St Augustine

Welcome to Florida! We entered the sunshine state in ...sunshine! We had a brief stop at TA Truck Services where Karen convinced a really nice mechanic to help us out by emptying the water out of our water/fuel seperator (Karen's learning a lot about diesel trucks).

Our first stop was St Augustine beach just outside of Jacksonville. As soon as we got there and unhitched, we went straight to the beach for Gigi's first experience of the Atlantic. It was pretty rough and G spent most of the time running into then out of the waves. Very funny!

We played in the sand and enjoyed the beach until G spotted the nearest playground and spent the rest of the afternoon climbing and sliding!
That night we had an almighty thunderstorm. Lightning struck very close by and shook the trailer unbelievably! The rain poured down but G slept like a baby.

We spent the next day playing on the beach and starting to really relax until I tried to book our campsites in the Keys and realised they were all booked up! Karen managed to talk me down off a ledge and with dogged research, managed to find some great places for us to stay. It has however made us nervous about our casual approach to itinerary planning. We better make a plan and book all our campsites for the next 2.5 months or be flexible about where we want to go. Decisions, decisions.

Old Town Savannah, GA

Karen:  I've decided I don't like commercial RV Resorts.  They are generally just off a busy street and chock full of 'residents', those who live there instead of somewhere else.  They are either redneck trailer trash or not interested in passers-through.  You get wi-fi (if you want to call it that), a swimming pool, laundry facilities and a full hook-up, but they are more expensive and not as pretty as state parks.  Anyway...

We embarked on our first day of true sight-seeing in Savannah, Georgia.  We arrived at Forsyth Park where we strolled and enjoyed the Live Oaks hung with Spanish Moss.  Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) had a sidewalk chalk competition in the park that gave Georgia something to aspire to.  Pretty cool, 3/4 of a mile of different displays, one example was Elvis' head on a bee with the caption 'King Bee'.

We walked up Bull Street enjoying the gorgeous squares to the river where we had lunch.

  

We had two trips through the playground and found a quiet time with Georgia where we could chill out and enjoy the landscape.  We counted our first sight-seeing a success.

Curbside Lake Pickup

We woke up and took a walk around the idyllic campsite with red cardinals, squirrels, turtles popping their heads up, fish jumping out of the water and sea gulls diving after them.  After lunch, Roy and Jana picked us up on their pontoon boat directly from our campsite.

Roy and Jana's Beautiful boat

We had a lovely day touring 41-mile across man-made lake, Lake Murray.  Later, we found out that Georgia's dip in the cold lake with Daddy may have traumatised her love of swimming.

Come on in, the water's lovely!

After a lovely day in the sun, we re-grouped and went for a fantastic dinner party at Roy and Jana's.  Naughty Mummy and Daddy kept Georgia out until 10:30.  It's time to get on a routine on the road.

Cap'n G

Brother David

The next South Carolina day took us to visit Karen's brother David and her sister-in-law Peggy.  They greeted us from their turn of the century, true southern home, restored and decorated with period appeal.  They offered a walk down to the park and playground and we gladly obliged.

Uncle David pushes Georgia

Georgia was taught to stay away from fire ants and how helicopter seeds flew and Karen was taught about local flowers.  

Georgia and David take a rest

After a turn around the park and playground, we went back to the house where Peggy and David helped us find a diesel mechanic.  Karen had a call with him and got a plan of action to drain the fuel/water separator.  It sounded so easy even Karen could do it.

After that, David and Peggy took us to dinner at a South Carolina classic, Sheely's Barbecue, where people from all around come to 'pay your way in and eat your way out', so we got stuck into South Carolina's famous mustard and vinegar BBQ.

Columbia SC

We left Lake Hartwell this morning.  Tim went to his first dump station to empty sewage from the trailer.  Although it didn't smell like roses, it wasn't as bad as he thought.  Karen was relieved as she's not looking forward to her first go.

Karen took the wheel and successfully drove the truck and trailer to Dreher Island State Park, including a stop at Wal-Mart and a pull through a gas station.  When backing into the campsite we realized that Karen is better at directing and Tim's better at backing the rig up.  Our roles are set for a while, but Karen's determined to learn how to back the trailer in during this slow season before summer.

Southern Hospitality

After having a couple of visits in London by Karen's cousins Roy and Jana, we looked forward to their southern hospitality in their home.  We arrived at their house on a perfect evening and were wined and dined on their deck while Georgia played on the first fairway between golfers.

