BUSY TWO WEEKS

We had a couple of very busy and sad weeks. On December 9th Vern's Mother passed away. We made a 19 hour trip to Iowa in 2 days. When we travel we only drive 5 or 6 hours a day and then rest a day. (We like to take our time.) We ended the trip with driving the last hour in a snow storm. We had been watching the weather, so we left early that morning hoping to miss the snow. We were by DesMoines when the snow started. We were on the go every day we were home. We had the evenings to rest and spend time with Tony, Kathy, Allie, and Eli.



The night before we left Jeff & Micky and the Kids came to Tony's so we could have Christmas. We had a great time and a special visitor showed up. Santa Claus made an early visit to Tony's house. Everyone had a chance to sit on Santa's lap and tell him what we wanted for Christmas. We had so much fun. Thanks Tony for getting everyone there for us.



We took a little more time driving back to Lake Park, 3 days. We were able to miss all the major cities this time during rush hour. It's not fun driving through Atlanta in 5:00 rush hour. We made it to Lake Park without any problems. But Vern and I both ended up the colds. Vern's didn't last very long, but mine is hanging on. I was the lucky one who got the stuffy nose and a bad cough. I coughed so much my ribs hurt and all the muscles in my back and stomach hurt. What a way to spend Christmas. I'm starting to feel a little better, but I tire easy. I did laundry Monday and ended up taking a 3 hour nap. :-) I guess that's not so bad.



We want to wish you all a HAPPY NEW YEAR. Love to you all.

THIS & THAT

Vern and I were shopping at Target the other day and parked next to a small tree. As we walked by I saw the tree had red berries on it. I looked at the leaves and realized it was a holly tree. I had never seen one before.Pretty cool. There were holly trees all around the parking lot.



We went for a ride through one of the neighborhoods where Vern jogs and rides his bike. It's quiet and not much traffic. We have to laugh at some of the street signs we see. One of them is "watch out for manhole covers". Vern laughed and said maybe they don't put covers on them. The signs are there because the cover are raised above the road 2 or 3 inches. There's a bump when you go over one of them.



I have my Christmas tree up and all my decorating done. You can't do much, but I need a little. Our tree is about 3 1/2 feet tall and I think it is cute. I have a garland with lights on the dash and my motor home light (about 1 ft. long and 6inches high) that sits under the tree. Outside we took white rope lights and wound around the tripod for the satellite dish and added a couple red bows and we have a tree outside. I had a string of multi colored rope lights and we put that around the patio. It lights up our corner of the camp ground. Since we did our decorating a few other campers have put a few things out. "It's getting to look a lot like Christmas."



The wild fire is still burning, but I haven't heard too much about it lately. I know it's burned way over a thousand acres. It may be a marsh area, but it is terrible to have lost all those trees.

FIRE

The fire is still burning. It has burned over 3,000 acres. They are now sure the fire was started by arson and where it was started. We get an occasional rain, but never enough to help put the fire out.

THANKSGIVING

We had a quiet Thanksgiving. Vern went for a long bike ride and I watched the Macy's parade while I addressed my Christmas cards. After the parade was over we went to the Farm House Restaurant for Thanksgiving dinner. We had turkey, cornbread stuffing, mashed potatoes and gravy, cranberry sauce, and a choice of 2 vegetables. (we could choose from about a dozen veggies) All this for $9.99 and the drink was included. I had enough left for a second meal. It was so good.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

We want to wish all our family and friends a HAPPY THANKSGIVING !!!!!!! Hope you all have a great day.



Zach and Zoe --- HAPPY BIRTHDAY !!!!!!

FIRE UPDATE

Unfortunatly the forest fire is still burning. Tuesday will be 2 weeks. The rain we had last week didn't amount to anything, just a few showers. We are to have rain Thursday and Friday, so we hope we have more than showers. The fire has burnt over 900 acres so far.



A couple of days ago we went for a drive to the city of Nashville, GA. It has a population of around 5,500 people. A couple who camp at the Ledges (3 or 4 times a summer) that we've made friends with are retiring to Nashville and we wanted to see what the town was like. We were surprised at what it had. It had shops, a medical center, a hospital, a couple of strip malls, and 15 restaurants. Dave is already retired and Patsy will retire next summer. They have a son at Moody Air Force in Valdosta and want to be closer to him.



We had lunch in Nashville and then headed back to Lake Park. We were gone maybe 3 hours. When we got to Valdosta there were flashing lights all along the edge of the road. As we got closer we saw several fire trucks parked along the ditches. There had been a fire in the ditch that had burned into some trees and a meadow. It had been put out by the time we got there, but there were still some smoldering spots they were watching. The fire had probably had spread for at least a mile. I'm so glad they were able to put it out. It is so dry here, it doesn't take much to start a fire.

FIRES

For the last 4 or 5 days we have been under a fire warning. South Georgia has had very little rain this summer and fall, so it is very dry here. There is low humidity and that will enhance fire growth potential. There has been a forest fire for the last 4 days about 50 miles Northeast of us. It has burned about 400 acres so far. The last couple of mornings there has been smoke in the air when we got up it was usually gone by late morning. They're not having much luck putting the fire out, so they're hoping for rain. It is supposed to rain Tuesday and Wednesday, so hopefully that will help put the fire out. The fire was started by an arson. Sunday afternoon we went for a drive to see if we could see the fire. We drove for about an hour and saw this huge mushroom shaped smoke cloud. It was something else. We were about 5 to 10 miles away from the fire. We decided not to drive any closer and headed home. On the way back we drove by an area where there had been a fire. It had been put out, but was still smoldering. It was probably about a 15 to 20 acre area that had burned.

BUSY CAMPGROUND

We couldn't believe how busy the campground was when we got here. There were twice as many campers here than there was last year. I talked to the staff and found out there are 2 different construction crews and a seasonal crew that works for the produce farmers. One crew is doing road construction and the other one is putting up a building at a paper mill. Both crews are going to be here about two years. The seasonal workers will be here as long as the farmers need them. They are taking at least 20 sites and all the park models. Freddy is making good money on the crews.

