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Where are Paul and Donna
Where are Paul and Donna
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  • USA National Parks East Tour
    Selfie at Shenandoah National Park sign
    A GREAT breakfast at Jacks!We got sworn in as Jr. Rangers in our car.Beautiful overlook views throughout Skyline Drive

    Day 26: Shenandoah National Park, VI

    15 januari, Förenta staterna ⋅ ☁️ 25 °F

    We got up early, had breakfast at Jack’s Shop Kitchen, in Ruckersville, VI. The servings were huge - the food was a delight. This is not a Denny’s breakfast. We have all had an okay normal breakfast - then every once in a while you stumble on to a place that you will remember the meal. Jack’s Shop Kitchen is such a place.

    After breakfast - we headed towards Sperryville, VI - Shenandoah National Park - we had about a 90 minute drive. To basically get to the other end of the park to start our drive through the park.

    When we got there we learned the visitor center was closed. The park ranger on duty at the gate booth, gave us our Junior Ranger material to study, and swore us in while sitting in our car at the toll booth. Yes, there was a car behind us waiting! We promised to complete the book later. We got our badges and went on our way.

    This is a good point to mention the importance of spending the $80 for a Lifetime Senior National Park’s pass. Not all National Parks charge for entry - but many do. To drive Skyline Drive it cost $30 - Free with the pass - With all the parks we have visited the Senior Park pass has more than paid for itself.

    Honestly, once we got going we really didn’t know where we were heading. It was great to find out we actually were heading back towards the AirBNB. It is a beautiful drive with a few twisties, and tons of over-looks. Again, we were there off-season so we didn’t fight the crowds or traffic. A nice way to spend the morning. This completed the goal - we visited all ten of the National Parks and earned our Junior Ranger badges we planned to, and two parks we didn’t plan on visiting or even knew about. Twelve parks in total.

    Read the posts about Baboursville - to see how we ended our last day before heading home.

    #nationalparks #shenandoah #shenandoahnationalpark #skylinedrive    Läs mer

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  • USA National Parks East Tour
    3 days a week you can catch an Amtrak in Thurmond WV
    Welcome to Thurmond, WV a ghost townThey have a Post Office - it was closed.If these walls could talkI feel like Jessie James casing the bank.Erie and peaceful at the same time.

    Day 25: Thurmond, WV - New River Gorge

    14 januari, Förenta staterna ⋅ ☀️ 25 °F

    This was a thriving city back in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s - twenty trains would stop here each and every day. Now Amtrak goes through Thurmond, WV three times a week.

    This city with a population of 8 [ I think ] is nestled well within the mountains, and very much worth the 45 minute drive on a a narrow road to get there. There was nobody there. We felt like we took a time machine back to another world in another time.Läs mer

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  • USA National Parks East Tour
    Swearing in ceremony - New Jr. Rangers ready to report for duty

    Day 25: New River Gorge National Park

    14 januari, Förenta staterna ⋅ ☀️ 21 °F

    Here are some pictures of our stop at a couple of places within New River Gorge National Park. Also, our swearing in ceremony as Junior Ranger’s of New River Gorge National Park. There is a separate post of Thurmond, WV which is a little gem of the historic past within New River Gorge.

    So, when we headed out on this trip we planned to visit 10 National Parks earning our Jr. Ranger badges at each. What we didn’t know was New River Gorge was added as a National Park in 2020 - So, we added this park to our itinerary - It was well worth it. The Jr. Ranger booklet is excellent. More important the ranger went through the booklet with us (many do this) and really added more information about various topics.

    The ranger gave us the key places to go visit and it was well worth the little side trips.    Läs mer

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  • USA National Parks East Tour

    Day 24: Great Smoky Mountains & MiniGolf

    13 januari, Förenta staterna ⋅ ☀️ 43 °F

    After finishing our ride through the Tail of the Dragon, we headed directly to The Great Smoky Mountains. Honestly, this was our least favorite experience at a National Park. We have never had to pay for parking before, and we never had to pay for a Junior Ranger Badge booklet ($4.50 each). Also, the Jr. Ranger booklet, is horribly designed. We completed all we could, and did get sworn in as Junior Ranger’s for the Great Smoky Mountains and got our badges. We felt a bit cheap - “like we bought our badges” we didn’t learn near as much as we have going through other Junior Ranger badge booklets at other parks.

