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On the road again....

Thats's Ricki and Gus of Central Florida Bus who did the paint job. They had to re-do virtually everything, at least once.... hehehehe! But the finished job looks great. I discovered that in Atlanta they had apparently had trouble with one of the wheels, so they didn't install the new shock on the driver side boogie axle. The threads were siezed up and stripped, so John had Ricki replace the wheel studs and nuts, install the shock and service the bearings and axle. Did I tell you they were great to work with. One more day and Joe said the uniform guy would be taking my order as an official member of the shop! So it was off to Savannah on Saturday April 19th. I made it just fine and stopped at the Days Inn parking lot. I got lots of folks asking about Coffee, so as time went on I told them that she is an Eastern European movie star. She speaks some dialect that I don't speak and I'm just the driver. She can do all kinds of tricks, back flips, juggle, walk on her front paws; but I can't speak the language to tell her. I can make her sit though.... wanna see?

Jack and Carol Maxon had come to Savannah for the weekend, and we met at the Soho Cafe for a delightful brunch. I had eggs Savannah (Benedict over a crab cake) and Jack had shrimp and grits which was such a generous serving that Carol had to help him with a bite or two. I had had a problem with the bus which had coasted to a dead stop at a Food Lion grocery, so we went back to give it a try... it had "healed itself" and started right up.... only to die again as the air pressure built. This gave me a clue so I was able to diagnose it, get some help from Jack Conrad ( a Busnut buddy I met at the Arcadia, Fl. bus rally) and go to Home Depot to get the plumbing parts to cap of the air lines to the engine fuel shutoff. The Skinner valve had apparently failed. At least I can start and run it, even though I have to get out and shove the emerengcy shutoff leaver to stop the engine. Permanent repair will be simple. So off I went to Skidaway Island State Park. The Park manager, Holly, stayed late to get me set up and so I decided to stay a week.

On Monday I had lunch with Frank Hahne and his wife and daughter at Papa's Bar-B-Que in Thunderbolt. I had a wonderful gunbo and an oyster po'boy. Yum yum! Frank is a customer of Pilgrim Permacoat that the Forlong family of Tampa and Kenora owns and operates. My sister Ellen is the telephone "Gal" that Frank talks to all the time, and although they've never met, they are fast friends and Frank extended the courtesy to this here brother as well. Thanks Frank for all the hospitality and tips on Savannah.

A wonderful week in Savannah.

Our campground at Skidaway Island was just a quick ride in the toad to downtown. We went to Tybee Island and I climbed to the top of the lighthouse, (178 stairs) with minimal wind failure and knee jarring on the way down. Coffee posed in front for her picture... she's getting to be quite the ham. That's the chapel at Bethesda, founded for boy orphans in 1740 by George Whitefield. As one of the nations oldest orphans I had to show Coffee the grounds. The wedding party wasn't much impressed with that story either. Down at the river walk, I had the jazz player play for my "River Queen" and took a minute to pose with one of the many carriages. Any of you guys thinking of visiting Savannah, don't delay... it's super!

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Savannah, Ga. April 19, 2008


	On the road again.... Thats's Ricki and Gus of Central Florida Bus who did the paint job. They had to re-do virtually everything, at least once.... hehehehe! But the finished job looks great. I discovered that in Atlanta they had apparently had trouble with one of the wheels, so they didn't install the new shock on the driver side boogie axle. The threads were siezed up and stripped, so John had Ricki replace the wheel studs and nuts, install the shock and service the bearings and axle. Did I tell you they were great to work with. One more day and Joe said the uniform guy would be taking my order as an official member of the shop! So it was off to Savannah on Saturday April 19th. I made it just fine and stopped at the Days Inn parking lot. I got lots of folks asking about Coffee, so as time went on I told them that she is an Eastern European movie star. She speaks some dialect that I don't speak and I'm just the driver. She can do all kinds of tricks, back flips, juggle, walk on her front paws; but I can't speak the language to tell her. I can make her sit though.... wanna see?
	Jack and Carol Maxon had come to Savannah for the weekend, and we met at the Soho Cafe for a delightful brunch. I had eggs Savannah (Benedict over a crab cake) and Jack had shrimp and grits which was such a generous serving that Carol had to help him with a bite or two. I had had a problem with the bus which had coasted to a dead stop at a Food Lion grocery, so we went back to give it a try... it had "healed itself" and started right up.... only to die again as the air pressure built. This gave me a clue so I was able to diagnose it, get some help from Jack Conrad ( a Busnut buddy I met at the Arcadia, Fl. bus rally) and go to Home Depot to get the plumbing parts to cap of the air lines to the engine fuel shutoff. The Skinner valve had apparently failed. At least I can start and run it, even though I have to get out and shove the emerengcy shutoff leaver to stop the engine. Permanent repair will be simple. So off I went to Skidaway Island State Park. The Park manager, Holly, stayed late to get me set up and so I decided to stay a week. On Monday I had lunch with Frank Hahne and his wife and daughter at Papa's Bar-B-Que in Thunderbolt. I had a wonderful gunbo and an oyster po'boy. Yum yum! Frank is a customer of Pilgrim Permacoat that the Forlong family of Tampa and Kenora owns and operates. My sister Ellen is the telephone "Gal" that Frank talks to all the time, and although they've never met, they are fast friends and Frank extended the courtesy to this here brother as well. Thanks Frank for all the hospitality and tips on Savannah.
		For great food at reasonable prices, it's Papa's (not just Bar-B-Que) Papa's Bar-B-Que 4700 US Highway 80 E Savannah, GA 31410 Chatham County 912-897-0236 Soon to be moving so call
	Savannah used to be the home to yacht builders, but now the facilities at Thunderbolt are used to re-furbish. These are nice but Coffee wouldn't look good in a cheap boat! The new neighbors are Sharon and Mike from Hawaii who are touring the US in their tear-drop trailer. Really nice folks, she a teacher and he a former cop who met while working the Carribean on sailing vessels.... and I thought I have an adventurous life! That's Carl from Maryland who went to dump his sewer tank here at the Skidaway campground and leaked gasoline all the way over and back. A quick investigation showed that the squirrels had chewed his gas line in search of water. AAA Roadside Service sent someone out, but it took quite a while to find the proper accounting code for "squirrel vandalism."


That's Coffee at the Wormsloe Historic Site at the entrance to the oak lined road leading in and hiding in a big red oak tree on the shore of the salt marsh. Talk about gnarly! Of course we stopped at the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist in Savannah. Today it's off to the Bethesda Boys Orphanage, the oldest orphanage in the US and since I'm one of the US's oldest orphans, I thought I'd check it out. More to come.....

Goodbye to Savannah, Ga. April 27, 2008


		A wonderful week in Savannah. Our campground at Skidaway Island was just a quick ride in the toad to downtown. We went to Tybee Island and I climbed to the top of the lighthouse, (178 stairs) with minimal wind failure and knee jarring on the way down. Coffee posed in front for her picture... she's getting to be quite the ham. That's the chapel at Bethesda, founded for boy orphans in 1740 by George Whitefield. As one of the nations oldest orphans I had to show Coffee the grounds. The wedding party wasn't much impressed with that story either. Down at the river walk, I had the jazz player play for my "River Queen" and took a minute to pose with one of the many carriages. Any of you guys thinking of visiting Savannah, don't delay... it's super! More from South Carolina this week.

On the road again....

For great food at reasonable prices, it's Papa's (not just Bar-B-Que)

A wonderful week in Savannah.