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.
We saw many beautiful daffodils …
… and these tulips …
… the reflecting pool …
… 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.
This is what it looked like this visit.
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.
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.
Outside the National Infantry Museum
The first display shows Revolutionary War soldiers
Vietnam War display
Part of the Global War on Terrorism display
Harley Davidson 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.
Inside Armor and Cavalry Museum section
This armored personnel carrier is more the vintage of Max’s time in the cavalry.
One of the outside displays
This actual beam from the World Trade Center was donated to the museum by the NYC Fire Department.
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.
Setting up for registration – which included preparing all the goodie bags.
Somebody must being doing something right to get over 100 class B RVs of the same brand to come together in a grassy field with no hookups for the weekend.
One of the main reasons the group gets together is to get together …
… and of course, plenty of food. This year the sponsors provided a catered meal and a breakfast and the attendees had 2 potluck dinners.
The education session this year was on RV electrical systems.
There were a few very talented owners who made karaoke night a lot of fun.
Dean Savas (left) is the organizer of the Facebook group that started the Class B Roundup. Nick (right) of Sunshine State RV is one of the sponsors along with the Class B division of Coachmen.
Last weekend we did laundry, rested, and bought groceries. There was lots of rain on Saturday and Sunday, so we were inside most of the time. There was even water over the road when we drove to church. When it wasn’t raining, we explored the portions of the camp we didn’t visit during the work week. We didn’t know there were high and low ropes courses and a BB gun shooting range. We also found our way down to the river where in better weather we would have loved to be canoeing. Unfortunately, the heavy rains had the water too high and fast to consider that possibility.
The road into the camp on Sunday
Our campsites after the rain
We began the work week with our team splitting up with Max, Anne, Shannon and Mariel continuing to work on the flooring in the pavilion while Gabriela, Lou, Dennis and Pam worked at the dining hall preparing the exterior for painting. Lou also worked on the tractor. The flooring was completed Monday with the exception of a small path leading to one bathroom. The concrete we had to pour to level the bathroom needed more cure time and the team will finish that up during Week 3.
Anne painting around the walls so we could roll the rest of the floor
Mariel scattering color flakes
The painted floor at the end of Monday
On Monday the camp also had someone cut down a couple of large dead trees that were a danger to a couple of cabins, so on Tuesday NOMADS did all the clean-up/removal of all the debris/limbs.
The two trees that were taken down
One of several loads of limbs
It took a while with this saw (just kidding)
Wednesday and Thursday we all worked on the dining hall. There was some damaged wood to be repaired, gutters to be removed, lots of cleaning and scraping, and then lots of painting. By Thursday afternoon all the repairs had been completed and the first coat of paint had been completed. A special thank you to the camp board members and church members who provided some wonderful Louisiana meals this week.
Lou and Gabriela cleaning window trim
Dennis and Pam getting the front wall ready for painting
Lou painting a door
Mariel painting trim
Gabriela painting the grooves in the siding
Anne cutting in for the paint rollers
Shannon rolling a wall
Dennis and Pam spent a lot of time on the back of the building
See how much better it looked at the end of the week
The last of the trim getting its first coat of paint
The walls and trim at the end of the week
Friday morning at 6:00 am, we turned Fred back in the direction of South Carolina. We hated to leave the NOMADS team and Uskichitto Retreat Center, but were thankful for the two weeks we were able to contribute to the project. We were especially glad to reconnect with Mariel, Shannon, Dennis and Pam, and to meet Gabriela and Lou. It was a really good two weeks.
Another delicious meal provided by friends of the camp. This is pastalaya.
Pam made four flavors of ice cream for the team so we had an ice cream dinner Tuesday evening.
It was all delicious
Our team. Notice how much better the wall behind us looks.
We made it back to Randy and Debra’s home early Saturday afternoon and we will spend the next few weeks with them except for a quick run to Florida and Alabama. Randy who is doing much better will be having some same day surgery Thursday so please continue to keep him in your prayers.
RVing With a Purpose 