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.