Moving Day

Well... Escrow has finally closed and the move has begun. To tell the truth, the furniture that we bought for the house has been there for two weeks already. Over the last two days Larry has moved some of the bigger stuff.

Escrow closed Wednesday but the RV has still been home... up until this week-end. Starting tomorrow morning the kitchen gets moved, then the bedroom, then the rest. We've decided to leave the RV in the RV park for the rest of the pre-paid term (a couple more weeks) and move the old fashioned way - in our vehicles back and forth (rather than pull the RV to the house). It's much easier to keep the rig protected against the cold nights with it being plugged in and all.

It supposed to rain late in the day tomorrow so we'll get as much done as we can before the rains begin.

Give us a few weeks to get settled and then ya'll come see us now, ya hear?

New Job

Hi Everyone,

It's official. As of Wednesday, Dec 13th, I (Shirley) will be employed with one of the largest employers in Chattanooga: Blue Cross Blue Shield of Tennessee. This is the building that I'll be working in (it doesn't really lean). Right now the 4500 employees are housed in six different buildings. I understand they're building a new building somewhere nearby. I'm unclear whether it will house everyone or not. I'll learn more about that later.

My position is called "Kronos System Administrator" which means I'm in charge of the time and attendance system (called Kronos) for about 4500 employees.

I'm thrilled to get this job because the pay is very good and the benefits are excellent. I've never seen better. The payroll department has about six people in it and they use an in-house payroll system. They cross train so I'll learn a lot!

License Plate mania - updated 12/13

Sometime after our first RV travels and we landed in Las Vegas, Larry and I saw a map like this at a local casino. This last week-end I found out that the casino completely remodeled. I called them to see if I could buy the map but they had already liquidated all their old art and furnishings. Laura suggested we check out the internet. That's when we found this photo and learned that to buy an original art piece would cost in excess of $3000!! That's when Laura suggested I make my own. Um... I think I could do that! I could at least try. With the right tools, why not? Mine will include Alaska and Hawaii.

So, I'm on a quest to locate license plates from 50 states. It'll take two for CA and three for Texas. I think one will do it for all the rest (New York is iffy). Do you have any resources for salvaging license plates? Do you have any plates lying around that you would like to donate? If so, please let me know by adding a comment to this blog entry.

Laura has one from NV and I have one from South Dakota. Two down, 51 to go.

Dec 13th

Larry has talked some sense into me and has offered some alternatives to actual license plates. One suggestion is to make color copies of plates on paper (perhaps from DMV web-sites for each state). One advantage is that I can shrink the little states and enlarge the large states. Another advantage is the ease of cutting out the shapes. It makes sense.

One other idea is to use a pack of USPS post cards, one of each state, that Suzie gave me. I do want to use those for something unique but I'm not yet sure this is it. I have a couple other ideas for those too.

In any case, I'm putting a hold on the quest for actual license plates from all over the US. If you're one of those who offered plates I appreciate you very much!! You're the best!

Trip to LV & CA

This last week Larry had jobs in both Las Vegas and CA. Since I can fly for free when I go with him, I did just that. We got to spend some time with Ben & Laura.

Ben has set up a wifi system in their house so here are the two guys simultaneously surfing.

Laura saved the Christmas decorating until we got there. Jingle Bear was among the things unboxed. Jingle Bear is only 3 years younger than Laura. :-)

We got to visit with some friends in Las Vegas and Santa Rosa and also spend a little time with my parents. Unfortunately, I didn't take photos the rest of the trip. Silly me. So, this photo of my parents is from 3 years ago. (Better that than none?) Though we were away from home a whole week, there didn't seem to be enough time at any one place. We were on the go a lot!

Christmas in Chattanooga

It seems that everytime we go downtown and see something worth photographing, I don't have my camera on me. So, here is a photo of Chattanooga in the summertime taken off a web-site.

I show this picture so when I tell you about Christmas arriving in Chattanooga you'll have an idea of what I'm talking about.

On Friday evening, Chattanooga celebrated the beginning of Chrsitmas in a big way. People started gathering in late afternoon. Many ate dinner at one of the downtown restaurants, sitting inside or out. It was a lovely evening. As it grew dark, people headed for the riverfront. The festivites started with a parade of boats (I think I counted 35 of them). They were decked out in lights from bow to stern. While they paraded on the river, a bell choir played carol after carol. There was also a live nativity scene, sponsored by a local church on city property! That surprised us. There were food vendors and such too.

