June 28 - Lunch With Kim and Jeff

Our last day off, but we had a really good day. Bill slept in and I got up and just sat in the chair and relaxed til it was time to get him up. I wanted to leave at 10:30 to meet Jeff and Kim as I wanted to stop and see if our mail packet came on the way. We only had toast and fruit since we were meeting for lunch at 11. We received a mail packet and the “business” cards I ordered with a picture of Antelope Canyon for the background. I thought they would be nice to have to exchange or give people we meet with our emails, address, and phone numbers on them.

Lunch at Uncle Bubba's

Jeff called as we got in the truck and said they were early but there so once we arrived at Uncle Bubba’s we still had a 5 minute wait til they started seating. Bubba is Paula Deen’s brother. We’d heard both good and bad about it but Jeff and Kim had both had good meals there. We were the first once there and got a nice corner table with views of the docks and their landscaped patio area. They both had the fried shrimp and said it was really good, Bill had grilled chicken, which was grilled chicken and I tried their version of shrimp and grits. It was way better than Tubby’s but not as good as Tortugas. I think it was really more the local recipe. After lunch we went out and sat at the patio and just talked for a long time. Then we said our good-byes and talked of future camping trips together.

Bill and I stopped at the post office and Walgreens to pick up my photos. Then we went to Sam’s to get the new video camera. This time I got a Sony and boy is it tiny. I have it charged and have started programming it. I also got a rotisserie chicken for dinner since it would be about 6:30 by the time we got home and we fueled up there as the diesel was .10 less per gallon. Now we can schedule some things we’ve put off since we could not video them. We were early for the movie, Bad Teacher, (which was also a bad movie) so I read up some on the camera while we waited.

We did get home around 6:30 so we had some chicken and knocked off the leftover green beans, brown rice and waldorf salad. Bill had some sliced tomato and cottage cheese with his. Then we shared the end of the pound cake. Xena was ready for her walk and when we got back I put together caramel sweet rolls to bake for work in the morning and took all the chicken off the bones, did a load of wash and got my shower. Time to watch White Collar and Covert Affairs, journal, work on some photos….and get to bed for work (ugh) tomorrow!

June 27 - Sightseeing and Family Visit

Busy day! We were up just after 8. Our neighbor knocked to let us know they were going to be shutting the water off shortly so we hurried and got our showers. We had breakfast after, then while Bill cleaned up the kitchen I wrote 2 days of journals before it was time to go.

We drove down to River Street in Savannah to get pictures of The Waving Girl statue. It’s a monument on the river dedicated to Florence Martus who spent 44 years waving a welcome to each incoming ship and goodbye to all out-going ones passing to and from Savannah Harbor. The story is she waved good-bye to her beau and continued to watch for his return and wave to the ships. She never saw him again and lived with her brother who was the lighthouse keeper. It’s very sad!

One of the planes on display

Bill and Jimmy Stewart

From downtown we headed out to Pooler where we stopped at Camping World for a couple of things and to find out about the leak under the sink when flushing the black tank. We learned that it’s the siphon valve and next time Bill tries to flush the tank if it isn’t working properly I will call our RV company and order the part. It looks pretty easy to replace, just in a tight awkward spot. We had lunch at the Cracker Barrel across the street, then went to the Mighty Eighth Air Force Museum that is at the same intersection. It’s really a nice museum and we spent about 2.5 hours there. They have several good videos and lots of WWII memorabilia. It basically dedicated to the men of the 8th Air Force Division. It was all built on donations and private funding.

Jeff called when we were close to done and let us know they had arrived and had taken a nap so to come whenever. We were only about 15 minutes away and their place was really easy to find. Jeff and Kim’s dad were finishing up making ribs and Kim’s mom had made all kinds of side dishes. Kim’s daughter Laura and her 3 children and later her husband were there, in addition to Kim’s brother and niece so it was a small crowd. Everyone was really nice and so cordial to have us. The ribs were delicious and so tender and the meat fell off the bone. Everything was excellent! I took my cake and crisp and everyone seemed to enjoy them. We didn’t have a lot to bring home so that was good. Before leaving we made plans to meet Kim and Jeff for lunch tomorrow at Bubba’s.

Xena was ready and waiting to go out when we got home and it looked like rain so we rushed her walk and I put 3 bags of fresh veggies Jeff brought us in the VIP fridge. He brought tomatoes, cucumbers, zucchini and yellow squash. Good thing as I didn’t buy much veggies this week. We watched a movie on TV after an episode of NCIS.

June 26 - Raccoon Raid and Ft Jackson

It’s so nice to sleep a little later. When I came out to the living room Bill delivered the news that the raccoon had come again and in addition to drinking his water he stole Bill’s flip flops. He said he looked around and found one at the rear of the RV at the edge of the woods. I could not contain myself and just busted out laughing. He loved those orange flip flops. Then he discovered the raccoon also took a rag towel he had under the water filter. It was so funny! After our Sunday breakfast I went out and looked in some of the woods behind us but no luck on either item. Bill said it’s pretty sad when you can’t leave your flip flops outside.

Once we showered and dressed we stopped at Publix for a Sunday paper and then headed to Old Fort Jackson. It’s a much smaller fort than Pulaski and is 9 miles further up river. It was built in 1808 and named for a general from the Revolutionary War, James Jackson. It was used some during the Spanish American War and then some during the Civil War. It has a nice video and small museum in the casemates. Like Pulaski it is in excellent shape except that they don’t have the moat restored. While we walked up to the fort, which is right on the river, a huge cargo ship came and I got some nice photos of it with no trees blocking. We came here 10 years ago with Carole and Herb on a visit to see their son Jeff.

One of the cargo ships

Bill dropped me off at McDonald’s while he went to Wal-Mart to get some new flip flops. The WIFI was not working very well so after Bill had a burger and fries and I did some email we stopped at Publix for eggs and Bill wanted to try some FRS that they advertise on Dan Patrick.

Back home Bill cleaned the inside of the truck and I baked an almond cream cheese pound cake and rhubarb crisp to take to Jeff’s tomorrow and a mixed berry tart for our dessert. I did a load of wash and before we left Bill put the blankets in the machine in the VIP room. He took Xena for a walk with him and I told him to keep an eye out for the missing flip flop. He didn’t think it was funny. I got to sit and read for an hour before getting dinner going. I made stuffed pork chops, waldorf salad and green beans. It was reported on TV that there were storm warnings in Hilton Head so we parked the truck out from under the trees and put the awning in so if it did make it our way we’d be prepared. After walking Xena we had some of the tart and Bill had to have a second helping. It’s only a keebler crust with honey yogurt and berries. Really healthy and so good for a summer dessert.

I read the paper while Bill watched TV and then Molly and I settled into my chair and I read it bedtime.

June 25 - Time for another weekend

We made it through another week. We’ve done 4 weeks and 5 to go. I spent most of the day in the Entrance Station.. I was relieved for an hour for lunch and then at about 4 as I’ve never closed out the end of day paperwork. So I finished up in the VC.