CAMPGROUND

There were a few changes at the camp ground when we arrived. The office for the campground is in a strip mall and it was all owned by the same person. The camp ground is still a KOA, but it has a new owner. Uncle Freddy. That's right Uncle Freddy. He bought the strip mall and has added some new business and has done a lot of advertising. There are billboards for miles advertising "Uncle Freddy's" He has added a bar and grill, a preschool, and the Chamber office. The camp store is carrying more supplies the deli is open for lunch everyday. The staff is new except for the manager and the campground has been dressed up. There are 11 park models and they were dark brown, now they have been painted bright colors (neon green, bright yellow, a bright rose pink, bright blue, a bright teal). You can't miss them. Also in the mall is an indoor flea market, a store call Buy 4 less, a tanning salon, and a Y.

TRIP SOUTH

Saturday morning we got up and started the last leg of our trip south. We had a pretty easy trip with not to much traffic. One of the things we did see, was that almost all the weigh stations were open. The down fall was that Vern was driving through Atlanta on Saturday. The last couple of times through Atlanta were on Sunday. Traffic is real light on a Sunday. We were a little surprised that traffic wasn't to bad. We were going to drive about 5 hours and stop in Perry, GA for a couple of nights. When we were getting close to perry, Vern said it was only 2 hours to Lake Park and we could keep driving. I told him he was driving and he could do what he wanted. We kept going. It was about 3:00 when we got to Lake Park and it was time to stop. It only took a few minutes to check in, because we had a reservation. There have been a lot of changes at the camp ground, but I'll tell about them in another post. We're home for the winter. :-)

MOTOR HOME

Friday we took the motor home in for repairs. When we checked in they told Vern if they were ahead of schedule they would call us to let us know. We had a 12:30 appointment and they called at 10:20 and said they were ready for the motor home. When they picked it up they said it would take about a half hour to fix. We decided to go to a mall a few miles away and look around and have lunch. We got back about 1:30, but the motor home wasn't back in our camping spot. Vern went in to check and see if there was a problem. There was. All they were going to do was replace a valve on the air dryer. There was a problem with the air dryer it self and they were on the phone with the company trying to figure out the problem. Well, they ended up putting in a new valve and air dryer. When we got back at 2:30 the motor home was back in out camping spot. A half hour ended up being 4 hours. If there are any problems with the air system we're not moving. The one good thing was we had a free camping site while we were at freight liner.

HEADING SOUTH

Tuesday we started our trip south. We drove to Staunton, VA in the Shenandoah Valley and spent Tuesday and Wednesday nights there. The first leg of the trip was quiet with no problems. Wednesday while we were out driving around we saw a street named Tinkling Springs Road. We both laughed at the name and wondered where the name came from. You never know what you're gong to see.



It started raining Wednesday night before Vern could get everything put away, so we hoped it would stop by morning. No such luck, it rained all night. I got up at 6:00 a.m. and the weather radar showed a break in the rain, so Vern changed and was ready to go when it stopped. The rain never really stopped, but went to a heavy mist. Things got put away and we were on the way by 8:00. We were rained on all the way to South Carolina.



We made it to Gaffney, SC around 1:30 and drove to the freightliner service center. The service center is on the campus of Spartanburg Community College. I guess we'll have students working on the motor home. The good thing is they have a camping area for those having work done and we can stay for no charge. We have electricity and that's it. But it is free.



On our way here we drove through mountains in Virginia and North Carolina. On the weather tonight they said the same mountains would have snow tonight. Yes, that's right snow. I'm glad we went through them today.



If the motor home gets fixed on Friday we'll leave here on Saturday morning and drive to Perry, Georgia. Before we get to Perry, first we have to drive through Atlanta. Not fun.

SOCCER

Saturday we went to Jordan's soccer game. When we left the campground the sun was shinning and the temp was in the low 50s. It didn't feel too bad. The game was about 45 minutes away and did the weather change. The sun was gone and the wind was blowing and we were sitting on a hill. I guess we were actually sitting on top of a land fill. We were able to sit with the wind at out backs, but we were still cold. I had a sweatshirt, a fleece jacket, and a wind breaker with a hood, and a blanket around my legs. Or I forgot I also had gloves on. I was still cold. Jordan's team played the best game I had seen them play, but unfortunately they lost. 3 - 2.



After the game Jordan gave us Halloween cupcakes that she had made and decorated. Oh so good!!!!!!! She loves to bake and wants to be a pastry chef. Great job Jordan!!!!!!!!!!!!

FOOD DOOR TO DOOR

I had told you about all the road side stands in an earlier post. We also have door to door food service. The Amish bring baked goods right into the campground. We see boys pulling wagons and selling out of the back of it. We also will get a father and son selling, or two ladies, and sometimes a couple. They have white, wheat, or cinnamon swirl breads; quick breads; all kinds of pies, but right now pumpkin is big; they have jams and jelly's; and whoopee pies and cinnamon sticks and soft pretzels. I like the cinnamon sticks and we like the soft pretzels. I think the cinnamon sticks are made with pie dough. They roll out a piece that is about 4 or 5 inches wide and 5 or 6 inches long; they spread a filling of cream cheese and then roll it up and then roll it in a cinnamon and sugar mix and bake. I really liked them, but Vern didn't care for the cream cheese filling. You could change the filling to jams or fruit. Easy to change.

MYSTERY HUNTERS

We found out the story about the mystery hunters. Vern was outside the other morning talking to one of the campground workers. While they were talking Vern told him about the hunters and the guy said that was him and his sons. He takes his boys out into the field for target practice. You'll never guess what they use for targets. Pumpkins!! He told Vern if the weather was OK they would be back out there that evening. They did go out again, but it was around 4:00 so we could see them. I'm not sure how much practice they get, because they were out there less than 10:00 minutes. Around 5:30 they went out again, but we were leaving, so we don't know how long they stayed. They must have a good source of pumpkins somewhere.

HUNTERS

Next to the campground is a one lane road that goes to an an Amish farm. We see horse and buggies, farm equipment, and 2 young Amish boys walking to and from school. There is no drive in the campground connecting to the road, but there are a few cars that cut across the grass to the road and use it as a short cut. Friday night we're sitting here and a black pickup truck cut across the grass to the lane and then stopped. Five guys piled out and reached back in and pulled out rifles. They walked into the hay field and started hunting. The field was between the campground and an Amish farm. Then the gun shots started. I don't know what they were hunting, but there were a few shots fired. All this was going on as the sun was going down. It was dark and we could still here gun shots. We were surprised that they were hunting that close to so many people. They finally loaded back up and left. YEA!!!! They were about 75 to 100 yards from us.

