Well here it is the last day of 2013 and we will be moving in 2014 and seeing what is in store for us.
We had a long but safe trip to Indianapolis for Christmas. Of course we had four very excited grandchildren. We enjoyed being with all of Ally's family and especially the Christmas Eve service at Grace Community.
Christmas morning was very busy with all the opening of gifts and the kids being surprised with what Santa brought them.
We had a very enjoyable day of just staying in our PJ's and eating and playing with the new toys and electronics.
Thursday Doug took the 3 older kids out to spend their gift cards or money and they seemed to have a good time. Larry, Ally and I did some more cooking which is our therapy and Sophia just played and enjoyed the attention with no competition. We made the famous sour cream cut out cookies and then had a decorating party after dinner.
Friday we packed up and headed south for about 143 miles. Stopped overnight at Grandma's RV Park in Louisville, Ky and had a nice visit with our friends Judy and John Switalski from Mason Mi. They had been to Tennessee to visit their son and were on the way home and we planned together. It was fun catching up since we had not seen them in about 2 years.,
Saturday we headed on further south and into the RAIN. We drove to Troy Alabama to a very nice RV Park, and the nicest people in the world. We had called ahead and when we arrive they were worried about us but we had just taken our time as it was not nice to drive in ALL that RAIN.
Sunday morning we had a very short drive on to Bainbridge to the "Newberry RV Park", which is my cousins yard, However it was very wet and we thought the bus was going to get stuck. Larry was trying to back into the spot we park and it started spinning and digging into the dirt. I thought oh no might have to call Good Sam for some help but he managed to move it and get on some what drier dirt.
Monday was a cleanup day of the car and the bus and of course a visit to the cementery to our family plots.
We will be here for about a week as we are having another Cousins Reunion this weekend and are looking forward to seeing everyone again.
On to Florida after that for about a week of fun before we start the Habitat building.
Tuesday, December 31, 2013
Friday, December 20, 2013
Where did the year go??? December 20,2013
Well I did not realize how long it had been since I posted on the Blog.
After returning from South Carolina in September we had a campout with the ODC camping chapter, made a trip to Indianapolis in November to be with Kate on her birthday and helped out with a very BUSY week of activities with the Hedrick family.
Back to Virginia and had Thanksgiving with Bryant and his family and other extended family of the SHMC group.
We have moved everything out of the house into the shop and are getting ready to rent/lease the house so that we can just travel. We have had it for sale and due to the economy things have not been moving along like we would like.
We plan to leave Virginia on Sunday and travel to Indianapolis for Christmas and then on SOUTH. We will spend some time in Bainbridge, Ga. with family and then on to Dade City, Florida to do a month of building with Habitat. After that we have about 3 weeks before we head to Louisana to do another build. After that we will head back to Georgia to help with the 3rd Newberry wedding. I am glad Carolyn and Keith only had 3 kids. Only teasing, we have enjoyed helping with the other 2 and I am sure this one will be just as much fun.
We plan to return to Virginia in April for about 5 weeks and then will be heading out with another couple to Alaska in our motorhomes. We are really excited about this trip of a lifetime. Jim and Linda have been before so they will be great tour guides.
I will try and keep up with this Blog in the future.
Mem
After returning from South Carolina in September we had a campout with the ODC camping chapter, made a trip to Indianapolis in November to be with Kate on her birthday and helped out with a very BUSY week of activities with the Hedrick family.
Back to Virginia and had Thanksgiving with Bryant and his family and other extended family of the SHMC group.
We have moved everything out of the house into the shop and are getting ready to rent/lease the house so that we can just travel. We have had it for sale and due to the economy things have not been moving along like we would like.
We plan to leave Virginia on Sunday and travel to Indianapolis for Christmas and then on SOUTH. We will spend some time in Bainbridge, Ga. with family and then on to Dade City, Florida to do a month of building with Habitat. After that we have about 3 weeks before we head to Louisana to do another build. After that we will head back to Georgia to help with the 3rd Newberry wedding. I am glad Carolyn and Keith only had 3 kids. Only teasing, we have enjoyed helping with the other 2 and I am sure this one will be just as much fun.
We plan to return to Virginia in April for about 5 weeks and then will be heading out with another couple to Alaska in our motorhomes. We are really excited about this trip of a lifetime. Jim and Linda have been before so they will be great tour guides.
I will try and keep up with this Blog in the future.
Mem
Wednesday, September 18, 2013
Heading Back to Virginia 9-18-2013
Seems we are still in South Carolina. Bill and Larry were attempting to install a Vue Cube, Satellite Dish, on Bill's motorhome but have run into some little glitches and so we are still here. Hopefully they can get that resolved today.
Deb has been enjoying working in her yard, getting it back in shape, removing lots of weeds, picking tomatoes, okra, peppers etc. That seems to be her therapy and I told her my therapy was cooking so I have taken over preparing the meals. It seems to work for the both of us.
We will be leaving sometime today and spending the night in a Wal Mart somewhere in NC and on to Virginia tomorrow. We will just go to the campground that our ODC Club is coming to on Friday, since it is only 13 miles from our house, and there is no need for us to go home, hook up the MH to everything and then turn around on Friday and go to the campground. I guess we are pretty much full timing it since we have been living in "the bus" since January.
Will catch up after the weekend campout.
Deb has been enjoying working in her yard, getting it back in shape, removing lots of weeds, picking tomatoes, okra, peppers etc. That seems to be her therapy and I told her my therapy was cooking so I have taken over preparing the meals. It seems to work for the both of us.
We will be leaving sometime today and spending the night in a Wal Mart somewhere in NC and on to Virginia tomorrow. We will just go to the campground that our ODC Club is coming to on Friday, since it is only 13 miles from our house, and there is no need for us to go home, hook up the MH to everything and then turn around on Friday and go to the campground. I guess we are pretty much full timing it since we have been living in "the bus" since January.
Will catch up after the weekend campout.
Saturday, September 14, 2013
Life after Fripp Island, South Carolina
We arrived in Greer SC on Wednesday the 4th of September and spent some time helping Bill and Deb to get things ready to go to the beach.
Saturday morning we started out on our little road trip to Fripp Island SC to meet up with 4 other couples from Georgia. Stella & Tommy Barr, Manning & Sharon Moody, Joann and Ike Ikred, Ann Reynolds & Maston Griffin. Bill and I had known the girls and Manning since we were in second grade and we had met their spouses before and love all of them dearly. We try to get together at least once a year.
We arrived at the island after a grocery trip to Wal Mart, which was a complete"hoot" within itself(four people trying to work from one grocery list) and started unloading the vehicle which was packed to the "gills". There was not a corner or crack to put another thing,
Now the good times start with Happy Hour and Memories. I am sure the spouses were tired by the end of the visit , from all the old stories of elementary and high school but a GOOD TIME was had by all.
We walked on the beach, the Atlantic is quite dirty, so no one really wanted to be in the water but there are some really nice pools in the area so we did have a good time there. When you get six old ladies and six old men in a pool you have a MESS.
Of course we ate very well while there and if anyone went hungry it was their own fault.
Everyone left on Wednesday morning except the four of us. We decided to go to Hunting Island State Park and also the Lighthouse which Larry, Bill and I climbed. Larry and I have been collecting lighthouses for many years and try to climb as many as we can. This one had 167 steps to the top viewing area.