A great sense of anticipation was in the air this morning as we readied ourselves for the beginning of the great trip. We loaded up War Eagle with food, clothes and the last of our gear, had a teary farewell to Mama and Grandpa and headed off into the great unknown. We had a wonderfully uneventful drive to beautiful Lake Hartwell State Park just over the border in South Carolina. This was going to be our first real backing-in experience and with walkie-talkies in hand, Tim managed to fit War Eagle into our first camping spot like a glove (on the 4th attempt). It was idyllic. Right on the lake, Gigi jumped straight into her swimsuit and this is when Karen realized that she had left all her underwear, swimsuits and shorts back at her parents house. A quick call to Mom and Dad's to get them to FedEx the crucial summer clothes to our next destination, and Karen and Gigi were in the warm water splashing around. 

Tim cooked up chicken and corn on the cob on Eagle's outdoor grill and as we sat there, beer in hand looking out over the lake we relaxed with utter satisfaction knowing that all our hard work had finally paid off. We were here.

Dealerships

We had a check engine light on the truck since we bought it and so we had an appointment at the Ford dealership to have it looked at this morning. Tim met Bill Rush (our car broker) there and Karen and Gigi had a visit with Lynn Douglas and her 3 kids under 3. When the repair sales advisor came out shaking her head with a laundry list of work they felt could be done for$ 5k Tim's heart sank. We decided to decline the repairs on War (which happens to be running great), at this time and find an independent mechanic for a second opinion a little further down the line. It may be a risk but we do have breakdown cover!

War Damn Eagle!

Our new motto,"if there's an opportunity, take it!"  Leslie and Sydney were going down to Auburn University (Karen and Leslie's alma mater) as Sydney is considering attending in a few years.  The event was A-day, auburn's spring football scrimmage.  This was a great opportunity for Tim to see where Karen went to college. The 80-thousand-plus football stadium was almost full for what was essentially a practice! Orange and blue Auburn fans everywhere. They're cry? War Eagle! Why? I'm not so sure but we decided to name our truck War and our trailer is already a Jayco Eagle so our rig is now officially War Eagle! Gigi loved the cheerleaders, the brass band and even the general mayhem. After the game, they do the traditional rolling of the oaks where fans throw rolls of toilet paper over an old oak tree in the town's main square. Absolute chaos. 

The girls

War Eagle!

Pickin' up the trailer

Today's the big day.  Why did Karen wake up nervous?  Because today we drive the truck and trailer together for the first time....on Atlanta's 6 lane, traffic-thick highways.  We  arrived at RV World of Georgia and sat around for a while.  They had to check our truck and install our hitch.  The service manager came out and said he had some bad news.  It wasn't as bad as initial thoughts, just more money.   Because our truck has been lifted (think monster truck), we had to install an additional part to reach the hitch.
We were introduce to Rollen who's been servicing our trailer.  He walked us through how all the systems work.  We took our sales person's advice and brought our video camera to record for future use.
The unfortunate thing was that as soon as we stepped inside the trailer it started teeming down with rain and the wind was kicking up.  As if Atlanta traffic and driving this rig wasn't scary enough.  We were hoping for a break in the weather to drive it to Leslie's where we intend to park it over night.  Here we go!!!

Thanks for your support!

Thank you to everyone who has supported us in our road trip in the US!  We've had free places to stay with southern hospitality, a free vehicle to drive all over the state to see trucks and trailers, fantastic meals and lots of drinks, donations like a folding picnic table, plastic storage containers, portable DVD player and movies for GG, GPS navigation system, box full of art supplies for GG, loads of books and toys, babysitting and recipes for campfire cooking.  We couldn't do this without you!  Lots of love.

The truck

We picked up the truck today.  When we said it was a big truck...there wasn't any exageration.  There's a step to get in, but it may need another.  You hear it before you see it because it is a diesel.  It sounds like a semi (lorry).  It drives very well.  We were very excited.

However, we went to fill it up with diesel and some lights came on the dash!  One warning said, 'water in fuel' and the other was an yellow (amber) engine light.  We did sign an as-is purchase agreement so we panicked.  We must remember not to panic.
We called our broker and set a service appointment for Monday morning.  The good news is our data package on our iPad came in handy as Tim looked up the similar posts on the Ford Enthusiasts website.  As a result, we believe there are some sensors that are corroded as the truck runs fine.  Hopefully, that's all it is.

Terri's in town from NYC!

We're so excited Terri could time her business trip with our time in Atlanta.  [Again, this would not be possible without the help of Turner Broadcasting - we appreciate their support].  The girls (Denise, Fran and Terri

planned an evening out at a fantastic Mexican restuarant, Nuevo Loredo. 

