August in Augusta

 One thing I love about moving is being able to explore our new home. Recently Meric, Mel and I ventured to downtown Augusta. Augusta has a "river walk" that is a nice trail along the river. On Saturdays just off the river walk there is a street market. There are a lot of different vendors selling various goods. We bought some bread and candied pralines.

I loved the atmosphere of the market. In one of the booths was a band that played music while people danced in the street and children played in the fountain.

It had a relaxed small town feel to it that I really enjoyed. After the street market Meric, Mel and I went on a historic trolley ride.

 

The trolley ride lasted about an hour and a half and took us all through downtown Augusta and pointed out different historical points.

St. Paul's church

Cotton Exchange Building

Monument honoring Confederate soldiers

I particularly liked the Signer's Monument. It is dedicated to the three signers of the Declaration of Independence from Georgia. Two of the signers are actually buried beneath the monument.

Another fun site was the haunted pillar. The legend says that an outcast preacher was angry with the city and predicted that it would be destroyed by wind and the only thing left standing would be a single pillar. It took about 100 years but the city was destroyed by a hurricane and the only thing left standing was this pillar. The preacher said that whoever touched this pillar would be cursed and die. Of course Meric and I couldn't resist the temptation to touch it.

We really like downtown Augusta. It has a nice small town feel. Parking is free in most places and it is really easy to access the river walk. Also a lot of the historical sites are fairly close together which makes walking to them all not that hard.

There are so many historic sites and things to see downtown that we couldn't do it all in one day. Meric and I have a list of things we still want to see and do. Augusta looks like it will keep us busy for a while.

Our Georgia Home

We have lived in Georgia now for almost a month. We still miss Kentucky but we are slowly getting use to Georgia. Georgia is by far the most humid place we have lived. Of course it doesn't help that we moved here during the hottest month.

Our new campground

We like the campground that we are living at now. (Not nearly as much as we liked Glendale though.)

Our site

It is really quiet and peaceful out here in the country.

Our front yard

Our backyard

We have a cow pasture behind us with lots of cows and donkeys. Lucy really loves the animals and wants to play with them.

It is nice to sit outside, once it cools off a little at night. There are lots of annoying gnats(black flies) that made sitting outside almost impossible to enjoy but Meric and I fixed that by getting a screen room.

Meric and I are still looking into different options that would be closer to Fort Gordon but for now we are just enjoying our country setting.

 

Moving to Georgia

Being in the military moving is a way of life. We loved Kentucky but after 3 years we knew we were due for a move. Sure enough Meric got orders to report to Fort Gordon in Georgia. Moving is easier because we can just hook our house to our truck and haul it were we need to go but it still takes a little work to get it ready especially after staying in the same place for 3 years. We had to get both trucks in good working order and make sure that both the 5th wheel trailer and our cargo trailer were ready for the long haul to Georgia. I was especially worried about the tires. Trailer tires really need to be well maintained due to the weight they have to hold. Sitting for three years isn't the best thing for tires but we had kept them covered and tried our best to keep them in good shape. Since we bought the 5th wheel brand new we knew exactly how old the tires were and how many miles they had on them. The cargo trailer tires were a little more of a mystery. They didn't look nearly as good as the 5th wheel's tires but they were holding air just fine and we made sure we had a spare tire just in case. With all our projects done we were ready for our trip to Georgia.


Fort Gordon is only 7 1/2 hours away from Fort Knox and in the past Meric and I would easily make that trip in one day. Of course now we have little Mel to think about and we decided to split the drive into 2 days. Our plan was to drive about 4 1/2 hours the first day and stop at a campground over night. The second day would then only be 3 hours and we would be at our new campground.


After a very difficult and tearful goodbye we hit the road. Meric was hauling the 5th wheel and I was pulling the cargo trailer. Meric had 2 dogs with him and I had Mel and the other dog. Our first milestone would be making it through Nashville, TN. I hate hauling a trailer especially through traffic. We left just late enough to hopefully miss all the rush hour traffic. Nashville came and went without a problem and shortly afterward we pulled off to get fuel, let the dogs out and feed ourselves and Mel.


Once that was all done we hit the road again. I was right behind Meric about an hour later when all of a sudden a black panel flew off the side of the 5th wheel. The panel was shortly followed by a tire. That's right a TIRE. I called Meric and told him he just lost a tire and we quickly pulled off at the next exit. Once stopped Meric got out to inspect the damage. He was expecting to find a flat/blown out tire and was surprised to find no tire at all. Changing a flat tire would have been no big deal but when you have all of the lugs broken off it makes things a little more difficult. As we sat in the gas station parking lot trying to figure out our next move we looked over at the building next to us. It was a tire shop. Meric went over to the shop and explained our problem. They said that they couldn't help us there but another shop less than a mile away would be happy to help us. We drove over to that shop and 4 hours and $600 later we were back on the road again.