Thursday we headed back to Greer and of course the job of unloading the car came next. We all were ready for some quiet time and so we retired early,
Bill and Larry are working on some projects around the house now and we will probably head back to Virginia the first part of the week and on to an ODC Campout on Friday.
I forgot to tell you about our trip to Mt. Airy NC on the way down. We stopped and spent two nights at the Mayberry Campground and went into town to visit all the favorite spots of Andy and Barney from the Andy Griffith show. There is a museum, Floyds Barber Shop, The Snappy Lunch where we had lunch of a pork chop sandwich and a Drug Store with a soda fountain that we went into and had a banana split for dessert with the extra of the owner telling so stories of Andy, when he was growing up. He was quite the historian. Also we learned the first Siamese twins lived in that area and the story of their lives is very interesting. In fact the campground is built on their property which has been passed down for generations.
There is a mountain in the area called Pilot Mountain which is also what Andy referred too in the shows, as the town of Mt. Pilot.
Saturday morning we started out on our little road trip to Fripp Island SC to meet up with 4 other couples from Georgia. Stella & Tommy Barr, Manning & Sharon Moody, Joann and Ike Ikred, Ann Reynolds & Maston Griffin. Bill and I had known the girls and Manning since we were in second grade and we had met their spouses before and love all of them dearly. We try to get together at least once a year.
We arrived at the island after a grocery trip to Wal Mart, which was a complete"hoot" within itself(four people trying to work from one grocery list) and started unloading the vehicle which was packed to the "gills". There was not a corner or crack to put another thing,
Now the good times start with Happy Hour and Memories. I am sure the spouses were tired by the end of the visit , from all the old stories of elementary and high school but a GOOD TIME was had by all.
We walked on the beach, the Atlantic is quite dirty, so no one really wanted to be in the water but there are some really nice pools in the area so we did have a good time there. When you get six old ladies and six old men in a pool you have a MESS.
Of course we ate very well while there and if anyone went hungry it was their own fault.
Everyone left on Wednesday morning except the four of us. We decided to go to Hunting Island State Park and also the Lighthouse which Larry, Bill and I climbed. Larry and I have been collecting lighthouses for many years and try to climb as many as we can. This one had 167 steps to the top viewing area.
Thursday we headed back to Greer and of course the job of unloading the car came next. We all were ready for some quiet time and so we retired early,
Bill and Larry are working on some projects around the house now and we will probably head back to Virginia the first part of the week and on to an ODC Campout on Friday.
I forgot to tell you about our trip to Mt. Airy NC on the way down. We stopped and spent two nights at the Mayberry Campground and went into town to visit all the favorite spots of Andy and Barney from the Andy Griffith show. There is a museum, Floyds Barber Shop, The Snappy Lunch where we had lunch of a pork chop sandwich and a Drug Store with a soda fountain that we went into and had a banana split for dessert with the extra of the owner telling so stories of Andy, when he was growing up. He was quite the historian. Also we learned the first Siamese twins lived in that area and the story of their lives is very interesting. In fact the campground is built on their property which has been passed down for generations.
There is a mountain in the area called Pilot Mountain which is also what Andy referred too in the shows, as the town of Mt. Pilot.
Sunday, September 1, 2013
Labor Day Weekend 2013
A lot has been happening since I last posted on the Travels of the Big "A" Bus. In the last post I indicated we would be camping with 4 couples for a weekend but that didn't happen due to one of the couples having a death in the family so we actually postponed that trip until this weekend.
In the mean time we have been busy with a house showing which we thought was a good prospect but that did not happen so we still have a house and property to sell. However we have managed to stay quite busy. Larry has been cutting grass , seems like every other day, between rain downpours. It has been a really rainy summer in Virginia. We had another camping trip in August to Luray Va . with the ODC camping group. Madie went with us and enjoyed just having a a restful weekend. She has been playing and singing at different places all summer and I think she needed a break.
Our son in law Doug, was going to a school for Lt. Col. for the army so I was invited to come to Indy and help Ally with the four grands for a while. I flew out on Aug. 20th and returned on the 28th. I cooked, ran the morning school carpool , picked up most of the afternoon runs and did the football practice run with Noah, open house night at school to meet the teachers, emptied 2 refrigerators down to one in the basement, cleaned and organized the freezer, play closet in the basement, got clothes ready for a consignment shop, took stuff to Goodwill. Now I didn't do all this by myself, Ally was right there helping me. We had a good time doing it and enjoyed some mother daughter time. That is one BUSY family.
We are now at Endless Caverns Campground at New Market Virginia with Tolson, Freed, and Burdette for a relaxing weekend. Yesterday we went out to breakfast at the Southern Kitchen and then to the Virginia Museum of the Civil War. It was very interesting and there is a movie being made about the battle and the cadets from VMI. It is called the Field of Lost Shoes. Had a wonderful dinner with the group last night, steak, potatoes, beans, pretzel salad and then homemade icecream and pound cake for dessert.
Everyone is taking it easy this morning and then we are going to a parade this afternoon to see the Cadets from VMI that have marched from Lynchburg to New Market and will do a reenactment of the battle. As a matter of fact, Larry is still in bed.
Tomorrow, we head out to Mt. Airy N.C. to visit the Andy Griffith town of Mayberry. Larry says he is taking Barney another bullet since he never had but one. Spending a couple of days there and then on to Greer SC to Bill and Deb Dorris home, leaving the MH there and driving with them to Fripp Island SC to a beach house that Bill has a timeshare in. He has invitied 5 other high school friends and their husband or wife. we are really looking forward to this trip.
After that it is back to Virginia for some dentist, doctor appts and then hopefully a trip to Indy for Larry to do some projects for Ally.
Let you know later about the beach trip.
In the mean time we have been busy with a house showing which we thought was a good prospect but that did not happen so we still have a house and property to sell. However we have managed to stay quite busy. Larry has been cutting grass , seems like every other day, between rain downpours. It has been a really rainy summer in Virginia. We had another camping trip in August to Luray Va . with the ODC camping group. Madie went with us and enjoyed just having a a restful weekend. She has been playing and singing at different places all summer and I think she needed a break.
Our son in law Doug, was going to a school for Lt. Col. for the army so I was invited to come to Indy and help Ally with the four grands for a while. I flew out on Aug. 20th and returned on the 28th. I cooked, ran the morning school carpool , picked up most of the afternoon runs and did the football practice run with Noah, open house night at school to meet the teachers, emptied 2 refrigerators down to one in the basement, cleaned and organized the freezer, play closet in the basement, got clothes ready for a consignment shop, took stuff to Goodwill. Now I didn't do all this by myself, Ally was right there helping me. We had a good time doing it and enjoyed some mother daughter time. That is one BUSY family.
We are now at Endless Caverns Campground at New Market Virginia with Tolson, Freed, and Burdette for a relaxing weekend. Yesterday we went out to breakfast at the Southern Kitchen and then to the Virginia Museum of the Civil War. It was very interesting and there is a movie being made about the battle and the cadets from VMI. It is called the Field of Lost Shoes. Had a wonderful dinner with the group last night, steak, potatoes, beans, pretzel salad and then homemade icecream and pound cake for dessert.
Everyone is taking it easy this morning and then we are going to a parade this afternoon to see the Cadets from VMI that have marched from Lynchburg to New Market and will do a reenactment of the battle. As a matter of fact, Larry is still in bed.