Then Santa arrived, along with some kids and dancers also decked out for the holidays. There was some song and dance. Did you know that Santa has an excellent singing voice!?! ;-) But, then Santa did something amazing. He paused in the middle of all the song and dance and took the opportunity to remind the crowd of the real meaning of Christmas and drew attention to the nativity. Imagine that. I didn't know any city in the USA had the fortitude to put Christ in Christmas.

They finished the evening with a grand fireworks display over the river. It was spectacular. I sure do wish I had my camera with me.

New Address

Believe it or not, we now have a house in escrow. Here's a photo. It was built around 1950 and is one-bedroom, one bath with a small kitchen. Actually, we haven't even seen the inside of it yet because it's being rented. We'll continue to rent it out because we're going to live in...


The big house that came with it. Here's a photo of it.

This one was solidly built about 1992 and has 3 bedrooms, 2 baths. The kitchen has solid oak cabinets. It has a 1600 sq ft basement/garage below. Larry thinks he could squeeze six or seven Saturns in there. Ha! While I will admit it's big, he'll have to prove that one to me. We got both of these on a huge lot for $155K.

Oh yeah, and in addition to a couple of maples, it has 5 Dogwood trees on the lot! Flowers in the Spring, red leaves in the Fall. So cool. (Did you know you can click on the photos to get a larger version?)

For one final photo, here's a view toward the Southwest. This is one of those parts of the country where fences don't exist between neighbors but it doesn't seem odd to us at all. We're on a corner so there is only one neighbor to one side, separated by our driveway (the one you see here) and two behind us which wouldn't be obscured by a fence anyway because we're higher than them on a hill.

I'll post more photos in our online photo album over the week-end so you can check there in a day or two (or three).

We plan on having a guest room, so y'all come see us now, ya hear?

Florida highlights

If we don't leave Florida later today then we'll be leaving early in the morning. I have a job interview in Chattanooga Tuesday afternoon. It's for a HR/Payroll Manager for a natural foods grocery store.

Before we go, I'd like to share a couple things. First, unique to Florida alone (for us) is the unusual wildlife. There are several of these cranes making themselves at home in the RV park. They walk around like they own the place. It may be difficult to tell in the photo but they're about 4 feet tall.

On Friday we went to Disney's Animal Kingdom and Epcot Center. The safari ride is one of my favorite things because every ride is different. Five years ago a Rhino walked in front of our truck. This time, giraffes did the same thing. However, the ostriches made even more of a scene. They held up our truck for about 15 minutes while they pecked at it's trimmings. They were probably within touching distance of the people on the first row. We were on about the fourth row. Seeing an ostrich up close like this was pretty neat.

Then, in Epcot I saw a new egg art. Well, the art itself is about 2000 years old, but it was new to me. It originates in Germany. For those of you who know about the Ukrainian Egg Art that I've done, it's similar in that the design starts with a pencil drawing. The artist then paints on the egg using water colors. The end result is just as amazing with as much, or as little, detail as Pysanky (Ukrainian).

Saturday we went to one of Disney's water parks called Typhoon Lagoon. We had a ball! My camera stayed home so I can't share any photos but I'll try to share some highlights. First, there is the wave pool which is a lot of fun. Secondly we snorkeled (briefly) in a tank with lots of colorful fish, small sharks and some stingray. So, this is the second time I have swum with sharks! I was exiting a very large stingray was on the platform in front of me. Not to worry though, their barbs were removed.

Then, of course, there were water slides. I declined to do the really steep fast one but the others were all great. Finally, there was the creek filled with inner tubes. When our feet would start to get sore from walking we'd float on the creek for a while. Sometimes we just relaxed but most of the time we'd play bumper tubes or try to push each other into the different streams of water designed to get you good and wet.

The temperature was just right for playing all day. It started getting cool about closing time so it was perfect.

It may have to wait until we get to Chattanooga but I'll post more photos in our online photo album. Feel free to check it out. http://travelingturtles.myphotoalbum.com/

Chattanooga for keeps

The Traveling Turtles are taking a big turn in the road. We've decided to settle down again. Are you surprised?