    We drove through the park - some amazing views - and then headed on our way. Shortly after leaving the park we came unto The Toy Box Mini-golf. This is the most expensive mini-golf park we played our whole trip. It is themed very nicely with Toy Story themed holes. The golf play was good. Paul was completely off his game; Donna crushed Paul 38 to 49 strokes.    Läs mer

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  • USA National Parks East Tour

    Day 24: Tail of the Dragon, NC & TN

    13 januari, Förenta staterna ⋅ ☀️ 37 °F

    My father-in-law use to talk about the Tail of the Dragon a bunch. This is where I first learned about the tail. Since it was an easy thing to do to add to our itinerary, we took the 2025 Mazda CX-70 on the Tail of the Dragon. As of now, we are claiming our CX-70 is the first CX-70 to do the Tail of the Dragon. Mazda just came out with this model, so until someone can prove otherwise - we are holding on to the title! This is the first Mazda CX-70 to do the Tail.

    It was the first time Donna and I had done the tail as well.

    We stayed at an airBNB treehouse, the night before in NC - got up early - gas up the car - and drove the trail. It was a fun drive, do it slow and careful you’ll be fine. 30 MPH speed limit. We switched drivers about halfway.

    #tailofthedragon #mazda #mazdacx70    Läs mer

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  • USA National Parks East Tour

    Day 23: Congaree National Park SC

    12 januari, Förenta staterna ⋅ ☀️ 39 °F

    This National Park really surprised us. As we were driving towards the park, we were thinking this is just woods - no big deal. Congaree does an excellent job with a lovely easy to walk boardwalk, with markers to read along the away about each of the ecosystems you will pass through. The video in the visitor center is very well done. We had a lovely day. We saw the tallest tree in the park.

    While the Redwoods in California are amazing (we hope to visit there someday) the east coast has its own amazing forests. We so glad Congaree is a part of the park system. Over 200 species or birds and 800 species of plants.

    Of course, we earned our Congaree National Park Junior Ranger badge, see the photo of the swearing in ceremony.

    This is a lovely, often overlooked national park you will want to visit.

    #congaree. #nationalparks    Läs mer

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  • USA National Parks East Tour

    Day 22: Mini Golf Brunswick, GA

    11 januari, Förenta staterna ⋅ 🌙 36 °F

    We left Key West, Florida early in the morning. Got MacDonald’s for breakfast and headed north. It was about 600 miles to Brunswick, GA where we found an indoor Black Light Mini Golf place and Donna won in a close game 44 to 45 strokes. The course was fun and challenging. It was a pleasant surprise to find a place indoors and fun like this.

    Then another 100+ miles and couple of hours to land at a Day’s Inn in Hardeeville, SC. This was a very decent hotel for a one night stop.

    What all this driving did was get us out of Florida, got Mini Golf in Georgia, and land in South Carolina so we could hit Congaree National Park the next morning. It was along day of driving but work out for our schedule. By this time we are entering into our fourth week of traveling, and have four more National Parks to visit, and we could start to see our Northstar home to East Windsor, Connecticut.    Läs mer

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  • USA National Parks East Tour

    Day 21: Dinner “Bobahus” Big Coppitt Key

    10 januari, Förenta staterna ⋅ ☁️ 72 °F

    Wanting to NOT l with parking and traffic in Key West proper, we opted to take the highway out of Key West in search of a place to eat. We found this nice little place with just the right character for the trip.

    Music outside was loud - we stayed inside - The food took a while to get served - But, it was well worth the wait. Service was excellent. We did enjoy the Key Lime pie for desert. Would highly recommend this restaurant as a fun place, with lots of character, and excellent food.    Läs mer

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  • USA National Parks East Tour

    Day 21: Fort Jefferson Dry Tortugas 1:2

    10 januari, Förenta staterna ⋅ 🌬 72 °F

    There are three ways to get to Dry Tortugas - Boat/Ferry (can’t be a private boat), Sea Plane (can’t be private plane), or swim (just to far). We opted for the plane ride. The ferry is much cheaper (need to get ferry tickets weeks in advance) but the plane ride in the second half of the day was perfect. When the plane arrived at about 3:00 pm the last group of ferry people were leaving. Two planes, about 24 people, we had the island to ourselves. Except for a small group of tent campers already on the island. Well worth the extra money.

