Dear/Grandma Max

The first thing I want to do with this post is give you our address for Christmas mail. Mail sent to the following address with be regularly forwarded to us as we update FMC (Family Motor Coach Assoc) where we will be:

Gary, Julie and/or Elizabeth League
PMB F402907
3590 Round Bottom Road
Cincinnati, OH 45244-3026

I suppose by selecting this photo of the beautiful Angel Oak on St. John's Island, South Carolina, I am tipping my hat to the "old" and wondrous and, while I hope she doesn't take offense, the characterization applies to Gary's mother, Maxine League, who has just spent the last two weeks with us.

Maxine is 95 years old, and while a little frail and in need of balance assistance for walking she is amazingly bright and entertaining. Our plan was to visit her in her South Carolina apartment at The Cypress --- her beautiful retirement home -- and then take her along with us in Buster for a few days. It all worked out well!


MILEAGE:
Buster: Morristown, TN to Hilton Head, SC, to Jekyll Island, GA, to St. Augustine, FL, to the Florida panhandle/Forgotten Coast, to Atlanta: 1,136

Bella: 925

Total: 14,656

State count: 25

Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Kentucky, Georgia, Florida, Alabama

On Monday, November 2nd, we said our good-bye's to my dear niece Renee and her family and started the 8 hour trip to Hilton Head. We had thought that we would have an extra hour as we had to detour away from a rock slide in Great Smokey Moutain National Park which has closed Interstate 40 west of Asheville for 6 or more months we hear. But Morristown (Renee and Greg's home) is already a bit up the road on the Interstate 81 to Interstate 26 detour we were going to make, and Gary made incredible time in Buster. We left on time (8 am -- another amazing feat in Gary's eyes), and so rolled into Maxine's home, The Cypress, as just a couple of minutes after 4 pm. We knew there was a lovely RV park about 1 1/2 miles from The Cypress, but I wondered whether they might allow us to park Buster on the grounds as we would be staying with Gary's brother Dave and Marie for the couple of days we needed to get Maxine ready to go. Mike, the plant manager, said "Sure!" (Thank you, Mike!), and so we pulled Buster right into the lot across from Building C (Maxine is in Building A). It was so great to save that little $35/night! We had dinner with Maxine in her beautiful dining room, and then crossed the causeway (The Cypress is actually ON Hilton Head Island) back to the mainland to the beautiful Moss Creek development where once again Dave and Marie welcomed our little band of three (Thank you, again, Dave and Marie!)

Tuesday, November 3, was a red-letter day in the League family. Our dear Polly, who to our judgment and opinion, was born to be a fabulous mother, gave birth to their beautiful twin boys: Jack Alan (5#, 9 oz, coincidentally Polly's height) and Justin Christopher (6#, 5 oz, coincidentally Chris's height) JONES were born at Smart Medical Center in San Diego. We had driven with Maxine to Charleston with the intention of visiting Fort Sumter. Chris, Polly's husband, kept in great cell phone touch with us all day as he reported on the progress. The little boys were born at 9:42 am and 9:45 (I think) and we received the wonderful news about our lunch time. We had stopped to eat in Charleston at our first Chick-fil-a (which we enjoyed) and were on our way to the Angel Oak. It is reportedly the oldest living thing east of the Rockies and estimated to be 1,500 years old. This means it would have sprouted about 1000 years before Columbus' arrival in the New World. Live oaks generally grow out and not up, but the Angel Oak has had plenty of time to do both, and stands 65 feet high with a canopy providing 17,000 square feet of shade. Its limbs are so heavy, as you can see, that they are propped up and some even rest on the ground (even drop underground for a few feet and then rise again from the ground). It has survived countless hurricanes, floods, earthquakes and humans!

And here we have another survivor .... Maxine Ebert League! Maxine is 95 years old, and lives independently at The Cypress with a little help to get some breakfast, make her bed, make sure her medicines are correct, etc. She has her very attentive son David nearby who takes her out every Tuesday to get whatever she needs. She plays bridge, goes to dinner with friends, and lives to visit with her family. She remains very sharp, keeping up with all the news, and continues to form strong opinions on many matters -- political and family alike. Many of those we encounter marvel at how well she looks ... often commenting that she appears years younger (which of course pleases her no end, which it would any of us).

We also had wanted to go to Fort Sumter, but discovered it can only be accessed by boat and a cruise tour was necessary. We would have needed to get a much earlier start on the day so we settled for a walk along the Battery .... it was a beautiful day for it. We could see Fort Sumter across the harbor and also the lovely park on the point and beautiful homes along the quai.