Tomorrow, we head out to Mt. Airy N.C. to visit the Andy Griffith town of Mayberry. Larry says he is taking Barney another bullet since he never had but one. Spending a couple of days there and then on to Greer SC to Bill and Deb Dorris home, leaving the MH there and driving with them to Fripp Island SC to a beach house that Bill has a timeshare in. He has invitied 5 other high school friends and their husband or wife. we are really looking forward to this trip.
After that it is back to Virginia for some dentist, doctor appts and then hopefully a trip to Indy for Larry to do some projects for Ally.
Let you know later about the beach trip.
Tuesday, July 16, 2013
July 16, 2013
It is hard to believe that half of July has already gone. Why does time fly so fast? My Mom used to say "the older you get the faster times flies" well now you know I thought she was nuts but I have lived to see a lot of the things she said come to pass.
Guess the moral to that story is , we need to listen to our parents or elders and as Larry says it is getting harder to find our elders. We seem to be the ELDERS.
The Big A Bus is home for now. We still have the house and property but since the house is "staged" for showing we have decided to just LIVE in the motorhome for awhile. We have everything we need and it certainly doesn't require as much electricity, cleaning, etc as the house.
We have been on one camping adventure with our Good Sam Chapter over to Misty Mountain in Charlottesville . We had 5 rigs and it was sort of nice to have a small group as you can visit and it is not as much work to Host.
Thursday we are taking the "bus" and going up to the Stafford/Fredericksburg area and will be parking at the Burdette Campground. Linda and Randy are friends, who have a place and hookups for the motorhome and are going to let us stay there for a few days. Larry has a doctors appointment on Friday and then on Saturday night we get to attend a concert at Central Park . Hank Williams Jr. is the headliner and we have wanted to see him in person for years. I know it is going to be hot as "hello" but we will enjoy it. Bryant and his motorcycle club are part of the group that does parking and crowd control so we will be well taken care of. The rest of the weekend we will just hang out up in that area probably at Bry and Julie's house part of the time to use the pool and visit with them. Julie's Mom is here from Georgia and we have not seen Marjorie in a long time. We also want to attend the Tuesday night at Amy's restaurant where Madie sings. We have only been there once to hear her perform.
She is really getting quite good with her singing and playing on the guitar. She auditioned about a week ago for a contest sponsored by a local radio station and if she is chosen as one of the contestant she will be performing at the Fredericksburg Fair on July 31st. We fine out about that this week hopefully. I will keep you informed as to how she does.
Next weekend we are going with 3 other couple on a weekend of relaxing and catching up with each other. Sandy and Bill Freed just returned from a trip to Alaska and we want to hear all about it. Bill is dealing with cancer and we just want to spend as much time as we can with them.
Hope you enjoy the"catch up" and until next time.
Guess the moral to that story is , we need to listen to our parents or elders and as Larry says it is getting harder to find our elders. We seem to be the ELDERS.
The Big A Bus is home for now. We still have the house and property but since the house is "staged" for showing we have decided to just LIVE in the motorhome for awhile. We have everything we need and it certainly doesn't require as much electricity, cleaning, etc as the house.
We have been on one camping adventure with our Good Sam Chapter over to Misty Mountain in Charlottesville . We had 5 rigs and it was sort of nice to have a small group as you can visit and it is not as much work to Host.
Thursday we are taking the "bus" and going up to the Stafford/Fredericksburg area and will be parking at the Burdette Campground. Linda and Randy are friends, who have a place and hookups for the motorhome and are going to let us stay there for a few days. Larry has a doctors appointment on Friday and then on Saturday night we get to attend a concert at Central Park . Hank Williams Jr. is the headliner and we have wanted to see him in person for years. I know it is going to be hot as "hello" but we will enjoy it. Bryant and his motorcycle club are part of the group that does parking and crowd control so we will be well taken care of. The rest of the weekend we will just hang out up in that area probably at Bry and Julie's house part of the time to use the pool and visit with them. Julie's Mom is here from Georgia and we have not seen Marjorie in a long time. We also want to attend the Tuesday night at Amy's restaurant where Madie sings. We have only been there once to hear her perform.
She is really getting quite good with her singing and playing on the guitar. She auditioned about a week ago for a contest sponsored by a local radio station and if she is chosen as one of the contestant she will be performing at the Fredericksburg Fair on July 31st. We fine out about that this week hopefully. I will keep you informed as to how she does.
Next weekend we are going with 3 other couple on a weekend of relaxing and catching up with each other. Sandy and Bill Freed just returned from a trip to Alaska and we want to hear all about it. Bill is dealing with cancer and we just want to spend as much time as we can with them.
Hope you enjoy the"catch up" and until next time.
Monday, June 17, 2013
Catching up Again 6-17-2013
Somehow I always manage to stay behind on this blog but here we go trying to catch up.
We left Indy on Wednesday May 29th heading to Uniontown, Ohio to visit a high school friend, Judy McGuire Parish. The trip was uneventful other than lots of truck traffic but we are use to that now. We arrived at her place around 4:30, got parked in her driveway and settled in to visit. Her daughter and son in law came over and we had a cookout that evening and just talked and talked. Imagine that !!!!
Thursday we decided to go and check out the Football Hall of Fame in Canton Ohio which is not far from Judy's house. It was very interesting and since we have been Pittsburgh Steeler Fans since the 70's we enjoyed seeing all the things about that team and many others.
After a nice lunch of pizza we returned and just talked more. Friday morning we left and headed back to Virginia with a lunch stop in Mineral Wells West Virginia, with Don and Kathy Wise, who are Directors of the WV Good Sams. We always enjoy Kathy and Don. Stopped overnight at a Wal Mart in Lewisburg WV and then got home on Saturday afternoon to the noise of the cicadas which were not out when we left. Oh what a NOISE.
The next Thursday we moved up to Stafford to our friends Jim and Linda Matheny's to help with a wedding. It is so nice to just go up there with the motorhome and set up home. It started raining on Thursday night around 7 pm which was the results of a tropical storm coming up the east coast and believe me it rained. I think total rainfall was about 6 inches over the course of the storm. On Friday we spent the entire day padding around in the rain to do doctors appointments for Larry. We left the MH at 10:15 am and arrived back around 5:30 pm., then Larry cooked steaks and chicken for about 16 family members of Linda's for a little dinner before the wedding the next day. Donnie and Yvonne got married on Saturday morning with just family and then around 1 pm had a reception for friends and family. We had helped with all the setting up of tables, decorations, and then with the "party". Fortunately the rain stopped around noon and the sun came out and it was nice for the afternoon.
Later we attended another party for the son of other friends , who had graduated from high school the night before.
Sunday we spent the afternoon with Bryant and family and then got more rain. We were worried about getting back home due to the fact that an area by our house always floods over the road when there is lots of rain, sure enough there was some water over a little part of the road but we got through it.
Most of the week was spent getting ready to have a garage sale in another week or so and yesterday being Fathers Day we spent it with Bry and family.
We are going camping this weekend with our ODC Group over in the Charlottesville area.
The property is on the market and at the present time we are just living in the motorhome hoping not to move back in the house.
We left Indy on Wednesday May 29th heading to Uniontown, Ohio to visit a high school friend, Judy McGuire Parish. The trip was uneventful other than lots of truck traffic but we are use to that now. We arrived at her place around 4:30, got parked in her driveway and settled in to visit. Her daughter and son in law came over and we had a cookout that evening and just talked and talked. Imagine that !!!!