This has been brewing for a while. Maybe you've been able to tell. As I look back at our blog it's not a total surprise because I've talked about housing in Sioux Falls, Evansville, Nashville, and who knows where else. The idea of the "best place to live" has been a topic of many conversations. It still seems odd to us because we were so enthusiastic about traveling again. However, now that we've done Autumn in New England and visited the sites in the Eastern Time Zone that we missed last time, we feel as if we've completed the trip. This surprises even us!

As you know, we checked out Chattanooga a couple times in the last few weeks and we like what we see. The size is nice: about 175K in the city but serving about 500K in the area. The community has revitalized the downtown area, complete with a riverwalk. They have 4 seasons but the winters are not bitterly cold like up North. Housing is affordable, especially compared to what we're used to seeing. There would be family on both sides - a cousin in Atlanta area and a brother in Memphis. Oh! and more cousins in Virginia. In fact, that's another benefit. Chattanooga is within a day's drive of 75% of the US population. There are so many places to enjoy on the week-ends. We're excited about making this move.

We're going to visit Disney this week-end and then end that way next week. We'll continue to live in the RV while we get to know the area and eventually get into some housing.

Please continue to check the blog as I'll continue to update it.

Hello Again!!

It's been an interesting trip from North Carolina to Florida. I'd love to share a bunch of photos here but the blog is slow to load. I'll include a couple here but please feel free to check out our photo album. I'll load some photos before I go to bed tonight and let them download while we're sleeping.

When we left North Carolina we drove to Brunswick, GA. We stopped in Savannah on the way. Larry noticed that the distressed stucco with brick exposed on this building in Savannah was authentic.

Here's where our path takes a turn. We left the rig in Brunswick and took the car back North and then East to Knoxville. Larry and I have been talking alot about jobs and our plans. Since Accountemps didn't serve me so well in New England, we're thinking we may have to settle somewhere in order for me to work. We were thinking about Knoxville so decided to check it out. The drive there, through the mountains in Western Carolinas, was beautiful. The autumn colors were spectacular - better than New England (believe it or not). This photo is from Georgia but it's indicative of the whole area.

Knoxville was nice but it wasn't what we expected. Larry had been there before but I hadn't. We decided to keep going and check out Chattanooga. We had just been through there a couple weeks before and liked what we saw. Again, the drive was beautiful. It turns out we like Chattanooga enough to think about settling there.

In the meantime, we stayed with our original plan and have come all the way to Florida. First though, I spent some time with my cousin and her family in Georgia while Larry went to St Louis for work. We had a great visit. Here are (from left to right) Casey, Linda, Joel (me) and Jamie. Let's not forget Max, the toy Schnauzer. :-) They have 3 more kids who are living in other parts of the country.

So, we arrived in Orlando yesterday and I started looking for a job right away. It may be a temp job or even a permanent job. Depending upon what happens, we may live in FL for a while (even a year or two) or maybe not. The next week to month will have a great influence on our plans.

So, stay tuned for more news. And check out our photo album: http://travelingturtles.myphotoalbum.com/

See you in Florida!

Once we unplug and move out (this morning) it's going to be a while before we plug back in again because we're not going to set up out internet satellite dish until we get to Florida on Nov 5th.

We're spending a couple days in South Carolina and several days in Georgia (we get to have a long visit with my cousin and her family!!) and then we'll get to our destination.

Sorry, no photos of North Carolina. It's wooded and pretty here but nothing photo worthy. Fall colors here are not what they are in New England. Maybe we're just too early for it but I suspect things turn more brown than red or yellow.

So... Check back in a couple weeks to see what's up.

Zippin' Around (and a "small world" story)

As you know, from the last posting, I went with Larry on his business trip last week. We first flew to Nashville in order to drive to Atlanta (because Southwest Airlines doesn't fly to Atlanta). The next day we drove back to Nashville to catch a flight to Tampa. However, we had a couple extra hours in our schedule to do something different.

We decided to drive to Turtletown, Tennessee!! What a fitting place for Traveling Turtles, wouldn't you say! It's about an hour from Chattanooga, very close to the North Carolina border. The drive was beautiful as we drove along a lake and then along a river where autumn is still approaching peak color.

