DAY 2- Charleston and Dinner at Gordon and Ann's

10/30- Below in RED is Janet and Nigel's write up for this day. Sorry I didn't get it included sooner.

My apologies, as I am so far behind in the blog. We just returned to the hotel  at 10:15 PM, and I really don't have much energy left to write in the blog tonight. 

I want you to know we are all okay. We had two more Morgan Fan problems, but both have been resolved. Clothing was left behind in Savannah. Half of the clothes have been returned and we are hoping tomorrow to have the other ones found and Fed Exed to Asheville. 

As far as I am aware, no one is ill. 

I promise to catch up on the other days events, and may ask others to contribute to this blog. I will include a few photos from today and little writing.

CHARLESTON TODAY

We are staying in a lovely Inn called the Ansonborough Inn near the Charleston Harbor. It was an old factory (or warehouse), that has been converted to a lovely hotel. We did have to be moved from our room this morning due to what was a "diesel fuel" smell that was giving me a headache. They were very kind about it, but it did take a fair amount of our time to accomplish. 

Patsy displays the wonderful breakfast that she had this morning at the hotel.

I believe everyone took a Charleston city tour in an air conditioned bus today at different times. ChaAlthough the weather forecast was for 60% chance of rain, we were spared any today (eventually I will write about the heavy storm last night)

Not the vehicle we rode in.

Flags out for 9/11

For Sale- $8M

This evening we all went to Gordon and Sue's home on John's Island for a Low Country Boil, gumbo and rib dinner. Gordon has a beautiful Morgan, as well as a lovely home and a lot of "toys". 

Gordon

Anne

Dinner

Shucking Oysters

Low Country Boil- Yummmm

Gumbo

Gordon's Daughter

Sue and Geoff from UK and their "outlaws" from Florida joined in, as did Marilyn and Dave from Atlanta. 

Janet and Raymond 

John in the small garage

Good night to all.

DAY 2. Nigel & Janet

"We had an amazing day in Charleston, and loved to see the flags lining the road into the town, what a lovely sight to greet visitors. We starting with a 90 minute bus tour, where we saw much of the Historic District. At one point we went past a replica of the first submarine ever built, which had a battering ram on the front. It was powered by 8 men moving paddles and it was the first sub to sink a ship by ramming a hole in the ships hull and depositing a charge, the men then paddled backwards furiously and pulled a rope to set off the charge, thus sinking the ship. Unfortunately, the sub also sank and all 8 men on board lost their lives. The sub remained on the sea bed for over 125 years and when it was recovered it was found intact with the remains of all 8 men on board. They hadn't drowned, they simply ran out of air and suffocated. We were also told about the State flag which displays a palmetto tree and a crescent moon. The palmetto tree wood was used in the construction of the forts and the crescent used to resemble a blade and was on the Patriots hats. At some point they tilted it slightly so now resembles a moon, not a blade.
We then passed through the Military Academy, and the first thing we saw was an enormous brass replica of the ring presented to all the cadets who graduate. On the front of the ring is displayed the current year, so it was showing 2015 (hey, I got that right!) and it will shortly be removed so that the year can be replaced with 2016 (hey, I got that right, too!!). The freshmen boys all have their hair shaved off for their first year and they are referred to as 'Knobs' as their heads resemble doorknobs and they're not allowed to walk on the pavements, but must walk in the gutter. Girls are now accepted in the academy, but I'm not sure what they are called in their first year. You go figure!! This year the two highest scoring cadets were both girls. Yay, go girls!!
After lunch we joined the Carolina Belle for a harbour cruise and witnessed the fabulous sight of Dolphins playing around in the bow waves. Always a treat. 
On our return we had a look around the market and managed to make a couple of purchases, two of which were hats for Nigel and myself which have proved to be invaluable whilst driving along in the Morgan in temperatures of high 80's. The best part is that they've got a tie to fasten under our chins so that they don't blow away, which is vital at the speed Nigel drives!!!
At 5:30 we left the hotel in our cars for a short drive to the home of Morganeers Gordon and Sue Reid who generously opened their home and vast car/motorbike collection to us all, which was housed in an enormous (and immaculate)  garage/workshop. I swear there were several grown men drooling with the setup there. They were very generous hosts and we were treated to a fantastic low country boil, ribs and Gumbo, something we had never eaten before, but really enjoyed. Then it was back to our hotel to pack, ready for the next adventure. All in all we had a wonderful day. "

Day 7- Visited Three States Today- Kansas, Missouri, and Illinois on Way to MOA Start

We felt like a great deal of progress was made today, as we crossed through three States in one day. However, this was not a scenic route, and again, no gorgeous landscapes and cloud formations as we travel east. 