We tried an alternate route back to Hilton Head, as it had taken nearly two hours when we drove over in the morning; but we didn't do any better on the route selection for the return trip. Marie and Dave had planned a yummy dinner of shrimp pasta, and we arrived late. But it was true: there is no good road to Charleston (from Hilton Head!) But at the end of the day, all we could feel was happiness that today was the day Polly and Chris welcomed their darling boys!


On Wednesday, November 4, we had another quiet day while I worked with HealthSource online and on the phone, and Gary and Liz did errands with Maxine and later picked pecans from the grove at Moss Creek. I also had a great hair appointment, and got my hair reblonded just the way I like it. Thanks to Katie Meyer for the great suggestion of the Hair Designers! Gary had me pick up a pecan cracker at the local hardware store, and it worked great.

We lucked out again for dinner: Gary's other brother (the Blowing Rock folks) and sister-in-law, Steve and Nancy, were driving through Hilton Head on their way home to Florida for the winter. So once again we were able to have a wonderful meal together at Maxine's favorite restaurant, The Bistro.

Our plans had been to hit the road on Thursday, November 5, but when Gary and Liz picked pecans they ran into the stables at Moss Creek. Liz was very interested in taking a horseback riding lesson, and so the next morning she had a date with Gummy Bear. Her instructor, Alex, had her brush Gummy, clean his hooves, learn how to lead him with a lead rope, saddle and check for cinch tightening, etc. Elizabeth loved it. She had been to a horse camp at spring break in 2008, but hadn't done any riding in the interim, and this was a great refresher. I think you can see she is having a GREAT time!

We still wanted to get on down the road, but decided to take Maxine up on her invitation for another lunch at the Cypress. You can see those crazy kids playing around at the table and then posing by the lovely birdcage outside the dining room.

Maxine got set up in her spot in Buster, and we took off. We weren't even exactly sure what we wanted to go next. We had thought about Cumberland Island off the Georgia coast (where JFK, Jr., had gotten married), but there are no vehicles allowed and it is accessible only by ferry. We decided this might be a little too challenging our first day out of the gate with "Grandma Max" (FYI: Maxine was known as "Dear" to her other six older grandchildren, now ranging in age from 42 to 32, I think. Liz is the only one who calls her "Grandma Max.") So we decided to camp on Jekyll Island. There was a beautiful campground there, and the island remains quite unspoiled.


On Friday, November 6, Gary and I spent the morning reorganizing Buster while Maxine and Liz played with this little squirrel. They were trying to get him to eat a peanut, and I think they succeeded.


Then we set out to explore Jekyll Island. There is a beautifully preserved Historic District, all adjacent to the beautiful Jekyll Island Resort. Industrial icons including J.P. Morgan would take the train south from the cold, wintery northeast, and enjoy the ocean and golf off the Georgia coast. We saw the indoor tennis courts, and what they called the "first condominium." Wealthy folks would want to enjoy the amenities of the resort, but would want privacy as well, so beautiful large apartments were built on the campus to accommodate them. It does appear to be a simply idyllic place to "winter" and the romantic live oaks with the hanging moss are simply gorgeous.










































We had a fun afternoon with miniature golf, Gary won by one stroke, and then had one of our favorite motorhome dinners: spaghetti!


On Saturday, November 7, we decided to visit St. Augustine, Florida. It was a little further away from Jekyll Island (about 2 hours drive in Bella) but we knew that at some point we would visit Jacksonville as we plan to get a few routine follow-up medical tests there.

St. Augustine is a wonderful place to visit. It is the oldest, continuously occupied European settlement in the United States. Ponce de Leon landed in this area in 1513 in search of the legendary fountain of youth. Its coastal location dictated its history: as a defense as well as a target for pirates and other adventursome sorts. After the Revolutionary War, Florida was returned to Spain by the British, but many Americans moved into Florida and it was ceded by Spain to the U.S. in 1821.

The Old City is being restored to a likeness of colonial days. Charming Spanish houses with walled gardens line many of the narrow streets. On one of them is the oldest wooden schoolhouse, built between 1750-1760 of cypress and cedar. We enjoyed seeing it:

It was a simply beautiful day, and we next enjoyed our visit to the Castillo de San Marcos, the oldest masonry fort in the United States. It was built between 1672-95, and was the northernmost defense for Spain's treasure fleets. It actually hasn't been restored ... the coquina has stood through time quite amazingly. We were there for a cannon firing.