BALLOONS

The last couple of weekends we have had a lot of wind. Saturday night the wind had died down so Sunday morning was nice. Vern was just leaving for a walk and he stuck his head back inside and said there were two hot air balloons out there. I opened the blinds so I could watch them. It wasn't long before I saw another one and then another one. Before long there were 5 hot air balloons sailing by. We see them all the time. At least once or twice a week, in the evenings we would see a couple of balloons. This area is a great place to fly hot air balloons.

ROAD SIDE STANDS

There are road side stands every couple of miles around the country side. Some are at the end of Amish drives set up in the grass or wagons. Others may have small buildings and then there are the ones that are small markets. I wanted some pumpkins and mums, so we went to one a couple of days ago to see what I could find. This one had a small building and was a stopping spot for some of the buggy tours. They had mums, pumpkins, gourds, and all kinds of baked goods. They also had homemade root beer.



They had mums 3 for $10 and they were huge plants and in full bloom. They had pumpkins for anywhere from $1 to $3. I picked out a couple of pumpkins about the size of soccer balls for $1 each. We set the mums and pumpkins behind the car so I could check out the backed goods. While I was doing that the owners little boy (maybe 2 years old) started setting mini guards with our things. His mother said we didn't have to buy them, but Vern told her it was OK. They were 4 for $1, but he had only put 3 with our things, so Vern told him we needed 1 more and he went and got it for us. He was so cute. We also got a loaf of cinnamon raisin bread and a small peach pie. That bread and pie was so good.

PENNSYLVANIA

Travis and Lynn had us over for supper the other night and fixed some great pork chops. They baked them in the oven with cream of asparagus soup poured over them. They were so tender and oh so good. Jordan (10) made a delicious apple crisp with apples from a nearby orchard.



When we left Iowa most of the leaves had turned colors and fallen off the trees. The farther east we drove the less color we saw in the trees. By the time we got to PA everything was still green. In the last week the leaves have started to change colors and a few are dropping off the trees. In another week or two it should be in peak color season.



It was windy yesterday and today. I don't think I've ever felt the motor home rock like it did. I had some mums setting in in front of the motor home and wind kept blowing them over, so I moved them under the picnic table and so far they are staying up right.

TRIP EAST

We arrived in Pennsylvania Sunday, October 3. Our first stop was in Morton, ILL at freightliner to have a problem fixed. After telling the service manager what the problem was he said he thought he could fix it in the parking lot. He did with a $12 part. We drove another hour or so and found the Tin Cup Campground and spent a couple of nights of there. We drove another 5 or 6 hours and found the Spring Valley Campground where we spent 2 nights and then drove the last leg of our trip. We are staying at Roamers Retreat Campground in Kinzers, Pa. We are about a ten to 15 minute drive to Travis and Lynn's. It all depends on the traffic and how many horse and buggies we see.



Our last few miles of the trip were a little interesting. We developed a problem with the air suspension on the motor home, it didn't want to hold the air pressure. When we got to the camp ground Vern didn't even shut off the motor home when we went inside to check in, because he didn't think it would be able to build up enough air pressure again. If that happens we can't move the motor home. Once we got set up Vern called our road side assistance with Winnebago and told them about the problem and they said they would send someone to check out the problem. In less than an hour someone was at our door. Unfortunately he couldn't fix the problem. He was able to put a part on that bypassed the air dryer, but would still give us air pressure until we could have freightliner fix it. Vern called freightliner and told them about the problem and they said others have had the same problem, but the problem wasn't the air dryer, but a valve. Freightliner said they would fix the problem. We have an appointment with them in November at their headquarters in South Carolina. We lucked out, because it is on the route we take to Georgia. They also have a campground there we can use while we're waiting for them to work on the motor home. While Vern was talking to them they told him about some classes they offer on the freighterliner system. It is a 2 day class and Vern is thinking about taking it.

RACING WEEK

The racing week went really well. With the electric sites full and a third of the non-electric site with campers it was one of the quietest weeks we had. The racers would start leaving for the track late morning and be gone by just after lunch. They would get back to the campground around 2,3 or 4 o'clock in the morning, but I never heard them. Then it would be so quiet until the racers started to get up, but it was even quiet then. We did change our cleaning schedule a bit. We usually clean the shower house between 5:30 - 6:00 a.m., but when the racers don't even get up until late morning it didn't make since to clean early in the morning. We waited until about 3 or 4 in the afternoon. The racers were gone and the shower house stayed clean until the racers got up the next morning.



Twelve days and we'll be on our way to Pennsylvania. YEA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

WALLABY'S/PIZZA PIT

I didn't tell you about what happened when we were at Wallaby's. We were waiting for our food when I looked out the window and saw a Pizza Pit delivery car pull into the parking lot. Vern joked they were delivering pizza. I said he was just coming to eat. Boy, was I wrong! He got in the back seat and pulled out 3 or 4 large pizzas and came inside and gave them to the bartender. We looked at each other and laughed and joked that maybe we shouldn't eat our food. About that time our waitress came by and said our food would be out in a few minutes. We asked her if someone had ordered pizza. She said the manager had said something about ordering pizza, but she didn't know if he had. We told her Pizza Pit had just delivered pizza. Then we joked with her asking if the food was that bad that the staff wouldn't eat it. She said no it was just that they got tired of eating the food there. Our food was great when it came and we had a really nice time. It does make a good story.

LABOR DAY

We made it through our busiest day of the year -- Labor Day! It is the one day of the season we hold all the campers out front. Those on reserved sites and non-reserved sites. It can be a very crazy day. Andy, the park manager, started his day at 5 a.m. The first camper came in at 5:30 a.m. Vern and I cleaned the shower house and then went out front to help Andy. We drive through the campground and let him know which camp sites open up. This year we only had 5 in line waiting for non-reserve sites. The bad thing was it was a nice day and no one was in a hurry to leave. It was abut 12:30 before we had everyone in. Monday afternoon and all the electric sites were full. Not supposed to be this way. Mondays are supposed to be our quiet day. The one good thing is that the campers are here for the Super National races and are in the campground only to sleep. Tell you more about our week later. After we were done getting the old campers out and the new in, we cleaned the shower house again then headed for the motor home. We had a snack and I took a nap. After my nap we showered and went out for a early supper. We went to Ames to Wallaby's. This was the first time we had been there since we got back to Iowa. There was only one other couple there, so it was so nice and quiet. A great way to end the day.

