Home
Archives Links
2010 2011
2012 Français
January February March April May June July August September October November December
1 to 15 November 2012 16 to 30 November 2012
Thursday November 1st, 2012
What is going on?
November and we are still in Canada?
We will be leaving on November 3 with our friends Manon and Jean.
For the next few days the maximum will be +5 with a low of +2. Lots of time inside for the next few days.
Here I am, hard at work!
Manon and Jean got here in late afternoon. We talk a storm trying to catch up. We even have dinner at the restaurant.
It is always fun to see them!
Friday November 2, 2012
Manon and Michèle are gone shopping for the after Halloween specials. Jean and me are at the campfire, I have to burn my fire wood before we cross the border.
Jean is thawing out the radiator for the heater.
After all the firewood is gone, we head back inside because it is very cold outside.
Dinner is at our place and we play a board game in the evening..
A very good day!
Saturday November 3, 2012
We are on the move!
But before we roll, I have to make sure all the tires are up to the right pressure.
The motorhome on the right is Manon and Jean's home.
The gang before we leave.
Before I continue, I have to tell you that Manon and Jean are not traveling with us. They are going to Texas, we are going to Florida.
Goodbye Canada and Hello U.S.A!
Manon and Jean in front of us at the border. Crossing into the USA is fast.
Less that five minutes later we are in the U.S.A.
We are taking highway 219 which turns into 119 and then into 19. This is a secondary highway, less traffic and more to see.
This area is very "hilly" and once out of a turn we see... A big factory right in the middle of the valley??
As we gain altitude the temperature gets colder and we are down to +5. We can see some snow in the forest. This is the left over from the storm Sandy.
We leave New York behind and move into Pennsylvania and still on highway 219.
After a long day with some very pretty scenery, we are in West Virginia in late afternoon.
The first Walmart we see is home for the night. We still see some snowbanks in the parking lot.
Morgantown is home for the night!
A good day!
Back on the road tomorrow.
Sunday November 4, 2012
Goodbye Walmart...
Many places along the highway we see these crosses, we wonder!
The storm Sandy dumped a lot of snow in these area and we can see some of the left over from the storm.
The "New River", this is the third-oldest river in the world.
The New River Gorge Bridge is the fourth highest bridge in the America.
Virginia here we come!
Some stretch of highway 19 are pretty narrow.
Our home for the night, Walmart in Claypool Hill.
Another good day with lots of scenery.
Monday November 5, 2012
To Asheville, North Carolina. Again, around the corner, a huge cross!
A sunny day, but still only +12. We only drive a few miles in Tennessee. The Appalachians mountains in the distance.
North Carolina, home for the next few days.
Many States make the inmate work. Why not?
Our home for the next two nights. Right next to the interstate, but for only $15 a night with passport America it is OK.
The view from our campsite (between the interstate and the river)!
As usual, after pulling the car behind the motorhome we really have to wash it
The car is usually not that dirty, but with the rain we hit makes it even more dirty.
Tuesday November 6, 2012
In 2010, we drove the Blue Ridge Parkway from north to south except for the last 20 or 30 kilometers. We had too much fog and the last few tunnels were too low for the motorhome.
So today we are going to drive the last part we missed in 2010.
There is still some leaves left in the trees.
The higher we go the colder it becomes. At 2400 feet we hit snow.
As we head out of the tunnel we are in the snow. What a surprise!
Shortly after we enter in the clouds (or fog?).
Darn, we cannot continue because of too much snow higher up the mountain.
Can't drive the Blue Ridge Parkway again, maybe next time!
Tomorrow we will be on our way to Atlanta.
Our site in Asheville.
Back on the road and heading to Atlanta. The first half of the trip is wet.
Cool 4X4!
Hummmm! But does it stop people from doing it?
A truck full of chickens passes us and let me tell you, what comes out behind that truck is not nice on a windshield...
Our home for the next week.
Once we are all set up, we have to get the car cleaned, again! You can see how bad it is on the windshield. To the car wash again.