    The pilot did and excellent job pointing out ship wrecks, sharks, turtles, and dolphins along the route, as well as, telling us history and antidotes along the way.

    This is one of the least visited National Parks - You must visit it. Donna and I got our Jr. Ranger booklets and went to work and was able to get sworn in as Junior Rangers for Dry Tortugas National Park.

    This park is very remote and not kept up as nicely as other parks. The visitor center needs a major upgrade. I wish they would add more funding to this park. If I was to be a park ranger I would love being at this remote park, the solitude and knowing I could do things to help this park be even nicer.

    The history is interesting - the goal of this park was to protect the Mississippi River from foreign intruders. By the time the park was built - war technology had changed so much that the walls would have easily been destroyed. Three of President Lincoln assassination conspirators; Dr. Mudd, Samuel Arnold, and Edman Spangler were imprisoned at Dry Tortugas for a life sentence of hard labor.

    However, in general the intent of the government project for building Fort Jefferson Dry Tortugas was pretty much a failed project.

    If you love camping and solitude this would be a place to spend some time. Like all of the parks we have visited I wish we could have spent more time here.

    #drytortugas #nationalparks    Läs mer

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  • USA National Parks East Tour

    Day 20: Key West, Florida

    9 januari, Förenta staterna ⋅ 🌬 59 °F

    Today’s goal was to get to Key West Florida. It was about a three hour drive, 130 miles from Florida City to Key West. It’s a pretty drive for a while then got boring. We checked into our hotel about 1:00 pm and then went out to explore Key West. We took the hotel shuttle into town.

    We had fish & chips at Jimmy Buffet’s Margaritaville, with margaritas, of course! We visited Ernest Hemingway’s home (See separate post) Then we walked Duval Street to the Southern most point of the United States, to get pictures of everyone in line - getting ready to get the mandatory selfie at the southern most point marker.

    We then went to the very start of US Route 1, mile marker 0 … I am sure many of us have Route 1 memories some where along the route from Florida to Fort Kent Maine. (my mom try is driving Route 1 from Foxboro, Mass into Boston, Mass - and the Norwood Speedway on Route 1.

    Now, I have added to the bucket list needing to visit Fort Kent Maine, to get the selfie at the other end of Route 1.

    After a bit more walking to the hotel shuttle pick up point, only to learn we missed the shuttle and had an hour wait for the next one - We called an Uber back to the hotel.

    The weather in Key West is great. It is the ultimate tourist beach town. We are happy we were not there at peak season - it would be a zoo. Overall, our this whole trip was off-peak and the timings for visiting the places we visited was perfect. Weather has been on our side. No major crowds or long lines.    Läs mer

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  • USA National Parks East Tour

    Day 19: Hotel Day, Florida City, FL

    8 januari, Förenta staterna ⋅ ☀️ 50 °F

    Yesterday, we left the Hollywood Tower Beach Hotel, headed just 90 minutes south to Florida City, Hilton Home 2. We have a couple of days before we need to get to Key West - a little under 4 hour drive from where we are staying.

    Paul, had Art History homework to complete. While Donna found a touch-less car wash to get the “bird stuff” off of the Mazda - we were the recipients of an air attack from a bird strike a couple of days back when traveling to Biscayne National Park. The car looks better now. Donna brought back sandwich’s from Subway - this was a perfect lunch.

    After lunch we headed to the Palmetto Golf Course, in Miami about 30 minutes away. They have a mini golf course there as well. It is very nicely laid out and some of the holes are very challenging. Paul was not on his game. Donna crushed Paul with a final score of 51 to 60. After Paul’s humiliating defeat, we headed back to the hotel. Paul did a bit more homework and is happy to be caught up. Donna just relaxed - the TV got turned on for a bit - then time for bed.

