OUR WEEK

Our week has been pretty quiet. I have been under the weather all week, sniffles, cough, and feeling blah. Vern went for a couple of bike rides and on Tuesday he went golfing for the first time. It was sunny and in the mid 50s. While he was gone I laid on the couch wrapped up in a blanket. I haven't been out since Saturday. I'm felling better and hope to go to Valdosta on Thursday.

CHRISTMAS LIGHTS

Earlier in the week we went to Thomasville to check out a Christmas Light display. We drove around Thomasville and looked at lights for awhile, but didn't find the light display. We decided to find some place to eat before we headed back to Lake Park. We decided on a place called "Mom & Dads Italian Restaurant". They had remodeled a large older house into the restaurant. It had a lot of rooms that connected. The service was good and the food was really good. Vern had spaghetti and I had tortellini. The servings were so large we were able to get 2 meals out of one serving. We don't usually get dessert, but we did that night. Vern got tarimasu and I got a chocolate peppermint cheese. OH was that good!! I was also good. I only ate a third of the cheesecake and took the rest of it home. It took me a week to eat it all and the last bite was as good as the first bite. We asked our server about the light display and he told us where it was. It was a small display and only took a few minutes to drive through, but was worth it. The display was out in the country with nothing else around. As you entered the display there was a police car sitting at the entrance with his lights on and part way through there was another police car parked. It was nice to see all the lights as we drove back to Lake Park. We probably saw more lights on the drive back than all of Lake Park.

CHRISTMAS

Christmas day was pretty quiet for us. Vern and I exchanged our gifts Christmas Eve, so Christmas day was pretty much like any other day. We went out for a late lunch. Flying J truck stop was open and serving a buffet. It was busy with truckers and travelers.



After lunch we drove to Jennings, Florida to check out a campground. I checked it off the list before we even drove through the park. It is right next to the interstate with nothing to help block the noise. The camp sites are right next to each and it didn't have a shower house.

LAWN MOWERS

Now is the time for stores to be selling snow blowers. Not in Georgia! The stores are still selling lawn mowers. It is so funny to see them setting out front and inside the stores. But the strangest thing is seeing someone out mowing their yards. This morning the mowing service was in the campground mowing. It isn't supposed to be that way in December. Instead of blowing leaves they are blowing pine needles. Not 2 or 3 inch pine needles, but ones that are 5 or 6+ inches long. Great fire starters. :-) Georgia, December 22nd and 56 degrees, my kind of December. We don't miss the 2 feet of snow at all.





Everyone send an e-mail or a comment on the blog so we know how you are or what you are doing.





MERRY CHRISTMAS everyone. Love to all.

DRIVE

We went for a drive over the weekend to check out a bike trail for Vern. We were in Georgia and Florida. We saw part of the trail, but it is about a half hour drive to get to the bike trail. I saw so many churches on the drive. I think there was a church every couple of miles. There were the small white country churches that might set 50 people and the next one would be the 2 story brick that took up a half block and could hold 200 to 300 people. Then there were all the other sizes and shapes. There were Baptist churches, Methodist churches, Church of God churches and a few others I can't remember.

FLOWERS

It is amazing that the flowers are still blooming here. We've seen rose bushes full of roses, pansies, petunias, snapdragons, and others. They are so pretty. It was 75 here on Wednesday, the sun came out in the afternoon. So nice. I sat outside visiting with a couple of the campers and Vern vacuumed the car out.



It was 52 this morning and cloudy. The sun is working on coming out. The high for today is in the low 60s. I can take that. :-) Vern is going for a bike ride later and is checking out his route now. He brings up maps of the area on his computer and plans his route and how far it is and about how long it will take him to ride. That gives me an idea when he will be back. I told him not to have any problems on his ride, because I wouldn't be able to find him. He does see things and later takes me by them.

RAIN

It rained most of the weekend. Saturday was Lake Park's Christmas Festival and parade. We went for a ride Saturday morning to see if anything was set up, but didn't see a thing. They could have moved it inside, but we didn't find anything. Bummer for Lake Park.

CHRISTMAS LIGHTS

Friday night we decided to take a drive and look at Christmas lights in Lake Park. It was more like looking a Christmas light. In Boone you would drive down the street and at least 3 or 4 houses in a block had Christmas decorations out. Here we were lucky to see 1 house decorated in a 3 or 4 block area. People don't decorate here. Vern said it must take snow to get them to decorate. I was a little disappointed. The campground has about a half dozen sites with outside decorations.



We took rope lights and wrapped them around the tripod for our satellite dish, so it looks like a tree. I bought a red bow and put it at the top. It doesn't look bad. One of the sites has a moose in front of their trailer. Its head moves from side to side. It is really cute. Another site has about a 5 ft. Christmas tree decorated, 2-3ft. trees, a lighted palm tree, and other Christmas decorations out. I can see this site from the couch where I sit. It makes it a little like home.