As we considered our options on Sunday, November 8, we knew that we wanted to spend some time driving as going down the road is one of the most enjoyable parts of the motorhoming experience for us and we wanted Maxine to experience this. One is high up over the road, and the huge expansive windows allow such a great view of the world as it is going by. We saw that the road along the coast of the Florida panhandle was right along the beach, and should be a beautiful drive on a small, non-Interstate highway road. But we also knew some intense weather was expected by the name of Hurricane Ida. We decided to start out and just play it by ear. So Maxine took up her "perch"




and we took off. We were on Interstate 10 to Tallahassee, but then turned off to head south to the gulf coastline. I was driving in this stretch, and it reminded me how skilled Gary is to do this so routinely and expertly for us.

We decided to stop at Carrabelle Beach, and the next morning awakened to some increasing winds and rough seas as Liz and I did a beach walk.



















We weren't certain how far we should go before we turned north to escape the storm. It was predicted that the storm surge would be near Pensacola on Monday evening, November 9. So we drove along the "Forgotten Coast" (as the local Chamber of Commerce calls it) and really enjoyed being so close to the water. By the time we reached Panama City, we decided we probably shouldn't go on to Pensacola, and decided to turn north. Pretty soon, we were in sprinkles and then steady rain started. We did see cotton fields, and cotton bales stacked along the road, which was fun and interesting for we northerners to see. We also saw a couple of interesting license plates! The one on the left, "UBHAVE" was inside an "I'm a Georgia Educator" frame, and we just liked the X's and O's on the BMW.























Tuesday, November 10, we awakened outside Atlanta near our campground in McDonough, GA, to steady rain which continued all day. Liz and I focused on some reading and math, and later in the day we watched the PBS DVD's we had bought at the fort in St. Augustine: Our National Parks. The first four hours we watched were just excellent. We know we are going to enjoy all of them.

Our plans had included two days in the Atlanta area because we wanted to go to the Atlanta Zoo, the Georgia Aquarium, the World of Coca-Cola and a tour of CNN. Since Tuesday was eliminated due to the persistent, fairly heavy rain, we only had time to do two of these: we picked the Zoo and Coca-Cola. It was fun driving around downtown; it was clear the Olympics had been there! (2000)
We didn't have a gorgeous day; it remained a little windy and overcast, but we really enjoyed the zoo anyway. They have many great exhibits, but I think the best must have been the gorillas and the pandas. I had previously seen Ling Ling at the Washington Zoo, but because we were there on such a slow day (school in session, +/- weather, etc), we got an extraordinarily good look. The baby panda you see curled up in the tree is about 18 months old, and will soon gradually be separated from his mother, whom you see eating bamboo on the right. Apparently, as the cub matures, the mother can develop some aggression toward the cub, and an older female cub of this mother was separated from her at about 18 months. The male/father has been kept separate from the family since conception. Apparently pandas do not form a family unit!

You can see one of the gorillas below as well as one of those amazing long-tailed monkeys!






















Liz and Maxine also enjoyed feeding the parakeets,


















and then those three rascals chose their animal masks!









Liz and I finished the afternoon by visiting the World of Coca-Cola. Maxine had had enough and chose to remain in the car, so Gary kept her company and Liz and I visited the Atlanta company's visitor center. It was really well done: educational (a sample bottling process line), entertaining with two short shows, and with lots of memorbilia. And finally they had a huge tasting room. There are over 100 Coca-Cola products worldwide (Fanta, Sprite, Barq's, etc, etc), and in this room there must have been about six or seven stations, dedicated to parts of the planet: Asia, Eastern Europe, South America, North America and at each station there were three banks of 8 drink dispensers (20-25 per station), all with different Coke products. So one had the opportunity of tasting over 120-140 drinks. It was really fun! I would have to say the Classic Coca-Cola WAS the best! Here is Liz in their gaily painted staircase.





We found our way back to Buster, and started our packing. The next day, November 12, Liz and I flew to San Diego to begin our hiatus. We will now be taking a nearly three week break from our motorhome adventure to share in the Twins Adventure. We are thrilled to be able to spend some time with Polly (Gary's daughter) and Chris and their family as they welcome the twins home and get them situated. We'll be in California until December 2nd, when we'll return to Atlanta and continue our traveling. Gary was able to spend a few extra days with his mom as he drove her back to Hilton Head, and we were all reunited in California in November 18. I spent those intervening few days with my dear friend Carolyn Hebbel and her family, and on the next post we'll have just a few lines about this California hiatus.

Happy Thanksgiving to all. We are so very thankful for the healthy new additions to the family, and for the opportunity we are enjoying so much of making this trip of a lifetime.

Blessings and peace,



Julie, Gary and Liz