ALS WALK….AUGUSTA, GA

Saturday, September 27 – We headed down to the Savannah River in downtown Augusta, GA, this morning for the ASL Walk. Again, we are walking in honor of Delores Weaver, Paul's brother John's wife, who died of Lou Gehrig disease in 2009. We are members of team Dream Weaver, one of the largest groups of the 43 teams participating in the walk. We had over 25 walkers in our group.

This was are view as we walked.

We met at the river walk to enjoy the pre-walk festivities and to meet up with other team members. What a wonderful and thoughtful way for these people to spend a Saturday morning. Team Dream Weaver raised over $14,335 for ALS, and the Augusta chapter raised over $121,290 for ALS research.

Two or our members, Holly Weaver and John Arthur Erwin, our niece and nephew registered the walkers.

There was a breakfast buffet, coffee, water, snow cones, popcorn and lots more before we even began the walk.

Ann and Ross, our niece and nephew,  enjoy the pre-walk festivities.

Adam Weaver, our nephew, designed the Augusta ALS T-shirt logo.

John and Karen show off the back of our Dream Weaver shirt.

One of the local high school bands was here to lead the march and celebrate the day.

The walk was not physically challenging, but it was a very emotional experience for those involved. Hearing walkers tell their stories of loved ones suffering from ALS, and the uplifting spirits they maintain is very moving.

Young and old join in the walk.

After the walk, we gathered at John's house for a picnic. What a wonderful time with family and friends. John, Karen, and the boys did an awesome job preparing a cookout for all the Dream Weaver walkers.

Our partial group at the cookout.

We weren't quite done eating. The picnic ended in early afternoon. After visiting with family, the rest of the day dinner was a chili cook-off. Yikes! Another unfortunate opportunity to over-eat! After dinner, we bid our farewells to our “Southern Family” and returned to our 5^th wheel home in preparation of an early Sunday morning departure.

It is getting dark way to soon these days.

Thanks John and Karen for a wonderful, fun and way-too-much-eating time!

We'll head to Montgomery, Alabama, on Sunday for a couple day stay, and then on to Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, for several days at the beach. Check back and enjoy the Gulf with us.

Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see y’all back real soon. Have a great day!

GETTING READY FOR THE ALS WALK…AUGUSTA, GA

Tuesday, September 23 – We moved on down the road this morning, a short distance, to Augusta, GA. Paul's brother, John, lives here, and we will be doing the ALS Walk on Saturday. We are also having a family picnic at his house after the walk. It will be fun to see the “southern family” again. We saw the gang at Kelly's wedding – it's unusual to get together twice in one year.

We are staying at a familiar place for us, Heritage RV Park. We stay here just about every year when we visit John. The streets are sand and the sites are concrete pads with a little grass between each site. We are at site #63, a FHU site. The campground is continuously remodeling and improving sites. The road out front is under construction which will make a nice entry when completed. We are only about a 15 minute drive to John's house. Of course, he's invited us to stay with him, but no need, we brought our house with us... :-) .

Looking right.

Looking left.

Augusta is only a little over an hour drive from our last stop in Columbia, SC. We fooled around until about 10 o'clock to pull-up the jacks and head west. That may be one of the latest starts we've gotten off to in the 6 years of traveling.

Enjoying a little vino and great visit. Karen, John, Marsha, Paul

Besides being with family, Marsha is thrilled to visit this area. She can stock up on her pine needles. We gathered over 5,000 last fall, and she is totally out. We headed to Carroll’s house. Carroll was John’s secretary back in the day. We worked about an hour and then enough. We will go out and gather more on Friday…minus Karen and John. They have had enough of nature….lol.

Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see y’all back real soon. Have a great day.

MASTERS PARTY

Friday, April 12 – After spending the entire day enjoying the Masters, it was time to party!!! Paul's brother has a Masters party every year inviting about 50 family members, friends, and business associates. John (Paul's brother) and Ryan (his son) are in charge of the menu.

Prep time…John and Ryan.

Flower arranging by Penny and Karen.

