CFFC CALENDAR

Thursday 06 March 2008
1000 we are packed, loaded and slided and heading towards Augusta, Georgia. After John drove out of the park, we switched places. I drove to Fort Gordon check-in station, and he took it from there to our parking spot. Fort Gordon is huge and has 1200 miles of lake frontage along with several campgrounds. We are staying at Pointes West Army Recreation Area, located approximately 26 miles west of Augusta, GA. We were settled in around 1530. On the way here I was the breaking wind driver and noticed smoke coming from the Fuller's rig. We all pulled over and learned their suspension air bag deployed knocking a piece of metal into the side of the left rear tire on their truck. After a reset of the air bag and a tire change, we were on our way again. Once checked in the lady recommended Hank's Pizza. We found an old service station that had seen good days many years ago. It had a small store, fishing goods, live bait, lottery tickets, boiled peanuts and a tiny restaurant. If you have not tried boiled peanuts, I highly recommend not passing up that experience. Delicious! I will boil some when getting home. Back to the store. One lady did everything. The pizza there is one size for $8.99 and anything on the list for toppers. We were suspect about the food, and were surprised. This pizza earns five stars. It is one of the best I've had in years. Too bad pizza is not considered one of the healthy food groups, as I would have another one tomorrow. We settled in for the night. Joe slept deeply, which he needed. I had a restless night due to the quiet. Yes, quiet. There weren't any roaring highway sounds to lull me to sleep.

Friday 07-Mar-08
As predicted, this was to be a drenching rain day. Around 0800 the rain began. Soothing and steady was the downpour. We had a late breakfast and settled in to view the lake, listen to the rain, and read. Late morning there was a loud crash. Even though the rain water was pouring off the awning, it apparently was holding a lot of water also. One of the arms snapped away and the awning came crashing down on the side of the coach. The arm that broke away tore a small quarter size hole in the canvas and smacked the side of the coach hard enough to leave a dent down the side. Dave Fuller came over and eventually the awning was rolled and locked closed. One end is not as tight as John would prefer so he worked on it again this afternoon. He may decide to place a tie around it to further to ensure it will not catch and pull out when we travel next. Needless to say, the awning will not be deployed again during this trip. Around 1400 we went to the camp office to update the Good Sam Travel Journal. They have Wi-Fi there. Back to camp for another quiet evening. More rain is predicted throughout the night and tomorrow is to be cloudy and cooler. After that the days are to be sunny.

Saturday 08-Mar-08
Today we will help David George organize his storage shed. Leave here around 0930. That was quick and a easy chore. While quite cold and windy, the emptying of two small storage units, and reshuffling took only about one hour. Rebecca spied some dark wooden folding chairs that David George no longer needed and they will soon be around her dining table. He also had a blonde drop leaf table from Italy that he passed on to us. It will make a good game table, beading place or puzzle table. I will take good care of it and appreciate having it passed to our home. Thank you, David George. We left the Fuller's in Augusta with their son and headed back to camp. We made a short stop at Wal-Mart and a Circle K/Shell station before arriving back at camp.

We received a call from Crystal and congratulations are in order. Hazaah!!! Little One. We are always proud of you and know it took many hours of studying and hands on practice to pass your written and hands-on-with-a-patient exam today. Congratulations on earning your C.N.A. license. We will celebrate when we all get home.

Tuesday 11-Mar-08
We enjoyed most of these days at camp. A couple times we went to the lodge to get Wi-Fi for the computer and exchange books we've read. One afternoon we drove over the bridge to Lincolton, Georgia. The view from the bridge gives a good perspective of the large size of this lake...it is BIG. We shared quiet conversations with the Fuller's. Dave picked up a license and went fishing on Monday. He caught one small fish. However, a neighbor brought them two nice sized large-mouth bass. With a steady warming, Lucy got the chance to swim and fetch for quite awhile. She really likes the water. Another neighbor visited with us today. He has camped here a few times and had never caught a Catfish until today. Good going, sir! He likes the area so much, he just recently purchased five acres and will move from Florida to this part of Georgia. Good choice, this part of the country is really 'likeable'. However, so far, for me anyway, Beaufort, South Carolina is keeping a part of my heart.

Wednesday 12-Mar-08
What a day! The four of us headed out to see the Laurel & Hardy Museum around 1000 hours. It is located in Harlem, Georgia which is the birthplace of Oliver Hardy. When we arrived around 1050 the shop was locked. The sign on the door said hours were 1000-1800. Hmm, we wondered. Dave decided to inquire at the barbershop. He learned the lady in charge was off today due to a memorial service for her sister. The barbershop manager then called the city office to find someone with a key. Just a few minutes later, the sheriff drove up and a pretty senior-citizen lady got out, apologized for keeping us waiting and unlocked the door. Talk about southern hospitality! We had just barely started looking around when another lady showed up to relieve the first. Overhearing a phone conversation, the first lady called the sheriff to get a ride back. Only in little towns like this would the sheriff be caretaker of the towns people and friendly chauffeur. Wait, that is not all! Second lady took us into the theatre where we selected the Oliver & Hardy film we wished to see, "Busy Bodies". While watching, she was replaced by a third lady, who had completely forgotten it was her volunteer turn to open and run the shop today. This was the head of the local Laurel & Hardy museum organization, Linda Caldwell. What a wonderful person! She knew every detail of the lives and films of Oliver Hardy and Stanley Laurel. The four of us had a personalized curator guiding and answering our questions. What a fine morning! There is an annual celebration every October that draws over 30,000 attendees. There are at least 350 vendors and for one Saturday in October, this little, gentle, southern-charmed town of Harlem, Georgia comes very alive. For more information, check out their site: www.berthmarks.org.

We came away with many souvenirs and tips for places of interest in Georgia. Linda recommended we have lunch at Bailey's Deli. We did and the food was 5.0 stars...especially the strawberry cake we shared. While there Linda Caldwell dropped in briefly just to let us know she left another book of interest on our windshield. (We later learned her sister managed the restaurant.) Dave and Rebecca headed back to Augusta to visit with David George. Joe and I headed on in town to pick up some groceries at IGA. We spotted the water tower there and took some pictures. Also heading back out of town, noticed another one by the Harlem High school. We took more pictures. Back at camp, Lucy the lab got another chance to swim and we relaxed the rest of the day away.