Shirley – I meant to tell you yesterday, we slowed down as we passed exit 45 on I-85, and looked for you by the side of the road, but apparently, you didn’t have your bags packed or we missed you.  Sorry, I guess we’ll pick you up next time we’re in town.

The draught’s effects were fully evident today.  Even the crepe myrtles were crispy and pathetic.  We broke camp about 8 am, just as our new neighbor was arriving and setting up.  He prefers to drive all night; obviously, that’s not an option for us, since our luck is what it is.  And we all know what it is.  It was 84* when we drove out, and it climbed steadily, as did we.  Apparently, we had forgotten the hills around Atlanta. 

Atlanta, however, looked just as we remembered it – a 4-lane rolling parking lot, with people cutting in and out & switching lanes like there was no tomorrow.  I’m sure for some of them, one day there won’t be.  We saw several crashes where they aimed and went, then looked at what they’d smashed in the door.  It was pretty cool, though, seeing Stone Mountain, Six Flags Over Atlanta and Talladega Speedway all in the same day!  Kinda rivaled the day we went to 3 different commissaries in 3 different states in one day.

And who in the WORLD put all these mountains here in Alabama???  And, since we’re in the mountains, why in the WORLD is it 102*??  Gotta admit, though, the air is cleaner.  Even the air around Atlanta was cleaner than it usually is in Winston, so that was a pleasant surprise.

Anyway, lemme tell ya one thing…this Sleepy Holler Campground – don’t come here.  For the princely sum of $30 (!!!), we get to drive up a windy, both sides drop off, narrow, STEEP HILLSIDE, then down the other, to a FIELD.  A HOT, DRY, OUT IN THE OPEN field, with sites lined up, side by side, about 13’ apart.  Keep in mind, when our sides are extended, we’re about 12’ wide, just for the camper.  Yeah, our awning is out, and extends over the power supply for the next site.  Our truck is parked sideways in front of our camper, and it, too, butts into the next site.  I sure hope no one else gets placed beside us – it’ll sure make getting out of here in the morning mighty difficult.

No pool, no cable, no internet (never mind wireless!!), and geez, no shade, either!  About the only thing positive is that it’s here (unlike the other campgrounds, that are off our path), and the pile o’pooh is already mostly dried up.  It definitely falls in the category of RIP-OFF.  And the saddest thing of all - it's run by a pastor.  You'd think he, of all people, would have had a conscience.  But, now we are planning our actual approach to Branson, and found we didn’t have TripMaster CD, but we have Magellan for the GPS.  Ummm…Magellan isn’t really much help, and everywhere we look, it looks bad or worse for major hills.  There’s gotta be a way, and I guess we will have to find it.  That, or face the bad and worse.

Wish us luck once more!  G’night