This years specialty is Prime Rib, grilled veggie's, potatoes, and grilled chicken kabobs. Of course adult beverages are available to hydrate oneself after spending a day on the golf course.

The yard is ready for the party.

Beverage tables.

We had a wonderful time meeting and talking with this group of friendly southerners. Marsha spent quite a bit of time talking to a couple from Italy. Her grandparents were from Italy and that's one of Marsha's most favorite places to visit.

It seems like there always has to be a "girls" photo.

Paul, Carol and John

We had a such a great time that before we knew it the clock struck 2:30 a.m. WOW! Staying up with the young adults is tough. Sure glad we're staying around the house on Saturday rather than going to the Masters. John, Karen and another couple are going to watch the golf. We'll hang around the house, relax and do some cleaning up of things from last night's party.

We hit the road for Ohio early Sunday morning. It's taking us two days to drive there from Augusta, GA.

Thanks so much John and Karen for a fabulous two weeks. You can bet that we will be back.

Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see y'all back real soon. Have a great day!

THE MASTERS WOW!

Saturday, April 12 – We had a fascinating morning at the Masters Golf Tournament. We arrived shortly after 7 am to get in position on the first tee to see the Greats (Jack Nicholas, Arnold Palmer, and Gary Player) open the tournament as the Honorary Starters.

We were in good position to see them walk to the first tee as they passed only a few feet away from where we stood but could only see the top of their swing as they teed off. The crowd forced us to a position 50 or 60 feet down the line from the tee box.

After the opening, we carried our chairs over to the second green to secure a spot so we could watch the players as they played through. We left the chairs there to hold our spot and walked around the back nine of this famous course to see some of the amazing sights.

The grass was unbelievable. fairways, tee boxes, and greens appeared in perfect condition. We would swear it was artificial turf. Not a weed in sight or a bare spot to be seen. This course is in amazing condition. Then there are the Azaleas that are in full bloom and the dogwoods adding a touch to the beauty.

We were free to walk most anywhere on the course. We did not have to stay in spectator galleries. We did observe rules of golf etiquette…no electronic devices, no cameras, no loud talking, or no running. Oh, and no chairs with arms. As a matter of fact, 98% of the chairs on the course (and there with thousands of them) were Master Golf Tournament chairs sold only in the Pro Shop.

Speaking of the Pro Shop, that's a not-to-miss stop! Master souvenirs (actually anything with the Master Logo or wording) can ONLY be purchased in the Pro Shop. It's huge. Most of the prices are very reasonable. Golf caps $22-24, golf towels $10, Masters golf balls $12, T-shirts $22, but the beautiful golf shirts with the Masters Logo were a little more expensive at $75-400. A supply and demand issue for sure.

The concession stand is another surprise. Get a load of these prices: coke $1.50; beer $3; sandwiches $1.50-3.00; and coffee $1.50. CHEAP! The tradition is to NOT gouge those attending the Masters. Pretty nice tradition, I would say.

After walking around the course for over an hour, we returned to our chairs at the second green and watched players as they played through. Tom Watson, Jim Furyk, Lee Westwood, Mike Weir, Brandt Snedekeer, Jose Olazabla, Bubba Watson (last year's winner), and Tiger Woods were a few of the many players we saw before time came to leave.

Lee Westwood

Have to mention the airport. There are two airports in Augusta, GA, and both look like proverbial parking lots for private jets. Literally 100's of them parked all over the place. Makes arriving in town as an RVer a little funny. Can you imagine FLYING around taking in golf tournaments and other “high roller” events.

We had to hand-off our tickets to the next group of family members that were attending the tournament this afternoon. We had a wonderful time and would certainly go again. Thanks to Paul's brother for sharing his tickets with us. A memorable experience for sure!

Paul was fortunate enough to go back to the Masters ALL DAY Saturday.  What a great day.  He again found a place at the #2 green and watched every player play through.  Awesome!

Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see y'all back real soon. Have a great day!

HEADED TO THE MASTERS

Wednesday, April 10  - We are back in Augusta, GA, getting ready to attend the Masters Golf Tournament. Paul's brother has attended for nearly 30 years and is going to share his tickets with us on Thursday morning. What a great adventure! We are not golfers but we are sports enthusiasts so we watch the PGA frequently. It's also great to hear are friends that are avid golfers go crazy that we get to attend the Masters.