I requested some cleaning aids as the booth was nasty. I used soft scrub on all the counters, cabinets and cash register and I wiped down all the window blinds, cleaned the dead flies out of the window tracks and swept the floor. The ranger who relieved me said it even smelled clean. In between the cleaning bouts, I caught up on the blog and all of my emails. It doesn’t take long to get behind again though.

Bill has been wanting to go to Applebee’s since we don’t have one anymore at home, so I agreed so we could take my photos to Walgreens to be printed and to stop at the grocery. They’re all really close together so I figured I could get those errands out of the way. The meal was pretty good. I had a shrimp sizzler which was really spicy and served over rice and had some leftovers to bring home. Bill had a chicken sizzler and he really enjoyed it too.

After dinner we got our errands done and headed home to watch some TV and relax in preparation for our 3 days off.

June 22, 23, 24 - Work, Work, Work

Almost sunset

June 22 – Time to go back to work. I was in the entrance station all morning and got some files downloaded to my new netbook. It was really busy this morning, the most visitors I’ve had on any shift. Activity in the visitor center comes and goes as everyone wants to be in the fort at the times of the tours and demonstrations, that’s when I get to read a while.

We had some of the grilled leftovers for dinner and took Xena for her walk. We had to put air in my tire again before heading for our ride on a new trail for us. We rode the 1 ½ miles to the start of the trail and saw it was mulched and road 12 – 14 feet and decided it would be just as bad to ride as the trail to the lighthouse. It needs to be packed and not mulch. We decided to come back in the truck one day and walk the trail. We stopped at the bridge to our island to use the cell phones before going back. It was hazy and smoky out again so I took a couple of shots of the sun getting ready to set but I don’t think they did too well. We road the 1 ½ miles back. When we got back I remembered I had to make cookies for a lunch at work tomorrow. It’s a Mexican theme and the only thing I had ingredients for and a recipe with me is Mexican Wedding Cakes which are round shortbread cookies filled with nuts and rolled in powdered sugar. It’s the first time I ever made them. Bill and I tried them, of course, and they were pretty good.

After my shower I worked on photos to upload tomorrow.

June 23 - Another busy morning in the entrance station. Before I even got the money in the register a bus showed up and there was no info on them so I had a line backed up. At least I balanced again when my replacement came at 12:30.

I picked Bill up in the golf cart and we went to the fort for lunch in the ranger office there. There were beef tacos, chicken enchiladas, beans, queso and chips, all the trimmings and of course, my cookies. It was a nice change from a sandwich or salad. I went back to the visitor center and Bill went to take Xena out. The afternoon went a little slow. About 5 it started raining and really getting windy and then it poured. We hung around a little late to let it pass.

As we pulled up to the RV we had the satellite dish down, my tomato and basil plants down, 2 of our yard ornaments down, and one of Bill’s flags down and of course water everywhere. I had done a load of wash and hung it out this morning and it was drenched. The prediction was rain on and off all night so it would do no good to leave them out. I ended up having to put them in washer on rinse and spin as my pants has gotten splattered badly by the dirt flying up.

We had more grilled leftovers and I left for Weight Watchers while Bill cleaned up. After the meeting I went to Publix for a few things and it was pouring again when I came out but pretty much cleared up by the time I got back. Some of the laundry was almost dry by the time I got back. Good! I took my shower and made us some popcorn and did my journal.

June 24 - It didn’t look too good this morning and I made sure I took the umbrella with me. I was in the Entrance Station for the morning and I also drove the truck since I didn’t want to be caught in the rain in the golf cart. There were Georgia Power guys planning to do some cable work and they told me that they would be cutting the power at some point unless they called the job off today due to the weather. I was told how to open the register in the event of no power so I could continue to collect from the visitors. Ended up they left before noon and of course it cleared off and didn’t rain a drop the rest of the day. It’s rescheduled for next Thursday.

I got the rest of my Europe blog and photos posted and that was a relief. It was pretty steady so I didn’t get much else done except caught up on email. A ranger relieved me at 12:30 so Bill and I headed home for lunch. I put a load of wash in and made lunch. Cleared out some leftovers. Took venison cube steaks out for dinner.

The afternoon kinda dragged as we had at least 2 rangers, 2 greeters and me in the VC, so there were more than enough staff to keep things running smoothly. We had visitors from Oviedo today. No real excitement. We left at 5:30 and Bill put the clothes in the dryer and drained our black tank while I made dinner. I made a salad kind of dish with whole wheat couscous and grated carrots, chopped ginger, thin sliced cabbage and a dressing of rice vinegar, olive oil, pumpkin butter (instead of orange marmalade) and salt and Bill ate 2 servings so it must have been pretty good. Personally I liked it. Something different that was both our starch and veggies. After dinner when Bill went to flush the black tank with water there was a leak and we finally traced it to a connection under the sink that brings the water in and then out through some kind of valve. One of the connections was loose and after I tightened it he tried again and we got no leak but he didn’t think any water was going to the tank, so I took a picture of it to take to Camping World on Monday and see if we need to replace the valve.

Bill did the dishes and folded the laundry while I showered. I finally finished putting my Europe photos in order that didn’t come back in the order they should from Walgreens. What a pain! Time to finish Harry Potter!!!!

June 21 - Touristing Again

Bill chatting it up in like at
Mrs. Wilkes

Time to play tourist again.  We decided to have a light breakfast, just a banana and leftover pancakes as we were going to Mrs. Wilkes Boarding House for lunch.  All of the locals told us to pass on Paula Deen’s place for Mrs. Wilkes.  It’s an all you can eat southern cooked lunch with way too much food.  The tables are all round and seat up to 10.  We had 9 at our table.  We waited in line for an hour, something Bill would never do at home.  In my humble opinion it was NOT worth the wait unless you’re into volume eating.  I doubt I can name all the food.  There was fried chicken (that was too salty), beef stew and pulled bbq pork for the meats, biscuits and corn muffins for the bread, now is where it gets complicated.  There was white rice, black eyed peas, green beans, cheesy mashed potatoes, cabbage, rutabaga, okra, mac and cheese, carrot salad, sweet potato casserole, greens, peas and noodles, cucumbers, lima beans, pork and beans, yellow squash, creamed corn and banana pudding for dessert.  It’s a sin how much was thrown out.  Most of the people at our table were Yankees who thought the mashed potatoes were cheese grits.  Anyway, for the same price I’d have much rather eaten at Tortugas again.  It was a case of quantity over quality.

