THE DAILY GRIST…“You will never be completely home again, because part of your heart will always be elsewhere. That is the price you pay for the richness of loving and knowing people in more that one place.” – Author unknown
For the past several years, Mike & I have made a long motorhome trip back to the Nashville and, most recently, Raleigh for the annual IBMA gathering. With being retired and Summergrass just being over in August, a fall trip worked well for us and grew into sightseeing and visiting friends and relatives along the way. Over the years, we have altered our routes with the destination of attending World of Bluegrass. This year was especially wonderful, even with the big swings of weather from hot and humid to lots of rain with thunderstorms and even a tornado (and we weren’t in Kansas!).
In the interest of brevity, I have tried compose a synopsis of the highlights of our back east trip, culminating in our IBMA experience and Nashville time. Dates are numerically listed with the interesting gas prices that you other RV owners will like to note.
9.5 …Leave San Diego and make it to Casa Grande, AZ. Hot! ($2.59)…
9.6 …Make it to Tuscon and it’s hotter. Dust storm rolls through in the evening. ($2.09)
9.7 …Make some great time and roll into Las Cruces tonight. Alittle bit cooler. Lightning and wind. Stay two nights visiting relatives. ($2.34)
9.9 …Camp at Fort Stockton, TX for tonight. Big rainstorm with wind tonight. Kind of exciting! ($2.35)
9.10…Texas Hill Country (Kerrville area) Hot & humid but Marty Stuart & the Superlatives playing here tonight! Sweet!
9.11 …Fredricksburg, TX. Quaint little German town with the Pacific War Museum and the Bob Hope Memorial Museum. Both excellent. Great pie here. ($1.94)
9.12…Luckenbach, TX. Population 8 + hundreds of friendly bikers. Outdoor stage with music, store, post office, general store, and food truck. Colorful place!
9.14… Austin, TX. Recommend their city bus tour. Music everywhere you look! Experienced Terry Black’s BBQ. Brisket is unforgettable. ($1.91)
9.15…San Antonio, TX. Got visit the Alamo. It’s a very revered place to see. Hot & humid still. River Walk boat tour is a must & meal at Casa Rio on the water. ($2.03)
9.16…Baton Rouge, LA. Left Texas Hill Country and put on some miles today. Still hot & humid but now it’s really green too. ($1.85)
9.18…Went through Mississippi & camped at Hope Hull, Alabama. More miles. Hot and humid and green. Scenery is more farmland now. ($1.85)
9.19-22…Savannah, GA. Beautiful city! Recommend the city bus tour and walking the many city squares. Historic buildings abound. Some of Forrest Gump was filmed here. Paula Dean’s was great. Mrs. Wilkes was over the top! A must see dining experience. ($1.93)
9.23…Tybee Island, GA. Great little seaside town. Recommend the Lighthouse & garrison there and Fort Pulaski. American history to see.
9.24-27…Charleston, SC. Saw Fort Sumter, the Battery Walk. Showers and humid still, but such a pretty city. Again the city tour is well worth it. Next day we walked downtown and Virginia’s is a memorable place to eat (She Crab Soup and Key Lime Pie). Toured Locomotive museum and the unbelieveable Hunley museum (the actual Civil War submarine from the Confederates that sank the Houstonia war ship in the Charleston Harbor.) Bucket list item!
Rain and wind here like we haven’t ever experienced later that night at our campground. Plug in our cell phones to charge and went to bed about 11 PM. Rain continued through the night in earnest. In the morning our cell phones had this message – “Seek shelter immediately! You are in the path of a tornado!” We slept right through the cell call. Dang! Then again, where would we go for shelter in a campground? The tornado came about 1 mile from the campground, was 1 mile wide, and laid a path of damage about 7 miles long. Driving the city streets that day we saw branches and debris everywhere. Kind of scary after the fact…($1.77)
9.27-30…Pulled into Raleigh, NC. Went to the Leadership Bluegrass reception to start IBMA week. Great event! Top floor of high rise building downtown. Sweeping views of Raleigh and welcoming hosts there. We camped at the NC Fairgrounds and used the city shuttle into town each day. Raleigh welcomes the bluegrass community with such open arms. Saw multitude of friends during the week, and attended the Mentoring class on Tuesday. Great ideas and speakers in these classes. Still raining off and on but it is not dampening the spirits for IBMA attendees.
We saw many bands perform and went to the luncheons. The CBA Hospitality suite was terrific (great job Lucy & Co.!). The Foundation for Bluegrass Music fundraiser on Wednesday honoring the award nominees was wonderful as well. Proud to be a part of that non-profit group. (Visit our website at www.foundationforbluegrass.org.) The Awards Show was great, too. Great jamming later on Thursday night. Still raining….with lots of flood warnings. Eight inches of rain in 3 days. Wish we could send this stuff back to CA. ($2.07)
10.1…Took out for Nashville and it was still raining in Raleigh. But even in the rain, crossing the Great Smoky Mountains was lovely. As we entered Tennessee, terrain began to even out to more rolling hills. Then the rain stopped! Hey, what’s that bright yellow ball in the sky?
We are visitng family here for about a week or so. Sunny and not too humid. Family gathers to celebrate the soon arrival of Mike Jr. & Joy’s new son – Samuel James due December 9th. Happiness abounds!! Life is way good for us. Got a fiddle lesson to boot and enjoyed the spectacular fall weather here. ($1.97)
10.12…Left TN to get on home. The trees are just starting to change their colors. Nice to feel that cool, crisp fall air.
10.13…Met friends Richard & Sandy Beesley in Oklahome City for dinner at Cracker Barrel. We picked up a guitar for our friend Corky Shelton. Beesley’s filled us in on John Hickman’s recovery and the semi-remodel of his home. Happy to report that John is doing much, much better. And he thanks all of those who contributed to his GoFundMe fund. ($1.95)
10.18…Come on into CA and view the multitude of wind machines around Palm Springs. Yes, we’re in California again. A little greener than when we left and that’s a great things. Stop tonight at good friends’ Don & Nancy Glover. ($2.63)
10.19…Made it home today! 6,000+ miles driven and 44 days out on the road. A wonderful trip and I hope you can see some of these sights sometime yourself. Being on the road grows on you. Mike & I have so many wonderful friends from coast to coast – it’s a real blessing in our lives. We enjoy it so much we think we might be part gypies! ($2.75)
Happy travelin’ out there!
