperature fluctuated up and down with the intermittent rain all afternoon as we made our way north up US301, I-95 and US17 into the outskirts of Savannah, GA.

We learned from the radio that December 21, 2012 is the date for the end of the world according to Mayan legend. We decided that it might be a good idea to start putting our affairs together as soon as we get home.

Q053359 Camp Walmart Savannah, GA
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July 30, 2009 (Thu) Savannah, GA to Mars Hill, NC (334/1990 miles) - Q was the only motor home in the parking lot last night. There was a truck tractor (without trailer) over a way but we had the place to ourselves. Not that it made for a peaceful night though. First there were the lights, always intrusive though tolerable, then there was the maintenance crew who chatted loudly (read yelled) amongst themselves as they power washed the sidewalk in front of the store. They seemed not to care that people were trying to sleep out in the parking lot!!

We were up at 6:00. After breakfast, shopping and filling up with gas (US Murphy $2.25) we got off at about 7:50. It was a beautiful day to travel - clear sunny 77° and hardly any traffic. The wild flowers and shrubs painted the medians in pinks, whites, purple and rose. At one point there was a large Christmas tree shaped spruce decorated with long chains and garlands - festive though out of season. There were several small stands along US25 selling peanuts, shelled, unshelled and boiled, leading us to believe that the low green crops we were seeing on both sides of the road were peanuts. Statesboro, GA, home of Georgia Southern University, is a pretty little town. The small well maintained homes along the route were of two or three basic designs obviously all built at the same time by the same builder. The university itself dominated the downtown area and its presence there seemed to be the reason for the lack of deterioration so often seen in town of this size.

We bought lunch at a very busy Wendy's (town name lost from memory) and sat in Q to eat it and watch the rain. We encountered more heavy rain near Greenville, SC as our assent into the Blue Ridge Mountains began to become more apparent. We crossed over into North Carolina around 3:00pm, battled more heavy rain through Asheville and arrived at Bob an Pat's at 4:00. We'll be here until Sunday morning.

Q053693 Bob and Pat's driveway.