Ships of the Sea 

Titanic Model

After Bill waddled back to the truck we drove to the Ships of the Sea Maritime Museum that we missed the last time we were in town.  It’s a 3 story home that fell to horrible conditions after the family lost it’s wealth and it was turned into the first black school in Savannah and stayed one for 90 years.  Anyway, the displays are all huge models of all kinds of ships.  There were several named Savannah.  There was one of the Titanic.  Some had cutouts so you could see the rooms and suites and coal rooms, the works.  We walked through City Market, which is mostly restaurants and artsy shops and I bought a packable hat to keep the sun off.  We tried to find the part of Factors Walk that we’re supposed to see, but didn’t have any luck.  We strolled down part of River Street, but there wasn’t much action in the heat of the day.  By then I was super thirsty so we stopped at Five Guys Hamburgers on the way back to the truck for a coke and some AC.  Bill commented that it was nice that we can do a little at a time and not feel like we have to see the whole city in 2 days. 

Now it was problem solving time! First stop was a place to check out the video camera and once we got there he said it was $50 for them to just look at it. If I’m going to spent $50 for possibly nothing I’d rather put it on a new camera. So next we went to Best Buy to see what they had to offer and if they worked on cameras. No they don’t unless you bought it there and have a service plan. So we looked at new ones but I wanted to wait and check them out on Consumer Reports. However, we did buy me a new toy, a Toshiba Netbook, which will be so much easier to take to the library and to the entrance station when I work out there. I think Bill felt bad for me with all the computer problems, now camera problems too. We finished off the outing by taking Dell back to the shop and leaving her to be doctored for the next week. I sure hope he finds her illness this time. Oh, the new baby Toby, looks like Dell and Toby mated but she turned out blue.

We were still full when we got home so Bill said for me to go to the library and we’d eat at 7 or so. I tried the library on Wilmington Island this time. It’s bigger and has more computers so I managed to get some blogs posted, whittle down my emails, print some things and check out the new netbook and video cameras.  At least we picked the best buy netbook and the highest rated. Came up with 3 cameras so will now start shopping prices and places to get them.

Bill walked Xena while I was gone but on my drive in I counted 15 deer from the truck. At our site after dinner there were 4 just eating grass out in front of the RV. I made a half bag of Trader Joe’s Orange Chicken with leftover brown rice and just sliced tomato, cukes and jicima. We had the last of the peach pie. It was plenty. After my shower I did what I could on BT, Baby Toby, and will take it with me to the entrance station if that’s where I end up tomorrow so I can download software I need on it. Then will play with it and load photos on Picasa.

Time to read a couple pages of Harry Potter, I’m really close to the end!

June 20 - Date Day instead of Date Night

June 20 – The day didn’t go as planned, but what else is new? We didn’t get up early enough to ride before it got really hot. So after our Sunday on Monday breakfast and a nice walk for Xena, Bill got our groceries from the VIP fridge and I put them all back in our newly defrosted fridge. I have never heard back from the tire people about our faulty tires, so this time I called for the girl who I had been talking to’s supervisor and ended up with the President of the division. I explained that I spoke to her, emailed her photos and receipts and called again a week later and still had not heard back from her and that I need to get this matter resolved. He asked some questions and said he had been in China for 2 weeks (explains the crummy tires) and would get with her and I’d hear back from him today.

We showered and left about 11 and went to pick my computer up from the repair shop. The movie, Green Lantern, wasn’t until 1:30 so we stopped at Wendy’s for lunch before the movie. On the way there the President of Delta Tires called and said his employee had not called because she was waiting to run it by him, well as far as I’m concerned she could have let me know that. But, he insinuated that we were overloading our RV, which we are not, and that a steel belt would not do what we said it did but he could see an issue in one of the photos, so as a goodwill gesture he would refund half of the cost of that set of tires. I asked Bill what he thought and he thought we should take the money and run, so I agreed to $322 back. Not what I had hoped for but much better than a stick in the eye. That was pretty much the bright spot of the day.

The movie was OK. Bill really liked it and it was not as bad as some of the comic book movies we’ve seen. At least there was not much in the way of blood and gore.

Before heading home Bill dropped me at Target while he went by the ATT store to ask more questions about his new cell phone. Then he waited for me to go into Piggly Wiggly for lunchmeat and tripe for Xena. We fueled up and I thought we might be able to stop at the post office on Wilmington Island as it’s right by the Kroger, so I went in for stamps and to mail some cards while Bill filled our water jugs at Kroger.

Xena was glad to see us but apparently couldn’t wait for us to get home and peed on the carpet. Naughty, naughty dog!

After watching some TV Bill got the grill going and did some chicken, hamburgers and a salmon burger for me. I cut the giant zucchini I got yesterday at the flea market in thick slices and coated each side with olive oil, sprinkled with lemon pepper seasoning and he grilled those. They were delicious. Bill said it was the best squash he’d ever eaten. We didn’t eat half of it so will have enough to fix again. Now we have leftovers for 2 nights after work this week. We were going to ride our 5 mile ride on the Lazaretto Creek trail but by the time we walked Xena and pumped my tires again and left it was both hazy from the swamp fire still and it was getting dark. We ended up just going about 3 miles, but on a new trail for us. We rode around one of the dikes. We counted a record of 25 deer tonight. Sixteen were between us and the visitor center, and 9 were on the other side of the fort near the dike road. We were excited at 16 but then to see 9 more, awesome. When we walked earlier I took both the still and movie camera in case there was a ship come in and to get some of the deer, well, as our luck would have it, the movie camera is now malfunctioning. It kept saying to eject the tape and now that I got it home and tried a new tape, the tape is stuck in it. Guess we will check on a place to fix it next. So I did get some movie on the camera but it’s a pain to edit it into the rest of the movie. Well, who knows, they don’t make our kind of camera anymore so I don’t know if I’ll ever even be able to get the movies off the many tapes I already have. BUMMER!

Then to top off the evening, I set Dell up and was going to type my journal so I can go to the library tomorrow and post and it was right back doing the same thing as it was. I am so over this! So here I sit back on Toby once again.

June 19 - Trip to the Flea Market

Park Armadilla, it was getting dark out

June 19 – No water again when we got up, but after the storm again last night it wasn’t a surprise. It came back on shortly so all was well. We had planned to get up earlier to go to the flea market but we were both bushed and slept in a while before having breakfast and heading to the flea market. It was Keller’s over near I-95. It was pretty large but rather sprawling. Quite a lot of empty booths but nothing we haven’t seen at flea markets before. I got a couple pair of cheap sunglasses, a case for my phone and some good buys on produce and Bill got some shea butter. He was about out so it was good timing.


On the way back we stopped at Wal-mart for a few things. After lunch we had our housework to do. Bill cleaned the grill, put water in the fresh water tank and cleaned up outside from last night’s storm. I changed the bed, did 3 loads of wash and defrosted the fridge so maybe it will work more efficiently. I baked a small peach pie with fresh Georgia peaches. For dinner I made a Cornish game hen, rutabaga and wild rice pilaf. Bill took all our fridge and freezer items over to the shared fridge so I had to make do with what I had. Luckily I had some butter in the mini fridge so we had a good dinner and dessert. After cleaning up we took Xena for a walk and to put our cardboard in the recycle trailer. They have 6 recycle containers on a trailer by the maintenance shop so when we walk Xena we take our stuff up there and put it in. Cuts way down on the garbage.

