Rolling, rolling, rolling!

Wow!  What a time we had in Atlanta.   It started off with a terrific visit from our son Jason and his girlfriend, Joanne.  It was a lot of fun and we really enjoyed meeting Joanne.  We were busy and shared a lot of laughs over their short time here.

Then, of course we had to see the dentist, yes we still come to Atlanta for that.  Maybe some of you feel like we do about dentists, once you find one you like, it is VERY hard to switch and find a new one.  We have been going to this dentist for 20 years, and plan to continue for the time being.  A couple other Dr appointments and we can now call it a year.

We met friends, Brett and Sandra for a great visit that included dinner, drinks, dessert, and an awesome quick visit to a sensational house they are in the process of buying.  They have an exciting time ahead of them.  We sure enjoyed seeing them and do each time we come through Atlanta.

We also enjoyed a couple days of pouring rain.  Sounds funny, but sometimes rainy days are welcome, and especially since we had so very few all winter long in Florida.  It's nice to cozy up, watch a few movies and listen to the sounds of the rain on the roof.  I also think it knocked some of the pollen out of the air:-)

Then we finished our time in Atlanta by going over to our friends, John and Diane's beautiful lake house for a few days.  They are long time friends and we always enjoy their company.  

The view off their porch

Diane, moi, and John enjoying some philosophy:)

We even got in a boat ride, and of course, a stop along the way for a beer.

A nice day

Managed to get into a very hotly contested Cornhole tournament, which I am sad to report Jan and I lost the tie breaking game by 1 point.

Hot competition

And a lot of fun and discussion into the wee hours...

Good times!

We got back to the coach to see how Bert survived 2 nights alone, and other than a couple presents on the floor and being very relieved we returned, and writing this 2 days later, he is almost recovered.

So after our whirlwind time in Atlanta, we have now moved up to Marble, NC to actually begin our travels.  We are at a new RV resort, called Valley River.  It is still partly under construction, and has a beautiful clubhouse, a bath house and pool under construction, a whole new area of sites being worked on, very friendly managers, and unfortunately an entrance that was not built for a 45' motorhome, as we drug our rear end getting in and will most definitely drag our way out.  It is truly a shame with as much thought and work that has gone into this, and going to be beautiful resort that they missed such an obvious and important feature.  Will we come back?  Hard to say.

The clubhouse

Another subject.  As I have mentioned, Jan and I have taken up fly fishing, again for me and new for Jan.  We have really been enjoying it.  A company named Denver Outfitters makes and sells a fly rod and reel holder for your vehicle, essentially they bought out another company and with growing pains are building this rod holder, called a Rod Vault.  During a promotion, and after seeing quite a few in use out west, we ordered ours in June of 2017, also paid in full.  We just had it delivered, FINALLY, after delay after delay, to our campground here in NC.  It came broken down into a couple pieces, as it has to be, as it is 10' long, so some assembly is required.

Putting it together

After a bit of adjusting to get it on the truck just right we are happy to say it is all mounted and ready for use.

Our new Rod Vault

Now I will try to be straightforward and unbiased in my comments.  We were truly frustrated by the 10 month delay in receiving this product.  When we saw the package when we arrived, we were saddened to see how awful the packaging was, the one end of the holder was completely exposed!  But, nothing was damaged.  One end almost fell off as 2 of the 3 rivets holding it on fell out, but luckily rivets are one of the items I carry all the time so that was easily fixed.  We were very impressed at how solid and rugged the Rod Vault is, very nice quality.  Instructions to assembling it are poor, but it really isn't difficult, but all in all, Jan and I spent a couple hours getting it right.  This company is now advertising a 30 day delivery schedule which will have to be observed before believed, at least for us, but it is a very cool product which allows you to transport up to 3 completely assembled and ready to go fly rods up to 10' long.  It will allow us to get on the water in mere moments, and does seem to have the quality and heft to last a very long time.  We will be able to better assess it after a full season of fishing.

So after mounting our new toy, and settling in to our site, Jan and I sat down for a "on the road again" drink.  So cheers everybody!