JoDo Chasing Rainbows

Plains, GA – Jimmy Carter’s home town

I thought this is appropriate to report after hearing the sad news that Jimmy Carter has entered hospice earlier this week. We visited Plains, GA in December 2022. It is a wonderful reflection about the man and the town that shaped him…

This is another place that we never visited when we lived in Georgia. I had driven through Plains when I was working in the early 2000s but I did not stop and explore the town. This is a wonderful place to stop and visit for an afternoon. We visited this location on the same day that we visited Andersonville. Mr. Carter’s old high school is now a museum to him, his wife and the people of Plains. There is many things to do in this small town.

There is is boyhood home on the outskirts of town. It has out buildings; crops as well as the store that his father ran for the community. The most wonderful thing about this place is that Jimmy Carter does all the narration. You get to hear his reflections about chores and farm life. There are a few barn cats on the property. They are super friendly. I made friends with one of the black cats. On this same road is the home that he and his wife lived in early in their marriage. Mr. and Mrs. Carter still live in Plains. You can see where their house is but you cannot get close to it. It is nice to know that they are still part of the community where they were born and raised.

Some of the most interesting things we learned about the Carters was why they choose the location for his presidential campaign headquarters. The Depot was the only building in town with a public restroom so it was the only the location that could hold the headquarters.

If you are ever in middle Georgia, this is a town you want to visit. Mr. Carter’s library is located in Atlanta.

Two Months in Hondo, TX

I cannot believe that we have been in Hondo for two months now. We have settled into our new spot. Now that we have a shed we can store some of the items that we don’t use everyday. This has also allowed us to take everything out of our basement of the RV and clean it. We have not started repacking the basement but will soon since we will leave in early April to go to Wyoming. Yes, we have committed to working at Bridge Bay Campground once again in Yellowstone National Park. This will be our third time in Yellowstone. We are very excited to be going back.

We have become active participants in our CO-OP. I co-chaired our CO-OPs New Years Eve Party. I have also volunteered to chair our Annual Flea Market on March 4, 2023. Many volunteers put in lots of effort for our largest fundraiser for the year. I am excited about it but also will be grateful when it is completed. I have been co-teaching Sit to Fit in our CO-OP twice per week and also teach Sit to Fit in our local town twice per week. I am enjoying that I can use my talents as a Certified Personal Trainer to use. This has been fun for me. Donna has joined the local American Legion to continue her work with veterans as well as joined the Community Emergency and Disaster (CED) committee. She participated in our community wide drill to make sure everyone knows what to do in an emergency.

You can see that we have become fully engaged in our community. We have been very busy. We plan on traveling a lot this year. After Yellowstone we plan on heading West to hope to visit Washington and Oregon before heading back to Hondo. It will be nice to get on the road again. Until we leave in April, we plan on getting out for short trips in February and March.