Thanks so much Tom and Paula for your hospitality. Another unforgettable experience. It is time to continue the journey.

Elkin Oaks is beautiful. What a backdrop for Sallie:

The back of the house has its own address:

What a great visit! Thanks again.

And lastly, a question to ponder. Tom is a great cook. Check out the silver half-pot. What does Tom use that for?

We left in the morning to drive to Shelby and Scott’s camp on the Tennessee-Tom Bigbee River.

Then we went for lunch at the Louisiana Shrimp Shack:

The crawfish were too spicy for Paula. Tom thought we should get 2 pounds. Billie thought 4 pounds to start with was better. In the end, three of us ate 7 pounds! You only get a teaspoon of tail meat at a time – it’s a messy delicious meal.

Tom knows all the good local places, so our final stop was at

Billie bought a cinnamon raisin bread pudding. In the afternoon, Billie and I organized a few things and got ready to leave the next day. Later, Tom made excellent Bloody Mary’s:

For some reason, we weren’t very hungry for dinner. But there’s always room for dessert. Tom made a whisky sauce which was poured over the bread pudding. We each got a spoon and dug in! Best I’ve every tasted:

Monday May 10. Cindy and her daughter:

Dani, Kathy, and Barbara:

Tuesday May 11. Dani, Cindy, Cheryl, Kathy:

Wednesday May 12. Two rides! What a fine looking group in their Jibe jerseys at Brake Fast Wednesday at Burberry Park. Kathy, Barbara, Cindy C, Cheryl, Jonathan:

Thanks everyone for this picture. I miss you! Kathy, Barbara, Cindy C, Cheryl:

Thursday May 13. Shiloh and daughter:

Jane, Cheryl, Barbara:

Friday May 14. Jonathan took this picture of Leo, Kathy, Cindy C, Jane, Cheryl, Amal, Barbara:

Great rides and pictures this week. Go team!

Big thanks to Tom and Paula

for letting us wash the RV and tow car. Maybe “us” is a stretch. Mostly it was Billie.

Ever ready in the background:

Tom Paula and Leslie left to run an errand:

Clean and shiny:

We drove to Starkville today and had lunch at Georgia Blue.

Unexpectedly delicious appetizer – Turnip Green Bites:

In addition to 3 loads of laundry, Billie and I had a “planning meeting” – our official name for when we sit down to make future travel plans. This includes finding the trails we want to ride and finding the best place to stay, then calling and making the reservations if you can’t do it online. If it’s a long distance (more than 200) miles, we see if there’s a Harvest Host we can stop at for a night. Both of us make our own version of written notes. I’m usually clicking away on the laptop opening tabs with various sources of good info. Billie makes the phone calls.

Billie and Tom traded a few cooking methods. Billie showed him how she makes the individual quiches that Paula really liked.

And then came a most delicious meal: crab cakes by Tom!

This morning we drove north to Macon MS to visit with Paula and Tom.

Paula and I first met in 7th grade at Rio Linda Jr High School in 1960 when she asked me to sign her petition to run for class office. We have been friends ever since. In 1968, a neighbor of Paula’s who was in the Navy, came home for a visit and brought along a good friend, Tom. Paula and Tom got married in 1969 – 52 years strong in August!

At this point, Paula told me to STOP taking pictures:

No guarantee I’ll listen though.

Today we explored

Part of Laurel’s revitalization is due to the HGTV show “Home Town” with Erin and Ben Napier. Fun to shop in their stores.

We had lunch at Pearl’s Diner.

Red beans and rice with sausage – sooo good! – mac and cheese, broccoli, and jalapeno cornbread muffin:

Outdoor art gallery and musical park:

Final stop, Sweet Somethings:

Billie knows everything about her RV and I’ve been trying to learn some of the systems. For example, I can install the remote braking system on the tow car (Versie) and hook up the water. I try to see where I can do little jobs to help out – like taking the trash to the dumpster every morning. We have a lot of trash containers, all in places where it’s really helpful. One dry and one messy in the kitchen/living, small ones in the bathroom, tow car and driver/passenger area of the RV (Sallie). That’s five. We have a special trash just for banana peels – #6.

And then there’s #7. The tiniest one – a small green container just 3 inches tall – for the empty sweetener packets that Billie puts in her coffee. I found all of them. I think.