Today we left New Albany, Mississippi at 7:30am heading to Hot Springs, Arkansas. We only made one stop today. It was to see a Merci Car. For those of you that don't know John Stevens, he's a train fanatic! The Merci cars are trains cars that were given to the U.S. as a thank you gift from France after world war II. Out of 49 given to us, (one for each state, including Hawaii, but not Alaska) there are 43 left. John's quest is to visit each of them. So, in Helena, Arkansas we visited one of the Merci cars. Ray and I don't mind because we love trains too, not like John though. :) I might add that it was NOT in the best neighborhood!!!!! After leaving the Merci Car we got back on the road and saw what we saw before the Merci Car.... corn fields, soy bean fields, rice fields.... oh yeah... cotton fields! F O R E V E R ! ! ! ! ! ! A N D E V E R! ! ! ! ! and ever! Six hours worth of fields. one more thing... it was HOT!
After getting to our Hotel in Hot Springs we showered and walked across the street for dinner. There was no getting back on the bike to drive to eat. I will attempt to add pics from yesterday and today. If you see pics, I was successful, if you don't I wasn't. Pretty simple huh?
Tune in tomorrow for the continuing adventures of Ray & Lynn and John & Sue.
Post note: I did try to upload pics, but to no avail. Not sue why, I will try again tomorrow, after all, it will be a new hotel.
Saturday, June 26, 2010
Day one VACATION!
Day 1: June 25, 2010
We left Newnan at 6:30, a little early to meet Sue and John, but we were up. We stopped at chick-fil-a in Carrollton and had breakfast and drank coffee while reading the Newnan Times Herald to wait for Sue and John.
After topping off the tanks with gas we headed out on our big adventure! We rode Hwy 27 for a while then took back roads to Gadsden, Al. We took a slight detour to Noccalula Falls (last time we went there it was just a trickle) there wasn’t a lot of water over the falls, but it was more than last time.
We made a stop in Cullen, Alabama at a Hardy’s for lunch, there we met Martha Keller. She was a lonely older woman who noticed our motorcycles and started asking questions about them. For the next hour she sat with Sue and me asking questions and telling us all about all of her cousins. She kept pulling at the front of her blouse, which was sitting high on her neck. I realized the reason why…. It was on backwards. She would ask us a question, and then have a cousin who either lived there, or worked at that type of job…. For instance, when Ray told her he retired from AT&T she had a cousin who did some consultant work for AT&T. She had a cousin who used to fly (John explained he was a pilot for Delta) When we told her where we lived John showed her on the map, she asked if it was near Douglasville, we explained yes, it was. She wanted to know if we knew one of her cousins. She tossed out so many names I can’t begin to remember any of them. But each cousin had a name, and she went on to explain where that cousin came from i.e., her mom’s grandmother, mother, dad… her dad’s mom, you get the point. She would also explain if they were dead or not and sometimes how old they were, if she could remember. She asked if we knew one of her cousins and after looking at Sue and I mentioned that they were probably older than us since they were her age. It was obvious she was lonely. As we suited up to leave she stood at the window waving until we left. We also talked to a man who’s last name is Kent, so his friends all call him Clark. He has an older Goldwing so Ray and John chatted with him while Sue and I chatted with Martha.
This made me think… how many times, every day, do we have opportunities to make someone’s day. Clearly, Martha’s day was brighter because we took the time to chat with her. It made me think about how giving someone one rose can bring a smile to their face. Or leaving a $3.00 tip at Papa John’s Pizza can “Make someone’s day”! It’s so easy, why don’t we take that extra 5 minutes, or $3.00? It’s more than the money, or the time… what all of these things say is, you matter, you have value. I hope I never know how many opportunities God has presented to me, for me to make some tiny difference in someone’s life, and I refused! How ashamed I would be. I think about all the times in my life someone has done some “Random Act of Kindness” for me. I clearly remember how important it made me feel, how valuable I must be for God to impress on someone to do something kind for me. Strangers have done thoughtful, kind things for me and those close to me have. Family members and friends.
After that interesting lunch, we left in the rain, not too bad and it was hot so the rain was rather welcomed. The temperature dropped 10 degrees or more because of the rain.
