Wrens Georgia to Myrtle Beach

May 20th 2018 Sunday

When we first planned this road trip we decided to combine it with a mini vacation. Besides the stops we made on the way down to Fort Rucker, we hoped to wander around to points as of yet undetermined. I was thinking the Florida panhandle; Millie and I both wanted to go back there someday.

Unfortunately, I had recently gone to see my dermatologist and he scheduled me for (minor) surgery on Tuesday. It’s only a spot of Basal Cell skin cancer on my face, and any cutting should be an improvement to my looks. Not wanting to drive the 600+/- miles home in one day we left Fort Rucker on Sunday.

Fort Rucker Alabama to Wrens Georgia

Always trying to blaze new trails we drove east to Dothan Alabama, crossed into Georgia and continued on rt 62 to Albany, then 300 to our intersection with I-75 at Cordele. North on the interstate we went, jumping back onto local roads at Macon. We had two pleasant surprises on this leg of the trip, first what we thought would be a small country road as recently been enlarged to a nice wide four lane highway, with very little traffic on this Sunday afternoon. 

Downtown Milledgeville Georgia

The second surprise was the small town of Milledgeville. We didn’t have time to stop but from what we could see passing by, it is worth a return trip someday. It’s a college town with a clean vibrant looking downtown and lots of southern architecture. Milledgeville is  on our list of places to visit someday. 

Georgia State University

Today we were racing time to get to our planned stopover before dark, so we had to keep going. In another forty miles we pulled into Boss’s RV park in Wrens Georgia just as a heavy rain shower started to fall. Boss’s is not a destination campground, just an overnight stopping spot. There were a lot of work campers there, but it was neat and orderly with a camp host onsite to watch over things.

Boss's RV Park

We had done a minimal hook up the night before so we were out of the campground early and on our way home. After about twenty miles of local road we jumped on I-20 in Augusta Georgia. We traveled the interstate into South Carolina, past the state capital at Columbia and on to Florence.

Wrens Georgia to Myrtle Beach South Carolina

When we get to Florence we feel like we are home, it’s actually another hour down the road to the beach. As always its fun to travel, but good to be home too.

Reunion

While at Fort Rucker for the memorial dedication the men of the 195^th and their families held a reunion. We socializing at a hospitality room provided by the Fairfield Inn in Enterprise Alabama, Shared several meals together including one at the Fort Rucker Dining Facility aka the mess hall. 

One of the highlights of the weekend was helicopter rides in a military helicopter of the type flown in Vietnam. The UH-1D “slick” has recently been restored to flying condition by the Friends of Army Aviation-Ozark.

This was Millie's first ever ride in a helicopter. I think it's pretty cool that it was in one that I could tell a lot of stories about, and doors open too, that was neat. We sat in what would have been the crewchief's position in combat flying. Right off the tip of our toes was a panoramic view of the sky and the earth below. Millie did great, I never doubted her, she has lots of flying time in large and small fixed wing airplanes.

It’s always nostalgic to me when I get to fly in one of these old helicopters, especially when we get to fly with the doors open like we did so many years ago. The smell of jet fuel, the vibration of thousands of parts flying in formation and the impossible to forget wop-wop-wop of the blade brings back a flood of sensations; excitement, fortitude, camaraderie, duty, adrenaline……..It was a different time, I’m honored to have been part of it.

Memorial Dedication

195th AHC Memorial at Fort Rucker

Friday May 19^th 2018

Fort Rucker or Mother Rucker as its affectionately called is the primary flight training base for Army Aviation and is home to the United States Army Aviation Museum.

Combat action display in the museum

There are approximately 50 aircraft on display at any one time. The collection includes helicopters, fixed wing aircraft used by the army and other vertical flight aircraft. It is well worth a visit to anyone interested in aviation and especially army helicopters. See more information on the museum at this link, http://www.armyaviationmuseum.org/ 

This is the same type helicopter I flew on in Vietnam (Charlie model gunship)

We’re here for the dedication of a monument in the memorial garden on the grounds of the museum. Thanks to the internet many veterans have been able to reconnect with comrades from past military service. The men of the 195^th Assault Helicopter Company were early to embrace technology and have been reunited online for many years. A while back, the idea to install a memorial to our fallen comrades at the museum was posted on our website. (Sorry our site is private) 

Alumni of the 195th Assault Helicopter Company

The process of fund raising, designing the monument, getting it approved by the army, contracting with a stonemaker and coordinating the ceremony with the post has take two years. 

Family, friends and old soldiers gather for the dedication

On Friday May 18 2018 at 10am over 100 comrades, friends and family members gathered in the memorial Park to pay tribute to our fallen brothers who made the ultimate sacrifice while engaged in aerial combat.  

Two former members of the 195th unveil the monument

FDR State Park to Fort Rucker

Fort Benning to Fort Rucker

May 17 2018

We departed FDR state park and meandered south to Columbus on rt 27/1. It was a local road thru more of the Georgia countryside. Fort Benning is in Columbus, still an active training post; it is where I went to airborne jump school 50 years ago. I know it may sound crazy to some, but it was something I always wanted to do. Even at that young age I had a bucket list, some things worked out, some didn’t. That’s the way it is in life, but at least I got to jump out of a perfectly good airplane!