Thursday we decided to go and check out the Football Hall of Fame in Canton Ohio which is not far from Judy's house. It was very interesting and since we have been Pittsburgh Steeler Fans since the 70's we enjoyed seeing all the things about that team and many others.
After a nice lunch of pizza we returned and just talked more. Friday morning we left and headed back to Virginia with a lunch stop in Mineral Wells West Virginia, with Don and Kathy Wise, who are Directors of the WV Good Sams. We always enjoy Kathy and Don. Stopped overnight at a Wal Mart in Lewisburg WV and then got home on Saturday afternoon to the noise of the cicadas which were not out when we left. Oh what a NOISE.
The next Thursday we moved up to Stafford to our friends Jim and Linda Matheny's to help with a wedding. It is so nice to just go up there with the motorhome and set up home. It started raining on Thursday night around 7 pm which was the results of a tropical storm coming up the east coast and believe me it rained. I think total rainfall was about 6 inches over the course of the storm. On Friday we spent the entire day padding around in the rain to do doctors appointments for Larry. We left the MH at 10:15 am and arrived back around 5:30 pm., then Larry cooked steaks and chicken for about 16 family members of Linda's for a little dinner before the wedding the next day. Donnie and Yvonne got married on Saturday morning with just family and then around 1 pm had a reception for friends and family. We had helped with all the setting up of tables, decorations, and then with the "party". Fortunately the rain stopped around noon and the sun came out and it was nice for the afternoon.
Later we attended another party for the son of other friends , who had graduated from high school the night before.
Sunday we spent the afternoon with Bryant and family and then got more rain. We were worried about getting back home due to the fact that an area by our house always floods over the road when there is lots of rain, sure enough there was some water over a little part of the road but we got through it.
Most of the week was spent getting ready to have a garage sale in another week or so and yesterday being Fathers Day we spent it with Bry and family.
We are going camping this weekend with our ODC Group over in the Charlottesville area.
The property is on the market and at the present time we are just living in the motorhome hoping not to move back in the house.
Saturday, May 25, 2013
Another trip to Indianapolis for 3rd Kindergarten Graduation
The Big A Bus left Louisa county on Friday, May 17, 2014 to attend the Virginia State Samboree in Urbanna, Va. Our chapter, the Old Dominion Cardinals, we in charge of a hamburger sale, a motorcycle ride and the hosting of the Saturday night refreshments at the entertainment. Friday was a good day with people coming in and getting set up and the weather was great, however Saturday morning did not prove to be NICE. When we awoke it was drizzling rain and it continued off and on all day. We were able to have the hamburger sale without rain and did well raising money for our chapter but the motorcycle ride had to be cancelled. Our pot luck dinner was a little damp but we had a couple of small tents set up and were able to have dinner without too much dampness.
Sunday morning Larry and I left around 9:30 am and traveled on over to Charleston WV to Madie's favorite campground. The Wal Mart at Cross Lanes. We left there on Monday morning and arrived in Lexington Ky around 1:30 pm and got set up at the Kentucky Horse Park Campground. Relaxed the rest of the day and on Tuesday morning we went to the Horse Park to enjoy all the activities. It is a wonderful place for horse loves and we got a good education in these beautiful creatures.
Later in the afternoon Harry and Rowena Johnson, who are motorhome friends and live in Lexington came over and then took us to the downtown area of Lexington, a couple of racetracks, just to see them, and to a local restaurant for dinner. We had a "hot brown" which is a Kentucky favorite that was started from left overs from the Kentucky Derby many years ago, It was a good combination of ham, turkey, gravy, bacon, cheddar cheese on toast. Really it was good.
Wednesday found us on the road to Indy, arriving around 1:30 pm and the first order of business was set up of the mh and then off the pick up Noah and Kate from school as Ally had a doctors appointment for Sophia. Bella was with her. The afternoon was gymnastics for the girls, a meeting at church for Noah, Mom and Dad so Papa and Mimi had gymnastics duty and Sophia duty.
Thursday we were busy again since it was Bella's last day of kindergarten. Pickup at 11am, then out to lunch as a celebration for her graduation. The ceremony was at 7 pm so as you can tell it was a busy day. We laughed and said this was number 3 and in 3 years we will be back for the last one when Sophia graduates.
Friday was the last day of school for the other two kids. Ally and Bella went to Gymboree for Sophia and then did lots of errands. Doug, Larry and I had a list of things to get done at the house. First order of business was grass cutting and fixing the trampoline that got damaged in a wind storm this spring. I had some things to do inside since I had packed up lots of dishes that I wanted Ally to have . I had lots of pretty things to put in her china cabinet, and then I had to plant 4 flats of "Bryant flowers". That is what we call inpatients.
Tomorrow Doug's mom is getting married. She has been a widow for about 12 years and has met a very nice gentleman, Palmer . The girls are going to be flower girls in the wedding so today is rehearsal, a gathering of both families for dinner tonight and then the wedding tomorrow. As usual it is busy busy busy,
We will be here until Wednesday and then we are going to Ohio to visit with a high school friend of mine before returning to Virginia.
More later
Sunday morning Larry and I left around 9:30 am and traveled on over to Charleston WV to Madie's favorite campground. The Wal Mart at Cross Lanes. We left there on Monday morning and arrived in Lexington Ky around 1:30 pm and got set up at the Kentucky Horse Park Campground. Relaxed the rest of the day and on Tuesday morning we went to the Horse Park to enjoy all the activities. It is a wonderful place for horse loves and we got a good education in these beautiful creatures.
Later in the afternoon Harry and Rowena Johnson, who are motorhome friends and live in Lexington came over and then took us to the downtown area of Lexington, a couple of racetracks, just to see them, and to a local restaurant for dinner. We had a "hot brown" which is a Kentucky favorite that was started from left overs from the Kentucky Derby many years ago, It was a good combination of ham, turkey, gravy, bacon, cheddar cheese on toast. Really it was good.
Wednesday found us on the road to Indy, arriving around 1:30 pm and the first order of business was set up of the mh and then off the pick up Noah and Kate from school as Ally had a doctors appointment for Sophia. Bella was with her. The afternoon was gymnastics for the girls, a meeting at church for Noah, Mom and Dad so Papa and Mimi had gymnastics duty and Sophia duty.
Thursday we were busy again since it was Bella's last day of kindergarten. Pickup at 11am, then out to lunch as a celebration for her graduation. The ceremony was at 7 pm so as you can tell it was a busy day. We laughed and said this was number 3 and in 3 years we will be back for the last one when Sophia graduates.
Friday was the last day of school for the other two kids. Ally and Bella went to Gymboree for Sophia and then did lots of errands. Doug, Larry and I had a list of things to get done at the house. First order of business was grass cutting and fixing the trampoline that got damaged in a wind storm this spring. I had some things to do inside since I had packed up lots of dishes that I wanted Ally to have . I had lots of pretty things to put in her china cabinet, and then I had to plant 4 flats of "Bryant flowers". That is what we call inpatients.
Tomorrow Doug's mom is getting married. She has been a widow for about 12 years and has met a very nice gentleman, Palmer . The girls are going to be flower girls in the wedding so today is rehearsal, a gathering of both families for dinner tonight and then the wedding tomorrow. As usual it is busy busy busy,
We will be here until Wednesday and then we are going to Ohio to visit with a high school friend of mine before returning to Virginia.
