The Itch is Scratched (a little) :-)

After 3 months (almost) staying at our house in Ocala, my personal hitch itch was finally relieved April 30th.

We had been invited to attend a Chimney sweep gathering at our friend Jay Walker's house in Havana, FL. (just outside Tallahassee). The invitation said there was room to park our rig and we'd have power. That was all I needed to hear.

When I was planning our travel, I had one GPS taking me up I-75 and across I-10 to Tallahassee, and my other system wanted me to go kinda cross country up US 27 from Ocala.

I didn't decide which one to use until we actually pulled out of our community. We opted for cross-country. ;-)

It was really a ho-hum drive on decent roads and we arrived at jay's house about 2:30 PM. Plenty of time to get settled into our routine again.

We had a 20amp hookup into one of his garages close to the house. It was between his house (where all the meals were) and his office and warehouse at the front of his property. Maybe a little over 300 feet separate them, so it was an easy walk everywhere we needed to be.
The workshop part of the gathering was several different seminars. One was installing a Direct Vent fireplace into a cutout in Jay's showroom. Another was doing specialty work to help out during slow times and make a sweep a more valuable source for homeowners.

There were several different Instructors and I think it was a really good workshop.

There was plenty of food for everyone, and I was reminded that Chimney Sweeps are very much like RV'ers when it comes to food. You don't see many thin sweeps.
Our Escapee's Chapter 27 mascot is traveling along with Connie and I and was introduced to the Sweep gathering while sitting on a chainsaw carved chimney sweep on Jay's porch.
We left Jay's house this AM and drove further North on US 27 into central Alabama. We're in a small RV park just off of I-65, and pulled in just in time to hear the Tornado warning siren go off.

Fortunately, nothing hit where we are, but it was definitely interesting. Tomorrow we head for Nashville so Connie can get a Grand kid fix for a few days, and then we head for Missouri. All in all, a good start to our 2009 travels.

More as it comes.

ttfn

Paul