As it turns out, there isn't much to Turtletown. There were plenty of country homes in the area but not much in the way of business.


A post office is about the only thing open. There is a good size school but it appears to be closed. Ducktown, about 10 miles away, is where the businesses seem to be thriving.

Tampa was a repeat city for us but Ft Lauderdale was new - at least for me. You may have enjoyed some of the sights had I taken some pictures but I didn't. It all seemed like repeat and I wasn't motivated to use the camera. Sorry ya'll.

On Saturday we went to Colonial Williamsburg. Now that was interesting. This is the actual site of the colonial town and includes 88 of the original buildings. We learned about certain trades such as blacksmithing, book binding, shoe making, saddlery, wheel making and more along with details of how life was back then. Then, of course, there were the turbulent times just prior to the revoluntion.
Here's a photo of a brick kiln. What is unique is that the kiln is built once a year using the bricks that they have made all summer. It takes five to six weeks to build the kiln and several days to get the fire up to full heat. It burns for about a week before they seal the ends and let it cool down for several weeks. Finally, they'll take the whole thing apart and repeat it again next year. The outside is skimmed with mud to help hold the heat inside. For more photos, check out http://travelingturtles.myphotoalbum.com/ (but look tomorrow because it takes hours to download and I'll do it tonight).

Finally, at the end of the day, we headed back to our car via the visitor's center. That's when I saw someone I thought I knew. I looked twice and I still wasn't sure. I thought hard to remember her name. This would be going back 6 years and more to when we lived in Santa Rosa. Laura and their son went to Santa Rosa Christian School together from Kindergarten to 8th grade. I remembered Paul's name just fine. It took me a moment to remember his last name and finally his mom's first name.

She and I talked often in the parking lot at school. We both went to Bible Study Fellowship. We went on field trips together. Ah yes! I remembered her name and hurried to get within calling distance and called her. She looked up; it was her!! The first thing she said was "What are you doing here?". That's exactly what Larry's cousin said to us we when ran into her at a public pool in Washington. The four of us chatted for a while, catching up on what we've been doing for the last six years. It truly is a small world after all.

On Sunday morning we had breakfast with some friends (and distant relatives) who live in Virginia. They graciously drove an hour from home to meet with us. We had dinner with them 5 years ago when we made our first trip back East. We could talk for hours so of course breakfast just wasn't long enough - but at least it was something.

By the way, we are definitely in the "South" now. Larry heard someone cheerfully say to someone else, "Ya'll have a good rest of ya'lls week." That is my salutation to you; uh, I mean to ya'll.

Along the way

We're making progress. Saturday we drove from New Hampshire to Virginia. It wasn't our plan to make it all in one day but it was so easy. We were in 8 states on one day! NH, MA, CT, NY, NJ, DE (Delaware), MD (Maryland), PA and VA. Wait! That's 9 states.

For dinner we went to the two well-known Philly Cheesesteak Sandwich shops. Pat's and Geno's are across the street from each other. The streets in the neighborhood are quite narrow with cars parked on both sides. There is room for only one car on the one way streets. KIT (our navigator) took us through without a hitch. The locals are nuts! They parked their cars in the crosswalk or wherever they pleased while they purchased their sandwiches. The lines were long but that means it's good, right?

Larry bought a sandwich at Pat's and I bought one at Geno's. We order the same sandwich - a provolone with onions; or "wit onions" at Pat's. Here's our humble critique: both sandwiches were identical; both were nothing special. The meat is not seasoned, the onions undercooked, and the cheese was skimpy. But, we had the original and now we can say we have!



The next day we went to the home of Thomas Jefferson: Monticello. The grounds are beautiful, the home is unique and the tour was very good. I'd have to say though that I learned more about the man himself at the visitors center that we visited 5 years ago. Unfortunately, I didn't take my camera on the tour so I have no photos of that for you.

Today, I'm in Atlanta, tagging along with Larry on his business trip. Later today we'll fly to Tampa. Tomorrow we fly to Ft Lauderdale. It will probably be a week before you see another post. Until we meet again...
Happy Trails to you.

Last Day in New England

Tomorrow morning we pull out. It may be a while before you see another post; but, keep your eyes open just in case. We're taking 3 weeks to get from here to Florida and we're doing some fun things along the way. Larry has some work to do and will be flying out from different airports along the way. I'm going to go with him on one of his trips.