After driving for a while we passed the Natural Bridge, it’s the longest Natural Bridge east of the Mississippi River. We turned around and visited. There was an older couple there, whom we chatted with for several minutes. We wondered if this was setting a precedence for the rest of our trip? It’s a very good way to spend a vacation I’d say. Stopping to visit with people, especially those who are elderly.
We decided to take the long road to our hotel in New Albany, Mississippi. We rode the Nanchez Trace for a while, stopping once to eat some snacks and drink some water.
After checking into our hotel, we showered then walked next door to Sizzler’s for dinner. In no time at all Ray is sound asleep and I’m wide awake since I had tea for dinner. Probably not the smartest thing for me to do.
A very good day I would say. But of course we are on vacation.
We left Newnan at 6:30, a little early to meet Sue and John, but we were up. We stopped at chick-fil-a in Carrollton and had breakfast and drank coffee while reading the Newnan Times Herald to wait for Sue and John.
After topping off the tanks with gas we headed out on our big adventure! We rode Hwy 27 for a while then took back roads to Gadsden, Al. We took a slight detour to Noccalula Falls (last time we went there it was just a trickle) there wasn’t a lot of water over the falls, but it was more than last time.
We made a stop in Cullen, Alabama at a Hardy’s for lunch, there we met Martha Keller. She was a lonely older woman who noticed our motorcycles and started asking questions about them. For the next hour she sat with Sue and me asking questions and telling us all about all of her cousins. She kept pulling at the front of her blouse, which was sitting high on her neck. I realized the reason why…. It was on backwards. She would ask us a question, and then have a cousin who either lived there, or worked at that type of job…. For instance, when Ray told her he retired from AT&T she had a cousin who did some consultant work for AT&T. She had a cousin who used to fly (John explained he was a pilot for Delta) When we told her where we lived John showed her on the map, she asked if it was near Douglasville, we explained yes, it was. She wanted to know if we knew one of her cousins. She tossed out so many names I can’t begin to remember any of them. But each cousin had a name, and she went on to explain where that cousin came from i.e., her mom’s grandmother, mother, dad… her dad’s mom, you get the point. She would also explain if they were dead or not and sometimes how old they were, if she could remember. She asked if we knew one of her cousins and after looking at Sue and I mentioned that they were probably older than us since they were her age. It was obvious she was lonely. As we suited up to leave she stood at the window waving until we left. We also talked to a man who’s last name is Kent, so his friends all call him Clark. He has an older Goldwing so Ray and John chatted with him while Sue and I chatted with Martha.
This made me think… how many times, every day, do we have opportunities to make someone’s day. Clearly, Martha’s day was brighter because we took the time to chat with her. It made me think about how giving someone one rose can bring a smile to their face. Or leaving a $3.00 tip at Papa John’s Pizza can “Make someone’s day”! It’s so easy, why don’t we take that extra 5 minutes, or $3.00? It’s more than the money, or the time… what all of these things say is, you matter, you have value. I hope I never know how many opportunities God has presented to me, for me to make some tiny difference in someone’s life, and I refused! How ashamed I would be. I think about all the times in my life someone has done some “Random Act of Kindness” for me. I clearly remember how important it made me feel, how valuable I must be for God to impress on someone to do something kind for me. Strangers have done thoughtful, kind things for me and those close to me have. Family members and friends.
After that interesting lunch, we left in the rain, not too bad and it was hot so the rain was rather welcomed. The temperature dropped 10 degrees or more because of the rain.
After driving for a while we passed the Natural Bridge, it’s the longest Natural Bridge east of the Mississippi River. We turned around and visited. There was an older couple there, whom we chatted with for several minutes. We wondered if this was setting a precedence for the rest of our trip? It’s a very good way to spend a vacation I’d say. Stopping to visit with people, especially those who are elderly.
We decided to take the long road to our hotel in New Albany, Mississippi. We rode the Nanchez Trace for a while, stopping once to eat some snacks and drink some water.
After checking into our hotel, we showered then walked next door to Sizzler’s for dinner. In no time at all Ray is sound asleep and I’m wide awake since I had tea for dinner. Probably not the smartest thing for me to do.
A very good day I would say. But of course we are on vacation.
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