The closer we got to Atlanta, the heavier the traffic was. We are about 15 minutes from downtown Atlanta.
Thursday November 8, 2012
This campground in mostly for permanent residents with a few site for the travelers like us. It is more like a parking lot, but at $165 a week with full service and very close to Atlanta, you can't complain.
We have to pay for internet access ($12) and it is so slow!!!
We relax the first part of the day and in the afternoon, we head to Camping World to look at some used motorhome.
It turns out they have very few used motorhome because of the RV show this weekend.
Back home, I helped a follow RVer with a water leak.
The weather is warming up and we even have some sun!
Friday November 9, 2012
What?
Waking up to frost on the car?
It is gone very quickly as the temperature warms up fast.
Why not going to the RV show?
What a surprise, only Camping World is present!
This is only a big sale event for them.
Why not visit some used motorhome then?
After the "RV Show" we are on our way home and Michèle, with her sharp eyes, saw a Goodwill store. We had to stop.
The view from our windshield, quite a view, but a nice sunset.
The more we look at used motorhome and talk to other owners, the more we feel good about ours.
Saturday November 10, 2012
Downtown Atlanta, here we come!
We are going to see the "Bodies" exhibition and the "World of Coca-Cola".
The highway going into the city center is 6 lanes wide and very busy...
Our first Christmas tree! The "Bodies" exhibition located in the "Atlantic Station" area of the city.
This area is mostly for entertainment, restaurants and shopping.
Sadly, we could not take any photos inside the exhibition.
The Bodies exhibition was very interesting.
Next is the "World of Coca-Cola". This is a museum/entertainment center for all the Coca-Cola products. After all, Coke was invented in (close) to Atlanta!
Some photos of the "World of Coca-Cola".
The urn in this photo is actually the first dispensing machine for Coca-Cola.
This is where the secret formula for Coca-Cola is stored!
Some of the advertising from all over the world. Even some from Québec and Canada.
The next stop in the "World of Coca-Cola" is the 4D movie.
It was a lot of fun.
The last place we see in the "World of Coca-Cola" is the "tasting island" from all five continents.
All the Coke beverages form Africa are very sweet.
We even got a souvenir bottle for our visit at the "World of Coca-Cola".
Have you ever wondered what happened to all the tabs we collected over the years?
Well, Coca-Cola buys them and makes hand bags to sell to customer like us!
This weekend is the Veterans weekend in the States.
The army had a nice helicopter on display in front of the World of Coca-Cola
What a good idea for recycling!
A great day! The "World of Coca-Cola" is worth the visit, so is the exhibition "Bodies".
Sunday, Monday and Tuesday, November 11, 12 and 13, 2012
Let start with Sunday, this is a day for reading, TV and surfing. On top of that, the internet is soooo slow here!
Monday is cloudy and thinking of rain. Time to catch up with laundry.
Monday, dinner time and Golden Corral is offering a free meal to anybody who is serving or has served in the military, any country. What a nice thing to do for a restaurant, this offer is for all across the United States. Off we go to Golden Corral for our free meal.
In 2011, they served over 3.2 million free meals to veterans and active duty members of the military. Here is our bill!
Sunny day for this Tuesday, but a little on the cool side. We spend some time at the mall, got to keep moving, keep active.
Tomorrow we hit the road again, this time towards Montgomery Alabama.
Going around Atlanta was easy.
The other side of the highway was another story. This "slow down" was a good 5 kilometer long.
Alabama welcomes us. Une journée très bien remplie.
Our home for the next two nights.
Une journée très bien remplie.
Nice campground, large/long sites, free WIFI and on top of that, super fast connection. If you stay one month, you only pay $450, all inclusive.
After we got all setup, we headed into town for some shopping. They have a big indoor flea market.
Surprise! Only 6 vendors.
This is the first time we saw someone selling false gold teeth.
We are going from un-natural super white teeth to gold teeth?
