08 September


THE JOURNEY BEGINS….2,600 miles of it !!





Oh how much there is to learn………the procedures before setting off so that all our interior goods don’t go flying around and that doors are secure; getting familiar with the driving seats; having all the map, exit, and camp site books at hand ready for immediate use; knowledge about the American road systems; the signing and rules at junctions; the lights at crossroads; the way the GPS instructions are worded; and of course coping with the length and width of our new vehicle. I spent a lot of time letting Tom know how near he was to the edge of the road and he coped with me very patiently!



There were also all the rules regarding parking the RV in the different locations,and all the procedures to be carried out when ‘hooking-up’, plus booking into camp sites and visiting picnic grounds and State Parks. Hey Ho! It will come I am sure.



DAY ONE (Thursday 3rd September 2010) Florida and Georgia

TWO VERY PROUD ‘TREKKIES’                                                ON OUR WAY



The first day we drove 250 miles, with two stops for coffee and lunch at picnic areas just off the Highway before pulling into a stop for the night near Lifton, Georgia. We successfully carried out our first ‘hook-up’ in a rather pleasant spot in a KOA Camp Site, only to discover that the place was literally SWARMING with GNATS !!!! That put paid to our idea of the first evening being spent with a glass of wine sitting outside our RV. We sat indoors with the Air Conditioning keeping us cool until lowering our electric bed and collapsing into an exhausted sleep. BLISS !!



DAY TWO (Friday 4th September) Georgia



Another 250 miles (we are in a rut !) with lunch spent at High Falls, Georgia, which was an unexpected find from reading the 2010 Interstate Highway Exit book, which was yet another gift from Bruce and Kitty and one which has proved to be extremely useful.

In the first photo can you see the man who is cooling off in a rather novel way ?



We spent about an hour clambering by the side of the river and watching the foaming water as it churned its way over the rocks, and on such a hot day it was a pleasure to be listening to the sound of the water from the shade of the trees. We continued on our journey but were unfortunate enough to catch the heavy traffic around Atlanta and it was horrendous!! There were gigantic trucks everywhere, creating tremendous air turbulence and sending shudders through the RV steering system each time they roared past us, and to make things worse there were miles of road works causing narrower lanes and steering challenges! Tom coped really well but we were both so glad when we were able to pull off the Highway at Cartersville for the night stop.



DAY THREE (Saturday 6th September) Georgia and Tennessee



215 miles today with our normal morning coffee stop and then a detour to see Ruby Falls and Lookout Mountain near Chattanooga. What an experience…..our first narrow, twisting, steep mountain roads and ones that we had had no intention of travelling upon only the parking attendant for the car park waved us past and pointed up the road, so we duly drove on….and on….and on. Nowhere to park and on those roads nowhere to turn so we continued to the top. Nowhere for RVs! There was a very impressive view from the mountain top but we were in no mood to try to enjoy it (and no place to do so anyway) so we continued our way back downhill again and returned to the car park. The attendant was very apologetic when I explained what had happened and told us that he had meant for us to park in one of the bus bays, so we duly did this and then joined the long queue to pay to see the Falls. THIS was worth everything. A guided tour lasting about 90 minutes which started with a 260 foot elevator descent and then continued with a walk along the cave passages seeing the most unusual formations of stalactites and stalagmites as we progressed. Then, 1120 feet underground, we came to the spectacular waterfall cascading over 120 feet from a small opening into an enormous cavern cleverly lit and with music to fit the scene. AWESOME!!

We then returned to the comfort of wider lanes on the Interstate Highway until stopping for something to eat by the side of a peaceful lake where Tom decided that a future purchase will be Fishing Equipment !! He has visions of himself as the successful hunter providing the freshly caught contents of the evening’s BBQ I am sure !! I’ll be happy to sit and read my book and enjoy the tranquillity. Our journey then continued until we stopped for the night at a Good Sam RV Camp near Smyma, which was OK but nothing special.

DAY FOUR (Sunday 7th September) Tennessee and Kentucky



239 miles today travelling through Nashville and with a wonderful stop (once again it was beside a lake),

and then the best night stop so far at the Wayne Fitzgerrell State Park on Rend Lake. This was absolutely fantastic with large tarmac pull-ins, loads of trees and big grassy areas all round offering total privacy, and a view to sit and savour. Because a lot of RVs had moved out on this the final day of the holiday weekend (Labour Day) we were able to get a lakeside spot for our first BBQ, where we were able to sit and enjoy the breathtaking sunset whilst drinking a rather delicious Rose wine.

  

We could have spent several days there if time had allowed, but of course we had to move along (and of course Tom hadn’t had time yet to buy the fishing rods!) We left the next morning being waved off by the two wardens, (what a splendid way to have a semi-retirement job in a place in which they would have been PAYING to spend their time anyway), and enveloped in a capacious hug – well Val was anyway – and urged to “ Y’all have a safe journey now ya hear”. GREAT SEND OFF !

DAY FIVE (Monday 8th September) Kentucky and Illinois

322 miles today, which was a bit of a marathon but Tom wanted to press on so that we can spend some time in Yellowstone, so we had a very brief stop for lunch and pressed on to our night stop about 30 miles East of Kansas City. A Good Sam stop but very cramped sites and not very impressive. The Laundry facility was very good though and the only drawback is that Val has to do the ironing !!

