Winter Trip 2015: Heading towards home

Thu. Mar. 5-Sun. Mar. 8: It was a real luxury to have as much time as we needed in the morning to winterize the camper. As we worked in 80 degree humid conditions on that, and packing in suitcases for the end of the trip, Oiens finished installing their screen and packed up the van to exchange at the RV place in Lakeland. We all went to Tim’s Café one more time for lunch and then bid each other God Speed and safe travels. Marv and I got on I75 and headed north. We stopped for an hour or so at Payne Prairie State Park late in the afternoon to hike a bit, stretch our legs, and eat wraps Marv had made the night before. 

Eagles' nest right next to the walk to the Visitor's Center

Those black dots are wild Spanish horses feeding on the prairie

Those brown specks are deer feeding on the prairie

Selfie!

The brown "swoosh" is a juvenile eagle wing flapping

A well- (and recently) fed water snake

Sunset at Payne Prairie

By evening we were driving in light to heavy rain showers and the temperature dropped sharply. We were so relieved we had the camper taken care of and wouldn’t have to set up again. The America’s Best Motel at Lake City wasn’t nearly as nice as the one we had stayed in in Arkansas but we made do and got back on the road early Friday morning. At Forsythe in southern Georgia we got off the highway and drove just a few blocks to their Historic Downtown District, where there is an old Courthouse in the middle of the downtown square of shops.  On one corner across from the Courthouse we found The Prime Palate restaurant. There were plenty of locals in there which is always a good sign. One can order from the menu or just eat off the Buffet, which we did. This was all good, greasy, authentic southern cooking with dishes like Black-eyed peas, cornbread, baked and/or fried chicken and/or fish, meatloaf, peach cobbler, carrot cake, and more. We were stuffed as we left so we walked around the square just to work off a little bit of the food before we climbed back in the truck. 

The Prime Palate

County Courthouse in Forsythe, Georgia

We made it to Atlanta and spent about an hour in traffic getting to Rachel and Mike’s new home where we met Cecelia and I gave her a bottle and held her a long time, while Marv played some ball in the backyard with Mikey. 

Mikey is loving the new backyard and playset

Rachel with a wide-eyed Cecelia

Marv and Mikey get out the Thomas Train we brought him

We also changed our reservation at a Comfort Inn in Chattanooga to one in Pioneer, Tennessee because we thought we could drive further before bedtime. That turned out to be a nice, newly remodeled motel with a full, hot breakfast. Steady driving on Saturday took us to an hour outside of Cincinnati where the traffic slowed to a crawl. The hold-up really didn’t seem to be because of the snow & ice storm that had mucked things up just a few days before. Luckily we could listen to the MSU/Indiana basketball game as we waited. At Covington, Kentucky we stopped at an Applebee’s for a late lunch while we watched the Spartans squeak out a win in the second half. Whew! We made it to Carmel before 5:00 and Ken, Jen and Josh were still there following Jordan’s 7^th birthday party. Jordan opened our presents and started the Star Wars vehicle we had given him. We had intended to take everybody out for dinner at Max & Erma’s (a new favorite because of their Ice Cream bar) but it was an hour wait and no one had the time so instead we went to McDonald’s Playland. Ken and family headed home, the kids went to bed and we spent a quiet evening on our tablets as Craig worked on a big project he needed to finish. Sunday we left Craig working at home while the rest of us went to St. Peter’s UCC, and Marv and I sang in the choir with Sarah, as usual. We got home after noon so Marv and I stayed to watch Jordan open his family presents and then we got back on I69 to head north. 

Eli, Jordan and Analyn

Jordan and Analyn

Jordan loved the Bow and Arrow set from Eli

Our final stop was at Ken and Jen’s where they fed us yummy Chicken Enchilada soup and we celebrated Ken’s birthday with presents and Jordan’s extra MSU cake, which Cessa had made and he graciously donated to Ken. We got home soon after dark (since this was the first day of Daylight Savings Time), where we found everything in good shape. Hadley had turned up the heat in the house and we emptied the cab of the truck before we fell into our familiar bed with relief, joy and gratitude for another fantastic Winter Trip.

The Belated-Birthday Boy

Josh helps Ken open his present