Talk about putting your money where your mouth is!
Back to the campground and relax.
Thursday November 15, 2012
A big day in front of us.
Visiting downtown Montgomery, but first, we needed a good breakfast.
IHOP is a very good restaurant and they have big breakfast and they are cheap.
The old Union Station is where the information center is located, we parked under the old train shed.
The Union Station in Montgomery was built in 1898. The vocation of the station has changed over the years. It is now an information center, banquet hall and convention center.
Here is a little bit of information about Montgomery.
Last year, we really enjoyed visiting the Country Music Museum in Nashville. We have learned a lot about Hank Williams. So why not visit his museum here in Montgomery.
He started his career in Montgomery at the age of 15.
Sadly, he died December 1st, 1953 at the age of 29.
Cute little museum.
If you look closely at the top of the white building, you can see an oblong kind of thing.
The owner of the hardware store (below), is rumored to have been "buried" in his casket up there.
Nobody denies or confirms the story!
Behind us is "The Alley". This is the hotspot for Montgomery. It has restaurants, bars, etc.
Montgomery played an important role in the de-segregation in the United States.
December 1st, 1955, a black woman refused to give up her seat to a white man on a bus.
This was a turning point. It started a movement for the de-segregation of the United States.
When you stop and think about it, it was not very long ago!
Why this church?
Simply because it has two set of stairs. Back then, men and women could not go up stairs together.
Not only was there segregation between black and white, but also between men and women!
Alabama State Capitol. Very nice, but no guided tour, only self-guided tours. Good, but you miss a lot of information and stories compared to a guided tour.
Beautiful wall, but it is only "trompe-l'œil", or "fool-the-eye". Really well done.
The first White House of the Confederation. Lucky for us, a guide was inside and even if he was not giving a tour, he did tell us a lot about the house. Very interesting.
Behind this glass wall is the original facade of the building.
The reason for the glass wall is to protect the facade from the elements because of its historic value. Really nice!
Chris' restaurant opened its doors in 1917 and has remained open ever since. The same family has run the restaurant since the beginning. Good hot-dogs.
Hank Williams used to come here for dinner, sometimes he stayed late drinking beer. The owner had to kick him out at the end of the evening.
The restaurant is very long and narrow.
Montgomery also has an historic village close to downtown.
A tavern from the late 1800. I like the utensils!
A family outhouse! It even has a smaller hole for the children.
This type of house is called "dogtrot".
The house was used by one family, living on both sides of the alleyway. The name dogtrot was given because the dogs could trot between the two part of the house and warn the family if a visitor was coming.
The very small doctor's house!
To the right of the small porch, you can see a tree with up side down glass bottles on the branches, so I had to ask why?
The answer I got was, when the slaves were brought from Africa, with them came their culture and belief. One of their belief was that the upside down bottle would catch the evil spirits lurking around at night and they could not get out from the upside down bottles. To confirm this, when the wind blows, you can hear the howl from the evil spirits coming from the bottles as they try to get out.
Got to have a general store. So far, all general stores from that time period, either from Canada or the U.S. are pretty much alike.
An old waffle maker on the stove
This is the first time I saw one like this one.
The county school. Notice one of the row has smaller desks at the front compared to the back?
Our first "Cotton Gin" (inside the building). A cotton gin is a machine that quickly and easily separates cotton fibers from their seeds. The photos did not turn out good!
Michèle standing next to a 500 pound cotton bale.
A view from one part of the village.
A very rare two story "Dogtrot" house.
Another part of the village.
A very interesting historical village. We did not realize Montgomery had so much to offer.
I think we will have to come back here some other time.
After dinner, we got to skype with Daniel, Jérémy and Gabriel. Gabriel is one smiling/laughing little boy. We are proud of the parents. We cannot wait to see them again.
What a busy day!
Until next time.
Life is good...
January February March April May June July August September October November December
1 to 15 November 2012 16 to 30 November 2012
Thursday November 1st, 2012
What is going on?