We enjoyed Texas margaritas and Georgia enjoyed tortilla chips.

I'm so glad we could catch up with my girlfriends, Tim was thrilled to be surrounded by so many beautiful women

and Georgia was thrilled with her present from Terri, a unicorn in a purse!

The Broker's Results

We drove down to Atlanta to see the results of our car broker's search.  We arrived at the Ford dealership and Bill said.  This is your truck.  It was a white, 2006 Ford F350, turbo diesel, 4x4 with a 4 inch lift.  We asked what the price was and Karen just about fell out there.  It was half again as much as our original budget for the truck.  Good thing we saved a few on the trailer.  This was more truck than we needed (for those in the know, a 3/4 ton instead of a 1/2 ton).  But it could pull just about anything we put behind it. So, we would feel safe.  With other people nosing around looking to buy it, we jumped on it even before we drove it!  Karen was hyperventilating by then.  That's what you pay a broker for.  We believe the re-sale in Seattle will be very good and hope to break even in the end.

Don't Forget to Relax and Have Fun!

We are back up at Mom and Dad's house and are making time to go to the park and to the lake.  We're very busy, but we're also having fun!

Our first big purchase

We went back to RV World today and had another look at our Jayco Eagle. It's even nicer than I remembered. Whoever owned it really had taken good care of her. It has three bunks in the back and a queen bed up front, a/c, outdoor grill and shower, microwave, stove, oven, fridge freezer, cd stereo and can sleep up to nine! Anybody wanna come visit? We paid for it and set a delivery date of next Friday. Very exciting!

Fran and Iain held a party for us at their house that evening and lots of Karen's old friends came over to visit. Iain did the best shrimp and the barbie I've ever tasted and the kids did Hula-hooping and sidewalk chalk out front. GG had a blast. 

GG and Karen blogging at Fran and Iain's

A Decision

After an exhaustive process of elimination, we made an offer and put a deposit down on this:

Our new home.

 A 2001 Jayco Eagle, 30 foot trailer. We'll go and have another look at her tomorrow. 

We had a lovely lunch at 6 Feet Under with Marilou, a friend of Karen's. Sitting on the roof terrace in the sun eating blackened Catfish, crab cakes and zucchini fries, this is living.

With Marilou at 6 Feet Under

Leslie's friend Tania came over for dinner and Ira cooked us the biggest steaks I've ever seen. It didn't stop me from eating the entire thing! I need to go on a diet.

Karen's Birthday

We started the birthday celebrations with lunch at The Varsity.  The order was chilli dogs, slaw dogs, onion rings, fries, frosted orange and a fried peach pie.  We thought we'd have to go to the hospital before the day was out!

Then Leslie took Karen out for a stress-reducing cocktails at the hottest restaurant in Atlanta, The Optimist.

We went out for dinner last night for Karen's 30th?birthday to a great farm-to-table restaurant called Local Three with Leslie and Fran and Iain. 

Fran, Leslie and Us

I think we all had fun- especially Karen!

After hours on the internet and a our recent disappointment, we were starting to get a bit stressed out about finding a truck so Karen's cousin Leslie suggested we try a car broker to find our truck. Genius! We hired a man named Bill Rush to do the leg work for us. Fingers crossed!

Eureka

Eureka

We went down to Atlanta to stay with Karen's cousin Leslie, her husband Ira and 16 (almost) year old daughter Sidney. 

Georgia enjoying the Air-con at Leslie and Ira's

On the way down there we decided to redeem ourselves and make a monumental search for trailers. We went to three dealerships and dragged GG in 80 degree heat in and out of dozens of different trailers. 

The Search

Much to our surprise, we saw a number of rigs that we thought we could live in. It was at RV World of Georgia that we found her. We were actually on our way out the door when the sales guy, Edward said there was one more we should look at but it was being cleaned. We went to the back lot and the cleaner was just finishing up. It was a bit bigger than we envisaged but felt right. 

Gibbs Garden and the lost truck

Karen's mom took us to Gibbs Garden for the day.  It is a beautiful botanical garden in North Georgia.

Unfortunately, Karen spent the first hour in the parking lot negotiating for the truck.  We didn't believe the dealer "Pop" when he said there was someone in the showroom looking at that same truck.  When we finally gave in and agreed to pay their "best offer", it was too late, the other buyer beat us to the punch.  Karen came back failed and dejected.   Tim shut down for fear of losing his composure in front of his mother-in-law.  

After that the visit to the gardens just wasn't the same.  Sorry, Mom.  We were dejected because we had fallen in love with the truck.  What do they say about emotions in big purchases?

