February 25, 2006 - Manning, South Carolina

We have decided to stay here in Manning another night. It is pouring down rain here today so a good day to stay put and watch movies. We had a nice chat with the folks from Conneticut, Richard and Joan this morning before they headed back out on the road. Darlene has some movies downloaded to a portable hard drive we picked up before we left home and we are able to watch them on her laptop. We have to buy a memory stick for the carmcorder and we will pick up a cord for the computer that will allow us to watch the movies on the TV from now on. We were out and had lunch at Zaxby's, a chicken type restaurant but much better tasting than KFC, I had the best chicken salad sandwich I have eaten in a long time. We then took a little drive around and happened on the local golf course, Clarendon Golf and Country Club. We took a couple of pictures by one of the greens. I am starting to get the golf bug again so plan to get out and play a little golf in Savannah.
Also, we plan to go to The Lady and Sons restaurant in Savannah, Georgia, featuring Food Network chef Paula Deen's famous Southern home cooking. Savannah has a historic properties area, so we will likely arrange a trolley tour around there one day as well. Another funny comment this morning I wanted to share: Darlene asked the woman at the front desk if there were any tourist attractions around here, her response was, "Walmart" :-)...you have to love these southerners, they are so polite and friendly...

February 24, 2006 - Manning, South Carolina

Here we are at the Tourist Information Centre just outside Manning, South Carolina. We stopped for a break and picked up some hotel coupon books. The weather is lovely, with a temperature in the low 70's, a perfect temperature. So, we have decided to just go as far south as Savannah, Georgia tomorrow and stay there for 4 or 5 days, tour a cotton plantation and do some sightseeing. Then we plan to head west to Louisianna and spend a week or so in New Orleans.
We met a nice couple from Conneticut when we were registering at the hotel here. They are going down to Florida to visit their son. We are just chilling in our room right now, watching the Men's Curling gold medal game. Go Canada Go! Right now we are not planning to go to Florida, it is warm enough here to do what we want too, a little golfing, swimming and sightseeing. It is warm enough for short sleeves and shorts and we are happy with that, considering it was -30 with the windchill when we were in St. John last Saturday, brrrrrr.

February 23, 2006 - Wilson, North Carolina

We were a little late getting away and we had to stop in Richmond, Virginia to return the Powerbook I bought in New Hampshire. The unit I bought was defected and we found an Apple store that was only 1 mile off the highway so thought we would stop in and get it exchanged...no problem at all, have another one, hopefully one that works ok. Will have to check it before we leave the States, just in case. We stopped at the Virginia and North Carolina border for supper, Darlene had Liver and Onions and I had Porkchops, complete with potatos and green beans...a meal just like we would get a home...was a nice change from the ribs and chicken and shrimp we have been eating the last few days. We stopped in Wilson, North Carolina and are staying at Jameson Inn We have a room that we could drive the car right up to the door so makes it easier to cart the stuff in and out. We are planning a quiet evening of computers and TV. This is the first hotel room I have ever stayed in with a lazyboy chair, what a treat with the laptop. Oh, a funny little story before I sign off...we went to check into the hotel in Harrisonburg a couple of days ago and they always ask for a drivers license and credit card imprint, well the little one behind the desk took Darlene's driver's license and hesitated for a few minutes, then finally said, "Sorry Ma'am, what State is this driver's license from"? :-)))))...we had quite a chuckle later.

February 22, 2006 - Harrisonburg, Virginia

We are still in Harrisonburg, Virginia. We had a very relaxing day, spent the entire day at the Hotel, playing on our computers and resting. We went out for supper tonight to Applebees then stopped by Circuit City and Staples and picked up a camcorder and a computer game. We are excited about the camcorder, looking forward to taking some video in Florida and will post on here as we develop it. I am using my new Powerbook I picked up in New Hampshire to post to the blog tonight, pretty exciting. I just took a picture of Darlene playing her new game, Age of Empires III. She stopped long enough to pose for me :). We are hoping to get on the road fairly early and are heading for the South Carolina/Georgia border.

February 21, 2006 - Harrisonburg, Virginia

What a great day we had. We made terrific time on the road and drove approximately 8 hours straight, with a couple of stops for gas and food. We arrived in Harrisonburg about 6:00pm and found a room at the Courtyard Marriott. We went out and had some supper at Ruby Tuesdays and arrived back to the room shortly after 10. We were both very tired and went to bed early. We have decided to stay here an extra day. It is a nice city and tomorrow we will do a little sightseeing. Everyone here is very friendly and polite, feels like home :-).

February 20, 2006 - Wells, Maine

Sue was over for a visit with us at the hotel. We had an early night were up by 7, Darlene made coffee and I ran over to Dunken Donuts for more coffee and begals and muffins. We were on the road by 9:30am or so. We headed for the New Hampshire border and figured the stores would be closed because of the holiday, it was President's Day here today. We drove toward Mass. and decided to try an exit to Salem, NH and see if there was any stores open, possibly a mall. We were in luck, we found a mall and did some shopping, took advantage of the tax free prices. We then got a foolish idea to head for Albany, NY at around 3 and possibly keep going and drive till 10 or so and stay two nights where we stopped. But this plan did not work out too well :). We were getting tired and I was having trouble with the map, had trouble finding the right connections to each of the highways we had to get too and we ended up driving about 2 hours out of our way...we are back safely in Albany, NY, and pretty beat up...so we are laying low tonight...and going to regroup in the morning...Good night everyone!

February 19, 2006 - St. John, New Brunswick

We left Fall River shortly after 1:00pm and it was a pretty smooth trip to St. John. There was a bad fire just outside Moncton, a Shell Service Station and Tim Horton's was completely engulfed in flames...about 6 fire trucks on the scene and about 100 vehicles parked up on the highway watching the situation unfold. When we arrived at Pat and Dave's we had the pleasure of also seeing Lisa and dear little Sophia, what a sweetie! Robbie arrived soon after and we had a nice visit with the 5 of them. We settled down to a nice dinner and conversation with Pat and Dave reminising about their days in Toronto back in the 60's, remembering their times at the Purple Onion and sharing some fun memories with us. What a treat! It was also nice to chat with Pat about dragon boating and also were grateful to have them talk with us about the route we would take down to Florida. Darlene and Dave reviewed the maps together so we would be clear on where we would be heading.
We had breakfast with Pat and Dave and started back out on the road shortly after 10 this morning. The boarder was a breeze and once we passed through Calais and were on the road to Bangor we had a little celebration realizing we were on the road to warmer weather...the excitement grew! We stopped in Brewer for gas and took the I95 as far as Wells, Maine. We checked into the
Village By The Sea. We touched based with Sue and she invited us out for supper but we decided to pass and go to the pool for a swim and a rest in the hot tub...much needed after sitting in the car nearly 7 hours today. We ordered supper and just had it delivered and are now waiting for Sue to call and she is coming over for a visit later this evening.