More later
Monday, April 22, 2013
Back on the road, April 18, 2013
After being back in Virginia for about a week the Big A Bus headed out again on Thursday to American Hertiage Campground in Williamsburg, Va. for the first official campout of the season with the Old Dominion Cardinals Good Sam Chapter. We have had a wonderful weekend with 13 rigs, 28 people and LOTS of good food.
Madison, our granddaughter came down on Friday afternoon with the Welfords, so she could be with us for the weekend. The weather was good Thursday and Friday until around 8 pm when we got a major storm, however we had just a little rain, some thunder and lightening and a little wind. The Fredericksburg area was not so lucky. The Fawn Lake area in Spotslyvania County got hit pretty hard in spots, which led to the Welfords having to leave early Saturday morning to go home to check the damage at their place. They lost about 2 dozen trees but no damage to their house. Larry said he and friends spent all day cutting up and moving wood for themselves and neighbors.
No damage was done to Freeds house who also live in that area.
We did a lot of visiting, eating, shopping and just generally enjoying our group.
One of our members lives here in Williamsburg and works with Habitat for Humanity. Saturday was the year anniversary of the reopening of their ReStore so we all had to go and check out the bargins. Dr. Jeff and Sharon Lawrence are people Larry and I met in Dade City, Fl last winter (2012) while doing a HFH Build. They have lived in Alaska for many years before retiring to this area.
Now it is Monday morning and we have to take Madie back home ( we let her skip school today) and then we have to get back to Louisa County and think about moving into the house after being in the motorhome since January.
Madison, our granddaughter came down on Friday afternoon with the Welfords, so she could be with us for the weekend. The weather was good Thursday and Friday until around 8 pm when we got a major storm, however we had just a little rain, some thunder and lightening and a little wind. The Fredericksburg area was not so lucky. The Fawn Lake area in Spotslyvania County got hit pretty hard in spots, which led to the Welfords having to leave early Saturday morning to go home to check the damage at their place. They lost about 2 dozen trees but no damage to their house. Larry said he and friends spent all day cutting up and moving wood for themselves and neighbors.
No damage was done to Freeds house who also live in that area.
We did a lot of visiting, eating, shopping and just generally enjoying our group.
One of our members lives here in Williamsburg and works with Habitat for Humanity. Saturday was the year anniversary of the reopening of their ReStore so we all had to go and check out the bargins. Dr. Jeff and Sharon Lawrence are people Larry and I met in Dade City, Fl last winter (2012) while doing a HFH Build. They have lived in Alaska for many years before retiring to this area.
Now it is Monday morning and we have to take Madie back home ( we let her skip school today) and then we have to get back to Louisa County and think about moving into the house after being in the motorhome since January.
Friday, April 12, 2013
April 12, 2013
We did go to Bainbridge, Ga for Easter and had a great time visiting with family and also some high school friends. Ann Reynolds always seem to have time to cook for us and include others from our high school days and it is always a wonderful time with good food and fellowship.
We left Georgia on the Monday after Easter and traveled to Cullman Alabama and visiting with a high school friend who graduated with Larry. He and his wife were just wonderful to us and we enjoyed catching up after not seeing each other for 52 years. Also found out that eight of the years that we were in Virginia they lived in Newport News Va. not far from us but didn't know it. We left there on Tuesday and did something from the "Bucket List". Now we have traveled up and down interstate 65 for MANY years and never stopped at the Jack Daniels Distillery. Well this time we did and had a great tour.That afternoon we drove on into Nashville Tenn and met some friends from Georgia and had a nice visit with them. Next day we traveled on into Kentucky and went to the Jim Beam Distillery. Now we know all about making Tennessee Wiskey, the Jack Daniels method and making Bourbon, which is the Jim Beam method. We found a nice little RV Park just south of Louisville called Grandma's RV Park and spent the night. Thursday we left around 10 am and traveled to Indianapolis to get our "Grandchild Fix".
The time in Indy was as busy as ever with Gymboree classes for Sophia, baseball games for Noah, dodgeball games for Kate, Bella and Noah and church on Sunday.
Larry is very happy now that his youngest grandchild has decided that he if OKAY. Up until this trip she would not have anything to do with him unless he was the only left in the room to get her out of the pak n play. She actually can say Papa and of course that thrilled him .
We left on Monday April 8 around noon and made it to Charleston WV (for you people from WV, that is West By God Virginia, and spent the night in a Wal Mart.
Tuesday afternoon we arrived back at our house but we decided since we are going to Williamsburg next Thursday with our Old Dominion Camping group we would just keep staying in the motorhome and slowly get the house ready to move in after we come back from this long weekend.
Yesterday we had some sad news that our friend, Janice Parsons, passed away. She had been in the hospital for surgery and things just did not go well and thus she went to be with the Lord and her husband, Ralph who left us 3 years ago in February. We did a lot of traveling with them in our motorhomes and it was hard enough losing Ralph and now Janice is gone too.
Now much else to report so will close for now and hopefully things will not be so crazy for the next little while.
Mem and Larry
We left Georgia on the Monday after Easter and traveled to Cullman Alabama and visiting with a high school friend who graduated with Larry. He and his wife were just wonderful to us and we enjoyed catching up after not seeing each other for 52 years. Also found out that eight of the years that we were in Virginia they lived in Newport News Va. not far from us but didn't know it. We left there on Tuesday and did something from the "Bucket List". Now we have traveled up and down interstate 65 for MANY years and never stopped at the Jack Daniels Distillery. Well this time we did and had a great tour.That afternoon we drove on into Nashville Tenn and met some friends from Georgia and had a nice visit with them. Next day we traveled on into Kentucky and went to the Jim Beam Distillery. Now we know all about making Tennessee Wiskey, the Jack Daniels method and making Bourbon, which is the Jim Beam method. We found a nice little RV Park just south of Louisville called Grandma's RV Park and spent the night. Thursday we left around 10 am and traveled to Indianapolis to get our "Grandchild Fix".
The time in Indy was as busy as ever with Gymboree classes for Sophia, baseball games for Noah, dodgeball games for Kate, Bella and Noah and church on Sunday.
Larry is very happy now that his youngest grandchild has decided that he if OKAY. Up until this trip she would not have anything to do with him unless he was the only left in the room to get her out of the pak n play. She actually can say Papa and of course that thrilled him .
We left on Monday April 8 around noon and made it to Charleston WV (for you people from WV, that is West By God Virginia, and spent the night in a Wal Mart.
Tuesday afternoon we arrived back at our house but we decided since we are going to Williamsburg next Thursday with our Old Dominion Camping group we would just keep staying in the motorhome and slowly get the house ready to move in after we come back from this long weekend.
Yesterday we had some sad news that our friend, Janice Parsons, passed away. She had been in the hospital for surgery and things just did not go well and thus she went to be with the Lord and her husband, Ralph who left us 3 years ago in February. We did a lot of traveling with them in our motorhomes and it was hard enough losing Ralph and now Janice is gone too.
Now much else to report so will close for now and hopefully things will not be so crazy for the next little while.
Mem and Larry
Sunday, March 24, 2013
March 24, 2013 Thibodaux, La.