ACCIDENTS -- 2

Today (Wednesday) was not our day, or not my day. I was on the phone with Kathy when I saw a large branch fall out of a tree and land on the Honda. We have a big dent in the roof by the hatch, and dent in the front left fender, dents in the hood, the hard cover on the spare tire has a lot of nicks and scratches, there's a dent in the rubber around one of the windows, and other scratches on the car. When they checked out the car they also took pictures. We had to fill out an accident form for the campground that they faxed to their head office. Then we sent them to our insurance office. Now we wait and see what happens.



The afternoon didn't end there. An hour after the branch fell I went to the laundry room to get my laundry out of the dryer. I walked into the room and fell. I landed on my right side. It had rained during the day and it was humid and the floor was wet. My wrist came down on my bracelet and cut it and the bracelet broke. the floor was so slick I could hardly get up. I have a big bump on my right knee about the size of a golf ball and does it hurt. They took pictures of my knee and wrist. My right hip hurts, my back hurts, my right arm hurts, and few other places. I had to fill out an accident form that was sent to the company. I had 3 people come and talk to me and check on me. Another wait and see. I was going to finish my Christmas shopping on Thursday, but I'll have to wait and see how I feel. What a day, but we're not done yet.



Things come in three's. Vern had ordered a part for the motor home and picked it up after we had talked to the manager. He put the part on and it didn't work. He checked the numbers on the part and it was wrong. He'll have to take it back tomorrow. What a day. Hope we don't have another one like this.

WEATHER MAN

We have one TV station that we like for the weather and we have our own Casanova. I'm not kidding. The weather man on that station is a real Casanova. Tall, dark, and handsome. His name is Casanova Nurse. That's his real name. I had to chuckle the first time I heard it and wondered if I had I heard them right. On weekends when he doesn't work we miss our Casanova.



Been watching the weather for Iowa and it sounds like the kids will be getting a snow day. They are saying 8 to 12 inches of snow with high winds. I hope it doesn't get that bad. I'm glad we're not there. Be safe everyone.

BLIMP

I was watching TV Monday afternoon and looked out the window and saw the tip of some blue thing in the sky. I kept watching and realized it was a blimp. I couldn't believe what I was seeing. I told Vern there was a blimp and he had to get up and look at it. It was a Direct TV blimp. I had know idea how big a blimp was. It was awesome. You never know what you're going to see.

MOVIE

Vern and I used to go to movies all the time. At least a couple of times a month. This last summer we were so busy we didn't get to go at all. We can't remember the last time we went to a movie.



Saturday we went to Valdosta to a movie. We saw "Blind Side" and it was great. If you haven't seen it I highly recommend the movie. You laugh and cry and laugh again. It is about 2 1/2 hours long, but it didn't seem like it. I was surprised when we left the theater that it had been that long. Hope you have a chance to see it.

NUTCRACKER

Wanted to let you know our granddaughter Allie (9) and her mom Kathy (Tony) are dancing the Nutcracker in Ames. This is the first time for both of them. Allie is dancing in one performance and Kathy is in 2 performances. We wish we could be there to watch, but we know they will do a wonderful job. Way to go Allie and Kathy. We love you and miss you. Love to all our family and friends.

SHOPPING

Thursday we went into Valdosta to do a little shopping. The mall is bigger than I thought and had a lot of stores I would shop in and a few I had never heard of . I told Vern he could drop me at the mall and then he could go golfing. Then we went to lunch at Ruby Tuesdays. Next door to the mall is Publix. (grocery store)



I needed some buttons for a project I'm working on, so we went to Hobby Lobby. I was surprised how few buttons they had. I didn't find what I really wanted, but bought a few that would work. Then we went to Walmart for a few things. In every super Walmart I have been in they didn't have a fabric and craft area. This one did. I found the buttons I needed.



We haven't checked out the outlet mall in Lake Park yet. It has some stores I know and a few I don't know. It will be fun to check them out.



The weather here has been pretty good. We had rain for a couple of days, but the temps were in the upper 60s and low 70s. I like!!!!!!!!!! We have had a few nights in the 30s, but it warms up fast. In an hour or so the temps will go up 10 to 15 degrees. The sun is warmer here it will be in the 60s, but it feels more like the 70s.



The gas prices really vary here. We've seen it anywhere from $2.43 to $2.65 a gallon. These prices were all within a couple of miles.