    Tomorrow we drive to Key West. We will be in Key West Jan 9 and leave on Jan 11th.

    Three weeks is a long time to travel in a car. Taking suitcases in and out, eating on the road, no sense of a home base. We have been to six National Parks and one National Preserve. Each place has its own unique character. It would be nice to have more time to explore the parks and hike around. We have four more parks to visit to make our goal of ten parks on this trip.

    Yes, we are a bit tired, but we are doing good. The adventure continues.    Läs mer

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  • USA National Parks East Tour

    Day 18: Everglades National Park (1:2)

    7 januari, Förenta staterna ⋅ ☀️ 64 °F

    We checked out of the Hollywood Beach Tower and did MacDonalds for breakfast then headed to the Everglades National Park.

    Since the Junior Ranger booklets were combined with other parks we went to the Ranger desk and got sworn in and received our badges. The ranger gave us some tips on where to drive and what to see. We saw manatee’s, all sorts of birds and watershed plant life. We even visited one of the old Nike Stations, which was closed down in 1979.Läs mer

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  • USA National Parks East Tour

    Day 17: Big Cypress National Preserve

    6 januari, Förenta staterna ⋅ ☀️ 77 °F

    Big Cypress National Preserve is not one of the 63 major National Parks. It is a very important piece of the ecosystem in southern Florida. It was under a 90 min car ride from our hotel. Also, from a Junior Ranger perspective, the three parks all share the same Jr. Ranger booklet, so we had completed the Big Cypress pages yesterday while doing the Biscayne pages. Muck to our surprise the National Park Service has also just introduced Junior Fire Ranger Certification badges. Which we were also able to earn. Personally, I am happy they did not do a background check on me, when I burnt down the field that was next to our home when I was in fifth grade.

    At Big Cypress they have a very nice boardwalk where we saw alligators, birds, turtles, and tons of fish. It was a nice ride out to the preserve and a nice visit once we were there.

    Emily Gamboa the ranger who swore us in was great, she is a part time ranger, sic months on, six months off. Emily has tons of passion and energy for the parks, Listening to her talk with the kids - she is so good with them. The park service is fortunate to have her. Most all of the Park Rangers we have met are great. They really go the extra mile to make sure everyone gets the most out of their park visits.

    So, if you are in Florida - do not pass up the opportunity for a visit to Big Cypress National Preserve    Läs mer

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  • USA National Parks East Tour

    Day 17: Low key day at Hollywood Beach

    6 januari, Förenta staterna ⋅ ☁️ 66 °F

    Good morning. Not much will be happening today. It’s 7:30 AM I am up and trying to get caught up on my FindPenguins posts. Also promised I would let Donna sleep in. We also have laundry to wash, and I have some Art History homework to complete and turn in today.

    We are staying at the Hollywood Beach Tower Hotel, 301 Harrison St. - It’s an older hotel - not a nice Hilton or Wyndham Suite - but it’s okay - it is on the beach and has a nice view. I am on the pool deck as the sun is rising, it’s 68 degrees right now, and should get into the high 70’s by mid day.

    Hopefully, I can fill in the blanks of the missing few days of posts and get my homework completed.    Läs mer

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  • USA National Parks East Tour

    Day 16: Park #5 Biscayne National Park

    5 januari, Förenta staterna ⋅ ☁️ 70 °F

    Today is a busy day -

    First we had to get up early to find breakfast down the boardwalk. A short walk we found “Mamacitas” right there on the boardwalk with a nice view and a decent breakfast.

    Next, we had to be back at the hotel at 8:30 for the ‘sales pitch’. I had gotten the hotel through Booksi.com for $159 for 4 days and 3 nights and they gave us a $150 prepaid credit card for listening to their pitch. We opted not to spend the $54,000 for the Capital Vacations membership. They go through the typical sales pitch process - You must buy it today to get this great deal. The initial price was $104,000 which quickly got cut in half. It’s worst than buying a new car. We survived.

    Then it was on the road, about 90 minutes to get to Biscayne National Park. Waze took us through back roads through palm tree and other tropical plants farm land. The roads were horrible having to navigate all the pot holes.