Troops jumping from a Fairchild C-119 "Flying Boxcar"

We did a quick skirt around the city and crossed the bridge to Alabama. Rt 431 runs down the eastern side of Alabama and surprised us by being a wide four lane highway. The road only passes through one fair sized town on its way south to Dothan Alabama. Eufaula looked really sad with many closed businesses as we entered it from the north, but we soon found it to be a charming southern town.

Eufaula Alabama

About 20 miles north of Dothan we turned onto another set of rural roads that took us on a shortcut to Ozark, our stopping spot for the next few days. We selected the KOA campground here and were very pleased with it. Paved sites, grass, full hookups and cable TV, you can’t ask for much more.

FDR's scenic overlook

Magic smoke

May 16, 2018

Wednesday May 16, 2018. The magic smoke leaked out of our WIFI yesterday so I don’t know when we will get to post the blogs I have written. Long time readers will remember my article about all electronic devices operating on magic smoke. It's, true, (wink) I’m sure you’ve seen a TV or radio quit working when the magic smoke leaks out lol.

We were told yesterday of a large antique store in a village down the road a piece. We decided to find it today and also stop at a scenic overlook that has a bronze statue of FDR.

Millie at Dowdell's Knob on Pine Mountain

The bronze life-size FDR statue is on a mountain top overlooking an expansive valley. It was his favorite picnic spot when he came to his winter white house in Warm Springs.

Me and FDR

The antique store called “High Cotton Antiques” is in a cross roads village called Woodbury. This is a very rural area of Georgia and all these small towns look about the same. The store was located in a large old commercial building; it had windows on the street side and a loading dock on the side but no indication of what it once was.

High Cotton Antiques

As almost all the antique stores are down here, it is divided into small viewing areas where consignees display their wares. The whole operation is operated with just one cashier/attendant.

We returned to the campground on a different route, we are always taking the opportunity to see new things. We passed thru a sizable town called Manchester. An old mill site caught our interest, so we explored around a little. The Manchester Mill was a textile producing plant that dated back to 1909; It closed in 1985. It was the largest employer in the town.....Ouch! there goes the economy of the area.

Site of the Manchester Cotton Mill

The town was apparently a “one trick pony” and when the mill closed it just about died. The main street which we could see was once a vibrant business district was lined with vacant stores. There are no manufacturer type businesses that we could see; there were only a few independent garages or luncheonettes in the town. On one end of town there was a new CVS drugs store and a new Rite Aide not too far away, that and a new bank building was about the only sign of economic investment in the forgotten town. Always sad to see the old ways go, everything changes.

Manchester Georgia in 1935. In 2018 it looks exactly the same except for the cars and most of the stores are vacant.

FDR's winter retreat

Warm Springs Georgia

May 15 2018

Tuesday is our first full day here in FDR state park. We drove to Warm Springs to tour President Roosevelt’s Little White house. First we browsed in some of the antique stores in the village and ate lunch at a local eatery. They had an unusual condiment, which we tried and really liked, candied jalapeños.

President Franklin D. Roosevelt's Warm Springs home

FDR’s Georgia home is preserved in the condition it was the day President Roosevelt died on April 12 1945. He was sitting for a portrait at the Little White House when he suffered a stroke. Roosevelt died two hours later of cerebral hemorrhage.

I couldn’t help but think of the contradiction this place represented. Roosevelt was at the time, one of the most powerful men in the world. He had led the nation through the great depression and was now commander in chief of the greatest military and strongest economy in the world. His retreat could have been anywhere, but he came here to this simple cabin in the Georgia.

Next we went down the road to the Warm Springs rehabilitation Facility. We toured the original Warm Springs pools Roosevelt used to exercise his polio stricken legs. No longer in use for therapy, they are part of the park service exhibit.

FDR in the Warm Springs Rehabilitation pool

We stopped in the town of Pine Mountain on the way back to the campground. A slightly larger version of Warm Springs, it also hosted antique stores in the old main street. That means I got to “shop” in several more antique stores, oh joy! Neither of us bought any old stuff.

RE: "shopping". I am a man shopper who operates with military precision, Formulate a plan,  (make a list) attack the store, (go directly to your list items) secure your purchase, ( check out in the shortest line) Mission a success! Millie on the other hand, enters the store, goes directly to the bargain racks, browses for eternity, doesn't buy anything, mission a success?

I did buy a case of local Calloway Springs water. It is bottled in really cool blue bottles and tastes like water should taste. It reminded me of a time about fifty years ago when after months of drinking really foul water I was given a 16 oz can of “Emergency Water” It was the best thing I ever tasted.

RE: Emergency Drinking water. Yes there really was such a thing; I have no idea what kind of emergency it was to be used for.

Atlanta to Warm Springs

Monday May 14, 2018

Our trip today is only a little over 100 miles so we waited until ten am to leave Stone Mountain. That gave the commuters of Atlanta time to scamper around the beltways and clear the road for us.

Once we passed the concrete spaghetti of roadways near the airport we stopped for fuel and groceries. Fuel was from a local station and grub from Aldi’s. 

After our re-provisioning stop we took local roads the rest of the way to F. D. Roosevelt State Park. Located southwest of Atlanta a little over halfway to Columbia, I’m going to say this area is pretty much the same as when FDR spent winters nearby in Warm Springs. 

The park was built by the CCC’s (Civilian Conservation Corp) back in the thirties and what we’ve seen of it so far is typical rustic CCC trademark work. The campground is sparsely occupied and very quiet. We have a level shaded site with water and electric hookups.