CAMPGROUND

Sunday we moved to a campground for the last time. The campground is in Lake Park, GA. The town of Lake Park has a population of about 600 and is a few miles form the Florida border. We are 12 miles from Valdosta which is a city of about 40,000. I like the smaller town. Lake Park has a Winn Dixie grocery store, a small mall, several restaurants, a couple of gas stations, an Ace hardware store, and other stores and a golf course for Vern. Everything we need.



The campground isn't Ledges with trees and a lot of grass, but it's not bad. The pads and roads are paved and each site has a grassy area. The sites are a little closer than we like, but we picked a site close to the end of the row. (the one on the end was not long enough for us) The site looks out over a pond. The pond has geese, ducks, and a crane. It has such a long neck when it stretches. It is neat to watch.



There are a lot of pine trees, some palm trees, and some kind of oak tree covered in spanish moss. The campground is just off the interstate (75), so we get a lot of overnight campers. Vern and I call them "in and out" campers. I've counted 6 so far this morning and Vern said he saw 4 leave before I got up.



We are about an hour drive from Tallahasse and plan to go there sometime before we leave. There is a town in Georgia called Thomasville about an hour away from us. Vern read that the town is big on decorating for Christmas with a lot of light displays. I think we are going to go and look at some of the displays. Lake Park has a Christmas festival and parade on Dec. 12th. I read about it and it sounds like it will be fun. (for me anyway) :-) We're going to check it out.



Vern went for a bike ride yesterday and rode to Florida and back and was only gone an hour. That will give you and idea how close we are to Florida. He went for a wog this morning in the housing area next to the campground and said he only met 1 car. A good place to walk/jog.

WE MADE IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We traveled Thanksgiving day and arrived in Valdosta about 2:00 in the afternoon. There wasn't much traffic, so that was nice. Very little truck traffic.



After we got set up and I took a nap, or tried to take a nap. (too much noise) We went looking for some place to eat. We found only one restaurant open, Cracker Barrel. They had a turkey dinner special -- turkey, cornbread dressing, gravy, sweet potato casserole with strussel topping & pecans, cranberry sauce, ham, a vegetable of choice, cornbread, biscuits, pumpkin pie with strussel topping & whipped cream, and a drink all for $8.99. Not bad.



The campground we are in is next to the interstate, so there is a lot of traffic noise. We decided we're not staying here. We spent the afternoon checking out 3 campground. The first one is a possibility, the second one is a no. The extended stay sites are grass sites. If it rains we are in a mess and would get stuck if we tried to move. The third one we had trouble finding, but when we did it was also a no. It was closed, not for the season, but for good and had been closed for a while weeds everywhere. I'm not sure if we'll take the one we looked at, or look at a few others.



There is a nice shopping mall about a mile from the campground and a grocery store next to it. Walgreen's is about a block or so from the mall. There are all kinds of restaurant within a couple of miles. If we go with the campground we liked we would be about 12 miles from all of these things in the town of Lake Park. It would put us about 5 miles from the Florida border. Will let you know what campground we decide on.

WATER TOWERS

On our drives we see a lot of water towers. We saw one that had the colors of the rainbow. The stripes went up and down. I told Vern it looked like a hot air balloon. As we passed the tower I noticed that the pedestal of the tower was painted to look like a basket. It was pretty neat.





On Tuesday when we were driving we saw a water tower that looked like a giant peach. It even had a piece attached to look like leaves. You never know what you're going to see. I'm going to have to keep watch and see if we find anymore neat water towers.

LAST LEG TO ???????????

Thursday we will drive the last leg of our trip south. We have about 300 miles to Valdosta, Ga. We haven't decided on a campground yet. There are a lot, so we decided to wait until we get there. We'll stay at one and then check out the others and see which one we like best. I don't like the ones where you are packed in with no space to move.



The Valdosta area is farther south in Georgia and will be a bit warmer. I decided I wanted it warmer this winter. I don't like the cold. I guess I'm getting older.



Will let you know where we ended up and what the area is like. I do know there is golfing for Vern and some shopping for me. It is flat so will be nice walking.

SOUTH TO GEORGIA???? OR FLORIDA????

Sunday we left Pennsylvania for our trip South. We were on the road by 7:30 a.m. with little traffic. We did have to slow down for a couple horse and buggies. We wont miss them and the clop clop clop. We drove about 400 miles through mountains, and mountains, and more mountains. We were in Pennsylvania, Maryland, West Virginia, and Virgina. We are in Max Meadows, Va and will leave here on Tuesday. The first part of our trip had little traffic, but as the day went on the traffic picked up big time. For a Sunday the traffic seemed more like a week day. There was an accident on the other side of the interstate and traffic was backed up for miles. Boy we're we glad it was on the other side. I bet they set there for hours. We saw an ambulance going to the accident and was having trouble getting through all the cars backed up. Our next leg of the trip, 300 miles, will take us to the Northern part of Georgia.