November and we are still in Canada?
We will be leaving on November 3 with our friends Manon and Jean.
For the next few days the maximum will be +5 with a low of +2. Lots of time inside for the next few days.
Here I am, hard at work!
Manon and Jean got here in late afternoon. We talk a storm trying to catch up. We even have dinner at the restaurant.
It is always fun to see them!
Friday November 2, 2012
Manon and Michèle are gone shopping for the after Halloween specials. Jean and me are at the campfire, I have to burn my fire wood before we cross the border.
Jean is thawing out the radiator for the heater.
After all the firewood is gone, we head back inside because it is very cold outside.
Dinner is at our place and we play a board game in the evening..
A very good day!
Saturday November 3, 2012
We are on the move!
But before we roll, I have to make sure all the tires are up to the right pressure.
The motorhome on the right is Manon and Jean's home.
The gang before we leave.
Before I continue, I have to tell you that Manon and Jean are not traveling with us. They are going to Texas, we are going to Florida.
Goodbye Canada and Hello U.S.A!
Manon and Jean in front of us at the border. Crossing into the USA is fast.
Less that five minutes later we are in the U.S.A.
We are taking highway 219 which turns into 119 and then into 19. This is a secondary highway, less traffic and more to see.
This area is very "hilly" and once out of a turn we see... A big factory right in the middle of the valley??
As we gain altitude the temperature gets colder and we are down to +5. We can see some snow in the forest. This is the left over from the storm Sandy.
We leave New York behind and move into Pennsylvania and still on highway 219.
After a long day with some very pretty scenery, we are in West Virginia in late afternoon.
The first Walmart we see is home for the night. We still see some snowbanks in the parking lot.
Morgantown is home for the night!
A good day!
Back on the road tomorrow.
Sunday November 4, 2012
Goodbye Walmart...
Many places along the highway we see these crosses, we wonder!
The storm Sandy dumped a lot of snow in these area and we can see some of the left over from the storm.
The "New River", this is the third-oldest river in the world.
The New River Gorge Bridge is the fourth highest bridge in the America.
Virginia here we come!
Some stretch of highway 19 are pretty narrow.
Our home for the night, Walmart in Claypool Hill.
Another good day with lots of scenery.
Monday November 5, 2012
To Asheville, North Carolina. Again, around the corner, a huge cross!
A sunny day, but still only +12. We only drive a few miles in Tennessee. The Appalachians mountains in the distance.
North Carolina, home for the next few days.
Many States make the inmate work. Why not?
Our home for the next two nights. Right next to the interstate, but for only $15 a night with passport America it is OK.
The view from our campsite (between the interstate and the river)!
As usual, after pulling the car behind the motorhome we really have to wash it
The car is usually not that dirty, but with the rain we hit makes it even more dirty.
Tuesday November 6, 2012
In 2010, we drove the Blue Ridge Parkway from north to south except for the last 20 or 30 kilometers. We had too much fog and the last few tunnels were too low for the motorhome.
So today we are going to drive the last part we missed in 2010.
There is still some leaves left in the trees.
The higher we go the colder it becomes. At 2400 feet we hit snow.
As we head out of the tunnel we are in the snow. What a surprise!
Shortly after we enter in the clouds (or fog?).
Darn, we cannot continue because of too much snow higher up the mountain.
Can't drive the Blue Ridge Parkway again, maybe next time!
Tomorrow we will be on our way to Atlanta.
Wednesday November 7, 2012
Our site in Asheville.
Back on the road and heading to Atlanta. The first half of the trip is wet.
Cool 4X4!
Hummmm! But does it stop people from doing it?
A truck full of chickens passes us and let me tell you, what comes out behind that truck is not nice on a windshield...
Our home for the next week.
Once we are all set up, we have to get the car cleaned, again! You can see how bad it is on the windshield. To the car wash again.
The closer we got to Atlanta, the heavier the traffic was. We are about 15 minutes from downtown Atlanta.
