November, 2000

 

Well, we finally hit the road!!!!

On Wednesday, November 22, Century Equipment had a very nice retirement luncheon for Tom and I.  It was a sad time saying good-by to the many friends who had made working there for over 20 years pleasant for Tom and I both.

Up to that day we had been working hard to clean out things in the house, arrange for a housesitter and decide what things we really needed to have and find a space to pack them in the Bounder which was now parked in our driveway.  We had "last suppers" with many of our good friends, and will miss them as we travel.  (Keep those e-mails coming, folks!)

We left the Toledo area the next morning, Thanksgiving Day, and headed to Marysville, OH to spend the weekend with Ann and her family.  We stayed in the RV parked at the curb, but had electric hookup to keep the furnace and heating bulb working.  It was cold out!!!!  We had a great time visiting with the three little angels and it was hard to leaved them behind.  We had some strange feelings as we headed out, knowing that we weren't just on a short vacation.  Do we really have everything that we'll need for the next year or so?

On Monday, November 27 we again headed south.  After a quick stop at Century's Columbus area office, we headed to Kentucky and spent our first night out at Renfro Valley.  On Tuesday we headed to the Knoxville area and pulled in to an "Escapees Rainbow Park."  The people there were very friendly and helpful and although it was still pretty cool, we enjoyed their hiking trails.  We had planned to spend several days in the area of Knoxville and Gatlinburg, but cut short our leisurely drive and headed on to Florida when Tom's mother went into the hospital.