The morning started by circumnavigating Kansas City, Kansas and Kansas City Missouri. There is a tremendous amount of road construction going on, which again made the drive stressful, both for the Morgan drivers and Philip with the trailer. Michael provides great lane change blocking assistance as he follows along behind us, as we change lanes to go the correct direction. 

As the border sign crossing to Missouri was in the middle of the bridge crossing the Missouri River, hence it was not possible to capture a photo with Ellen Jo and Jim's Morgan in it. They are in a contest on visiting the most states with a Morgan.

The drive across Missouri was rather boring, with a highlight of the day being the lunch stop. Ellen Jo and Jim were quite a bit ahead of us and had scoped out Panhead BBQ in Kingdom City, MO. 

We couldn't find the address on Garmin, so passed by it the first time down this old decrepit road. It was a challenge for Philip to turn our rig around to make it back to this restaurant, but the food was worth it.

Panhead (Billy's) BBQ and Tavern on Old Hwy 40

After lunch, we stopped at the Missouri Visitor Center to still try to obtain a free Missouri map, but they were closed. We later learned it is staffed with volunteers. There was the Missouri Firefighters Memorial in front of the building, so I captured photos while there.  We LOVE our firefighters, having really appreciated them when the RIM FIRE was so close to us 2 summers ago.

The afternoon was uneventful, but stressful as we circumnavigated St. Louis via the northern route. 

We did manage to get a photo of the Missouri Welcome  Center as we left Missouri (and finally obtain a Missouri Map, as well as an Illinois map)

and  a photo of entering Illinois as we crossed the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers.

Once across the Rivers, we finally headed in a southerly direction, now on our way towards Nashville (not Memphis). 

The hotel where we are staying has had auto break-ins the last two nights, so we parked our cars directly in front of the entrance, in hopes that they can be watched by the reception clerk. We also took essentially everything out of them. We thought by staying far enough away from the big city, we would be okay,  and are hoping that to be true.

Marj and Bart report they left Tucson a day late due to a leaky brake cylinder and leaking axle grease, discovered Saturday. Fortunately Bart was able to get parts by Tuesday and finished fixing it to be on their way on Wednesday.

 Reportedly they are in Palestine, TX tonight. 

I haven't heard recently from Ken and Pat, and Ken and Marion driving from Vancouver. 

The New Zealand Morgans are in the warehouse now, as well as one container from UK.

 The other UK/France container is awaiting paperwork completion by the customs agent. HOPEFULLY that will be all completed tomorrow, and all the Morgans will be ready for pickup on Tuesday, as Monday is a holiday. 

And I have to have a cat picture to show we are missed.

 I need a good Bentley photo, Kristi?

Day 6- Kansas

With my apologies to friends and family in Kansas, I took no landscape photos. Kansas is flat, with fields along the road, farmhouses here and there,  and lots of trucks on Highway 70. The landscape doesn't make very pretty photos unless you have some beautiful clouds. It was also very hot for Michael and Ellen and Jim. We drove 368 miles today, for an approximate 1822 miles since leaving home. 

Our lunch stop at DISH in Abilene, Kansas, boyhood town of Eisenhower, was a highlight of the day.  It appears the old building was a department store at one time and was very quaint. We all enjoyed "wraps or sandwiches", all priced the same- $7.95. 

Ellen Jo

Asian Chicken Salad Wrap with Enchilada Soup

The night was spent near Kansas City, where we had the opportunity to have dinner with our friends from Hong Kong, Ron and Lois. We spent almost three years with them as our close neighbors back in the last 1970's and early 1980. I had seen them since then when I came to KC for computer training and to pick up our cats, Lola and Bentley 8 years ago. Philip hadn't seen them since 1980. It was so much fun to reminisce and catch up on all the family, including the cats and their cat Chyna (China) .

 I neglected to take a photo of Chyna, but at the last minute remembered to take a photo of Ron and Lois.

Meanwhile, Michael, Ellen Jo and Jim had appetizers for dinner at the hotel, and were able to have an early to bed evening. 

The heat is very tiring, and although we do our best to not drive directly through cities,  when necessary, the concentration required makes for a stressful day. 

It was reported from our cat sitter, that we are missed and we certainly miss them. 