First picture: house to be finished, Second: team at Zams for Swamp tour, Third: Jeff, waiting for boards, Forth:& Fifth Larry, waiting for boards, Larry, foot in water to become a Cajun, Sixth: ZZ, young man on Swamp people, Seventh: vegetables, Eighth: Larry working on windows, Ninth: Team
We arrived in Thibodaux, Louisiana on Friday afternoon March 8, 2013 to start a 2 week Habitat for Humanity Build. The team was made up of Larry & Tracy Saulsgiver, Jeff & Judy Rothwell, Roy & Carol Barriere, Larry and me and we picked up another lady , Maria Small. She had been here back in November and was told there was room for her as our friends the Mathenys had to return to Virginia due to a break in at their home.Saturday and Sunday was spent getting our bearings as to which way to the Monday morning meeting place with the construction supervisor and the volunteer coordinator and getting to know the new people and renewing old friendships.
Monday morning we woke up to RAIN. No that is not a good thing to start a Build on but we did have some inside work to do on a house in the Bayou Blue subdivision that we had worked in last year and also in 2008. Tuesday we were able to go to the new construction that had been sitting for a while and stated working on putting the sheating on the roof., In two weeks time we had it ready for the roofers, who actually came on the last day of our build and started working on that, the house wrapped in tyvek and the windows in. We also worked on 2 other houses the 2 days that it rained and accomplished a lot there.
The weekend found us busy with a Swamp Tour and actually met a young man who is on the tv program Swamp People. We saw some alligators and Larry had wanted to become an adopted Cajun so he was told to out his foot in the bayou, which explains the picture above., Sunday we attened the St. Pattys Day Parade in Houma, La where they acutally throw vegetables at you. Thus the picture of all the vegs. We saved some for ourselves and I cooked 2 cornbeef briskets with potatoes, carrots and cabbage for our group on Tuesday night. We shared the rest of the vegs with other people here in the campground.
It was a wonderful Build and I know that we surprised our construction supervisor with all that we accomplished for old people. He told us he had a team that had always been his favorite but we had surpassed them. We have come up in the world of Habitat.
We were fed so well while being here. The Bayou Blue Presbyterian Church had us over for the pot luck dinner one night, and the Knights of Columbus fed us one day at lunch and the Affiliate fed us the rest of the time. Our lunches consisted of a lot of rice , beans, gumbo etc, Cajun food and as we measure these builds, I think this one was about a 10 pound one. I told Larry I needed a new washing machine and dryer as this one was shrinking my pants. LOL.
Yesterday, Saturday, found us saying so long, not goodbye, as we all hope to meet again on another Build somewhere, to some of our team members. Some of us decided to stay another day or so to rest up, pack up and then move on.,
We are going to Bainbridge, Ga, my hometown to spend Easter with my cousin and her family and then if the weather holds we are going to Indianapolis to see our grandchildren and the on to Virginia. If not we will go to Virginia.
Hope you are enjoying this blog and will do more later.
Monday, March 4, 2013
Catching up March 4, 2013
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House used in Movie "Steel Magnolias"I seem to be having a hard time with this BLOG but I am going to try and catch you up on what we have been doing. After leaving all the ducks at Martin Lake around the 21st of Feb we went to Poche's Fish Camp & RV Park. It is outside of Breaux Bridge La and someone had recommended it to us. It is a very nice park centered around several fish ponds that actually used to be crawfish ponds, We had dinner with my cousin Cara Gerdes and her husband Jerry and enjoyed seeing their new house. The weather was not very good so we spent a lot of time in the motorhome until Saturday afternoon when the sun decided to come out. We met the neighbors and enjoyed a fire with them for a while until it got much colder and we had to go inside. One Sunday we moved on up to Natchitoches, La to be able to spend a few days with Larry and MaryJane Phillips from Arlington, Tx. They have friends who live in Natchitoches so they were coming to see them and us. Natchitoches is where the movie Steel Magnolias was filmed. I did not realize that it was actually a true story. We saw the houses used in the movie, met the gentleman who wrote the story and his 90 yr. old father. We also heard the story of the "meat pies" that were used to feed the slaves on the plantations and were able to enjoy eating some of them in the local restaurant, Lazones and also purchase some from the grocery to bring along with us.
After that little trip we came back to Poche's and Lar and Tracy Saulsgiver came to be with us a few days. We attended the "wild rabbit"cookoff in the adjoining field on Saturday, Now these people, Cajuns, do know how to party. They told us that they just came to drink and have a good time. One of the neighbors gave larry some gumbo which I could not eat due to it having crab in it.
Sunday we left Poches and came on down a little further in Louisiana to Betty's RV Park. Now this is a "HOOT". There are 17 sites around Betty's house and every afternoon around 4:30 they get together for Happy Hour and after being there about 2 hours you don't need to fix any dinner as all the snacks that come out are wonderful.
Yesterday we went over to a little town called New Iberia to the Tabasco factory and had a tour of the plant and learned all about the Tabasco sauce and the history of it. Also went to the original Conrad Rice Company which is now Konrico brand rice. They process about a million pounds a year.
Today we have had a down day of just doing things around the motorhome and Larry has been working on taxes. Tomorrow is a touring day with the group that is camped here of a church and a blacksmith's operation after that we are having a crawfish boil with live music to boot.
More later,
Mem
Ally's four children on Valentines Day
Konrico Rice FactoryMonday, February 18, 2013
Feb 18, 2013
I think the last time I updated the Blog we were under a tornado watch but we were okay only rain, rain and more rain. I think we are going to mold. It started on Sunday night and continued until Wednesday a.m. and then the wind came and it was just an all around nasty week. Now I know you people up in the North Country are saying "poor thing" as you have been dealing with cold and snow. We didn't get much bike riding done due to weather but we found some other things that either needed to be done or we just wanted to do.
One day we went to the movie to see "Lincoln". I am not sure what I expected but thought it would be more about his life in general but it wasn't. It was a good movie and I am glad we went.
I decided that it was time for a "me" day so Larry dropped me off at the Nail Salon and I got the works, hands, feet, eyebrows and even a few minutes in the tanning bed. I was starting to become a very pale person and since we are meeting up with the Mathenys in about three weeks I have to keep up my tan as Jim will be so dark, all I will hear from him is how white I am.
We left Gulf Shores, Al , yesterday (sunday 17th) and arrived at a campground over in the Ocean Springs, Biloxi, Mississippi area. It is called Martin Lake RV Resort. Ha Ha. First of all they called to say no 50 amps and parking on gravel. Well, that is not a problem as we can adjust to 30 amps and gravel is fine. Wrong. It had rained a lot over here too and most of the sites are muddy. We did get a paved site but the next problem is the DAMN Ducks. They are walking around every where here in the park and there is Duck S***t everywhere. Now a lot of you know me and "feathered friends" don't do well together so needless to say I will be spending most of my time in the RV. This will be one to go on the list of no return.
We are going out today to do a little sightseeing and also going to see how fast I can lose my allotted $20 at the Casino. It is suppose to rain tomorrow AGAIN so Larry is planning to start working on taxes. Fun Fun.
We will be here until Thursday morning and then heading on over to the Lafayette, La area.
More later,
One day we went to the movie to see "Lincoln". I am not sure what I expected but thought it would be more about his life in general but it wasn't. It was a good movie and I am glad we went.
I decided that it was time for a "me" day so Larry dropped me off at the Nail Salon and I got the works, hands, feet, eyebrows and even a few minutes in the tanning bed. I was starting to become a very pale person and since we are meeting up with the Mathenys in about three weeks I have to keep up my tan as Jim will be so dark, all I will hear from him is how white I am.