Before we left PA we had dinner with Travis, Lynn and the girls. We went to a new restaurant called Dutch Way. It is attached to a market, or what we know as a grocery store. You can order off a menu or have the buffet. The buffet was really good. It had a nice salad bar, 4 soups, 4 or 5 meats, a couple kinds of potatoes, 4 veggies and more. The desserts, mmmmm. All kinds of pies, cookies, puddings, and ice cream. The ice cream was the best I have ever had. It was thick, creamy, and rich. You only wanted a small bowl. It's one we would go back to.



We went into Lancaster on Friday to pick up a couple of things. We went by a garden center that had this sign out front. "Christmas trees, cut fresh daily" That is a first for me. I've never seen that before. That's where I would buy a tree if I was buying a real tree.



Vern has the campground picked out we'll stay in Tuesday and Wednesday nights. It's called Three Old guys. I can't wait to see who runs the campground and if it is 3 old guys.



We had a light rain on and off all night. We are to have a light mist today with temps in the mid 40s. I hope that is all it does, because we're going to go to a mall and to get a few groceries.



We saw several RVs from Quebec yesterday that were headed south. There are a lot of Canadians that go south for the winter. I don't understand why. :-)

A QUIET WEEK??

It is sunny and 60s today. What a beautiful morning. The rest of the week is to be like this, but in the mid to upper 50s. I hope the weatherman is right.



Earlier in the week Vern went golfing and I thought I would have a nice quiet afternoon. I could take a nap and do what ever I wanted. Boy was I wrong! One of the workers in the campground decided to get the leaf blower out and move some leaves. Of course he decided to do the area around our site. For over an hour all I heard was the leaf blower. No nap. All I got was a head-ache that lasted the rest of the day.


A few days later Vern was on the computer, so I decided to take a nap. Just as I was headed for the bedroom a work crew showed up at a site just down from ours. I watched to see what they were going to do. They were going to cut a tree down. For the next couple of hours all we heard was 2 or 3 chain saws. No nap, again!!! Is someone trying to tell me something? :-) I like my naps.


Vern just left for a bike ride and will be gone for a couple of hours. I'll have time to finish my Christmas cards and maybe a little time to read.


For a Sunday the traffic is busy on highway 30. Actually the traffic on hwy 30 never stops. It goes 24/7. That's the noise I'm listening to today. It is nice enough I have the door open, so I really here it. We hear it all the time, so I don't notice it as much.

A UP & DOWN & AROUND DRIVE

This morning we went for a drive to Susquehannock State Park. It is in the southern part of Lancester County. The drive took us through towns and a lot of farm land. When I say the drive was up and down and around you have no idea what the roads are like here. There isn't a flat road anywhere, or a straight road anywhere. We saw signs like 1000 foot drop ahead. The average speed limit is about 40 mph. The roads were also built for horse and buggies, so they are narrow with no shoulders or ditches. You compete with horse & buggies, bikes, and semis. The number one form of transportation here is the horse & buggy, number two is the bike, and number three is the car. When there is an accident, roads are shut down for miles. There is no logical layout for the roads. You can be 6 or 7 miles from where you want to go, but it can take 20 or 30 minutes to get there.



I was disappointed in the State Park. There is one road you drive in on and then back out. There are a couple of shelters and picnic areas and lots of trees. The only nice thing was a lookout over the Susquehanna river. Ledges beats it a dozen times over.



We saw a few Amish farmers in the fields. Most of the corn is out, but the beans haven't beened picked yet. This is the first time we remember seeing bean fields. We hope we are still here when there are harvested. It will be interesting to see how the Amish do it. They use one and two row corn pickers pulled by 3 or 4 horses. The also bail the corn stocks for feed. You also see a lot of dairy cows, open range chickens, and goats. We went by one farm that had a fenced in area full of turkeys.

SOCCER

On Saturday we went to Devon & Jordan's last soccer games. What a morning. Since it was their last game they played a round robin game. Jordan's age group (9) had 4 teams, so she played 3 games. Devon's age group (7Th and 8Th grade) had 5 teams, so she played 4 games. The did play shorter games 15 to 20 minutes. The temps were in the mid to upper 50's with a light mist and windy. The school sets on a hill and it is always windy there. For me it was cold. We watched all of Jordan's games and 2 and 1/2 of Devon's when we decided we were too old to sit out there and freeze. Sorry Devon. I'm not sure how many of the games the girls won, I was to cold to keep track.

FALL FOLIAGE

The colors in the trees here are awesome. There is yellow to bright golds, oranges in every shade you can think of, reds from orange red to brick red to burgundy, and of course there is some greens. It is so different from what Iowa was when we left. Leaves are dropping like snowflakes. (I had to come up with something to compare it to. :) ) Every time we go somewhere we have to clean the windshield off and clean the leaves away from the wiper blades. It has rained so much the leaves stick to everything.