Although today was prep day for leaving we took a couple hours off and finally used this golf course we've been parked next to for two months. Larry played and I caddied. Here's some shots:



PS That's our rig in the background.

Before & After

Before (late Aug.) & After (mid-Oct.)

That dark red tree behind our rig is an Oak. I've only known Oaks to turn brown. The red quickly turns to brown but the overall effect is red.

These trees are the latecomers. They just started turning during this last week - way behind many others.

The short red tree is a Sumac.

Some of the prettiest sites have been in our own neighborhood. This is just down the street. We are so blessed to be able to enjoy these views.

"Mt Greylock Nature Ramble"

There was a special on TV recently about New England in the Fall and one of the features was a community hike up a "mountain". Larry and I thought it would be fun to join 3000 other people for a hike.

We got up early and drove 3.5 hours to Adams, Mass. We didn't see any crowds and there was plenty of parking. We began to wonder if we somehow missed it. But, there was a shuttle bus so we climbed aboard. It took us up and up. I began to wonder if the hike was down only. But, it dropped us off at the trail head where a few others were and we started walking. We walked steadily up and up and up. The trail was moderate but long. We walked uphill for an hour and a half (without stopping!!) and finally made it. Come to find out, this is the tallest "peak" in Massachusetts. It's all of 3,500'. While I'd have to differ with their definition of "mountain", I would agree that the hike it just as serious as a hike Yosemite.



Remember "Kit", our navigator device? You would think, wouldn't you, that "she" would take us the same path going and coming? Not!! On the way there, she took us via Interstates as much as possible. On the way home, she took us back roads with about 1 mile of Interstate. Amazingly, it took about the same amount of time. The best part was seeing all the beautiful countyside.

These are a few of My Favorite Things

Just in case I've haven't told you... my favorite horse is the Clydesdale. Today I had the opportunity to hug a Budweiser Clydesdale in Merrimack, NH. This is probably the cleanest horse I've ever had the occasion to kiss. :-) Once a month, for only a couple hours, Budweiser gives the public access to these magnificent horses. Tom is small for a Clydesdale but we won't hold that against him.

On the Budweiser grounds we saw lots of Monarch Butterflies who apparently love these daisies (or Asters or whatever they are).

Leaf Peeping

Hello everyone!

The fall season is progressing quickly now. It's getting really pretty here in Southern New Hampshire so it's time to head out and see the sights! Yesterday we headed for the coast and then North into Maine a little. We ate at the same lobster place in Yarmouth that we ate at 5 years ago. (Remember Laura?). It strikes me as so odd to order and eat lobster outside and have it served on a paper tray.

Today we headed North to the White Mountains. The Maples are lovely but the Aspens (or Birch; I don't know which) were leafless already. They seem to grow taller than the Maples so entire hillsides had a grayish overtone from all the bare branches. On Thursday we had rain and wind (high winds in the night) which I believe have knocked a lot of leaves down sooner than would otherwise happen. Once we got onto smaller roads and actually into the trees the Aspens didn't spoil it anymore and it was wonderful. Sometimes, when the sun shines just right, some trees appeared to glow.

If truth be told, I think Vermont is prettier than New Hampshire. It seems to have more open area and vistas. So, we didn't spend the whole day in the White Mountains, we also went to Vermont! Cabot Cheese (in Cabot, VT) has won every award there is to win in the cheese world and we heard they have Horseradish Cheddar. So guess where we went! We got the best cheese factory tour we've ever had and tasted the best cheddars ever. Even I liked the Horseradish Cheddar because it had the flavor without the kick. Another favorite of mine was Chipotle Pepper Cheddar. Yummy!

We finished the day back in the White Mountains with a long bike ride. First we tried a trail but it was suited for only experienced mountain bikers. After dealing with lots of rocks, sticks, mud and steep inclines we decided to go back and ride a quiet blacktop road instead. We thoroughly wore out our legs and gave our hearts a good work-out with about a two hours ride. (Please note, in the photo at the right- that is a "mountain" in the background.)

Can you believe that we'll be leaving here in a week? Originally, our plan was to stay through the end of October but the RV parks says they're closing and we must go. We feel we've seen the best of Autumn and are ready to move on - or will be by the end of next week. We'll take about three weeks to get to Florida so there will be plenty to see along the way.