WEEK # 1 OF 3 VERY VERY BUSY WEEKS

We are just finishing up Week #1 of 3 very very busy weeks. Vern and I always look forward to Sunday afternoons and Monday. On Sunday the campers leave the campground and Monday there may be 2 or 3 campers in the campground. Not this last week! There are 20 non-reservable electric sites (2 for the campground hosts) and 16 of them had campers on them on Monday and there were 4 campers in non-electric. The other electric sites were taken on Tuesday. All because of the Farm Progress Show. The good thing was that the campers were gone during the day and quiet in the evening. We had campers from Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, and Missouri. There may have been other states that I missed. Don't get me wrong this is great for the Park, but we never had a break from the busy weekend.



As soon as a Farm Progress Show camper left a camper for the Labor Day weekend or Super National races would have it taken. It's like the vultures are circling looking for a site.



Now we're in the Labor Day weekend. So far so good. The electric sites are full and most of the non-electric sites are taken. There are a few travel trailers and pop-ups on non-electric sites. They will be watching for electric sites to open up, so they can move.



There is one classic camper on a non-electric site. It is one of a kind. The guy strung a rope between two trees and threw a big canvas over it to form a sort of Tee-Pee. Then he set a recliner under the canvas. That's all he has. It might have been a little chilly for him last night, because it got down to 48*. A true camper!



Monday is the busiest day of the year at the campground. More on that later.



Week one down, 2 to go.

A BUSY DAY, OR TWO

In October we have a nephew getting married in Chicago. He and Clara are having a small wedding with immediate family and a few close friends. Since most of Aren's family is in Iowa they decided to have a pre-wedding reception/picnic. What a great idea. Saturday, August 14th was the big day. I offered to help my sister-in-law Laurie get ready for the big day.



BUSY DAY ONE -- I arrived at Mike and Laurie's about 9 a.m. ready to get to work. We decided to start the day with me pealing potatoes and Laurie mixing up the brownies. Laurie put the eggs (5 dozen) on to boil and got busy mixing the brownies. I got started pealing 35 pounds of potatoes. I pealed and pealed and peeled. Laurie baked 3 double batches of brownies and I was still pealing potatoes. Laurie even pealed the eggs before I was done. As soon as the eggs were done Laurie stated to boil the potatoes. We had two pans on the stove at a time. While the potatoes were cooking I started in on onions. I chopped 5 pounds of onions. By the time I was done with the potatoes and onions I could hardly straiten my fingers, because it hurt so much. I had to flex them for a while, before I could start again. I'm not sure why I got all the hard and smelly jobs. :-( I guess Laurie was a good boss and great at delegating jobs. :-) While Laurie was cutting up potatoes and and eggs I started in on the cheese. I sliced and cubed 17 pounds of cheese. Ate a few chunks. We had to make sure the cheese was good. By the time I finished the cheese I had a blister in my finger and my hand was getting a little tired.As I finished the cheese Laurie started mixing the salad dressing. She didn't measure a thing just dumped in a couple of jars of mayo, squeezed in some mustard, sprinkled in some sugar, and poured in some milk and mixed it all together. Laurie you make the BEST potato salad!!!!!! Somewhere in there we did take a lunch break.



Now that the brownies were baked, the potato salad made, lunch over, the kitchen cleaned and a short break we had one more major project left -- hamburger patties. Right after we started making the burgers Mike came in and started telling us how to make the patties. Not the best of moves to make little brother. He did have a point when he said to make the center of the burgers thinner than the edges. Still, you don't start telling two females what to do after they have worked in the kitchen all morning. We sent Mike outside to work in the yard and plant some flowers. Back to the hamburgers. First we had to find something big enough to put them on, because we made 67 hamburger patties. Then we had to move things around in the fridge so we could get them in, but we made it. While Laurie was cleaning up the kitchen again I frosted the 3 pans of brownies.



We got everything done that Laurie had on her list and a few other little things. We got the serving spoons around and found trays to put the brownies on. A job well done.



Laurie you had me working like a slave :-), but I did have fun. We don't see each other very often, so it gave us lots of time to visit. Work and all it was a great day.



BUSY DAY TWO -- I was helping with the serving tables along with my sisters Linda and Jana. At least Saturday the work wasn't hard and time consuming. We were able to keep watch on the tables and still visit with family and friends we haven't seen in years. It also gave us time to visit with Aren and Clara. Best part of the day was when Aren kissed my blister. :-) Things went really well. The day was still hot and humid, but we would take breaks and go inside the house and sit in the AC for awhile. Mike and Laurie have a swimming pool, so a lot of the kids and adults cooled off in the pool. They also put a tent up so there was some shade to sit in. The had the bean bag toss game and boccie ball. It was a fun day. I also had a chance to hold a 2 week old baby. The mother was helping her other children fill their plates, so I offered to hold the baby. So tiny and cute. My sister gave me a bad time, saying that was some excuse to get out of working.



Aren and Clara it was great seeing you and congratulations again. I never did sign the card. :-) Have a great wedding day.



Jeremy and Sally great to see you. Will we do this again next July?



Cortney and Josh it was great seeing you and the kiddos. Congratulations on the new Devine on the way and good luck in all the new things going on in your lives.



Mike and Laurie it was a great day. You did a fantastic job.



Love to all of you.

BOYS WEEK

Last week we had our grandsons Zach (14) and Eli (6) for the annual boys week. Eli came Sunday afternoon and stayed until Thursday afternoon. Zach came Monday morning and stayed until Tuesday evening. Eli told me I should leave since Grandpa always had to leave when it was girls week. I asked him if Grandpa could cook for him like I would. He didn't say anything after that.



On Monday it was hot and rainy so Vern took the boys to a movie. The boys picked "Despicable Me". They all thought it was a really good movie. In the afternoon they help Grandpa with some golf cart work. One of Eli's favorite things to do when he stays with us is helping Grandpa with golf cart work. When they came in the boys got out some of the toys and did some building and played with cars. Then came trying to decide what we were going to have for supper. The boys decided on hamburgers and hot dogs. We needed a few groceries, so Vern took the boys and went to Fareway and Grandma took a short nap. Eli likes hot dogs, but he wants them warmed up in the microwave. Well, Zach was having his on the grill, so all of a sudden Eli decided he wanted his on the grill. I told Vern to keep it on the edge so it wouldn't get any black on it. The hot dog had some black and Eli ate the whole thing. Younger cousins like to shadow the old cousins. We had a fire in the evening and the boys played with a soccer ball and threw a baseball at an air mattress leaning against a tree. You never know what will entertain them.