We finally pulled into the campground just after 9pm. It wasn't the short day or relaxing evening I had planned but we had made it that far and it was so nice to sleep in our own bed. The next morning we headed out again hoping this time to make it through Atlanta, GA and not have any more surprises. Atlanta is a very busy city and I was so glad to get through it. Once outside of Atlanta we stopped again for food and a break.


(A quick note about Mel. She isn't your typical baby that falls asleep easily in cars. She likes looking out the window and doesn't want to miss anything. She doesn't cry or fuss much while driving but I usually can hear her playing and talking. On this long trip she did sleep and play but she also had a few times of not being very happy in the car. The trip would definitely been easier if she had someone who could talk to her or give her a pacifier when she needed it. All in all though she did very well for being stuck in her car seat for so long.)


It was only a couple more hours and we were pulling into our new campground. It is much smaller than the one we came from but it has the same laid back feel. Our back yard is right next to a farm that has cows and donkeys. This campground is less busy and a lot quieter than Glendale but we are slowly getting use to it. Like at Glendale Campground Meric's commute is kind of long and we are looking for other campgrounds that might be closer. Of course we ended up loving Glendale so much we decided that it was worth the drive so you never know...

Our Piece of History

Before moving away from Kentucky Meric and I made one last trip to the Peddlers Mall. The Peddlers Mall is like one giant indoor yard sale. People rent booths and fill them with whatever they want to sell. I love it because you never know what treasures you might find.


On this particular trip Meric and I discovered an old army trunk. The trunk looked like it was in pretty good condition on the outside. When we opened it up to check out the inside we discovered that this was no ordinary trunk.

It was a WWII army field desk. (AKA the coolest desk ever!)

The lid has a leg attached to it and hooks so that it can attach to the side of the trunk and form the desk. The inside of the trunk is organized with 7 drawers. Meric and I both fell in love with it and after a day of deliberation we went back and purchased the desk/trunk.


We have been looking for a desk for a while and this one fits so well with our personalities and life style. We love that it is part of history and that it fits perfectly into our trailer. The best part is that whenever we move the trailer all we have to do is put the lid back on and we are good to go.

Goodbye Glendale

When Meric and I first moved to Glendale Campground we thought it would be for only 3 months. Our intention was to move to the Army campground closer to Fort Knox so that Meric wouldn't have such a long commute. Now 3 YEARS later we find moving away from Glendale Campground to be our hardest move yet.

Our Glendale home

Glendale Campground is owned by Lynne and Mike Smith and is truly a family ran campground with the help of their daughters Jessica, Hannah and Emma. Where Meric and I are "full-timers" most of the campers at Glendale are "seasonals" and come on the weekends throughout the April-October season. There are also campers that like to come every year on certain holiday weekends. Between the Smiths, the seasonals and the recurrent campers Glendale Campground is full of some of the best people you could ever hope to meet. The Smiths are the most genuine people I have had the privilege to know. They sincerely want everyone to have a good time and go above and beyond to help whenever they can. It is not hard to see why they attract people of the same quality.

The Smiths and campers became our family.

We spent holidays together.

Fireworks over Glendale

Skydiver coming in for a landing

They all watched over me and helped me while Meric was deployed. Mike spent days helping me figure out some electrical issues I had while Meric was gone. 

I learned to swim in the Glendale Campground swimming pool. I helped plant the flowers that surround. the pool. I even got to help paint the pool one year.

In the off season we would go shooting together. I went skeet shooting for the first time with the campers and used Dave's gun. (Dave was with Meric when he bought me the same kind of gun for my birthday.)

Meric and Jessica loading ammo

I painted Emma's nails for her first day a school 3 years in a row. Emma and Kyla spent so much time with us and the dogs I was often asked about my 2 blonde daughters.

Emma, Mel and Kyla

They were among the first to know about my pregnancy and my first night home from the hospital was spent at the Smith's house. Lynne was Mel's first babysitter.

Mike holding Mel her 1st night home from the hospital

Emma and Hannah with Mel

Meric and the guys would go to breakfast every Saturday morning during the season. We had game nights, parties and countless nights around the fire. I stole Dave's fire poker whenever we would do a fire during the week so often that he gave it to me as a going away present. (We didn't need to do a fire on the weekends because we would just use Dave's.)

At our going away party the Smiths presented us with the hand print flag the campers made on the 4th of July. They made it for us.

We have been through a lot at Glendale Campground and have so many wonderful memories. They aren't just our friends, they are our family. Moving away has been so hard but it is good that it is hard. It means that we have formed deep bonds that will last for a long time.