We didn’t feel like a bike ride but I did ride over to the fridge and get what we need for breakfast and put it in the mini fridge.  I made some popcorn that we shared along with our little dab of ice for our sodas and we watched a new show on TV and another one of Bill’s shows.  Mine are all in reruns.

June 18 - The Crab Shack

Some of the gators in the restaurant's pools

June 18 – Another week has come to an end. We both agreed that we won’t volunteer for 32 hours a week again. The max will be 20 – 24. It’s too tiring and here they have too many people scheduled at a time that you really have little to do and it gets really boring. Today I helped the bookstore people do some cleaning in the bookstore and repairing some jewelry.

Kelly's dinner, no she took some home for later

After work we changed clothes and went to The Crab Shack for dinner. It’s a huge place, VERY casual and the seafood is primarily boiled as in low country boil. Bill had chicken but I had The Crab Shack Combo for 1. It was huge, 5 kinds of seafood, sausage, a cobbette and potatoes. The crayfish and mussels didn’t take up much stomach room but the sausage and my large crab legs filled me up. I brought home my shrimp and snow crab legs. My family would have all enjoyed it. The tables have holes cut in the middle with a trash can under it so you just pitch your shells, etc as you eat. It’s a no frills place for sure. There are ponds of baby alligators you can feed and in the gift shop are birds. We didn’t get to that but Bill counted over 30 gators. I was craving some soft serve since I was really good all week, so we left Tybee Island and drove to Wilmington to the Wendy’s for a frosty but they now have frosty parfaits, so we each had one and it was so good and a great finish for our dinner.

Xena was ready for her walk once we gave her a flea treatment.  It was so hazy out you could barely make out the deer in the distance.  We think we’re going to a flea market in the morning so Bill didn’t last too long and I’m not far behind him.

June 15, 16 & 17- Boring Day and A Scary Night

Bill with Ranger Patty

June 15 – Kinda boring day. When we were slowly getting ready for going back to work, Bill said how fast the 3 days off goes. It sure does. I was out at the Entrance Station til 12:30 then in the VC the rest of the day. Bill’s shirt and hat I ordered for him with the arrow National Park Service design on them came today. They look good. He’s wanted that design on something for ages and they don’t sell it at any of the parks, but it can be ordered on line.

For dinner I made ham with pineapple, fresh green beans, butternut squash and homemade cornbread. I sure wish I had bought more of that Mingus Mill cornmeal in NC. That is the best cornbread. Maybe it will work with coarse grain cornmeal as long as I use the same recipe. We walked Xena but were both tired so didn’t ride tonight. Bill did the dishes while I sat out under the awning and read a while, then I did my ironing and showered. Just sized the photos still on the camera in case I’m in the Entrance Station in the morning I will get them uploaded.

Time to read a bit more of Harry Potter.

Bill with Ranger Patty

June 16 -  Oh what a night!  I went to bed just after 11 and Bill woke me in about an hour and said it was windy out and did I put the awning in.   So I got up and it was blowing pretty hard out so I put the awning and it was sounding bad so I looked out at our stuff and my tomato plant was about to tip over so Bill went out and moved it to between our steps and slideout.  Then it started raining and he hurried in.  Then the rain started pounding and blowing and it was forever before I fell asleep but it was so loud out I lay there wondering if it would get worse and what to grab to get out if we needed to.  I’d take our money envelope, my purse and grab a towel to wrap Molly in.  I know Bill would get Xena and his wallet so we’d be good.  At some point I passed out and shortly it was 7:15.  I was kinda nervous to look outside and see our dish down and our stuff all over, but Bill had been out and said some things had blown into the bushes but mostly everything was wet and that included the pets backseat bedstuff for the truck.   Then Bill said there was no water.  Uh oh!  I told him there would be 10 gallons in the water heater so he could get a shower.  He went to the site next to us to see if they had water so we’d know what to tell maintenance.  The water there was working so I tried ours again and it was fine.  We figured our other neighbor who goes to work in maintenance at 7 reported it and got it fixed.  Anyway, Bill was really happy he could take a shower and that things weren’t as bad as we had thought.
 
I worked the entrance station for the morning. I took the laptop and got caught up on email and posted 2 days of blog, so I made some headway. The afternoon was pretty fast in the Visitor Center. I hardly got to read any of my book.

We had leftovers for dinner so I could go to Weight Watchers. After the meeting Kerry called from NH and we caught up a bit. Then I stopped at Krogers for a few things. Bill had the dishes done and had put the clothes in the dryer. We watched some NCIS.


June 17 – Another work day. We were both in the VC all day. The guy, Eric, who left his RV here when he had to go back to Florida for surgery, came back and was at the VC all day with us. He’s a bit strange. He came in his Confederate uniform and didn’t leave the VC to go for lunch, brought it with him. The word is everyone thinks he’s odd.

There’s a swamp fire at the Oconluftee and it’s created a bad haze everywhere. We walked Xena and were going to ride to the bridge and take photos of the sunset but it was too hazy so we did about 3.5 miles along the river and around the fort. Then it was TV and reading time.

June 14 - Busy Day Off

Rocky Raccoon in the window

Bill woke me early to tell me he was up and saw a raccoon climb up the ladder on the back side and bypass his shield. We sat watching for a couple of minutes and I told him to open the door and maybe the noise would make it come down and sure enough it climbed back down head first. Back to the drawing board.

The tree

We each had a banana and then left to ride. We drove the bikes to the half point of the 6 mile trail. We road out the 3 miles to this huge old scrub oak with all kinds of things hanging from it. There were prayer cloths, swings, hard hats, bouys and old coolers. The only thing we had to add to the tree was a small bungie cord so we hung it. There were huge picnic tables around the tree. Then it was the 3 miles back and the whole excursion only took an hour.

Bill wanted a big breakfast when we got back but he settled for a ham/egg/cheese sandwich on a deli thin and a bowl of fruit. Bill took his raccoon shield down and marked the board to have it cut and put a piece on the inside of the ladder.  I worked on resizing photos for my blog. We showered and headed into Savannah to take Dell in for service. We asked about a place for lunch and Spanky’s near the mall was suggested. It was packed but we were only 2nd in line for a seat. It has lots of seafood and plenty of other choices. I opted for an appetizer of mini crab cakes and a small salad. It was pretty good. Another place we’d go back too.


Since it was near the mall, we stopped to go to Bath and Body Works for Bill’s lotion. He was able to get some help also on his new phone at the ATT kiosk. Then we stopped by the Super Wal-Mart before heading back to our island. The plan was to go to the post office and library on Tybee but Bill had said he wanted to go home so it worked out to take him and the produce home. Then I went to the post office but it closed at 4:30 and I didn’t make it til 4:45. I mailed what I had postage on and headed on to the library, which didn’t close until 8 so I had plenty of time. I managed to post 6 blogs, do some email, print some things and found 5 books for Bill and I.