Healey originally from Dallas, Texas

Lola originally from KC

Day 5- Onward to Colby Kansas

In an attempt to stay on schedule, we continued to plan for getting together for breakfast around 7:45 AM. Nancy had prepared another wonderful meal for us. 

Nancy our Hostess and Wonderful Breakfast

As I mentioned yesterday, our Morgans and Truck and Trailer were filthy from driving in the rain and up the muddy driveway. Dennis kindly got out the sprayer and cleaned off our truck and trailer, and then did the same for Jim and Ellen Jo's Morgan. 

Cleaning off the truck and trailer

Cleaning the Morgan
The hill down to the highway was steep, but at least it wasn't raining  and the sky was a gorgeous blue.


We had a few more hills to drive  over before getting to Denver, then on to the flat lands.

The traffic through Denver wasn't too bad, but the construction made it very difficult to be in the correct lane and there were many very narrow places making another treacherous driving day for poor Philip.
We stopped for a Mexican Food lunch before getting to the Kansas border

 Again it was not conducive to us to stop for a photo op at the border, but as we passed by, I snapped these photos.

Again, we had to advance our watches an hour, so it was almost 6 PM before we arrived at the Hampton Inn in Colby. We enjoyed our wine and popcorn, and as our hotel was at least a mile from any restaurants, we ordered pizza and pasta delivered from the Pizza Hut to our hotel lobby, where we took over and had a decent dinner. 

Tomorrow we head off for Overland Park, Kansas, where we will see our Hong Kong  friends Ron and Lois whom we haven't seen in a very long time. 

It was reported from the Savannah Agent that the New Zealand Morgans have cleared Customs and will be transported to the warehouse by tomorrow. We still need to have the 2nd UK container cleared, and time is now getting short. 

DAY 4- Onward from Utah to Colorado

It's hard to believe that we have been on the road for 4 days already. It seems like we should be all the way to Savannah by now, but alas we are only headed for Silverthorne, Colorado, near Denver.
We left Green River just a little late this morning, as I had changed all my "clocks", except my iPad which is the one whose alarm I use. Had I logged in, it would have automatically updated, but I skipped logging in on this device this day. So while thinking I was awake early and had plenty of time to get ready, in actuality, instead of it being 6:45 as I thought, it was actually 7:45 and we were 15 minutes late to breakfast.
While we ate breakfast, Jim and Ellen Jo went take a photo in the town.
It was a pleasant day when we started out with beautiful billowy clouds in the sky. There were still some of the plateaus in the vista that we so enjoyed yesterday.

Ellen Jo's Photo Following Us

Crossing the border into Colorado was not conducive to our stopping for a photo, so we went on the the visitor's bureau to pick up a map, and get our photo fix for entering Colorado. Ellen Jo and Jim did manage to stop, but I don't have their photo yet.

At the same location was a Vietnam Memorial Park which was very interesting.

The receptionist at the Visitor Bureau  indicated that rain was expected around noon time "to the East". She wasn't far off as the rain started around 11:50 AM, and pretty much continued  until we reached Dennis and Nancy's in Silverthorne, CO.  Jim and Ellen Jo fortunately managed to find a bridge overpass where they could  put up the Morgan roof.  As we ascended up the mountain, the temperature dropped rapidly as the rain continued.

VAIL PASS 

Not only was  the drive a steep curvy hill, there was a lot of construction going on making the twisty narrow wet road somewhat treacherous. Philip did a great job, although when we stopped to look for a lunch place in Glenwood Springs, he got too close to the curb on the bridge and put a couple of wrinkles in the brand new trailer. He feels very badly about this. 

About 4 PM in the afternoon, after going up a steep, muddy driveway, we made it to the lovely home of Dennis and Nancy, with whom we had spent 8 weeks in New Zealand in 2014. . Their home is at 9000 feet, so climbing stairs to the bedrooms was quite an effort for us. 

The rain stopped shortly after we arrived, but left all the cars and rigs very dirty. 

We met their puppy Hugo who was a very sweet dog.

Jim and Hugo

A wonderful steak and tuna dinner was prepared by Dennis and Nancy. John and Gail from Denver, who were on MOA V and Classic Travels Alpine Tour with us, joined us for dinner. They will be heading to Savannah on Friday to join us on MOA VI.

We also caught up with Michael, who will join us on the remainder of the trip to Savannah, if our slow speed doesn't get too unbearable for him. Our 300 or so miles a day is "nothing" to him.
As we are all getting older, and the elevation was somewhat stressful to us, we made it an early evening and headed to bed before 10 PM.

Michael and Dennis