Tuesday Vern took the boys golfing. Eli has his own golf clubs and Zach has never been golfing. Vern decided it would be better to go to the driving range. He bought them each their own bucket of balls, but he said he had to share his with the boys. Eli would just put a ball downand hit, but Zach would do some practice swings. Zach ended up with a few blisters on his hand. I told him next time they went golfing he had to have a golf glove. The boys decided they wanted to go out for lunch and decided they wanted pizza. Vern called to see if I wanted to meet them for lunch, but I told him to make it just the boys. Zach asked it they could stop and see if his Dad (Jeff) could go with them. Jeff hadn't had lunch yet so the four of them went to Godfather's. After lunch they played for a while and then watched a movie. Eli picked "Return to Space Mountain". That boy would watch that movie 2 or 3 times a day if I would let him. He loves that movie. In the evening we watched Americas Got Talent. (we like to watch the show) Eli got into the show and would say which acts he liked and which ones he didn't.



Wednesday morning I had sewing at church, so left Vern to entertain Eli. They went for a bike ride after the rain stopped. They road around all the loops in the campground a couple of times and then road to the Oakwoods Shelter and back and then around all the loops again. When I got back I asked how the bike ride went and Vern said fine, except Eli liked riding through all the water puddles and he had to change his clothes when they got back. What else do 6 year old boys like to do, but play in the water. Everything was wet and muddy outside, so we stayed inside all afternoon. Eli got out the cars and trucks and played with them all afternoon. You had to be careful where you stepped and watched out for cars. He had them lined up on the dash and some in the air vents. We watched Americas Got Talent result show. I did pretty good, I picked 4 out of 4. I think Eli picked 3 of the 4. Not bad .



Thursday I had to go to Ames in the morning, so it was Grandpa and Eli. They spent the morning inside watching cartoons and playing with cars. Kathy was there picking up Eli when I got home, so the boys week ended.



We had so much fun with you guys and hope you had fun staying with us. We love you so much.

RAGBRAI

Vern has been doing a lot of bicycle riding for the past year, so he decided to ride one day of RAGBRAI. He picked Monday which was a 79 mile day, or if you wanted to ride a few extra miles your could make it a century day. Vern did the century ride. Tony drove Vern to Storm Lake on Sunday afternoon and he spent the night at the Fareway managers house. (along with about 35 other bikers) He slept on the floor of a 3 season porch. Vern left at 6:11 a.m. Monday morning and rode into Algona at 1:10 p.m. with an hour rest time during the ride. It was cool early in the morning but temps warmed to the low 80's by noon with a south wind. Our daughter-in-law Kathy picked him up in Algona and drove him back to Ames. He had a great ride with no problems. Vern saw several bike accidents and ambulances going to accidents. Estimated number of riders was around 20,000. Way to go Vern. Great job.

ROAD TRIP

Monday, July 12th Vern and I and our granddaughter Alexis (13) left for Elkhart, Indiana. We were taking Alexis to meet Travis, so she could spend the rest of the summer with her Dad. The trip out was pretty uneventful. The biggest thing was where we were going to eat. We got to Elkhart before Travis and Lynn, so Alexis was watching the clock like a hawk. I tried to interest her in different projects, but nothing held her attention for very long. She finally started texting her Dad, so she knew where he was at. When they turned off at the exit we decided to meet them in the lobby. Alexis got a text that said her Dad was by the CRV and she turned and started to run the other direction. (we were parked behind the motel) By the time we got outside Alexis had her arms wrapped around her Dad's neck and feet off the ground. It brought tears to my eyes. We went out to eat at the Texas Roadhouse. So good. We listened to Alexis talk about her mission trip to Haiti and the things she saw and did. A trip she'll never forget.



We headed back to Iowa on Wednesday in 90* + temperatures and high humidity. When we stopped for a break mid morning it was like walking into an oven. When we stopped for lunch and to find a motel it was so hot with a heat index of 115. We never left the motel until the next morning, not even to eat. We munched on snacks and popcorn I had taken. It was much cooler on Thursday when we left.



When we got close to DesMoines we decided to stop at the new Bass Pro store in Altoona and look around. We didn't need anything, but everyone said it was neat to look at. It is a neat store with the large aquarium and all the animal displays. When we got back to the Ledges Andy, the park manager said if we moved our golf cart they would put in out new grill and fire pit. It didn't take long for Vern to move the cart. We had to let it set over night before we could use it. What a surprise! We thought we had to wait another week before they were going to start putting in the new grills.

4th OF JULY WEEKEND

The 4Th was a wet cloudy weekend. We have had so much rain the last couple of weeks our golf cart cover has been on more than off. The campground had just started to dry up from the last rain and we get another 1 1/2 inches Sunday morning. There are several small ponds. One of them fills up then runs across the road into another site then through the trees into another site, then if it rains enough the water will run across the road into another site. The worst site is site 3 and we ask the campers if they enjoy their water front campsite. The only good thing with the rain, was that a lot of campers left a day early.



The lower Ledges is flooded and will be closed the rest of the summer. The water level is about 1 foot less than 2008 when it was around 26 feet. The park manager takes his canoe to the lower Ledges to check things out. He can go all the way to the 3rd crossing before he has to turn around. Once the water level goes down, then comes the clean up. What a mess.



There are a lot of people sitting on the road and fishing. There are a few taking boats or canoes and fishing from them. Now one of the questions we get asked is "when will canyon road and the lower Ledges be open". Like we know when. People think when the water goes down the lower Ledges should be open. They don't think about the clean up.

SETTING UP STUDIO

Monday and Tuesday I went to my sister Linda's to help with unpacking and organizing the last couple of rooms. Linda is a stamper and has a lot of stamps and everything she needs to make them. She had done a lot of the unpacking, but we needed to organize her studio. In a couple of hours we had her stamp studio all set up.



Linda had made a list of things she wanted to get done and we did it. We even had time for a little shopping. We even did a room that wasn't on her list - Jerry's office. It was full of boxes and you could hardly move around. Linda asked Jerry if he wanted us to unpack and organize his office, he said we could if we wanted, but do not throw anything away. It took a little organizing, but we got it done and Jerry approved.



I had so much fun. Linda and I don't get together often, so we had lots of time to talk. Linda thanks for two fun days of work, talk, and laughter.