Monday there was a knock on the door and when Vern answered it, there was an Amish boy there. His Mother and 2 sisters were in the buckboard waiting for him. There were selling fresh produce, brown eggs and whoopee pies. They had pumpkin whoopee pies and chocolate whoopee pies. I liked the chocolate ones best and Vern liked the pumpkin ones. If she, or some other Amish come back I hope they have home made bread and jams.



Tomorrow we are going to Shady Maple Buffet for breakfast to celebrate our anniversary. Can you guess how many years? This buffet is like nothing we have ever seen before. It has between 300 and 400 feet of food, you can also make to order omelet's and pancakes. Last time we were here for breakfast they had chocolate chip pancakes. They were so big I couldn't eat it all. After we eat we're going to shop at Goods. It's like the old Ben Franklin stores. You can find any thing you want here.



More to come later.



(44 years)

WE MADE IT

On Wednesday we drove our last leg to Pennsylvania. Our route took us a on the Pennsylvania turnpike for a few hours. With towing the car we had 4 axles, so it cost us $36.25. We went over the mountains and 5 tunnels. One tunnel had road construction, so our side of the tunnel had 2-way traffic. Not fun meeting the semis in such close places. I'm glad there were only 5 tunnels.



When we arrived at the campground we were surprised by how many campers were here. We found out there was a RV Rally here this weekend and the next 3 weekends. That didn't give us much choice on camp sites. Ours is in the pine trees and makes it dark all the time. When the wind blows we here the pine needles falling. It sounds like it is raining. The campground is right beside Hwy 30, just like Iowa.



Saturday evening we went to Travis's for pizza. The kids had friends over for a Halloween party. They carved pumpkins, pinned a nose on a jack-o-lantern and then went outside to play flashlight tag. What had us laughing and the kids was a game they played with socks. They piled a bunch of socks on the floor and then tried to put as many socks on one foot using only one hand. They had two minutes to do this. They had so much fun. The most one of them got on was 6. If you need an idea for a game, try this. They used all types of socks -- tube, footie's, ankle, fuzzy, and anything else you can think of from adult to kids size.



Vern just fixed breakfast, that's his thing on Sunday morning, he is doing the dishes, so I had better close for now and help him. Whoops, I think I'm to late, I here him drying the dishes. Oh well, I'll help next time.

NOMADS ON THE MOVE

We left the Ledges on Wednesday the 14th. We went to Forest city first to have a couple things fixed on the motor home. It took longer there than we hoped, but we finally left there on Saturday morning and drove to Mahomet, IL. The campground has a driving range, so Sunday morning Vern was out hitting some golf balls. It had been awhile since he had time to go golfing. We left Mahomet Monday and drove to Cambridge, OH. We will be here until Wednesday and then drive to Kinzer, PA The campground is about 7 or 8 miles from Travis's house.



Now for a funny story. Most of you know I don't like coffee, have never drank it, and don't like the smell. Friday morning I woke up with the song "Folgers in your cup" going through my head. I don't know why, but I blame Vern for making his coffee and smelling up the motor home.

Saturday morning when I got up Vern asked me if I woke up with a song in my head. I told him no and he thought maybe I would have had Willie Nelson's song "On the Road Again" running through my head. Vern doesn't care for county music, so I was impressed he remembered the song and who sang it.



We were really busy at the Ledges this summer. It was the busiest summer ever at the Ledges. We were always full on weekends, but this summer we had weeks we were 2/3s full during the week. We all ways looked forward to Sunday afternoon and Mondays, because there were few campers, but not this summer. It seemed like as soon as the campers were leaving on Sunday there were some coming in. It never ended. Our busiest week was our quietest week. Labor Day week was the Super National races at the Boone track. We were full the whole week. The racers were only there to sleep. There were gone until 2 or 3 in the morning and didn't get up until about 9 or 10 in the morning and gone by noon.



After the racers left, we had campers with Pufferbilles, and then 3 weekends with people in Boone for Thomas the Tank, and parents weekend at Iowa State. The good thing was it was getting dark earlier and the kids were inside. It was great on October 12th to help Andy (park manager) to close the bathhouse. The weekends are still busy, but during the week there are few campers.

LEDGES

We are getting settled at the Ledges. Now if the rain would stop for awhile it would really be nice. The campground has been full weekends on the electric side. Non-electric maybe half full.



It has been fun going through our 3rd spring. In Georgia most of the trees are green all winter, but there were some we watched leaf out. There are flowers blooming all winter in the south, roses, pansies and we watched daffodils bloom. Then went to PA and watched the trees there leaf out and the daffodils bloom. Now were in Iowa and watched the buds come out on the trees and then the leaves come out. There are flowers blooming in the Park so pretty, and of course the dandelions. Not everyone gets to go through 3 springs.