Thursday November 8, 2012
This campground in mostly for permanent residents with a few site for the travelers like us. It is more like a parking lot, but at $165 a week with full service and very close to Atlanta, you can't complain.
We have to pay for internet access ($12) and it is so slow!!!
We relax the first part of the day and in the afternoon, we head to Camping World to look at some used motorhome.
It turns out they have very few used motorhome because of the RV show this weekend.
Back home, I helped a follow RVer with a water leak.
The weather is warming up and we even have some sun!
Friday November 9, 2012
What?
Waking up to frost on the car?
It is gone very quickly as the temperature warms up fast.
Why not going to the RV show?
What a surprise, only Camping World is present!
This is only a big sale event for them.
Why not visit some used motorhome then?
After the "RV Show" we are on our way home and Michèle, with her sharp eyes, saw a Goodwill store. We had to stop.
The view from our windshield, quite a view, but a nice sunset.
The more we look at used motorhome and talk to other owners, the more we feel good about ours.
Saturday November 10, 2012
Downtown Atlanta, here we come!
We are going to see the "Bodies" exhibition and the "World of Coca-Cola".
The highway going into the city center is 6 lanes wide and very busy...
Our first Christmas tree! The "Bodies" exhibition located in the "Atlantic Station" area of the city.
This area is mostly for entertainment, restaurants and shopping.
Sadly, we could not take any photos inside the exhibition.
The Bodies exhibition was very interesting.
Next is the "World of Coca-Cola". This is a museum/entertainment center for all the Coca-Cola products. After all, Coke was invented in (close) to Atlanta!
Some photos of the "World of Coca-Cola".
The urn in this photo is actually the first dispensing machine for Coca-Cola.
This is where the secret formula for Coca-Cola is stored!
Some of the advertising from all over the world. Even some from Québec and Canada.
The next stop in the "World of Coca-Cola" is the 4D movie.
It was a lot of fun.
The last place we see in the "World of Coca-Cola" is the "tasting island" from all five continents.
All the Coke beverages form Africa are very sweet.
We even got a souvenir bottle for our visit at the "World of Coca-Cola".
Have you ever wondered what happened to all the tabs we collected over the years?
Well, Coca-Cola buys them and makes hand bags to sell to customer like us!
This weekend is the Veterans weekend in the States.
The army had a nice helicopter on display in front of the World of Coca-Cola
What a good idea for recycling!
A great day! The "World of Coca-Cola" is worth the visit, so is the exhibition "Bodies".
Sunday, Monday and Tuesday, November 11, 12 and 13, 2012
Let start with Sunday, this is a day for reading, TV and surfing. On top of that, the internet is soooo slow here!
Monday is cloudy and thinking of rain. Time to catch up with laundry.
Monday, dinner time and Golden Corral is offering a free meal to anybody who is serving or has served in the military, any country. What a nice thing to do for a restaurant, this offer is for all across the United States. Off we go to Golden Corral for our free meal.
In 2011, they served over 3.2 million free meals to veterans and active duty members of the military. Here is our bill!
Sunny day for this Tuesday, but a little on the cool side. We spend some time at the mall, got to keep moving, keep active.
Tomorrow we hit the road again, this time towards Montgomery Alabama.
Wednesday November 14, 2012
Going around Atlanta was easy.
The other side of the highway was another story. This "slow down" was a good 5 kilometer long.
Alabama welcomes us. Une journée très bien remplie.
Our home for the next two nights.
Une journée très bien remplie.Nice campground, large/long sites, free WIFI and on top of that, super fast connection. If you stay one month, you only pay $450, all inclusive.
After we got all setup, we headed into town for some shopping. They have a big indoor flea market.
Surprise! Only 6 vendors.
This is the first time we saw someone selling false gold teeth.
We are going from un-natural super white teeth to gold teeth?
Talk about putting your money where your mouth is!
Back to the campground and relax.