MOVING DAY

On Saturday Vern and I went to Gilman and helped my sister move into their new house. They have been waiting a long time for this move. The date had been moved back several times. One of the best things about the day was, no rain!!!! Even with all the work we had a lot of fun. Besides Linda & Jerry there were 8 of us helping. We got there about 8:00 and part of the big stuff had all ready been moved. Great timing. :-) Everything was put in the garage and moved inside from there. It gave us time to dust all the furniture before it went inside. We were all done moving by mid morning. Then it was unpacking and sorting and deciding where to put things. Linda had moved the kitchen things during the week and had it put away. After lunch Linda & Jerry and Vern & I were the only ones left. Vern was in the basement helping Jerry with some things and I was helping Linda in the master bath. The guys finished up first and sat in the family room visiting until Linda and I were done, then we all sat for awhile. Like I said before we had a lot of fun even with all the work. It was great to have the time to visit, because we don't see Linda & Jerry very often. I'm going back on Monday and Tuesday to help Linda organize her craft room. When we left you could walk in and turn around and walk out. It was wall to wall containers.



Guys I'm so happy for you. Your house is great and you have so much room. Enjoy!!!!!!!

IRISH DANCE

Sunday was our granddaughter Allie's (9) dance recital at CY Stephens in Ames. Allie has danced since she was 3 or 4. She started with ballet and then added in tap and jazz. This year she added Irish Dance. She took a summer session last year and started Irish dance classes last fall. I was so exited to see her dance. The recital started at 1:00, so we were there at about 12:30 to get good sets.



Allie's first dance was the ballet in her pink tutu with but ruffles. Sooo cute. Her next dance was the soft shoe Irish Dance. The girls wore white dresses with a teal ribbon and lots of long curls. She was so cute and very, very good. AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!! Allie. Last she did the hard shoe Irish Dance. For someone who has only been taking lessons for 8 months, she was absolutely awesome. I just loved watching her, but the dance wasn't long enough. Allie told me usually you have to take Irish dance for a year before you can do hard she dance. Allie you were fantastic and we are so proud of you. Love you.

WEDDING

We have great news to share with everyone. Friday, June 11th Travis and his fiancee Lynn got married. They didn't want a big wedding, so they went to the courthouse and were married by a judge. (Travis figured if it was good enough for his Mom and Dad and his grandpa and grandma Houseman, it was good enough for him and Lynn.) They had friends of theirs go with them for their witnesses. In July when Alexis gets to Pennsylvania they are going to have a reception. The 4 kids are going to plan it. Lynn has 2 daughters, Devon is 14 and Jordan is 10. The kids have all kinds of ideas, but I think most of them will not happen. We really like Lynn. She is great and really good for Travis. The only bad thing is they live so far away. We are so lucky with our travels we can spend time with them in the fall and spring.



Travis said the judge was really great. He asked them if they wanted a traditional wedding, or of the wanted the short version. The kids said they wanted a more traditional service. Travis said the judge went through the bible and read some scriptures and ended with "by the powers invested in me and God I pronounce you husband an wife. Travis thought the judge was awesome. Travis called Vern right after the ceremony and talked to him and Alexis and in the afternoon he called and talked to me and told me how happy he was. That evening he called me again to tell me how happy he was and to talk to Alexis again.

MEMORIAL WEEKEND

Memorial weekend was so busy, the campground was full. With around 400+ people here it was fairly quiet. Not a lot of kids, so we weren't listening to a lot of screaming and yelling, but there were a lot of dogs. (not my favorite thing) Dogs were barking all the time, day and night.



Friday night there was an accident on the edge of the park. Three teenagers were going to fast and missed a corner and rolled their car. Injuries not too bad. On Monday night there was an accident in the canyon. Someone was going too fast through one of the creeks and lost control and went off the road and hit 2 children. The park manager called Vern at 7:10 and asked him to come to the entrance to canyon road. When we got there he told us about the accident and had us stay at the entrance and not let anyone into the canyon. I bet we turned at least 50 cars away. Vern was watching the gate and I was turning the cars away. Everyone wanted to know why the canyon was closed and how long it would be closed. I'm not sure why they thought I would know how long it would be closed. Everyone was nice about the how thing, until channel 8 news showed up. I told the reporter what I had been telling everyone, the canyon was closed because of an accident. He said it was state property and I couldn't stop him. I told him I was sorry, but we were not to let anyone drive into the canyon. Then he wants to talk to someone in authority and I told him they were all at the accident site. I told him if he wanted to walk down he could, but he couldn't drive down. He wasn't happy about that, but said he would walk. I told Vern about the reporter and we decided to call Andy (the park manager) and ask him what he wanted us to do about the reporter. He told us we could let him drive down. When I told him he could drive down he said he didn't want to be argumentative, but he had a job to do. I told him I understood that, but we were only doing what we were told to do. We were there for about an hour and a half. Andy said the kids weren't too badly hurt. What a relief. I had goose bumps every time I had to tell someone about the accident.



Last week we had a couple on a tent site that didn't put a registration card on the post. ($11 for a tent site) I had told them to register, the park ranger had told them to register, and the other host had told them to register. Every time they said they would. The next day the other host saw them packing up to leave and called the park ranger. Mark come right over and talked to them and gave them a chance to pay. They said they didn't have any money, so Mark gave them a ticket for failure to pay. The ticket was for $78. An expensive night of camping.



We never know what is going to happen in the campground.

RACCOON

You never know what is going to happen at the Ledges. A week and a half ago we had a church youth group from Pella in the campground. It was a group of 30 and as far as we could tell there was only one adult with them. On Saturday night (12:30 a.m.) 4 of the boys decided to trap a raccoon. They set a snair and baited it with some chips and caught a raccoon. It was caught by one leg and hanging from a tree. The boys said they couldn't stand seeing it hanging there, so decided to put it out of it's misery. One of the boys picked up a board and hit the coon a couple of times but didn't kill it. Another boy picked up the board and hit the coon a couple more times and they finally killed the coon. They did this in front of other campers and they raised a lot of noise. Before long night security, the park ranger, and a deputy sheriff was here. The 4 boys were fined and given a big lecture. I wouldn't want to be the boys when they told their parents or when they got back to the church.



That same weekend the other host (Art) was watching kids carrying things into the primitive sites when out came some drums and guitars. He decided it was time to check things out. He rode his bike back into the sites and they had set up 6 tents on one site (you can only have 1 tent per site) and there were 25 + people on the site (you can only have 6 per site). One of the gals said they should make some phone calls and tell people not to come. You just don't know what is going to happen in our backyard.