We have been watching the grandkids play soccer. Zoe is 9 yrs. old and her team is undefeated. Zach is 13 and plays on a team of 13 and 14 year olds. There games are longer and played on a bigger field, about the size of a football field. If it would warm up and the wind not blow it would really be a lot of fun to watch the games. We have a couple more weekends of games, so we might get a weekend with good weather. Way to go kids. :-)



Mother's Day weekend Allie (8) had her piano recital. She played two songs and then a duet with a boy from her class. Allie hardy looked at her music. Terrific job Allie. :-) After the recital we went to Hickory Park for lunch with Tony & Kathy and the kids and Kathy's parents. OH so good.



Monday we watched Eli (5) in the afternoon. We took him to lunch and then back to the motor home. The first thing he wanted to do was play at the playground. He's big enough now to get in the swing by himself and swing away. After the playground he wanted to watch a movie. He picked ROBOTS. He was glued to the TV. At the end of the movie there were activities you could do. One of them was building a Robot. You have to find 5 gears, a tire, and a battery. If you picked the right parts the Robot would go, if you picked the wrong parts the Robot would fall apart. The first couple of times Eli would pick the right parts, then he wanted to see what would happen if he picked the flat tire and the battery that wasn't charged. He was almost rolling on the floor with laughter when the Robot fell apart. :-) He was so funny. We had to do it a second time so he could watch it fall apart. What fun we had. It is so good to be back to spend time with out grand children.

BACK IN IOWA

Yes, we're back in Iowa. We made it to Iowa on Monday, but didn't get to the Ledges until Wednesday afternoon. We went to Forest City first to have some repairs done on the MH. It was in the shop all day Tuesday and Wednesday morning. Tuesday morning we went shopping and then Vern played golf in the afternoon. Wednesday morning we drove around and looked at a couple of campgrounds and drove around Forest City. We arrived at the Ledges around 2:00 in the afternoon.



We left PA on Thursday and drove to Buckeye Lake, Ohio. We stayed there Friday and planned to leave Saturday for Illinois. Well made plans don't always work. We were in the MH all ready to leave on Saturday morning. Vern started the MH, everything was OK except the air pressure. There was NO air pressure. The MH wont move without air pressure. Vern got on the phone with our road assistance service and they told us they would find a mobile repair man to come out. We sat for 2 1/2 hours waiting for the repairman. He didn't have the part to fix it, but was able to by pass the problem so we could get back on the road. We were only 4 hours behind schedual. We made it to our campground in Illinois about 7:00 p.m. We spent Sunday there and head out Monday morning for Iowa. The really bad thing about our drive days was the wind. We had 25 to 30 mph winds with gusts upto 40 mph. Not the best way to travel.



It is great to be back in Iowa at the Ledges. It is quiet so far, but this weekend will be different. This weekend is the "Kick Off Weekend" so the campground will fill up fast. So far we are the only campground host. Andy, the Park Manager, said he had a couple who are full timers who might be interested. He hopes to hear from them in the next couple of days. I'll keep my fingers crossed. We're on site #29, so stop by for a visit.

TRAVEL DAY

Tuesday was our last travel day to Travis's. We were in four states - Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania. We traveled about 270 miles on Tuesday. Since we left Georgia we have traveled close to 900 miles. On our trip we have traveled through Iowa, Missouri, Tennessee, Kentucky, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania. In Georgia we were having Spring weather, the flowers were blooming (some flowers were out all winter). Some trees had leaves all winter and the others were starting to leaf out when we left. The cherry blossoms and magnolia trees were blooming. Then we get to PA and no leaves or flowers. What is wrong with this picture! :-)



We had lunch with Travis and the kids today. It's was sooo great to see them. Lynn had to work. darn!! Alexis and Jordan came back to the motor home with us. They played tether ball for a while and then came in and did some games in a travel book I keep for them. Then they went grocery shopping with Grandpa, so I could have a short nap. We haven't made any plans so far, lots of time for that. Until next time.