We left Gulf Shores, Al , yesterday (sunday 17th) and arrived at a campground over in the Ocean Springs, Biloxi, Mississippi area. It is called Martin Lake RV Resort. Ha Ha. First of all they called to say no 50 amps and parking on gravel. Well, that is not a problem as we can adjust to 30 amps and gravel is fine. Wrong. It had rained a lot over here too and most of the sites are muddy. We did get a paved site but the next problem is the DAMN Ducks. They are walking around every where here in the park and there is Duck S***t everywhere. Now a lot of you know me and "feathered friends" don't do well together so needless to say I will be spending most of my time in the RV. This will be one to go on the list of no return.
We are going out today to do a little sightseeing and also going to see how fast I can lose my allotted $20 at the Casino. It is suppose to rain tomorrow AGAIN so Larry is planning to start working on taxes. Fun Fun.
We will be here until Thursday morning and then heading on over to the Lafayette, La area.
More later,
Sunday, February 10, 2013
Feb. 10, 2013
Larry finally found some mullet fish for himself and he bought some catfish fillets for me and we cooked fish last evening before going to the Mardi Gras parade in Orange Beach, AL, We have done two parades now and I have collected lots of beads. No, I have not done any flashing of the "boobs". There are suppose to be 2 more parades on Fat Tuesday but the weather isn't suppose to be too good.
Today we went to The Roadkill Café for lunch. Now we just had to go see what that was all about. We had a buffet of fried chicken, mashed potatoes, gravy, green beans, peas, rice, corn pinto beans. There was cake and ice cream for dessert but we didn't have any of that. Now this place is only open from 10:30 am until 12:30 pm and when the food is gone it is gone. When you go to pay they let you draw a chip out of a bag and if it is red you don't pay but trust me there aren't many red one in there. If you have been to church today they give you a dollar off.
Right now we are under a tornado watch so I am a little nervous. Hopefully most of the weather is going north of us. We will be here another week and then move over in the Biloxi Mississippi area .
More later,
Sunday, February 3, 2013
Week of Jan 28th thru Feb 3, 2013
Monday was our only grandson, Noah's birthday and it is hard to believe he was 11 years old. He had a "sleep over" on Saturday night with 7 other boys and I am sure from the reports from his Mom, none of them got much sleep. In fact Noah told us on Monday when we talked with him that he passed out on the couch on Sunday afternoon. He is growing up too fast but is a good big brother to his 3 little sisters.
We left the Destin area on Tuesday and moved over to the Elberta Alabama area. Nice little campground and the people are friendly. There are peacocks that make a wide sweep around the park each morning. Now most of you know I don't like birds, chickens or anything like that with beaks and feathers but these are beautiful as long as they are outside and I am in the motorhome. The weather has not been as warm this week as we would like and we had rain and lots of WIND a that awful storm moved thru this area but thankfully most of the worst of it was a little north of us.
We have just done a little exploring to see what is in this area and found some interesting things. There is a small family owned cheese making business and we checked that out and found the best blue cheese I have ever eaten. Larry asked the lady if everything was done there and she said yes, cows out the back door and cheese out the front door.
Foley , Alabama has a wonderful train museum that we checked out. The model train exhibit is just amazing.
We went over to the Gulf Shores State Park to check out what area we would like to be in depending on the availability of sites when we check in today. We are hoping to get a lot of bike riding in this week and also a few projects done in the motorhome. Of course this afternoon and evening we will be watching the Super Bowl and cheering for the Ravens.
We have done a little game playing here in the park with some of the people and have enjoyed it. First night here we played Farkel and last night we played Bingo. We about broke even as I won 2 games of Bingo.
I forgot to mention that we went back to the same bakery that we visited last year with Larry and Tracy Saulsgiver to purchase a "King Cake" which is a large part of Mardi Gras and we have enjoyed it very much.
We left the Destin area on Tuesday and moved over to the Elberta Alabama area. Nice little campground and the people are friendly. There are peacocks that make a wide sweep around the park each morning. Now most of you know I don't like birds, chickens or anything like that with beaks and feathers but these are beautiful as long as they are outside and I am in the motorhome. The weather has not been as warm this week as we would like and we had rain and lots of WIND a that awful storm moved thru this area but thankfully most of the worst of it was a little north of us.
We have just done a little exploring to see what is in this area and found some interesting things. There is a small family owned cheese making business and we checked that out and found the best blue cheese I have ever eaten. Larry asked the lady if everything was done there and she said yes, cows out the back door and cheese out the front door.
Foley , Alabama has a wonderful train museum that we checked out. The model train exhibit is just amazing.
We went over to the Gulf Shores State Park to check out what area we would like to be in depending on the availability of sites when we check in today. We are hoping to get a lot of bike riding in this week and also a few projects done in the motorhome. Of course this afternoon and evening we will be watching the Super Bowl and cheering for the Ravens.
We have done a little game playing here in the park with some of the people and have enjoyed it. First night here we played Farkel and last night we played Bingo. We about broke even as I won 2 games of Bingo.
I forgot to mention that we went back to the same bakery that we visited last year with Larry and Tracy Saulsgiver to purchase a "King Cake" which is a large part of Mardi Gras and we have enjoyed it very much.
Monday, January 28, 2013
Life after Bainbridge, Georgia Jan.2013
We left Bainbridge, Ga. on Thursday morning Jan. 24 and drove about 100 miles down to the Florida Forgotten Coast, Carrabelle, Florida. Sunset Isle RV was awaiting us and had us a spot looking over at the Carrabelle River. Del, the owner told us to just pick a spot, WELL wouldn't you know the one we picked had a plugged up sewer connection and we needed to the dump two weeks of S___t. If you have seen the movie RV with Robin Williams, you know what is about to happen. Larry gets everything connected and pulls the handle to release realizes it is plugged and shuts it down. Now he is faced with 20 feet of sewer hose full of S___t. I called the owner, we are going to change sites but what do you do with a 20 ft hose of S____t? The owner tells Larry just dump on the ground and I will hose it down however my clever husband decided to unhook hold the two ends up and walk to the other dump. He did a great job and never spilled any. So thus the picture here on the Blog.
That was the start to a great weekend though.
Later that afternoon we went into town and bought 2 pounds of fresh shrimp and cooked them for dinner. Friday we went to the Crooked River Lighthouse and had a great tour of the museum and Larry got a new job as Lighthouse Keeper. We decided that my back and knees wouldn't like it if we climbed it so we just enjoyed a couple of videos about the history of the lighthouse. We drove over to Eastpoint and had lunch at The Hut (fried shrimp) of course and then went to Barbers to buy some shrimp to have in the freezer.
Saturday we had a visit from Becky Mapel who was married to Larry's first cousin, Steve who was killed in Viet Nam in 1968. She since married and had a family and lives in the area. After that we drove over to St. George Island to check it out. It has the Gulf of Mexico on one side and the Appalachicola Bay on the other. A lot of vacation homes and also a state park for camping. Later we had dinner at the Fisherman's Wife Restaurant and had a nice lesson from the owner, Miss Pam, about the different types of shrimp. We understand the Key West Pink are the best shrimp to eat. We were invited by the park owner to stay and have a cookout on Sunday with a group of his friends who were smoking mullet and also cooking venison. We already had plans to move on to another park, so we thanked him and left Sunday morning and traveled about 130 miles to Miramar Beach Fl, which is just outside of Destin. Very nice RV park about 2 blocks from the Gulf. Interesting name for the park, Geronimo RV Park. We will be here a couple of days and then move on over closer to Gulf Shores Alabama .