The Days Leading up to......

08 September


THE DAYS LEADING UP TO OUR FIRST ‘TREK TRIP’ .





It all started on the downward spiral with a 16 hour delay before we even left Turkey followed by the surprise information, when we went to board at Gatwick, that there would be a stopover in Charlotte before continuing to Orlando. Another delay there for 90 minutes, which was a comparative doddle compared to the previous wait, and then we were on our way again for the final part of the journey.



We eventually arrived in Orlando to be met by Bruce and Kitty who drove us to their home, and who totally understood the excitement we displayed when we saw the (OUR) ‘Trek’ standing in their drive. We couldn’t wait to look inside and marvel at our new purchase and for Tom certainly there were the butterflies at the prospect of driving what appeared to be an extremely LARGE vehicle.



In spite of the questions we were bursting to ask and the shopping we needed to do we fell into bed rather early that evening as the eyelids absolutely refused to remain open!



The next day we were up quite early as our body clocks were still working on Turkey time and telling us we were 7 hours ahead so it was NOT 8 am but rather 2 pm and time to be up.



Poor Bruce was lumbered with us for the next 2 days as Kitty had to go to work (lucky Kitty), and so he had the dubious pleasure of driving us around to register the RV and pay the tax and insurance (all of which he had already arranged for us prior to our arrival), and then shopping to buy essentials like a GPS system and an IPad, which had been on the ‘want list’ for a long time. There was very little for us to buy to actually EQUIP the RV as Bruce and Kitty have left practically everything needed for us to set out straight away, and we feel ourselves to be very lucky indeed to be fortunate enough to have met this wonderful couple and be able to call them friends.We did, however, need to do some necessary food shopping, and we had vowed that we would NOT be tempted by all the lovely treats in the supermarkets, and would just buy enough for a couple of days at a time. HA! We emerged from the store with TWO trolleys full of absolutely essential items, which I then had the pleasure of fitting into the fridge and cupboards. Actually not a problem as there is masses of storage space in the ‘Trek’.



The afternoon saw us in the car park of a local church, fortunately deserted being a Wednesday afternoon, where Bruce bravely sat in the passenger seat(in the brace position) and advised Tom as to the techniques necessary when driving and reversing a larger vehicle. Tom then twirled and reversed us around the spaces until we were quite giddy and then, with Bruce’s agreement, pronounced that he was ready to move out onto the ‘real’ driving practice on the road. It went really well and we drove back to the house feeling pretty good and raring to start our journey.



The next day we said goodbye to our new friends knowing that we would be seeing them again in about 3 weeks time, no doubt full of tales of our adventures, (and hopefully go shopping again).

In The Beginning......

The start of a new adventure.....

"Wouldn't it be great to have our own Motorhome, so that we would be able to go wherever we wanted, whenever we wanted?"

Such an idle comment made about 4 months ago and now, in our usual impulsive style, here we are about to travel to collect our very own RV !!

Well it's the story of our life and doesn't it make life exciting?
From that early question (actually delivered in a somewhat rhetorical way) we became rather swept away with the whole idea.

Tom spent hours online looking at ebay RV sales until one particular sale of a 'Safari Trek' had him extremely enthusiastic, and although I too was impressed I managed to talk him out of immediately putting in a bid by talking reason, sense and logic, which I have to say is not normally what we consider when we go off on one of our tangents.

We spoke with English friends who have an RV in America, who go out for 3 months or so every year and travel about at leisure, and they showed us photographs of their travels, and gave us loads of really good advice and tips, and this, of course, simply whetted our appetites even more!! Surprise, surprise.

Tom had now been seriously bitten by the 'Trek' bug and joined an online group called 'Trek Tracks'  where he spent HOURS reading members' letters and also conversing with many other people equally affected by these vehicles' charisma. This was definitely going to be THE RV for us.

We sensibly decided to wait until our proposed house-exchange visit already planned for October, when we have booked to travel to Boise in Idaho to stay in the home of Don and Chan, whilst they stay in our home here in Turkey.
We thought it would be sensible to spend some of the 6 weeks seriously looking at RV sales and if a suitable vehicle caught our eye we would be on the spot to 'do the deal'.

HA! HA!

We should know ourselves better.....
Another advert caught Tom's eagle eye....
Too good to miss this one......

To cut a long story short, we are now about to travel off to Orlando to collect our very own RV (a Trek of course) from the most lovely couple Bruce and Kitty, who we have yet to meet, having totally committed ourselves, on trust, to purchasing their RV whilst they purchase another newer model Trek.

So what happened to 'logic',' reason', 'sense' etc.etc.?
Gone out of the window as usual.
We can't wait to meet Bruce and Kitty as they have been so wonderful during our talks and so helpful with the insurances and other legal requirements. We have been invited to stay with them before starting out on our marathon debut trip from Orlando to Boise, and I know that we will have lots to talk about as well as forging a brand new friendship.
We also cannot wait to see and touch our new RV !!