    Once again the National Parks continue to never disappoint us. We got our Junior and Adult Ranger Booklet’s and got to work completing the pages. We sat on a bench at the visitor center overlooking the Biscayne Bay. The cool breeze and lovely blue sky made for a peaceful time. We watched the informational movies in visitor center - you really get a nice overview of the park and answers for your Jr. Ranger badge.

    Like all the parks you can’t see it in one day and get everything. It would have been great to take a boat tour or a paddle a canoe throughout the park.

    After the park we headed to the hotel and had a nice meal at a local restaurant.    Läs mer

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  • USA National Parks East Tour
    Great dinner with Rosalee & Steve
    Flanigan's does a great job, good eating here.

    Day 15: Catching up with friends Part 2

    4 januari, Förenta staterna ⋅ ☁️ 63 °F

    Continuing on the theme of great friends I met while Working at Yale.

    Once we left Rod & Bob’s, around noontime. We had a bit over three hour drive from Orlando, FL to our Hotel in Hollywood, FL. I had been messaging Rosalie on FB to plan to get together with her husband Steve. They picked us up at the hotel and we went to one of their favorite hangouts - Flanigans. Rosalie and I worked at Yale in the early days circa Y2K. She and Steve moved to Miami over 14 years ago - once again through the miracle of technology even though we had not seen each other for so many years, Facebook kept us connected. You know a “like” or comment here or there, a birthday wish when those reminders pop up.

    Funny story while Donna and I were on the Viking Neptune heading out on our world cruise last year, Steve and Rosalie sat on the deck of their condo and waved to us as they watched our ship go by. She sent a message “We are looking at your ship go by right now.”

    I had never met Steve, and Rosalie had never met Donna - even though back in the day we knew about each other’s spouses.

    The Joe’s Beer Ale at Flanigan’s is great it was a great paring with the BBQ ribs.

    The visit was short, the dinner was filling, and the conversation great.    Läs mer

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  • USA National Parks East Tour

    Day 15: Catching up with friends Part 1

    4 januari, Förenta staterna ⋅ ☀️ 50 °F

    Back when I had to work for a living at Yale, I developed some great friendships over the years which still stick to this day. Rod & Bob are one of those couples which we will always remain friends. Rod and I worked side by side and even for a while he was my manager (one of many). Bob (KB1 HRH) and I connected through Ham Radio interests. Of course Facebook allows us to keep connected with people easily. Since we were in Orlando only 15 minutes away from their home - and since Bob offered a French Toast and bacon breakfast - it was a no brainer to stop by and catch up. Bob is a great cook and loves preparing a nice meal.

    We did insist on golf cart ride through their community. Which they were happy to comply We got the full tour. Watch the 20 second video.

    We all have friendship which you just pick up where you left off at even if it has been years since you last got together.

    Bob & Rod thank you for your hospitality and to get to catch up with you both. Yes, please stop by East Windsor on your route back up to your Maine basecamp and plug in for the night.    Läs mer

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  • USA National Parks East Tour

    Day 14: Low Key Day in Orlando, FL

    3 januari, Förenta staterna ⋅ ☀️ 50 °F

    We are about halfway through our four week adventure. We have travelled through 12 states and visited four out of the planned ten National Parks for this trip. We have landed at a Home2 Hilton Suites, have a huge corner suite with living room, bedroom with King size bed, tons of work space and tables, huge 2 sink bathroom. It makes up for a couple of the not so nice places we landed in. It mixes it up.

    Breakfast was crazy in the morning. It is vacation season in Orlando - aka Disney. Tons of families getting ready to go to the parks for the day. All the kids are excited and loud. We thought about doing Adventure Kingdom but opted out - deciding we need to just chill out. Paul had two assignments due for the Art History II class he is taking while traveling, while Donna finished up making some overdue Christmas cards.

    For lunch we went to Applebee’s; had salad’s - then Walmart & Target for some supplies. So studying, crafting, and reruns of the Rookie in the quiet of a very nice suite was perfect.

    At this point in the trip (2 weeks) we have developed a pretty decent routine of how to pack the back of the car, and what stuff we need to take into the room on certain types of stops. If it is a one-night quick, sleep stop - we call this our “go-bag” stop. If we need stuff in the bigger suitcases then we need the hotel cart. And we reorganize - do laundry etc.

