March 2025 – RVing With a Purpose

Follies and Fallen Trees

March 31, 2025

In our last post we ended by letting you know that we would be in South Carolina with Randy and Debra until the end of the month. So now it’s the end of the month and we should be getting you up to date.

The first Sunday afternoon after returning to SC (March 16) we were excited to attend the Anderson Senior Follies 2025, show “It’s Electric” with Randy and Debra. The Anderson Senior Follies is an outreach of Anderson University in Anderson, South Carolina. It is recognized as one of the premier senior theater performance organizations in the Southeast. This year’s show was loosely based on Anderson, South Carolina, being known as the “Electric City” and featured a locally-written story about a family who puts on a follies show, facing a new mayor who wants to shut down their theater. All the performers are over the age of 55 with some into their nineties. The performers were very interactive with the audience and extremely talented. They produce a new show every year with auditions beginning in August and the premier performance being in March. Again, this year it was such a fun and entertaining afternoon. In addition to the main stage performance in March of each year, Senior Follies also produces a traveling show called “Follies to Go”. Its mission is to take the entertainment to school and church functions, community festivals, retirement and nursing homes, and cruise ships throughout the year. If you are ever in the area in March, we would highly recommend arranging you schedule to see one of the performances – and you might just see us there.

On Monday March 17, the four of us decided to spend the beautiful spring afternoon hiking Lick Fork Trail which is in Sumter National Forest in Edgefield County, SC. The trail is/was 1.9 miles around the Lick Fork Lake and is rated an easy hike. However, this area was severely damaged by Hurricane Helene last September. After seeing all the downed and damaged trees we were surprised that the campground and trail were open. We found that the trail had been cleared and re-routed in several locations and the trail was not open quite all the way around the lake. We hiked most of the way around the lake and then came to an area that had not yet been cleared of downed trees. We tried to find a way around but decided it was a little too hazardous and turned back. It was a nice hike in a nice location and we would consider taking BB there to camp. Fred is just a little too big. Anyway, it was the first hike in the woods we have done since Randy’s last surgery and we were very pleased with his progress.

The area around the trailhead was a clue to what the rest of the trail looked like.

This is what much of the cleared portion of the trail was like.

At least most of the trail blazes were still there. Some were harder to see than others.

Atlanta Botanical Garden

Saturday March 22, 2025

Wednesday 3/12/25, was another beautiful, sunny, blue-sky spring day and we visited the Atlanta Botanical Garden with Jim and Susan. Gorgeous!! The orchid exhibit was beyond any we have seen. We also couldn’t stop taking pictures of the tulips and daffodils. We visited the Garden in December 2023 when everything was decorated for Christmas. That was a great show, too. Jim says that they have something for each season that makes it worth a visit anytime you are in the Atlanta area. Not a lot of words today. We will let the pictures speak for us.

… but the main reason we visited the Garden this time was for the Orchiddaze. There were so many orchids, it was difficult picking which of our many pictures to post. And we didn’t even try to record all their names.

The mirrored globes in the orchid display

The orchid display also included these pitcher plants …

… and this live harlequin poison frog from Colombia.

This is what the goddess looked like when we were here in December 2023.

There were a few Chihuly glass sculptures on display, like this one on a fountain.

Anne visiting with one of the garden residents

While we hate the Atlanta traffic, Atlanta does have so much to offer a visitor. We just wouldn’t want to drive in that traffic every day. Thursday morning, we drove back to South Carolina to catch up on Randy and Debra. We are very appreciative for the prayers for Randy. He is doing well, and we are enjoying our time together. We will be here until the end of the month when we have an appointment in Red Bay for a little work on Fred.

National Infantry Museum

Friday, March 21, 2025

Monday afternoon (03/10/25), we drove from Alabama to Senoia, GA (suburb of Atlanta) to Anne’s brother’s home. We visited there over the next few days, where the busyness described in our previous post continued. Jim had for quite a while been wanting to take us to the National Infantry Museum at Fort Benning in Columbus, GA. We finally made the trip on Tuesday (3/11), a beautiful spring day. The museum was excellent. It was informative, moving, and one of the best museums we have visited. It is designed to be a self-guided tour but docent led tours can be scheduled. There is a giant screen theater and virtual reality (VR) simulators. You can even experience parachuting through the skies in the only Paradrop simulators in the US. Amazingly, the admission is free, with a suggested donation of $5.00. There are additional fees for some of the movies and VR offerings. When you enter the museum you first walk through a series of displays beginning with the Revolutionary War infantry and then advancing thru the Civil War, WWI, WWII, Korean War, Vietnam War, and Global War on Terrorism infantrymen. They have also added an Armory and Calvary Museum. They have exhibits featuring various pieces of equipment, memorials, and a three-quarter scale replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, DC. outside. There is also a Korean War Memorial, Gold Star and Surviving Family Memorial, and a Global War on Terrorism Memorial. When we arrived, we didn’t think we would be at the museum that long but stayed most of the day. It was another good day. We should have made this trip sooner.

The first display shows Revolutionary War soldiers

Part of the Global War on Terrorism display

Since the training for armor and cavalry soldiers has been moved to Fort Benning, a section of the museum has been dedicated to those branches.

This armored personnel carrier is more the vintage of Max’s time in the cavalry.

This actual beam from the World Trade Center was donated to the museum by the NYC Fire Department.

Wild Game and 100 Class B Vans

Monday, March 17, 2025

We have been very busy since our last post two weeks ago. The busyness began just a couple of hours after returning to South Carolina from the Uskichitto NOMADS project. Randy and Debra invited us to join them for the Sweetwater Baptist Church’s Annual Wild Game Supper. It was even better than last year. We enjoyed elk meatballs, bison dogs, venison chili, fish and a few other items. Sweetwater Baptist invites everyone to their free community gathering of friends, family, and neighbors. We appreciate Randy and Debra including us. We enjoyed the event but what touched our hearts the most was to see Randy feeling good and smiling and laughing with friends. Thank you God for his continued improvement!

We had the next three days to make a quick transition from Fred to Beyond Blessed and there was lots of laundry to do. We departed SC Wednesday in route to Ocala, FL for the Ocala RV Show and the Coachmen Class B Roundup. We made a quick overnight at the Gainesville Bass Pro Shop where we had a quiet and restful night with eight other RVers. After arriving in Ocala Thursday morning, we helped with parking and registration at the rally for over 100 class B vans. (Sponsored by Sunshine State RV and the Coachmen Class B Division) Friday, we enjoyed working the RV show for a few hours. There we met prospective new owners of class B’s and prospective NOMADS. It was fun sharing our experiences traveling the country in a small van. BTW, we still love this form of travel. The rest of the weekend, we were able to visit with old friends and make new friends. We had some great food and entertainment as well. All too soon it was Sunday and time to say goodbye. We pointed BB back toward Pine Mountain, AL for medical appointments on Monday.