MOVING

Thursday the Rally was over, so Friday we started our drive to Pennsylvania. We drove to Spartanburg, SC on Friday. We'll spend Friday and Saturday night here. Saturday morning I went for a walk in the campground, it was quite and the birds were singing. After Vern got back form his walk we did laundry. What fun! :-) We were going to get some groceries, but the couple camped next to us was having trouble with their power, so Vern tried to help them. No luck, so they left the campground. We had to go to Walmart for some plumber tape, so we decided to get our groceries there. It was nap time when got back. Can't miss my nap. :-)



Sunday we will drive to just north of Roanoke, Virginia and spend Sunday and Monday night there. We'll drive to Christiana on Tuesday. We can't wait to see Travis and the kids. :-)

RALLY

Saturday we left our campground and moved to the Georgia State Fair and Agra Center for the FMCA (Family Motor Coach Association) Rally. It is a 4 day event starting on Monday, but there are so many attendees they have to start parking motorhomes on Saturday. We got set up before the rain started Saturday night. It rained all day Sunday and all day Monday. What fun we had. I had to register for some craft class on Monday morning. So at 7:00 Monday morning in the rain we walked about a half mile so I could register for the classed and then walked back the half mile to the motor home. I wanted to make sure I could get into the classes. Oh, they were craft classes. For two days an umbrella was an extension of our arm. :-)



Vern's seminars are about MH maintenance, tires, engines, brakes, etc... He did finish early enough today to go golfing. Said it was his best game ever. There are new MH's to look at and all kinds of vendor exhibits to look at.



I had craft classes in jewelry making, stamping, fleece pin cushion, fun fur basket making, and folded fabric ornaments. What fun I had. :-) I did attend a few seminars to do with RVing. Even with all the rain we have had a good time. The seminars start at 8:00 a.m. and are done at 4:15 p.m. It makes for a long day if you have seminars all day. It was good that there were shuttles to ride if you wanted.



Friday we leave Georgia for PA. We will spend about a month visiting Travis and his family. We are going to drive up the coast on our way to PA.



Bye for now.

OOPS

Monday afternoon Vern was golfing and I did some sewing and then read for a while. I checked the clock and saw it was time to start supper. I decided to make pasta. I had the meat browned and was cooking the pasta in the microwave. When all of a sudden there was this strange noise from the microwave and then silence. The microwave was dead, no lights, nothing. It was a good thing the pasta was done enough to eat. When Vern got back I told him what happened. He checked the breaker, it was OK. He checked the plug in and it was fine. The microwave had defiantly died. Vern called the RV dealer and they said, with a Sharp microwave they don't repair them, they replace them. So the end of April when we get back to Iowa I get a new microwave.



Almost all of our cooking is done in the microwave, so I thought yea no cooking. We have no oven, just a cook top. I have a couple of fry pans and a couple of small sauce pans that aren't really large enough to cook in. Restaurants here we come. :-) When you start to think about it, eating out for 6 or 7 weeks might not be that good. We are going to Walmart and see if we can buy a cheep microwave to get us buy until we get the new one. We can store it in the basement of the MH for a back up after we get the new one. You never know what is going to happen or break down.

OUR WEEK

Vern has been out golfing at 3 times this week. A couple of times at Perry Country Club and Houston Springs, the 55+ Community. Over the weekend Vern was at Houston Springs and the assistant manager told him if he was around on Tuesday afternoon he would golf with him. It was 84 degrees and Vern went golfing with Mike. On one of the holes an old gent came out of his house carrying a couple of beers and a drink. He offered Vern & Mike the beers or he would make them a drink. Vern turned down the beer, so Mike took both of them.



Vern's golf game has been improving, so he tells me. :-) He goes to the driving range a couple of times a week and practices his driving and putting. I don't golf, so I take his word for it.



When he's golfing I take it easy. I read, sew, knit, and of course I have to have time for my afternoon nap. I can't miss that. I just finished knitting some scarves for birthday presents and have been working a small tote bag. It is about done but I don't like the size. It is a little smaller than I wanted. I think it will work for a summer purse.

SHOPPING

Wednesday we went to Warner Robins to Kay Jewelry's. One of my bracelets broke and I had it repaired and it was ready to pick up. The manager said she had just received papers on a sale, so she showed us the sale items. We were good and didn't by anything. I saw a couple of things in the cases I liked, but I'll wait until we get back to Iowa.



After we left Kay's we went to Macon. Most of you know I like to read. I was getting low on books so I wanted to go to a book store before we went to Pennsylvania. There aren't any book stores close to were Travis lives. I told Vern I wanted at least an hour to look for books, so he should look for something to do. He found a golf course and a Verizon store close by. Vern dropped me off at Barnes & Noble and he went to find the golf course driving range. I was looking at books and having so much fun and then Vern was there. I looked at my watch and it had only been about 40 minutes. The golf course was private, so he couldn't play and the Verizon store didn't have what he wanted. I told him to find a comfy chair and sit till I was done, they were all occupied. Then he was going to the cafe and have a coffee, the tables were full. I decided I had enough books. The RV Park has a book exchange, you take a book and leave a book. A lot of those books I have read, but I did find a few I hadn't.