June 13 - Seeing Some of The Sights

We set off to play Tommy Tourist again today. We tried to get an early start as it gets really hot out in the afternoon. Managed to leave about 9:30 for Savannah, but made a quick detour to fill up the truck. There really are not many places that sell diesel out where we are or going into town.

First stop was Bonaventure Cemetery. It’s billed as one of the most beautiful cemeteries in the US, well, in the spring, because of all the azaleas, camellias, dogwood, etc. it would be for sure.  All the blooming was way over but there are tons of plants and I can imagine how beautiful it would be. It’s also known for several important people who are buried there, Johnny Mercer, famous songwriter and musician is one.  We found his grave with his parents and grandmother. The monuments are quite elaborate and you could spend quite a while driving or walking to see them.

Bill and one of the steam engines

From there we headed into downtown Savannah to the visitor center. We had been there before but it’s been a number of years, at least we recognized it. We got our bearings and verified that we already had plenty of maps, coupons, brochures and info to make our way around for the day. The visitor center was the original train station when people actually did their travel by train. It houses a nice museum, 2 gift shops, a small theatre, snack bar and a train car converted to a dining room, which is where we ended up having lunch. But before that, we went next door to the Georgia State Railroad Museum. We did enjoy it and may go back on one of the days you can go on one of the trains. This whole area is managed by the Coastal Heritage Society, and they are still working on the many buildings of the railroad that fell to horrible conditions once the highways became the popular mode of both travel and movement of goods and supplies. The buildings were constructed beginning 1851 as the Central of Georgia Railroad and Canal Company and at one time housed 50 locomotives and 500 cars as rolling stock. The business peaked in the 1920’s but in the 40’s diesel engines came out and the roundhouse was no longer conducive to diesel maintenance and as they were sent to Macon for repairs. In 1963 the railroad was sold to Southern Railway and the Savannah depot was closed. The site sat decaying until 1989 when a group of concerned citizens petitioned to have the property titled back to the city of Savannah and under the management of the Coastal Heritage Society. It’s been a slow process but it’s moving right along. We saw a number of engines and cars in the roundhouse, the print shop and blacksmith shop. Two cars have been turned into small theatres for video presentations, which we watched today. There are guided tours and on some days you can ride on the train.   As part of our volunteering we were given passes to about 25 different buildings, etc that we can visit for free, so that was a nice perk.

Forrest Gump bench

We walked back over to the Visitor center and went through the museum and watched the video there. I realized when I went to take a picture of the 403, the last steam engine in service on for the Georgia Railroad, I left my camera at the shop at the Railroad Museum, so I had to walk (in the heat) back over to get it. By now Bill was getting hungry so we ate at the Whistle Stop Café. It was OK. Bill said his burger was really good but I was disappointed in my bbq chicken, which was just a baked chicken with sauce on it. Oh well, it filled me up and kept me going!

We called down to the Ships of the Sea Museum to see if they had their own parking and they did, but they didn’t tell us they are closed on Monday. So we drove down and they have a nice parking area with wonderful landscaping and we parked in the shade only to find out it was closed. They were doing some work behind the museum in the garden and one of they guys told us we could walk around in there if we wanted. It reminded us of the gardens in Colonial Williamsburg, but the shrubs were much bigger. It was really nice though.

We attempted to stop at the Waving Girl statue but missed the turn off so just went on out of Savannah and headed back. We made a quick detour to Publix to refill our water jugs as we are using about a gallon a day and the machine there is only .35 per gallon. I picked up a bag of apples too and then we headed home.

I managed to get more laundry done, make dinner and we walked Xena. Then Bill and I went for a 3 mile bike ride.

June 11 - Crazy Day but Great Dinner

What a crazy day at Ft. Pulaski! We were both scheduled to be in the VC, but just before 9 I was asked to open the entrance station as the volunteer who normally works there on Saturday was not going to be coming. I took the golf cart, which was my first time ever driving a golf cart, to the entrance station and got all set up and opened up. I did forget to put out the cannon firing sign, but one of the cannon volunteers came through and reminded me. Oops! I had a guy argue with me about getting to fish for free on the road side of the bridge and he told me to call my supervisor but he was going to park and fish. I called the VC for Tramus, who is the ranger in charge up there today and he said I was right and he’d come take care of it. He came up and brought the man’s money to pay his admission. Then one of the cannon guys had to leave with symptoms of heat exhaustion so Tramus had to go back and forth between the VC and since I was back there after lunch Bill and I got left alone in the VC but all went well. Then later when Ian, one of the other rangers came in, there was a bee sting incident that I helped him with, so it was not a real hum drum day.

We came home and changed clothes and took Xena out and then left for dinner at Sweet Potatoes in Savannah. It was really good. Home cooking style, but some unusual choices. I had macadamia nut encrusted swai with lemon collard greens and jicima slaw. Bill had the macadamia nut chicken with sweet potato fries and grilled squash. We passed on dessert but will definitely go back.

After dinner we were just going to check out the area around there so we’d know where places were and realized we were close to the Oglethorpe Mall and the way we came was much faster than how we went there last week. Since we were there we stopped in World Market for some bargains and then in Pet Supermarket for Xena food. Then on the way back we got on the highway going the wrong way and getting off to turn around we found the Super Wal-Mart so we picked up a few groceries. The prices here seem to be really high. At least I got a better deal on the lunch meats and some of the produce. Produce is super high here. Geez. I miss my little garden.

We didn’t get back til 9:30 and there were people still fishing on the bridge. I wonder how late they stay out there with their lanterns. I also wonder how many fish they catch.

June 12 - Playing Tourists

Yea, the beginning of our weekend! We had our regular Sunday breakfast, but then after that it seemed like our Saturday. I did some laundry and Bill washed the back of the RV where we discovered a raccoon has been climbing up the ladder to the roof. I told him I was hearing stuff so now I have proof. Later in the day we used zip ties to attach a piece of plywood about 3 steps up so will see if our raccoon shield does the trick.

We left about 12:15 for our Sunday trip to McDonald’s to use the WIFI and Bill went to get a Sunday paper. Dell was still acting up but Bill got some stuff done on Toby. I am going to try a computer place on the island tomorrow and see what they can find. Bill had a burger and fries and I ate a cheesestick as we did have a late big breakfast so I was good.

With the musket team

With original cannon

Once we finished up, our goal was to play tourist at the fort in the afternoon. We made it to the 2:30 musket demonstration, which was great. The rangers and volunteers were in Federal soldier uniforms and after explaining all about the musket, and procedures of the soldiers there were 4 that shot 3 times each. One of them was Meghan, who we work with in the VC and she’s super nice. Bill took my picture with 3 of the musketeers. Just after that were the cannon firings. They explained all about the 2 cannons and the 9 steps the 5 cannoneers would be performing, although not at the speed they would if they were in battle. They fired each one once. One was a howitzer and the other was a parrot. The parrot has rifling and was the kind used by the Federal army overtaking Ft Pulaski in 2 days of battle. It could shoot further and straighter than what had been the traditional cannons at the time of Civil War. Bill took my picture with the cannon crew and 3 were rangers that I work with. We went up on the top level of the fort and walked all the way around and took photos and the view is really nice in some directions. We could see the Cockspur Lighthouse that we road out to the other day. We saw where there was once a lighthouse keepers house built on the top level. He planted a fig tree and pecan trees in the yard of the fort that are still there. It’s the biggest fig tree we’ve ever seen and it was cut back not long ago.