That was the start to a great weekend though.
Later that afternoon we went into town and bought 2 pounds of fresh shrimp and cooked them for dinner. Friday we went to the Crooked River Lighthouse and had a great tour of the museum and Larry got a new job as Lighthouse Keeper. We decided that my back and knees wouldn't like it if we climbed it so we just enjoyed a couple of videos about the history of the lighthouse. We drove over to Eastpoint and had lunch at The Hut (fried shrimp) of course and then went to Barbers to buy some shrimp to have in the freezer.
Saturday we had a visit from Becky Mapel who was married to Larry's first cousin, Steve who was killed in Viet Nam in 1968. She since married and had a family and lives in the area. After that we drove over to St. George Island to check it out. It has the Gulf of Mexico on one side and the Appalachicola Bay on the other. A lot of vacation homes and also a state park for camping. Later we had dinner at the Fisherman's Wife Restaurant and had a nice lesson from the owner, Miss Pam, about the different types of shrimp. We understand the Key West Pink are the best shrimp to eat. We were invited by the park owner to stay and have a cookout on Sunday with a group of his friends who were smoking mullet and also cooking venison. We already had plans to move on to another park, so we thanked him and left Sunday morning and traveled about 130 miles to Miramar Beach Fl, which is just outside of Destin. Very nice RV park about 2 blocks from the Gulf. Interesting name for the park, Geronimo RV Park. We will be here a couple of days and then move on over closer to Gulf Shores Alabama .
Thursday, January 24, 2013
Pictures
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| Oak City Cementery, Humphrey Lot |
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| All of the female first cousins |
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| All the humprhey first cousins |
Friday, January 18, 2013
Jan.18, 2013
Things sort of got out of hand and I just didn't get back to thinking about the blog.
We left Charleston SC on Monday, Jan . 6th and just took our time to get down to Brunswick, Georgia. The Golden Isles RV Park was just a nice spot for us to stay for a couple of night. On Tuesday my cousin and her husband who were in St. Marys Ga. came over and we went to St. Simons Island. It had been MANY years since we were there, in fact Larry had never been. We went to Fort Frederica which was built in the 1700's. After touring the remains of the Fort we went to the Lighthouse. I wanted to climb it but my knees thought otherwise. After a great lunch of fresh fried shrimp in the little downtown area we returned to the campground . Wednesday we traveled on to Bainbridge, Georgia to get ready for the first ever First Cousins Reunion on the Humphrey side of the family, to be held on Saturday, Jan. 12, 2013.
We had a wonderful time with 9 of the 17 first cousins present. Of course we did invite our spouses. We all enjoyed catching up with each others lives and also sharing stories of our childhood at our grandparents house and the stories of our lives now and our families. We visited the cementery where our great grandparents, grandparents, parents, aunts and uncles are buried and also the "old home place" of our grandparents.
After a full afternoon of enjoying all the first cousins, three of our third cousins joined us for dinner. Lots more sharing was done and enjoyed by all. Everyone wants to do this again next year.
During the weekend we did have a first cousin pass away . Gordy Pope had been ill for several months and he died on Friday . Larry and I went to the visitation on Sunday afternoon and then I went to the funeral on Monday with two more of the cousins. It just goes to show that we don't ever know when we will lose a loved one.
The rest of the week we were just going to rest and relax but that proved to be another plan. Joanne, my cousin, whose yard we park the RV in got really sick and we had to put her in the hospital. Her grown kids who live next door were out of town so Larry and I had to take over. We will stay until they get back in town on Monday night, so we had to change some of our plans .
I will post some pictures of the reunion when I get a better WiFi signal.
We left Charleston SC on Monday, Jan . 6th and just took our time to get down to Brunswick, Georgia. The Golden Isles RV Park was just a nice spot for us to stay for a couple of night. On Tuesday my cousin and her husband who were in St. Marys Ga. came over and we went to St. Simons Island. It had been MANY years since we were there, in fact Larry had never been. We went to Fort Frederica which was built in the 1700's. After touring the remains of the Fort we went to the Lighthouse. I wanted to climb it but my knees thought otherwise. After a great lunch of fresh fried shrimp in the little downtown area we returned to the campground . Wednesday we traveled on to Bainbridge, Georgia to get ready for the first ever First Cousins Reunion on the Humphrey side of the family, to be held on Saturday, Jan. 12, 2013.
We had a wonderful time with 9 of the 17 first cousins present. Of course we did invite our spouses. We all enjoyed catching up with each others lives and also sharing stories of our childhood at our grandparents house and the stories of our lives now and our families. We visited the cementery where our great grandparents, grandparents, parents, aunts and uncles are buried and also the "old home place" of our grandparents.
After a full afternoon of enjoying all the first cousins, three of our third cousins joined us for dinner. Lots more sharing was done and enjoyed by all. Everyone wants to do this again next year.
During the weekend we did have a first cousin pass away . Gordy Pope had been ill for several months and he died on Friday . Larry and I went to the visitation on Sunday afternoon and then I went to the funeral on Monday with two more of the cousins. It just goes to show that we don't ever know when we will lose a loved one.
The rest of the week we were just going to rest and relax but that proved to be another plan. Joanne, my cousin, whose yard we park the RV in got really sick and we had to put her in the hospital. Her grown kids who live next door were out of town so Larry and I had to take over. We will stay until they get back in town on Monday night, so we had to change some of our plans .
I will post some pictures of the reunion when I get a better WiFi signal.
Saturday, January 5, 2013
2013 Winter Trip
The Big A Bus was packed and ready to roll on Wednesday Jan 2, 2013. We actually slept in the bus in the barn that night and got ready to leave on Thursday 1/3.
Left the driveway at 9:30 am and headed to Rock Hill , SC for the night in Madison's favorite campground, Wal Mart. After a noisy night and not much sleep we got an early start to Charleston SC. Checked into the James Island County Park about 1:30. David and Kay Piper, friends of ours who are full timers and work here in the park from October to May met us at the registration desk . They had arranged for us to be parked next to them.
We have spent today touring around the area. Tomorrow we are going to Fort Sumter and also downtown Charleston. We have to check out Poogans Porch which is a restuarant with a wonderful story about a dog.
Monday we are going on down to Brunswick, Georgia and do a little sightseeing around that area. I want to go back to St. Simons Island and also Jekell Island, Haven't been in many years.
Left the driveway at 9:30 am and headed to Rock Hill , SC for the night in Madison's favorite campground, Wal Mart. After a noisy night and not much sleep we got an early start to Charleston SC. Checked into the James Island County Park about 1:30. David and Kay Piper, friends of ours who are full timers and work here in the park from October to May met us at the registration desk . They had arranged for us to be parked next to them.
We have spent today touring around the area. Tomorrow we are going to Fort Sumter and also downtown Charleston. We have to check out Poogans Porch which is a restuarant with a wonderful story about a dog.
Monday we are going on down to Brunswick, Georgia and do a little sightseeing around that area. I want to go back to St. Simons Island and also Jekell Island, Haven't been in many years.
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