We had a lot of rain earlier in the week, so on the drive we noticed the trees are starting to bud out and a few had new leaves. There were a few trees that already had flowers. The grass here was green all winter, but the rain has made it brighter. SPRING, it can't get here soon enough. We got back early enough so I still had time for a short nap. We had lunch at Chili's, so we weren't real hungry, so we had what I call "what ever you can find" for supper.

MUSEUM

Thursday we went to Warner Robins to the MUSEUM of AVIATION AIRCRAFT and MISSILES. The museum has indoor and outdoor exhibits with over 100 aircraft and missiles.

The EAGLE BUILDING is a unique 3-story building - shaped like the U.S. Forces "Stars and Bars" insignia. This building has aircraft, archives, and a flight simulator.

HANGAR ONE is 28,000 sq. ft. hangar with restored aircraft, missiles, and engines. There were presidential and combat helicopters, Vietnam, Korean, and Cold War aircraft - and more.

CENTURY of FLIGHT HANGAR is a 66,000 sq. ft. has aircraft, Fabulous Flight Interactive Science Center, flight simulators, exhibits of Georgia Aviation Hall of Fame, President Johnson's VC-140 aircraft, Education Center, and "We the People" Theater & Exhibit Hall.

WORLD WAR II EXHIBIT HANGER opened in late 2008. It is a 60,000 sq. ft. hangar paying tribute to the "greatest generation" and the contribution of Robins Air Force Base during World War II.

We were amazed at the size of some of aircraft and missiles. I'm not much for museums, but I did enjoy this. We were there for 4 hours and didn't even see it all. We didn't look at the aircraft outside and probable only read about a quarter of the info on display. You defiantly need a couple of days to see it all.



Oh, it's snowing again. :-( Good time for a nap. :-)

WEATHER

Saturday it started raining about 4:30 a.m. and didn't stop until about 2 p.m. There were storm warnings and tornado watches. We had just over 2 inches of rain at the RV park. We were to have some high winds but never did. The worst of the storms went north of us.

This morning we had winter. When Vern got up it was in the mid 50s a couple hours later when I got up it was in the mid 40s and windy. The temps kept dropping and the wind kept blowing and before long it was snowing. Yes, it snowed here this morning. The ground was warm enough so it didn't stick. Vern decided he was going to walk in the snow. He was in his winter coat, earmuffs, gloves, and a ball cap to keep the snow off his glasses. It was 37* and windy. I stayed in where it was nice and warm. The snow has stopped, but it is still windy and we are still getting some rain showers. It is to be like this all day.

VERN'S GOLF WEEK

Last week was Vern's golfing week. He golfed three times, that's more than he usually does. He golfed Monday, Presidents day, so there were a lot more golfing that day and it was the first time on that golf course. There are three courses in the area and he has played on two of them. On Wednesday he went to Houston Springs and used his free game card. Vern had just hit his first ball when two gentlemen from the retirement community came up and asked if they could join him. Vern said yes and the guys said great, he could help watch where their balls landed. Vern usually golfs by himself, so this gave him someone to talk to. Thursday he went back to Houston Springs and played by himself. He said he was ahead on golf balls that day. He found more than he lost. Now he thinks I should go with him and help watch for where the golf ball to lands. He said he would let me drive the golf cart. He says some days he plays better than others. Maybe I should go once. I've never seen him play. Golfing is not my thing.

UPDATE - A LOOONG OVERDUE UPDATE

I'm going to give the blogging a try and give Vern a rest. I just have to remember what we have been doing. Last Monday we toured a 55+ community. When you do the tour you get a free round of golf. Now you know why we did the tour. Some of the houses were nice, but not any I would want. - On Wednesday we went to Lanes Packing Co. They pack peaches, pecans, and winter citrus (grapefruit and oranges). The packing season is in the fall and winter so not much was going on, but the trip wasn't waisted. There was a really nice Cafe and bakery, so we had lunch. I filled up on the soup and salad bar and didn't have room for the Cafes special dessert, peach cobbler and peach ice cream. I told Vern we would have to go back so we could try the peach cobbler. There was some peach bread in the bakery that looked so good. It was the size of a large loaf of bread for $6.50. I just couldn't pay that for a loaf of bread.

A couple of weeks ago we went to Plains, Georgia to see the birth place of former President Jimmy Carter. The High School was turned into a museum of the Carter's. Some of the classrooms had displays and some were left as they were when the Carter's attended the school. The farm house was outside of town a couple of miles. The farm was a small community. It had the main house, a house for the farm manager, a small general story, a grist mill, a blacksmith shop, a horse barn, a carriage house, a barn, and several other buildings. It was really interesting. The church the Carter's attend welcomes visitors. President Carter teaches a Sunday school class and invites visitors to attend. He stays after the church service to visit and will take pictures with anyone who wants.