Regardless, the gardens were beautiful and we appreciated being outside and their beauty!

Fruits of our labour?

We think we've found the perfect truck (Ford f 250 turbo diesel in excellent condition).  We got the "dealer's best price" and because of our success with the previous vehicle, we thought we could do better.  Let the negotiations continue.  Let's wait until late morning to call the dealer!

We're so busy driving all over the state of Georgia that we need to take time to enjoy family, friends, the great weather and time to rest.   GG is loving spending time with her grandparents!

Outside Granpa and Mama's house in her Sunday best.

Ready for bed.

Gone fishin'

Woke up today feeling a little worse for wear after last night's Margaritas. Cousin Michael picked me up early to go fishing on the lake at Bent Tree. We met up with his friend Gerry who has a pontoon boat and spent the morning trawling for trout. To be fair, it wasn't my best best day. I managed to lose a big one that was right up alongside the boat and screw up the reel that was lent to me, twice! I managed to catch a very small bass that I threw back. Michael brought in 3 beautiful trout but when Gerry's batteries started dying, it was time to call it a day. I was disappointed but Michael was determined. So, we went back to his house, picked up his John boat (which I learned I should never stand up in), some new lures and went back out on the lake. We trawled for a while and tried casting in some of his favourite spots to no avail. It was time to go in. I was very disappointed that I couldn't contribute to dinner but as we were returning, I managed to catch this:

I've never been so excited! Cousin Lynn cooked them up on the grill and we had a great feast!

The Search

We started our search of vehicles today at Camping World of Woodstock. Unfortunately they didn't have too many that fit our criteria but it was good to look around the lot and see some in person. Glenn, the sales guy, even showed us their top-of-the-line Winnebago. Comes with a 50-inch flatscreen TV and a fireplace. At $380,000 it's slightly out of our price range.

We also went to a used car dealer to look for a suitable tow vehicle. A man named Slim showed us around and eventually Karen ended up test driving a 2002 Tahoe for $8,995. It's enormous but we need something strong enough to pull a heavy load. When Karen got back, Slim asked me what he could do to get me to buy it today. I told him I don't buy on the same day. He said he'd knock $1,000 off the price to $7,995. I thanked him but said I would get back to him. As we were leaving, another man who I assume was the owner of the lot, stopped us and said he could beat any deal that Slim had made us. Without a beat, Karen said $6,000. I looked at Karen with disbelief. He thought about it and said he couldn't beat that. We asked him what he could do and he said $6,000. As far as I'm concerned Karen's in charge of negotiation.

Karen's parents Babysat Georgia and we had a lovely dinner with Karen's cousin Lynn, her husband Michael and daughter Brittney at their favourite mexican place Dos Margaritas. I was introduced to a Texas Margarita- A 27ounce Margarita on the rocks with 3 shots of top-shelf tequila and an extra shot on top. Wow.

Atlanta Arrival

We arrived in Atlanta the day before yesterday with the most luggage I've ever seen. But I guess when you're going away for 4.5 months, you tend to bring a lot with you. It was an uneventful flight except for the drama queen in front of us who, when a bag fell on his head, made such a fuss that they brought him a paramedic and delayed our flight 15 minutes. He got the attention he wanted.

Frannie picked us up at the airport and we just managed to squeeze our life into the back of her Audi mini-SUV. We stayed with her and Iain in Atlanta, had a drink as is usual, and slept. Dad picked us up yesterday and we came up to Bent Tree. It was pouring rain, so Georgia spent the day tearing up Mama and Grandpa's house and chasing Gracie around the house.

The next task that weighs heavily on me is finding an appropriate trailer and tow vehicle. I looked online last night, and the one I had had my eye on for weeks is finally gone. Bummer. But we'll start our search at some local dealerships today and hope for the best.

The Idea

When I was 5 years old my father took a sabbatical from work. He and my mother packed up my two sisters (8 and 11) and my brother (9) into a 25 foot trailer, hooked it up to my dad's old Chevy sedan and took us on a 16,000 mile road trip around the United States and Canada.

Although I was young and only remember a few snippets, they talked about it being one of the greatest adventures they ever took with our family and this has stayed with me ever since.

It's my turn now. I have encouraged my wife, Karen and my daughter Georgia (2 years-she didn't take much convincing ) to spend 4+ months on the road, travelling the breadth of the US and Canada in one of these:

We leave tomorrow for Atlanta, Georgia where we'll buy a trailer and a truck and set off on our wild adventure.

Wish us luck!