Time to head home and put the last of the wash in. Bill was grilling for dinner so I didn’t have to do much prep:  potatoes and steamed broccoli. Before we got to the cooking I fixed a piece of trim on the side of our bed and worked on getting the washer not to vibrate so much on the spin cycle. Then I put fresh sheets on the bed before dinner.

Our new pets

After taking Xena for a nice walk along the river, we switched to the bikes and did about 4 miles.  We road to the bridge, then to the fort and half way around to see the projectiles embedded in the wall and what we learned all about today.   We could see fish jumping in the moat.  I’m going to ask our ranger boss if we get fishing licenses if we can fish in the moat.  Some of those rascals are big.  Yum!

June 9 & 10 On The Job

June 9 - Another day on the job! Bill was in the VC all day and I ended up in the entrance station all day. After lunch I took my laptop with me and was able to upload some photos, catch up on email and post a blog. It was nice to get some things caught up. I think our weeks are going to be pretty repetitive. I am supposed to work the entrance station ½ day two days a week and the VC the rest of the time. At least at the VC I can go to the bathroom any time.

Ranger Bill

Bill is really getting good with the information he is reading and garnering from the other rangers. The thing is the visitors come in spurts. The VC will be full then empty or a few stragglers. We both have pretty much mastered our tasks and actually know more than some of the seasonals. We can read when there is no one in the VC so Bill reads a lot from the park’s library or things he gets from the rangers.

Xena really loves it here. She has gotten to do all she wants to do outside is sniff after deer and when she sees one she takes off. Bill says if she ever got loose from her leash we’d never see her again. At least she could not get off the island!

Bill took her for her walk tonight and after a quick dinner I went to Weight Watchers and to Publix. By then I was pretty tired and ready to watch some NCIS reruns.

My bird

June 10 - It was a good day but I left for work without my glasses, so couldn’t read my book or check my phone for email. We don’t get much of a signal in the VC but my emails do pop in on and off during the day. Bill forgot his morning snack so we didn’t do well. Good thing we were sent to lunch early, 11:30. Then on the way back I left my afternoon drink in the truck but thought I left it at the RV. Geez.  We have a male cardinal that they say has been at the VC for 2 years.  He pecks on the windows all day long.  He sees his reflection and thinks it's another male and is protecting his territory.

Ranger Ian

Bill took my picture with one of our favorite rangers, Ian, who was working in the fort all day doing tours and musket demonstrations in costume. Then I took Bill’s picture sneaking one of the rangers’ official hats and wearing it. This weekend we may try to go to the fort for the cannon firings since they’re having them both Saturdays and Sundays for the rest of the summer.

After work Bill grilled steaks and hot links and we ate out at the picnic table. It was really nice out. There is enough breeze to keep any bugs moving and not lighting. After dinner we walked Xena then went on about a 3 mile ride. I had put laundry in so it was ready to dry when we got back. Bill did the dishes and I showered and washed my hair. It’s weird that tomorrow is Saturday. We’re trying to decide where to go for dinner. We want to try out as many new places as we can so we can take any guests who come to Savannah to some good places.

June 8 - Back to the Grind

At the Entrance Station

In the VC

Today Ron was back and he took me to the Entrance station to train more. I actually did all the transactions and he left for lunch and I was officially on my own. He relieved me for lunch and I had to balance out and turn over the register and it balanced perfectly. I picked Bill up for lunch and then we both worked in the VC the afternoon. I was back at the bookstore register and he greeted visitors and ran the video and answered questions. I think we pretty much have the hang of it now. It is nice meeting people from all over. Bill gets busy chatting and forgets to turn the video on. Oops.

We had fresh tilapia for dinner with potatoes and green beans that I made a couple days ago so they wouldn’t go bad. Then we took Xena for a walk but only saw 2 deer. I took my first trip to the entrance station tonight to use the internet there. It works so much better than using the dial up. There’s only one cord so Kam will send me another one so we can both go and use both laptops. I left there just after 9 and there were still 7 cars of people fishing on the bridge to the island. I saw 5 deer along the way home.

Shared a bag of popcorn with Bill and got on Dell, but she’s still doing the same cutting off thing she did, so I won’t ship it again, will just suffer through til we go home or send it back to Ocoee with someone who comes to visit.

June 7 - Another Grueling Ride

At Cockspur Lighthouse

Up close and personal

Our last day off and we had a great day! Today’s after breakfast ride was out to the Cockspur Lighthouse, which is at the east end of the island. It’s a very small lighthouse that still works but is only accessible by boat. It has a lot of corrosion that is soon to be worked on and you can go in it if you can get to it. The trail leads out to the closest land point. Well, the trail is 1.7 miles and it’s over a mile from the RV. The trail is all mulch which was harder to ride on that the 6 miles we did yesterday. It was grueling. Actually we biked almost all the way then the path really narrows and we parked the biked and walked as far as we could to take photos. I was just as tired today as I was yesterday. After a rest, I did a load of wash, and got showered for our outing to town.

We decided to try out Cancun Café since we pretty much knew where it was and it was on the way. It was pretty good, we’d go back. Decent lunch crowd, which was good. Then we went to Thunderbolt where the Home Depot, Target, Staples and movie theatre are. I did my Target shopping, then to Staples for extra ink for the new printer, then we went across the street to check out the Habitat store and a salad for dinner. We took Xena for a long walk and saw 4-5 deer. Then it was a bit of TV and try to get a good night’s sleep for another 4 days of work.

June 6 - The Long Bike Ride

I got up at 7:50 to try and catch Chuck and MJ to say good-bye but they had left. Oh well, I hope they enjoy the rest of their trip and we look forward to seeing them this winter in Florida.

A view of the trail

At the end of our trail

I made ham-cheese toast for breakfast with cantaloupe and then we readied for a long bike ride. It’s about 1.5 miles from our RV to the entrance station of the park. Then there is a 6 mile one way trail along the river going towards Savannah. At the halfway point there is parking and people can start from there and go in either direction, picnic, or put kayaks in the river. It’s a popular running, walking and biking trail. Well Bill wanted to go to the halfway point and from the time we left home we didn’t stop til we were there. Glad I took water today. I took some photos and video, rest a bit then we headed back. We stopped a couple of time for more photos. By the time we got back I was so tired and had jelly legs and an upset stomach. I sat outside a long time and cooled off and had a cold tea. So we went about 9 miles on the bikes. I think it’s a record. Bill wants to make it a regular trek on our days off. Yeah, right!

