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Wednesday, November 30, 2016

Southeast to Palatka, Florida






Another beautiful fall
day....








Eric and I continue out drive south on Interstate 75.







We pass Greenhouses.








One of three signs urging
drivers to choose Jesus.




















Our first Amazon Tractor
Trailer sighting...

There's more to Prime.
A Truckload more.










This is a gorgeous stretch
of highway to drive.





A fellow RVer forgot to 
put down their TV antenna.

It clears the bridge, with
room to spare.

Many bridges across highways in the United states are 15 feet above the roadway, or more.  The clearance is not as generous across secondary roads.





We stop for diesel at

costs $2.40 per gallon.





It's a busy time of day at
the dedicated RV lanes.





5th Wheel are at the
next pump.





A truck towing an Airstream 
Trailer is fueling up at a
car lane.






Welcome to Florida.





The state's new sign
is under construction.





Palm Trees line the
bridges.











Motorcyclists in Florida can
skip wearing helmets, after
providing proof of medical
insurance providing at least 
$10,000.00 coverage.






We turn east toward





... onto Florida State
Road 24.







Cranes at a large construction
 site in Gainesville.




East on Florida State
Road 20

















A man fishes from
a bridge.



 






South, along Florida
State Road 19 to...




in Palatka.




We register for our
two week visit.












Florida State Parks allow a maximum stay of 14 days.






Here's our site, under
the trees.





There will be no satellite
access for TV during
our stay.






After 17 nights of Walmart and Freightliner parking lot stays, we have lots of standard chores
to do.

Monday, November 28, 2016

Driving Interstate 75 South to Tifton, Georgia





Eric & I are driving along
just one highway today...

Interstate 75 South.







Just one of the many sign
forests that populate the
roadside.






It's 76 degrees today.

The direction indicator
is wrong.  We are
currently driving
Southeast.









The ribbon of highway
leads South, & a
little bit East.











My first fresh Christmas Tree
sighting of the season.












A rental RV is driving
South.




A Hot Rod is being
transported.

It looks like a work
 in progress.





Eric & I stayed at Southern
Trails RV Resort in Unadilla
two years ago.

My daily walk took me
past the water tower.










happy to see bridge repair
& construction.











Tire treads litter the
roadside.







We pass fields of Cotton
waiting to be harvested.





Eric's Tires....

He never told me he was
running a business.







Eric & I are spending the
night at the Walmart in











Tomorrow is another drive day.

Sunday, November 27, 2016

The Jimmy Carter Presidential Library & Museum in Atlanta, Georgia





The Jimmy Carter Presidential
Library & Museum is located
on the grounds of the
Carter Center.









Founded in 1982, the Carter
Center, in partnership with
alleviate human suffering;
improve health; prevent &
 resolve conflicts & enhance
 freedom & democracy.






This is where Eric & I
will start our tour.





I had our Passport to
here.






After discovering President Hoover's Museum in Iowa, Eric and I have visited Presidents Franklin Roosevelt, Truman, Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, Ford, George H.W. Bush, Clinton and George W. Bush's museums.  The next time we are in California, Eric and I will visit President Reagan's Museum in Simi Valley.






President Carter's journey to
the White House started in
Plains, Georgia.






After graduating from Plains High School, Jimmy took college classes in preparation of acceptance to the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland.






Ensign Carter in 1946.







Ensign Carter served on conventional submarines.  Graduate studies in Nuclear Physics brought him to Union College in Schenectady, New York.  He, Rosalynn and their sons, Jack and Chip, lived at military housing in nearby Rotterdam, just minutes from Eric's mom's house.  





Lieutenant Carter was selected by
Admiral Rickover to for the engineering 
officer position aboard the Seawolf
America's second nuclear submarine.  










Jimmy's father, Earl Carter, was diagnosed with cancer and died in 1953.  Lieutenant Carter resigned his commission to return home to Plains and run the Carter family business...  growing peanuts.  After working on local boards and in the Georgia State Senate, Jimmy ran for Governor in 1966, and lost.






in 1970 & worked hard to
end segregation in Georgia.




The Man from Plains ran
for President in 1976
& won.
















A replica of the Oval Office
President Carter worked in.










This unique portrait of
President Carter is one
"Metamorphic portraits."




Ocampo created this portrait with symbols of United States and the President's personal history.

Like all presidents, Jimmy Carter's term of office was busy.  America was struggling with the after effects of the Vietnam War.  President Carter pardoned civilians who chose to evade service during the Vietnam War.

Major domestic issues during President Carter's Administration were a sluggish economy, rising inflation, higher fuel costs and conservation and protecting the environment.





Rosalynn, Amy &
President Carter to
promote energy saving.






The military was strengthened
to increase our nation's
National Defense.
















President Carter & Soviet President
Breshnev signed the SALT II Treaty
on June 18, 1979 to further secure 
nuclear weapons.











First Lady Rosalynn Carter
campaigned for the Equal






Despite the efforts of many, the Equal Rights Amendment did not pass in the 38 states needed within its allotted ratification time frame.

Rosalynn started working on Mental Health issues in the White House.

It wasn't all work at the Carter White House.




The President & First Lady
 entertained formally &
 informally, with family
 & friends.

There was time for games.





Music too....



Dizzy Gillespie & friends
"jammed."

Willie Nelson & the President
gave it their all.

Mstislav Rostropovich
performed at the
White House.



The Carter's youngest, Amy, grew up in the White House.




A tree house was built for her.

She met many famous visitors,
including John Travolta.

Amy traveled with her parents
& her world view expanded.


President Carter believed that the United States could help bring peace to the ever-troubled Middle East.





He gambled on meetings at
Camp David with Israeli 
Prime Minister Menachem
Begin & Egyptian President
Anwar Sadat.





The hard work paid off.  Since the Camp David Accords were signed on September 17,1978, no Egyptians have been killed by Israelis and vice versa.






The Sadats & the Carters
in Egypt



On November 4, 1979,
the US Embassy in
Tehran was captured
by Iranian students.
Sixty-six Americans were taken hostage.  Women and African American hostages were released, leaving fifty-one Americans imprisoned.  The Carter Administration worked hard to free the hostages without overwhelming use of force.

The USSR invaded Afghanistan in late December, 1979.  President Carter responded with economic sanctions, trade embargoes and a boycott of the 1980 Olympics held in Moscow.  The United States sent military support tot the Afghan Rebels.

The Hostage Crisis ground on...  A rescue attempt failed on April 24, 1980.






President Carter ran for re-election
 in November,1980 & lost






The US successfully negotiated the release of the US hostages in December, 1979.  The Iranians would hold the hostages until the following year.





After 444 days in captivity,
the hostages were freed on 
January 20, 1981.
Jimmy, Rosalynn and Amy returned to Plains, Georgia.  The future was yet to be charted.  The Carters started the Carter Center in 1982 and have been busy since.





The Carter Center is 
dedicated to eradicating
preventable diseases.











The Carters and the Carter Center have been working on Mental HealthGuinea WormRiver BlindnessTrachomaLymphatic Filariasis & Schistosomiasis.  Rosalynn continues working tirelessly on Mental Health education.

Besides all their work at the Carter Center, Jimmy and Rosalynn started building homes for Habitat for Humanity in 1984.





Promoting peace &
democracy:









Jimmy Carter's efforts to "wage peace" have not gone unnoticed.






He received the Nobel Peace
 Prize in 2002 for his efforts
to find peaceful solutions
 to international problems.





President Carter continues to share his Christian faith at Maranatha Baptist Church in Plains, where he teaches Sunday School.