The Masters have very strict rules about what you can take into the golf course. Unfortunately, no cameras, no cell phones, or other electronic devices. Lots of other rules too. If you get caught breaking any of the rules, your credentials (tickets) are confiscated and you are barred from the Masters FOR LIFE! Paul doesn't think his brother would like us to try smuggling a camera on the course.

Click on any picture to enlarge it.

Paul checked on possible tours of the Augusta Nationals Golf Club. Everyone he talked to simply laughed. Even professional golfers have to win a qualifying tournament to get on the course. It is VERY strictly – MEMBERS ONLY! The place is surrounded by a high fence and you can't even see onto the course or see the clubhouse.

Our tickets.

All photos must be courtesy of the Internet. Remember, no cameras allowed.

Clubhouse

If you want to attend the Masters and take pictures, you can get in the ticket lottery for practice round tickets. Pictures are permitted during the practice rounds. Unfortunately, since Paul's brother has regular annual tickets, he is not permitted to get practice round tickets.

Amen Corner

We also have a Masters Party to attend at John's home on Friday evening. He has a wonderful party every year for 50-60 of his closest friends and business acquaintances. That should be another fun time for sure.

Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see y'all back real soon. Have a great day!

A BEAUTIFUL DAY FOR A CRUISE

Thursday, April 4 – Before we tell you about our cruise, we would like to wish our daughter, Kelly, a very Happy Birthday.

Dave and Kelly

With the sun shining brightly in a wonder blue sky, it was a perfect day for a boat ride on the Augusta Heritage Canal. We were joined by Paul's brother, John and Karen, for the tour.

We started the historic tour by walking through the Augusta Canal Interpretive Center and  viewing a short 10-minute film entitled "The Power of A Canal."

The Center tells the story of how a city used its waterways to reinvent itself and define its destiny.

Back in 1840, Augusta was in the mists of an economic depression and on the brink of losing much of its population. Something was needed to turn this mostly agrarian area into more productive region.

Spearheaded by native Augustan Henry H. Cumming, the Augusta Canal was built in 1845 as a source of power, water and transportation, the Augusta Canal is the only intact industrial canal in the American South in continuous use.

By 1847, a saw and grist mill and the Augusta Factory  were built…the first of many that would eventually line the Canal. Mr. Cumming came up with the idea of building a canal to divert water from the Savanna River to be used to power cotton mills. The canal was dug in a year and a half using mostly slave labor. Can't imagine men digging this canal by hand, amazing!

Soon cotton mills began spring up along the canal. These became a great success and provided hundreds of jobs for people in the area. Augusta's population doubled in less than ten years.

Three of these mills remain today. All three are still producing electrical power using hydroelectric turbines. One is still in operation as a small finishing mill for cotton.

Also, stretching along two miles of the canal, the largest southern ammunition factory, America Powderworks, was built in 1880 to provide ammunition for the Confederate States during the Civil War. All that remains of that factory is the tall smoke stack. It is now a memorial to the thousands of lives lost during the war.

The canal ride is in electric boats (their batteries are charged from the turbines in the old cotton mills) built to resemble the old canal boats used to ship cotton along the canal in the mid-19^th century. Each boat can hold about 50 people and has a captain and a historical guide on board. On board our boat today was the four of us and two other ladies with three small children. Nearly a private tour.

The ride takes about an hour and consists of an enjoyable cruise several miles up the canal and back.

See that opening on the far right, that is where we had to carefully maneuver through.

Only two inches on each side. Our captain did a great job in getting us through without any damage or loss of life.

During the ride you pass three cotton mills, the munitions chimney, many of the historical spillways and dams used to keep the water in the canal, turtles, birds, and other wild life living in the waters of the canal.

Beautiful day for catching some rays.

Marsha had to ask the Captain if she could get a picture with him.

We really enjoyed our cruise and highly recommend it to others visiting the Augusta area.

Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see y'all back real soon. Have a great day!