A Beautiful Leg

Crooked River State Park
St. Mary's Georgia

As we head north to supposedly, allegedly, presumably, hopefully and stupidly believe we will finally get the repair parts for this big bus, I’m thinking a recap of the first leg of this adventure would be a fun thing to do.

After a great sendoff from NY, and a wonderful weekend in Pennsylvania, we spent the summer in Canada, where it rained practically non-stop. Nevertheless, it was cool and beautiful and wide-open and forested and unspoiled in a way to make you understand the downside of the rampaging growth we have become inured to.

In a nutshell, Ontario is the US with more trees, Quebec is France without the snobbery, New Brunswick is half and half, a wonderful blend of French and English influence, Nova Scotia is one of the most beautiful places on earth – a veritable Christmas present of fir trees and blue sky – and Prince Edward Island is golden and green and doesn’t have very many mussels, or oysters, for that matter.

We were hauled back to Syracuse in the fall, where they still didn’t have our RV parts, and as a result, we were able to see a little bit of every state in the Northeast, all of which are wonderful, but since Vermont gave us Lyme Disease and no-see-ums, we were less entranced, even though I’ve skied there, and nothing can compare.

After a lovely break in the NY area, where we saw friends, and missed everybody in my family, all of whom were otherwise engaged, we headed out to Nashville to see the Eagles. I’ve never been a groupie before. It was fun, despite the fact that I fell off a ladder and badly sprained my wrist, and John was diagnosed with shingles on top of the Lyme Disease two days prior.

We tooled around that area, from Tennessee to Cape Hatteras for a week of R&R in North Carolina’s Outer Banks. When we were exhausted from resting, we dragged our flaccid muscles back aboard the bus and headed for some more national parks. Congaree in South Carolina, Hot Springs in Arkansas and Mammoth Cave in Kentucky.

We headed south through Mississippi to Alabama, stopped there for a few days, and then proceeded towards Destin, Florida, and stayed directly on the beach. Give us a beach and we’re happy. We headed to Tallahassee, where we got some maintenance done on the RV, traded in our ugly 9-year-old Saturn (the one that went on fire) for a Jeep, and visited the State Museum of Florida.

After a lovely weekend spent with friends in Palm Coast, Florida, near Jacksonville, we headed north to St. Mary’s Georgia, on our way to the cosmetician who will restore our coach to its previous loveliness. If you believe what they’re saying.

All in all we’ve visited and spent at least one night in 21 states and 5 provinces, and once we set our sandal-shod feet in Delaware, we’ll have seen all of the Eastern States, Eastern Canada, and then some.

Then of course, we’ll have to drag out the sneakers and boots, the gloves and jackets, and face the reality of colder weather. I for one am looking forward to a late-season taste of Fall, but my husband is not as enthusiastic. I think if he had his way, we’d chase the sun endlessly.

But we both hope that this will be the last time we have to trek to Syracuse. In our lives. No offense, Syracusians. But I don’t believe you guys have a beach.

Betty