We left Harahan, LA, a suburb of New Orleans at 7:30 am, Aug. 19, 2006 headed for the Sunflower Specialty in Wyomissing, PA.

The drive was nice, once we got out of Louisiana with it's horrible roads. We headed up I 59 toward Birmingham. Right before Birmingham, we stopped for lunch at a rest stop. Nothing special, just sandwiches. That's one of the perks of having a motor home, you carry your restaurant and bathroom with you. At Birmingham we cut off to hwy. 459. 

The scenery didn't really start getting pretty, though, until we got close to Chattanooga. These mountains are part of the Smokies. There's nothing that can compare to the beauty of these mountains. They're green almost all the way to the top. 

We saw a sign on the highway for the Lookout Mountain KOA and, since we had already gone 500 miles, decided to stop for the night. We were following the campground signs that said things like "You're on the right road", "just a little further", "keep coming you're almost there". This went on for 2 1/2 miles. Finally we arrived and got a lovely pull through site. 

We settled in and hooked up the electricity, water, and connected the drain lines. We had supper and took Holly, our Yorkie, for a walk. Eddie was standing at the kitchen sink and saw there was water all over the floor. We started looking around and then noticed that the bathroom and hall was flooded. Eddie ran outside and cut the water off.  Evidently, the drain was stopped up and it backed up and overflowed our motor home tanks. We've spent the last couple of hours mopping up. Now it's time to fall in bed. 

Day 2 started out well enough. We had dried up a little, from our flood last night, and figured the heat and bathroom fan would take care of the rest. We headed north toward Bristol, TN.

 Everything was fine until we reached Roanoke, VA. It stormed! The rain was so heavy we could hardly see where we were going. Right when the rain was the worst, the windshield wipers quit. Thank goodness we had really large windows and could see enough to keep going,... but slowly. 

The rain finally stopped and we made it as far as the Shenandoah Valley KOA in Verona, VA. 

We had a cute little visitor while we were hooking up. They said there are bunches of rabbits running loose all over the campground. They're real friendly too. So far we've spotted 3 of them.

Traveling from Bristol to Verona was a nightmare! There were tons of trucks and traffic was horrendous. Eddie is spending this evening fixing the shade over the door that decided to fall off and also trying to check the fuses in the wipers. May have to find a mechanic to fix the wipers. The fuses are under the dash and hard to get to. I'm heading back to the bathroom to fix the toilet cover that decided to come off. 
 

We stopped for lunch at the PA Welcome Center and then decided to get off I 81 and take I 76 into Lancaster. We were hoping to see some of the Amish community but, we didn't see anything but the giant silo's and some homes. 

Along the way, we heard a big bang. We forgot to put the gallon water bottle back tn the pantry and almost the whole gallon was spilling out on the kitchen floor. Back out came the mop and I was sopping up water again for quite a few miles. 

Eddie did not like I 76 and was having a hissy fit over the bad road. It was extremely narrow and didn't have any shoulder. It cost a toll of $3.00 and Eddie said they should have paid him to take that road!  He really needed a valum by the time we got off and headed up 283. 

We stopped to get gas at a station called Turkey Hill??? Yes, it's a real place. Gas has been cheaper that it is at home. LA has more oil and gas than any of these other states we've been through and we're paying more for it. 

Tonight we made it all the way to Wyomissing and the Sheraton Hotel. We're a day early but they had a room for us. We went to the restaurant and got the biggest, juiciest bacon, smothered in onions cheeseburgers surrounded by fries. 

We're watching the Saints get their buts kicked by Dallas and then we're going to bed. 

Today, was a free day. We met up with our good friend Marge Parker. She has Holly's brother, Kris, and is doing agility with him. 

We watched Agility this morning. It was really a lot of fun watching the dogs go around the course. It was held in the Ballroom of the Sheraton hotel. 

After Agility, we found a GMC dealership to fix the windshield wiper motor. Of course they didn't have one so they had to order one from Atlanta and have it overnighted to them. You might know, it also cost more! We also had them check the windshield as it looked like some of the rubber around it is coming loose. They can't fix it but they gave us the name of a repair place that will go to the GMC dealer and fix it. 

Tonight we went to a restaurant call Smoky Bones and ate delicious BBQ. We got the pulled pork, that melted in our mouths along with the best baked beans we've ever eaten and wonderful onion rings. 

After supper, we waddled back to the hotel to watch the Rally. It was great to watch how smart our little Yorkies are. 
 

Today is the YTCA Specialty. Holly is full of her self this morning. Here she's playing with her daddy. 

