AreWe(RV)in' Babs

[Guest guest]

SSS!

Dear All,

After some tiresome soujourn for a 11 day period not everyone

might be back on their heals to get into active workload, so am I.

It all commenced on the day we met Babs at Niagara. Though I had

visited the place before, it was a new experience to be in SAM crowd.

Madhu had written about the Niagara visits, so I'll skip that part.

 

Noon Sunday 19th, with 2 SUVs, a minivan and 4 other cars heading

insearch a mysterious edible entity created by the Indian race, Dosa.

And the Lord playing His role in eliminating our desire or cravings

on Dosas ever to be sighted in future. We hopelessly gave in after

some 80 mile chase and settled for a better know American Luncheon,

Pizza! A few lucky ones got hold of the right restaurant and satiated

their hunger.

 

Then we headed for Pittsburgh ( We comprises: Babs, GP (ganesh

Pattabiraman), RM (Raghavan Murali), myself, my parents, praveena's

parents, Monica & Raji ), did you think our search for the

SV temple was that easy? With the Live Perumal in search of statued

one with missing turns and exits, reached the famous SV temple at

9 pm. (you could infer we drove from Niagara from Pittsburgh (350+

miles)

in a whooping 7 hours only!) to find the doors shut. Blame it on the

construction detours that engulfed the downtown area, but hey, we are

good drivers and we had GPS too! There was an African American who

guided us voluntarily as we stood stranded at a gas station.

 

In the temple, there was an Administrative staff Mr.Rao, who toured

us around the temple and let us into the kitchen, with boxes of

rice, curry and other extras, you could figure out the rest I guess.

Then we headed for our stay at MainStay suites somewhere

in Pittsburgh, again there was another Aabhatbhandavan, from the

temple staff who drove us out to some extent until we found our right

way. I should mention a miraculous escape from a collision that we

survived, no doubt with Babs grace, retired to our rooms finally.

 

The next day 20th morning, GP, RM, myself and Mr.Chakrapani

(praveena's dad) headed out to rent the 2 30' RV. If you have driven

any vehicle other than a trailer, welcome to the world of RV-ing,

because of the twists and turns made so uncomfortable. We had a crash

course for about an hour regarding the operations. Filling our 60

gallon tank drove back to the motel to load all our stuff, only to

find that we had brought goods enough for a month long supply.

Myself, GP and RM were taking turns in driving the 2 RVs.

 

Then the great journey to Florida by the roads started...

 

We headed to Washington DC, caught a glimpse of the monuments as

there were no parking place for RVs. Later in the evening reached

Willamsport, MD. It was a nice place for first time campers.

 

On 21st we drove to Petersburg, VA, 22nd to Charleston, SC. The drive

was pretty nice, that too with Babs giving us company it was real

fun. Everyday would start with Babs performing homam in the park

then finish breakfast to hit the road. At Petersburg and Charleston

we played friz-bee and cricket with Babs (you wouldn't believe how

Babs was full of energy, checkout the snaps to be posted here).

The team: GP, RM & Aruna vs Babs, Raji and myself, with Mr.Chakrapani,

my father and Monica joining the teams intermittently.

Though we won the best of 6 in friz-bee(have you ever heard a best of

6??) with Babs tirelessly playing until our team takes the cup home.

Eventhough our team won the cricketing event too, there was another

story of the rivals winning over us. The results are yet to be

decided

At Charleston we had some electrical problem with the RV which made

us drive to Myrtle Beach, for a short halt. With the technician

giving us the green to go, proceeded to Jekyll Island(23rd), GA.

Where Babs suggested we take up a room instead of sleeping in the RV.

It ended us up in a wonderful home by the beach side, a nice and cozy

place. Jekyll Island might be too tough to forget as we (myself,

Monica,Raji and Aruna) gave Babs an oil massage. (please dont see the

video tape! )

 

Drive from Jeykll to Orlando was on 24th, where we reached the

beautiful homes of Florida late evening.

 

To sum it up the trip was really enjoyable with loads of fun. If you

cant comprehend someparts out of this, I wont blame you, 'cuz I am yet

to come out this trip which I dont see it happening anytime soon.

 

Cant thank enough the RV team for making this trip a great one.

We had awesome food for during this trip prepared by my mother and

Praveena's, that should be duly appreciated. Tons more to Babs for

putting up with us during our shortcomings (which never came to an

end).

 

Acknowledgements:

 

GP, the man behind everything, deserves special accolades.

 

Monica, for organising this trip.

 

Last but definitely not the least, Babs without whom this would've

been just another trip, constantly inspiring us with his tales &

jokes thereby teaching us many traits.

 

SSS!

Ganesh S/..