View of the river along the trail

Our fridge isn’t doing such a good job at keeping things fresh and cold so the lunch meat didn’t smell so good, so we went with tuna salad on hot dog buns for lunch with fruit and veggies. After lunch I needed a shower while Bill wrote a letter of recommendation. About 2:20 I left for the library to use the computer and wifi. You only get 30 minutes if they have people waiting so I used their computer first to do the things I needed to print, then worked on the blog and uploading photos on my laptop. I had to send Bill’s letter out and info to the company about our most recent batch of bad tires, and catch up on some emails, googling, etc. Left the library about 5:10 and checked out the Tybee Island IGA. Small store, small aisles but huge beer assortment. Has pretty much all you need but rather pricey too. Will make stop tomorrow on the way back from the movie.

Called Karen and got to talk a few minutes til I lost the signal. Fixed some of our NC trout for dinner with fresh green beans and stuffed butternut squash. Bill wasn’t crazy about it. The fish was better as I cooked it just right. I used the leftover couscous to stuff the butternut after microwaving the squash some first, then stuff and baked about 20 minutes. We had strawberry shortcakes for dessert. I had made a batch of cupcakes with sugar free mix and put them in the freezer, so with fat free topping and berries it’s a nice low cal dessert. After our nightly dog walk, which was nice tonight as the afternoon rain while I was gone really cooled things off, I made a batch of fiber one cookies while reading my Harry Potter book. Then I read and watched TV with Bill til he went to bed and am journaling then going to read a bit more.

June 5 - Enjoying Our First Day Off

Bridge over to Tybee Island

Thought I would get to sleep in today but really just didn’t feel like it. Made our Sunday breakfast: Blueberry buckwheat pancakes, turkey bacon and melon for me, Bill has toast and eggs with his. Then we watched the tail end of a movie and headed out for a 4 mile bike ride. I put a load of wash in while we rode. We stopped the VC to check our schedule for next week. We’re on 8:30 – 5:30 again all week. We did some video today when we rode and some photos. Once we got back Bill did the dishes and straightened up some and I sat out under the awning and read while Xena caught some rays.

Back of the fort, red is replaced brick from the
Civil War bombing

After lunch and showers we went to “town” to pick up my Europe photos from Walgreens and a Sunday paper. We also stopped at Dollar Tree for a couple of things and spent about 2 hours at McDonald’s to use the WIFI. Didn’t get close to caught up but managed to upload some photos to Picasa and posted 2 blogs.

We didn’t get back til after 6 so it was time to start dinner. I made chicken with a basil, onion, thyme balsamic sauce, whole wheat cousous with almonds and basil and the leftover veggies from a couple of nights ago. It gave me a chance to use some of my herbs. I have dried some catnip and am drying some basil now. We took Xena for a long walk after dinner and I called Kerry to catch up on things. Chuck and MJ came over to bring their uniform shirts and keys for us to return for them. They are leaving around 8:30 tomorrow. MJ and I will keep in touch via email and they plan to winter in Florida Jan, Feb and March next year so we will definitely get together.

Bill cleaned up the kitchen, we gave Xena her shot and time to journal and watch TV.

June 4 - Yeah, We Made It Through The Week

Ah, our last workday of the week.  I was at the VC all day again.  We helped price new inventory for the bookstore and met some nice folks to day.  A couple whose daughter lived in Ocoee for a few years and a couple from Arizona.  Gives you something to talk about for sure.  Bill is getting good with his fort info and continues to read and talk to the seasonal rangers about things.  Now if he can really master the 3 video machines.  One he does fine and two he’s close on.  Luckily the mean ranger was in the entrance station all day and we only had the seasonals, who are all very nice.

MG and Chuck stopped by on their way to ride with the pilot boat. We will do that once I get my motion sickness pills. We were ready to rock and roll when 5:30 rolled around. We got home and walked Xena and changed clothes to head out to dinner with Chuck and MJ. We went to Tubby’s, which was not all it was cracked up to be. There was about a 30 minute wait, which was OK. Once we ordered it took forever for the food to come. MJ and I ordered the shrimp and grits and when it came it looked like grit soup with shrimp. It was a milky sauce but nothing like we expected. They served 2 slices of French bread, I guess to sop of the juice. It was good, but Tortuga’s was SOOO much better. When she came to ask about dessert I told MJ they should give us desserts because it took so long. The waitress came to us 3 times to apologize for the wait, so that told me it was not expected to take so long. I was not having dessert but knew Bill would like some and MJ wanted some so she said that sounded appropriate and asked the waitress. She said she’d ask the manager, who came out and said he heard we want to speak to him, so MJ told him we expected complimentary dessert. He said there was always a 30 minutes wait for dinner and we said it was way longer than 30 minutes and he said well it was only 30 minutes but would give us 2 desserts. I had a bite of Bill’s praline cheesecake and it was good. We didn’t leave the restaurant til after 9 and we left the RV at 6:30 so we know it took a long time.

We dropped Chuck and MJ off next door and came home to let Xena out and watch some TV.

June 3 - Another Day On The Job

This working is gonna get old fast! I just don’t like getting up in the AM. We had scrambled eggs this morning but the bacon was frozen so we had to settle for just fruit with it. We both worked in the VC today. I worked the bookstore register today and Bill worked the pass register and did his movie and greeting. After lunch one of the season rangers asked if we wanted to go on the 2:00 Fort Tour and she would cover for us. We went out for it and I went on it but it was the same ranger as Bill heard yesterday so we went back in. It was pretty hot out there. I didn’t remember anything about the fort from 10 years ago so it was good that I went and refreshed on it. The ranger in charge of the VC is just not a pleasant person. We don’t know if we should report how she treats visitors and staff or just try to make it through the summer. Bill says he may have to say something to her but he’s usually the calmer one than I am. We’ll see if it gets any better. She did surprise us and let us leave an hour early today once she got her monthly reports done. That was nice. We stopped at the Administrative office and finally signed for our keys.

I watered my tomato plant first thing and then we took Xena for a long walk. It was still pretty hot out and she was panting and ready to get home in the AC. I did some wash and hooked up the little TV to the antenna so we can get local stations on it until we get the Direct TV thing straightened out. I’m still fired up about that. Also called the tire manufacturer about the bad tires we had and have to email her the photos and additional information. Told her it would be on Sunday so she’d have it when she gets in on Monday.

Bill had the last of the meatloaf and I had the last brat and he had white potato and I had sweet potato and he had green beans and I had greens, so it was almost like cooking 2 meals.  We took a bike ride out to the bridge that you have to cross to get onto Cockspur Island and then up to the VC and back.  We took our trash on the way.  Saves us sitting it outside and having the raccoons get into it again.  We only saw 5 deer and a raccoon tonight.  We think we saw the coyote down one of the ravines just sitting as it looked like a dog but there are no dogs on the island that we know of except Xena right now.  We changed the bed sheets and folded laundry and watched reruns of NCIS.  We are trying to decide what we will do on our 3 days off.  Perhaps a movie and trip to Target.   Also discussed what restaurant we’re going to try.  Bill thinks we should try Tubbies.