    This trip is Phase One of an experiment. This is the hotel/airBnB phase. Paul is taking costs and we are figuring out what works and doesn’t work. Phase Two (tentative) is to purchase/rent a small popup or teardrop camper and to do a similar 4 week trip to trying camping while doing the National Parks across the Northern part of our country, MN, SD, MO, WY, ID etc. We know we are not campers, but we can do anything for 4 weeks. However one of us might end up at the “Train Station” in Wyoming (“Yellowstone” TV show reference).

    The research questions are:

    1) Which type of travel works best for both of us?
    2) Can we do (enjoy) camping?
    3) What is the cost differential camping over hotels/airBNB?
    4) So basically a cost benefits analysis.

    The more we talk about it, the possible financial savings of camping might not be worth all the extra work of setup and tear down. As well as, the concern for pulling a trailer on the road. So this is still to be determined.

    Because than we have all the West Coast and South West National parks to explore. As for doing Alaska there are several tour company’s who will organize a complete trip 3 weeks and you can visit all 8 National Parks. We don’t want to have to worry about anything when we go to Alaska.

    Well that gets you up to date.    Läs mer

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  • USA National Parks East Tour

    Day 13: Catching up with family

    2 januari, Förenta staterna ⋅ ⛅ 66 °F

    The night before, the goal was to make it through Georgia and get a hotel once we crossed the state line into Florida. Then the next morning we would head towards Orlando.

    On the way to Orlando, we took a slight detour to visit my step-father (Donald), my nephew (Clayton), and my sister (Reana) who came over. My sister Ruth was working so we didn’t get to see her. After a brief visit, from there we headed back on the road towards Orlando to a Home2 Suite by Hilton - These are AMAZING suites.

    Around 6:00pm Reana’s kids, Tj and Sarah, picked us up at the hotel and we went out to dinner. We are very proud of my niece & nephews. It was good to connect with everyone.    Läs mer

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  • USA National Parks East Tour

    Day 12: Quality Inn, White Springs FL

    1 januari, Förenta staterna ⋅ ☁️ 46 °F

    Our goal was to get through Georgia and find a hotel once we crossed the line into Florida. By the end of the day we were getting tired and saw this Quality Inn, White Springs FL. - Not so quality.

    The staff was very nice, and we slept well on the king size bed.

    When I opened the door to the room the lighting was dark, reruns from the Twilight Zone were playing on the turned on TV. That should have been a clue!

    Basically, it was a room for the night - we survived. If they would renovate, upgrade their linens, and improve the lighting - it was okay. It was clean no mold etc. We would have left if it was that bad.

    We watched a few episodes of the Twilight Zone, turned off the lights, and went to sleep with one eye opened wondering if we were in “The Twilight Zone” and what was going to happen to us.

    In the morning, we had breakfast, it was limited, typical, but okay. Again the staff were very nice.

    Then on the road the again. Of course, the next exit had all the nice hotels. What can you do?    Läs mer

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  • USA National Parks East Tour

    Day 12: Georgia - Doggies & Birthplace

    1 januari, Förenta staterna ⋅ ☁️ 57 °F

    Last night we made it into Georgia. Stayed at an Avid Hotel in Ringgold, GA. Rooms are small, but everything is up-to-date, modern and clean. This is a travel through hotel. We a had decent typical hotel breakfast and then we had a day of driving to get through Georgia.

    Donna had two stops she wanted to make.

    First, to meet Kat, at Airsongs Angel’s a Vizsla rescue in Georgia. Kat and Ray were very welcoming and we got to learn more about the rescue program they run. We got to meet and play with many of the dogs they care for.

    From there we headed to Turner Air Force Base in Albany Georgia. Donna was born there when her father was station there back in 1960. The Air Force Base has long been shut down and is now a Miller Brewery factory. Paul decided, against Donna’s better judgement to go down the street marked “Private Property.” It gave an eerie feeling, as we might imagine ghost planes taking off and landing on what once might have been the runway.

    When we got to the gate, we turned around and headed on our way. It was dark and getting late.    Läs mer

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