SOCCER GAMES

Saturday morning we went to our granddaughter Zoe's soccer game. It was 60* windy, cloudy, and cold. We had jackets on trying to stay warm. Zoe was the only player to play the whole game. She is a great player and can she kick the ball. She is a defense player and great at it. Even though her team lost (3-2) it was a great game. Way to go Zoe!!!!!!!



On Sunday afternoon we went to our grandson Zach's soccer game. It was 89* windy, sunny, and humid. What a difference a day makes. Zach was goalie for most of the game and then played defense. The team is a co-ed and all the players can play all the positions. The coach did a great job rotating the players to different positions during the game. It was an awesome game. They won 10-2. Way to go Zach!!!!!!!! I'm out in the sun when I walk, but this was the first time I was out in the sun for a long period of time. My knees and arms got red, but they didn't burn.



The campground was full over the weekend, but was fairly quit. Too many dogs for me and a couple of them were a little loud, but not to bad. This coming weekend is going to be busy. Some of the non-reserve sites are all ready taken and there are cars driving around checking out site. The rest of the non-reserve sites will be gone Tuesday or Wednesday. I can't wait until this weekend is over. :-)

A & E

The last few days our daughter-in-law Kathy was out of town on business. Thursday afternoon I watched Allie and Eli after school. After a movie and snacks Allie went play in her bedroom and Eli couldn't decide what he wanted to do. I finally told him I was going to toss pillows at him and cover him in pillows. For the next hour that's what we did. Eli built a nest for a mouse, who came out and ate all my cheese. He then started to build traps to catch to catch the mouse, but nothing would work. The last trap he built was one that would chop the mouse up. What an imagination Eli has. I had so much fun.



Friday afternoon was Vern's turn. Eli wanted both of us to come on Friday, but I told him one of us had to stay at the campground. (Friday evenings are busy with everyone coming into the campground and a lot of questions.) After watching the Disney Channel for a while and snacks they all went to the basement and played with the Wii. They played 100 pin bowling, or something like that. Sounds like they had a lot of fun.

CHECK UPS

The past week has been full of Dr. appointments for me. Had my eyes checked and got a great report. My left eye is holding at 20/25. The Dr's. thought I would never get that good of vision in my left eye. The Dr. was so pleased he said I wouldn't have to come back for a year for a check up. YEA!!!! I have been going every 6 months for over 3 years. I also had my yearly check up and got a good bill health. Everything is looking good. I just have to get a dental check up and then I'll be done. Vern has his check up in a couple of weeks.



The campground is busy during the weekends, but is quiet during the week. The way we like it. With all the rain there are small ponds and muddy spots all over the campground. The mud gets tracked into the shower houses and then we get to clean up the mess. I should say Vern gets to clean up the mess. The pine sol smell bothers me, so Vern gets to mop the floors. I sweep he mops. We work well together!!

LEDGES

We made it to the Ledges on Tuesday afternoon, the sun was shining and only 2 campers in the campground. By the time the afternoon was over we had seen Andy the park manager, Mark the park ranger, and Art & Terry the other campground host. The trees are leafed out more than we thought they would be, but it is so nice. Everything is so green. The violets are blooming and I guess they have been finding a lot of mushrooms. They can keep them. It had rained before we got here and things were still wet, then it rained again, now is is muddy with small ponds of water in the campground.



The campground wasn't full over the weekend, but the electrical sites were close to full. We were used to campgrounds with no kids, so it was really quiet. Not here, there was screaming and yelling and kids on bikes all the time. Then there was the smell of campfires, so nice.



Wednesday afternoon Tony picked up Vern and took him to the new Fareway warehouse that was just completed. A lot of you know Vern doesn't like heights. Well, some how Tony got his Dad on the sixth level of the warehouse. I asked Vern if Tony was holding his hand. He said no, but told Tony not to get more than 3 feet from him. :-) They must have had fun, because Tony picked Vern up at 4:00 and is was 8:30 when he got home.

TRIP TO IOWA

We were up and ready to leave at 6:30 Tuesday morning. The sun wasn't up yet and temp was in the low 40's. Grabbed a couple of muffins off the breakfast buffet and hit the road.



We had a couple of road work areas, but they weren't too bad. Didn't slow us down too much. We joked about the flat land and trees other than pine trees. We were surprised about how much the trees had leafed out.



We got to the Ledges about 1:00 and I was glad to be home. I missed the trees and the bigger camp sites. We hadn't even backed into our camp site when Andy, the park manager, stopped by. Andy was home for lunch and saw us drive by.



This weekend is the kick off weekend for camping, so it will be busy. Time for us to get back to work and a routine. Early mornings, I'm not sure what those are. Oh well!!! Clean bathrooms and then go for a walk.

MOTOR HOME

Sunday we drove to Morton, Ill. We left at 7 a.m. and got there about 1:00. We dropped the motor home at freight liner for it's yearly service check up. The appointment was for 7 a.m. Monday morning so we spent the night in a motel.



With nothing to do Monday we decided we go look at some cars. We looked at the Ford Escape and the Edge. Then we went to Wal-Mart and looked around for awhile. Big day. :-) Vern had a couple of things he wanted the service department to check out, so it was 3:00 before we could pick up the MH, so we decided to stay another night at the motel and leave early in the morning. We went to Ruby Tuesday's for dinner, one of our favorite places to eat.

IOWA HERE WE COME

Friday was our first travel day on the trip to Iowa. We left Kinzers, PA at 7 a.m. and got to our campground in Columbus, OH about 3:45 p.m. It was a long day (about 440 miles). We had several road construction areas and one accident. The accident caused traffic to back up 4 or 5 miles with only one lane open. Two cars and a semi were involved.



We will travel again on Sunday and will drive to Morton, Ill. Sounds like we will be driving in rain most of the way. We've had rain showers off and on all day. They're saying we could get about 2 1/2 inches of rain tonight, but will move out before we leave in the morning. We'll just drive into it again.



We will be at the Ledges Tuesday or Wednesday. I can't wait to get home and see our family and friends.



See you all soon.

SOCCER

Saturday morning we took the bull by the horn and went to 2 soccer games. The temp was 48* when we left and the winds were 15 to 20 mph. Devon's game was at 9:00 and Jordan's was at 11:30. You would think the weather wasn't too bad for the games. Wrong!!! The soccer field sits on top of a hill and the winds are worse up there. I sat wrapped in a blanket and was still cold. I forgot to tell you, the wind was blowing in our face. Devons team lost 6 - 5. With winds like that the ball didn't go where it was kicked.