Thursday November 15, 2012
A big day in front of us.
Visiting downtown Montgomery, but first, we needed a good breakfast.
IHOP is a very good restaurant and they have big breakfast and they are cheap.
The old Union Station is where the information center is located, we parked under the old train shed.
The Union Station in Montgomery was built in 1898. The vocation of the station has changed over the years. It is now an information center, banquet hall and convention center.
Here is a little bit of information about Montgomery.
Last year, we really enjoyed visiting the Country Music Museum in Nashville. We have learned a lot about Hank Williams. So why not visit his museum here in Montgomery.
He started his career in Montgomery at the age of 15.
Sadly, he died December 1st, 1953 at the age of 29.
Cute little museum.
If you look closely at the top of the white building, you can see an oblong kind of thing.
The owner of the hardware store (below), is rumored to have been "buried" in his casket up there.
Nobody denies or confirms the story!
Behind us is "The Alley". This is the hotspot for Montgomery. It has restaurants, bars, etc.
Montgomery played an important role in the de-segregation in the United States.
December 1st, 1955, a black woman refused to give up her seat to a white man on a bus.
This was a turning point. It started a movement for the de-segregation of the United States.
When you stop and think about it, it was not very long ago!
Why this church?
Simply because it has two set of stairs. Back then, men and women could not go up stairs together.
Not only was there segregation between black and white, but also between men and women!
Alabama State Capitol. Very nice, but no guided tour, only self-guided tours. Good, but you miss a lot of information and stories compared to a guided tour.
Beautiful wall, but it is only "trompe-l'œil", or "fool-the-eye". Really well done.
The first White House of the Confederation. Lucky for us, a guide was inside and even if he was not giving a tour, he did tell us a lot about the house. Very interesting.
Behind this glass wall is the original facade of the building.
The reason for the glass wall is to protect the facade from the elements because of its historic value. Really nice!
Chris' restaurant opened its doors in 1917 and has remained open ever since. The same family has run the restaurant since the beginning. Good hot-dogs.
Hank Williams used to come here for dinner, sometimes he stayed late drinking beer. The owner had to kick him out at the end of the evening.
The restaurant is very long and narrow.
Montgomery also has an historic village close to downtown.
A tavern from the late 1800. I like the utensils!
A family outhouse! It even has a smaller hole for the children.
This type of house is called "dogtrot".
The house was used by one family, living on both sides of the alleyway. The name dogtrot was given because the dogs could trot between the two part of the house and warn the family if a visitor was coming.
The very small doctor's house!
To the right of the small porch, you can see a tree with up side down glass bottles on the branches, so I had to ask why?
The answer I got was, when the slaves were brought from Africa, with them came their culture and belief. One of their belief was that the upside down bottle would catch the evil spirits lurking around at night and they could not get out from the upside down bottles. To confirm this, when the wind blows, you can hear the howl from the evil spirits coming from the bottles as they try to get out.
Got to have a general store. So far, all general stores from that time period, either from Canada or the U.S. are pretty much alike.
An old waffle maker on the stove
This is the first time I saw one like this one.
The county school. Notice one of the row has smaller desks at the front compared to the back?
Our first "Cotton Gin" (inside the building). A cotton gin is a machine that quickly and easily separates cotton fibers from their seeds. The photos did not turn out good!
Michèle standing next to a 500 pound cotton bale.
A view from one part of the village.
A very rare two story "Dogtrot" house.
Another part of the village.
A very interesting historical village. We did not realize Montgomery had so much to offer.
I think we will have to come back here some other time.
After dinner, we got to skype with Daniel, Jérémy and Gabriel. Gabriel is one smiling/laughing little boy. We are proud of the parents. We cannot wait to see them again.
What a busy day!
Until next time.
Life is good...
If you think you have missed an update, just click on the "2012", "2011" or "2010" tab at the top of the page and pick the month you want to read.
  © COPYRIGHT 2012 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED MICHELE-DENIS.COM |
  |