June 2 - Getting The Hang Of Ft. Pulaski

Park Headquarters where we get our mail
& process our paperwork

This morning Bill was to get up at 5:45 to shower and go have breakfast with our neighbors over at the Coast Guard station at 6:30. The alarm didn’t go off but I woke him up at 6:05 and he was ready in time.  He was disappointed the guys were not having breakfast with them.  He said there was only the cook and the guy cleaning up. He did enjoy his French toast, ham and sausage for $2.30.  Well we put on our other set of volunteer shirts and our other pairs of khaki pants, actually Bill wears shorts and I wear capris, and headed to work at about 8:20 today.  Ron is off 3 days so we were under the supervision of Patty today.  I guess she was not aware of what Bill and I were doing as she took off to the Entrance Station and left me without a word.  So I went on up and asked why she left me.  She said she didn’t know I was to be there but I found that off as she knew we were new VIPs since she’s the one who signed out our shirts to us and knew we were there to be trained but she didn’t bother to check the schedule.  So she figured out pretty quickly that I had the entrance job down already and left me there about an hour while she went back to the VC for a couple of things. Then since one of the VIPs had a family illness and left town today they were short in the VC so Patty sent me back to cover the registers.  Bill is learning the pass one but not the bookstore one.  He was able to go on a fort tour and learn more info this morning but after that he was the only person working the VC and at one point it was just he and I for an hour or so.  Imagine leaving two people with just 8 hours training each to be in charge.  We did fine!  Bill got more talkative with visitors after his tour as he is reading lots of material and picking up more info from the rangers, etc. I am content to chat with the visitors and tell them what is going on at the fort and leave the historical stuff to Bill.

We had an early lunch at 11:30 due to the short staff and getting everyone covered for lunch. We both worked the VC the rest of the day and will be in there again tomorrow. I was a bit bummed as Ron had figured I would be out that all day today so I packed the laptop to take and use the DSL during the slow times and get my blogs posted and emails caught up. Instead, for the time I was alone out there I cleaned all the dead bugs out of the windows, swept the floor, wiped down the counters and cobwebs and asked the maintenance guy for some WD40 and a screwdriver to fix the sliding window. He came back with some eco friendly lubricant and sprayed the window for me and tightened the screws in it as all the tugging to slide it was loosening the handle. It moves much better now. Geez, all these college graduates that sit out there all day fighting that dumb window and no one has a clue. Ranger Patty was pretty impressed with it when she worked out there after I left. I think I would have been happier on maintenance but they start at 7 each day.

I have enjoyed talking to people from all over. Met some from AZ today and quite a few Polish come because Vladimir Pulaski is a Polish hero so they come and ask about his death and monument, but those things are all in Savannah, not at the fort. Bill gets to talking too much with one set of people and doesn’t watch for new visitors and got some of the video running late. He had some time to read more info and brought home a book about the fort tonight. He read it once and said he’s going to read it again. I will be so sick of hearing statistics on the fort, the war, the cannons, etc.

We had our leftovers tonight with a salad and then I dropped Bill and Xena off at the maintenance building to dispose of our recyclables and then to walk back.  I went to a Weight Watchers meeting on Wilmington Island, then to the Kroger store.  It’s a really nice Kroger store, reminds me of a Publix.  Then I head to Wal-Mart to pick up Bill’s prescriptions.  I was supposed to go my Walgreens to pick up my Europe photos but thought the store was on a different road and by the time I realized which road I didn’t feel like backtracking.  I was really tired.  So went home and put the groceries away and made us a strawberry shortcake and tried to so some of my journal.

June 1 - First Day On The Job

First day of work in our volunteer
shirts

You would think it was our first day at school.  We put on our uniform shirts and had a good breakfast to get those brain cells working well.  I even took our picture all dressed and ready for work.  We got to the Visitor Center plenty early.  I told Bill it was only a 2 minute drive but he thought we should hurry and we were there before any of the rangers. We actually report to Ron Calhoun who is the VIP (Volunteers in Parks) coordinator for Ft. Pulaski.  He’s a born Georgia boy with a really interesting background.  He and I went out to the Entrance Station where I trained with him until my lunch break at 12:45, at which time I went back to the VC (visitor center as we park personnel refer to it) to pick up Bill.  He trained there all morning with our camp neighbor Chuck.  He trained on running the 18 minute video about the fort and the other looped screens in the center, greeted visitors and about the activities that go on in the fort each day to inform visitors of.  After lunch we were both at the VC but I trained on the 2 registers.  One is for all bookstore purchases and one is for annual park passes. You end up trying to answer whatever questions the visitors ask, such as “Where is the restroom?” and "do you have a drink machine?" The traffic can get hectic and it can slow down to no one, especially when there are musket shootings and tours going on it the fort. Then they all head out there and come back to see the movie and displays after. I took a book along and started it once I got a few transactions under my belt. Neither job is difficult. The most taxing was when it would not take the credit card and it’s because the verification is dial up and I had to learn to sign the computer back on, then it was fine.

Visitor Center

We worked 8:30 to 5:30, as we do our 4 days this week. Our normal schedule will be Wednesday thru Saturday so we’ll have 3 days off at a time and can do some side trips to Charleston and around. It will be nice too if we get company to come and we can spent 3 days with them.

After we took Xena out and changed clothes Bill wanted to go to Sears and get the RV battery taken care of. We made our first journey to the mall, which wasn’t any further than going to Fashion Square from our house. They had the correct size battery so we got that and had dinner at Chili’s across the street. Bill had fajitas and I had the margarita chicken, which I cut in half as soon as it was served, as it was 2 chicken breasts with lots of rice and beans. It was good though. We both had leftovers for tomorrow night’s dinner.

We had seen an Office Depot along the way so stopped to see if they had a small printer to keep in the RV and I was happy to find an HP. Most were really too large for the area I have so went ahead and got this one. Then we stopped at Home Depot to get “parts” to build a roof over the area of the RV outside where the refrigerator is. These fridges do not cool well in this summer heat so any food in the bottom of it ends up spoiling and that gets expensive and ruins meal when you think you have a veggie and then it’s rotted. So I scavenged through the store and found 2 good boards in their trash to use for legs, then out of their culls bin got a .51 2 x 4 for cross pieces to hold the legs together and a $4.01 piece of 3/8” plywood for a roof. The in the insulation area I got a 4’ x 8’ piece of foiled stryrofoam that had some tears in it for half price of I think $3.60 or so. This is our Sunday project. I spotted a bucket of nails over in the VIP room and we have a drill and hammer so think we can rig something up. I’m sure there will be a photo or two of it along the way.

We took Xena out for a short walk before it got really dark. Didn’t get to ride the bikes tonight though. I tested my printer after my shower and made sure it was all working so I could pitch the boxes. Printed well enough for what I intend to use it for. Read a few pages of Harry Potter before bed.