The show was great. Shirley Patterson and her show committee did a fantastic job putting these shows together. I won't post the winners here as there are too many. I'll post them on the club's web page when they send them to me. 

We didn't win, but we had a large class and I was glad to say that Holly did better than I thought she would. She's only 18 months old and still doesn't have her head screwed on right yet. She did walk and didn't looks too much like a caterpillar. She held her head up, slightly, and her tail came up now and again. It's going to take her another 6 months to a year before she looks like a pro. That's no problem and we have lots of time. This was only her second show and I was pleased that she did as good as she did. I'm afraid that this is the only picture that didn't come out extremely blurry. 

My fault as I told hubby not to use the flash so he wouldn't disturb the dogs. There were others using flash and no one seemed to mind. Tomorrow I'll have him use it. 

We were entertained by some free style dancers during the show. They were excellent. 

Tonight was the YTCA dinner. I met lots of old friends and made new ones. The food was very good and of course we ate too much. Before and after the dinner there was an auction. Lots of money was raised for rescue and the Foundation. 
Here's some pictures at the dinner and during the show. 

We're so tired we can hardly move but we keep going. The Nations Capital  Show is today. Holly did a little better but she's still a little air head. Here she is, relaxing before going in the ring...

She was actually sleeping until she heard me raise the camera. What a show dog she is! 

I finally got to meet my friend, Karen Fiano, that I've been talking on the internet to for years. I think that's the nicest thing about specialties, getting to meet friends that you hardly ever see. 

I'm afraid there's no show pictures today because Marge and Eddie had to go pick up the mh when they called and said it was ready. I had to stay and show.

Marge, Eddie and I went out to eat tonight at a place called the Shady Maple Smorgasbord. This place is FANTASTIC! It covers about a whole block. It's in PA Dutch country near Lancaster. On the way we saw a family in a horse and buggy and a few Amish people were in the restaurant eating. After supper we went to the gift shop downstairs. I bought some gifts to take home but I would like to have more time to spend here. It would take days to see everything they have. 

We came back to the hotel and found out there's a Yorkie that was running loose and Karen & Beth Faunce found it. She's a cute little thing. I hope her owner comes for her soon. 

Big doings this morning. I heard voices out side our door and went to investigate. Karen and Beth were outside with some other people telling them what went on with the Yorkie they found. Seems like it was in the care of a handler and he didn't miss it until 6 am this morning when he went to groom it. All we know so far is that he was in the New York section. Karen said he didn't even say thank you or anything, just took the dog and checked out of the hotel. She was a sweet little thing. She just had one wrap in her topknot. She had a dirty butt when Karen and Beth found her and they cleaned her up and put her in wraps. Thank goodness for Karen and Beth or that poor baby might have gotten into traffic and been killed. 

Today was the Delaware Valley show. 

Holly is getting better each day. She just needs more self confidence and that will come with age. 

After the show we went to eat at Smoky Bones again and then went grocery shopping for our trip home tomorrow. Marge bought us some corn right out of the fields and a Shoo Fly pie, among other things this morning. Can't wait to get home and see what Taylor, our grand daughter thinks of Shoo Fly pie!

Tonight was the Royal Canine party in the ball room. They had all kind of goodies to eat and gave everyone a container with a sample of Royal Canine dog food in it. 

We left early and went back to the room to have a last chat with Marge and friends. 

 We left for home this morning. We wanted to find another way to get to I 81 besides having to take 76. We decided to go north on 222 and catch 61 towards Pottsville then west on 78 to 81 south. It was probably a little further, but nice not to have Eddie having another HISSY FIT like he did on 76 going up. We've had mostly good highways going up except for 76 and 61, which were so bad that I was surprised that they weren't in LA!

Nothing special today except we made it to Bristol TN just in time for the race. We couldn't go, but we're staying at a KOA where all the race fans are staying. We're listening to it on the radio. The campground owners told us that we were lucky to get a spot and don't expect much sleep once the race ends as it'll be quite noisy around here as the race fans come back and start partying. We made 500 miles today. 
 

Going down the road we saw Richard Petty and Dale Ernhart Jr leaving the races with their race car and equipment trucks heading to the next race track. They were all painted with their pictures on them. I was slow getting my camera out and they were really moving but I did manage to get these 2 shots. They're the 2 trucks in the left hand lane. 

We made 480 miles today and that was a feat with all the motor homes going home from the races. We even saw one on fire. It burned to the ground. The highway was super crowded. We stayed in the best campground so far in Meridian MS. It was a pull through and level with all the amenities. Very clean.