Maybe tonight I will add more photos to our online photo album. If you are so inclined, check out http://travelingturtles.myphotoalbum.com/.

Turkey & Worcestershire Sauce

We had a visitor! Other than squirrels and chipmunks, this is the first sign of wildlife I've seen up close. About 3 weeks ago we did see a turkey (maybe the same one) across the camping area from us but up-close is different!

He first caught my attention when he jumped onto the picnic table. The next thing I knew he was on top of our rig! (Did I mention in the Montana post that turkeys can fly?) Chickens can't and yet these big birds can. Amazing.



After a while he got off our roof but got onto the pickup. He spent considerable time pacing back and forth and looking into the cab, as if there were something in there he'd really like to check out. Eventually, he jumped onto the top of the cab, sat down and rested for quite some time.

How do you pronounce Worcestershire Sauce? I've always struggled with that. Well, no more; now that I know how to say Worcester. (I learn these things from listening to the radio.) Would you like to know how to pronounce city names like: Worcester, Gloucester, Leominster and Peabody?

Worcester is pronounced Woo-ster; which rhymes with booster. Now, doesn't that make the sauce easier to pronounce?
Gloucester is pronouned Glue-ster; which also rhymes with booster.
Leominster is Lemon-ster; yes, like the citrus fruit.
Peabody - now this is fun; to pronounce this one, say the three letters P B D with emphasis on the P.

There are a few other nuances in this area, spoken by long time residents but I'd have to say that, by and large, our country is losing a lot of it's regional uniqueness. One park ranger said we are becoming more and more homogenized. That's for sure!

I'm looking over a 4-leaf clover that I've overlooked before...

Well, not really 4 leaves; but it has a catchy tune, don't you think? I know - it's weird to write about clover. But, these are different... they're purple! Do you have purple clover where you live?

For our Las Vegas friends - clover is a common weed found in lawns in most parts of the country. Lawns are a living green carpet of grass, usually in place of gravel or sand, which needs regular watering and mowing. If you need a definition of mowing, let me know. ;-)

When I was growing up, we had clover in our lawn but it had white flowers and the flowers were much smaller these.

Navigator

See the little map on the dashboard? That's our newest toy. It's part GPS and part back seat driver. We named "her" Kit in honor of that 70's show about the talking car. This little gadget is so much fun. We enter an address or choose a point of interest in a particular town and it takes us there one turn (or bear right/left) at a time. The fun part is that she seems to have no interest in taking us via major roads. Instead, she seems to prefer the most direct route and therefore, leads us through the most interesting places. We've seen some beautiful sights we would have not seen otherwise.

One day it led us to a roadblock where a bridge was out. We took a right and Kit recalculated the route. Come to find out, we were only about a 1/2 mile from a main route, one that we had been on a few miles back. But we saw some of the most beautiful landscapes because of that little "short-cut".

It's hard to believe Kit knows what she's doing sometimes because we'll be traveling along in the general direction of our destination when she'll tell us to turn onto a tiny little obscure street. What! Can this be right? Sure enough, several twists and turns later we arrive at our destination. I have no idea if it's the faster way but it sure is more fun!

Sometimes we like to tease her. We'll tell her our destination and then we'll not follow directions. She stays quiet calm and recalculates our route. She'll say, "In 100 yards, turn right". When we don't, she'll recalculate again and give us new directions. She never gets frustrated or loses her cool. She must be related to Spock because she doesn't show any emotion!

In the photo above, I was on my way to Nashua (rhymes with Joshua). Within 5 miles of leaving the house I had no idea what road I was on. Nashua is only about 15 miles away but we never took a road I had seen before. I had no idea where I was. Sure enough. She took me right downtown. Actually, this time she did let me down. She took me to Main St when I wanted Daniel Webster Hwy. Come to find out (later), they are one and the same street but the address I wanted was about 4 miles away. It just goes to show we can't trust her 100%. We'd better carry some maps in our car just in case.

By the way - speaking of driving - what's happening with the price of gas in your area? I saw $2.21 for regular today. Up until that, we've been seeing $2.25 fairly often. Feel free to add your comment by clicking the comment button.