October, 1999:

I'd like to share some pictures and stories... hopefully some amusing stories of our recent vacation. There are few things funnier than watching people on vacation... with their guard down. Princess and I went camping again this year; we had a great time!

Before I left I had six, large plastic bags of crushed aluminum cans in the garage. I decided to recycle them and drive the first day as far as their cash value would take me. Looks can be deceiving. Six bags equated to $4.85; we camped that night in Palatka, Florida -- about 185 miles up the road. Now, I hope I won't be insulting the fine residents of Palatka when I suggest that while it may be a wonderful place to live, Palatka is not much of a place to visit. We were out of there early the next morning. I have no pictures of Palatka; you're not missing much.

I bought a new tent for our trip this year. I had hung the one we used last year over a fence to dry out, and I was never able to get it back into the original storage sack. We got more than got our money's worth out of the old one, so I didn't feel bad. Anyway, the salesman tried to get me to buy a more expensive one this time;

he recommended a larger one with a big canopy that hung far over the front. "That'll give you better protection in a thunderstorm," he explained. I don't think so! "Listen, thunderstorms are why God invented Holiday Inns." If he thought I was going to challenge hurricane Floyd in a $29 tent - or even a $79 tent - he was nuts! This is our new tent on the banks of Lake Allatoona, just outside of Atlanta. That's Princess there, at the opening of the tent.

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