During the time between games we went into town to get some hot chocolate and warm up. We walked around the gas station store to get warmed up before we went back to the hill.



Jordan's game started 15 minutes early. All the kids and coaches were there, because it was picture day. I almost made it through the first half before I went to the car. The winds had picked up to 20 - 25 mph. I was so cold. Vern and Travis toughed it out until half time. We were in luck for the second half. Another game ended and cars were leaving. One car that was parked next to the field left and Vern pulled into that spot. We were able to watch the second half from the car and STAY WARM. Jordan's team lost 5 - 4. Not a good day for soccer.



Saturday evening we drove to Ephrata (about 15 miles away) to go to WalMart. We drove through areas we usually don't see. There were more farms with plastic sheets down for planting produce. With the high winds it was a wonder the plastic stayed on the ground. The flowers in the yards are so pretty right now. Tulips, daffodils, phlox, and others. Gardens are coming up and you see the Amish ladies planting all the time.



We went to Lancaster to get a couple of things. We drove by a restaurant called Sip & Sup and a few blocks later saw a restaurant called Park & Eat. I guess if you can't come up with a name go the easy way. It is catchy.

BIG BALLOONS

This area must be good for hot air balloons. Every time we are here we see at least 1 hot air balloon. Saturday we saw 2 balloons. One of them looked like it was having trouble of some kind. It was staying just above the ground and seemed to be looking for a place to set down.



Sunday evening we saw 2 more balloons. One of them we were able to see set down. I told Vern the balloon went from round to a tear drop to falling over. It was fun to watch the traffic slow down and watch the balloons. We'll have to see if we see any more.

HALF MARATHON

Saturday Vern ran a half marathon. The first one in decades. A 1/2 marathon is 13.1 miles long. The temps were in the 40s, sunny and breezy. There were 520 registered for the 1/2 marathon and 461 finished. Vern finish 278th overall in 2 hrs. 12 mins. and was 7th in his age group (60-64). You have to remember no road here is straight or flat. The course wound its way up into the mountains and then back down. What a course for a first 1/2 marathon when you have not run one in years. With going up into the mountains they had some great views looking out over the valley.



They also had 4 person teams for the marathon with each person running 6 and 1/2 miles. Some of the team names were -- Men at work, Miz fits, Limp a ling, 4 lousy golfers, 4 decades, and others. One team was made up of members all over 60. All the proceeds from the races went to Garden Spot Retirement Village. ( 62 and over)

BIKE RIDE

Saturday Vern went for a bike ride. A long bike ride, 50 miles. When we were in Georgia everything was pretty flat. In PA nothing is flat or straight. The bike ride went up into the mountains and then back. There was also a 5 mile run. They were serving omelets for anyone who wanted them. The entry fees for the run and bike ride were supporting the Lititz fire department. With the goodies bag Vern got a t-shirt, a bag of pretzel sticks, a small bag of goldfish crackers, and a small back pack.



Next Saturday Vern is going to do a half marathon (13 miles) sponsored by the Garden Spot Village. They provide housing and assistance to senoirs in the area. The run is like the bike ride, it goes up into the mountains and turns around and comes back down. There is also a marathon (26 miles). Vern's been online checking the route and found out there are over a 1,000 entered in the 2 races, most are for the half marathon. He may have a little more competition this time. :-) At least he is getting a new supply of t-shirts.

JORDAN'S BIRTHDAY PARTY

Friday night we went to Travis' for Jordan's 10th birthday party. We had such a good time and laughed a lot. It was nice day, so the party was outside. Jordan decided she wanted a water slip & slide. Travis bought 2 bid tarps and staked them out and then put dawn dish soap on them. Then sprayed them with water and the kids went sliding. What fun they had. I think there were 9 kids. Before long they were covered in soap suds. Lynn said it was good clean fun.



They ended the party with angel food cake and strawberries and whipped cream. So good. Oh I forgot we had pizza after the the kids got dried off and had changed clothes. We had so much fun.

LAST LEG

We drove out last leg to Pennsylvania today. We got an early start (7:15 a.m.), so we were at the campground by 1:00. We stopped at Flying J for fuel and had breakfast.



The scenery was great with mountains all around us. The grass was green and flowers coming up everywhere and the trees were budding out. A nice drive. I do a lot of reading on travel days, there isn't much else to do.



Travis stopped by the campground for a short visit and invited us over for pizza tomorrow night. I haven't had really good pizza since we left Iowa.

TRAVELING

Sunday we left Lake Park and started our trip north to Pennsylvania. We spent Sunday and Monday nights in Anderson, South Carolina. Tuesday we left Anderson and drove to Stuarts Draft, Virginia. We will spend Tuesday and Wednesday nights here and leave Thursday for PA. We'll stay there until the end of April. We need to be at the Ledges by May 1st. We spent a lot of time driving in the mountains today and the scenery was great. We are camped at the base of the Shenandoah Mountains.

RUNNING

Vern has been doing a lot of biking and running this winter. This morning he ran a 10K (6 miles) race in Valdosta. He said there were around 200 runners and he finished 41st over all. He was 1st in his age group, 60 - 69. Way to go Vern!!!!!!!



He has already been checking out races for when we're in Pennsylvania. I think he found one for every weekend we're there but he's only planning on doing one race while we're there and that's on April 10th. I think he has also found a couple of bike rides. We also have Jordan's and Devon's soccer games. Busy Saturday mornings, but what fun with the family. I hope they still have the warm temps they've been having. It always seems to be cool and rainy when we're there in the Spring.

PRODUCE FARM

We went for a couple a drives this week to check out the produce farms. We had seen them planted earlier, so we wanted to see if things were coming up. Some fields didn't show any sign of plants coming up, but others were turning green. We weren't sure what was coming up, to far
away to tell. Some fields had a short stalk that had been there all winter and they had new green shoots coming out.



The field of cabbages we had seen several times has disappeared. In the last week or so they have been picked. We almost drove by the field, before we realized it was the cabbage patch. It would have been neat to see how they harvested the cabbage.



We were in Wal-Mart yesterday getting a few groceries. We were checking out the produce when I saw some packaging from a Lake Park produce farm. There were mustard greens, collard greens, and some others. Not something I would buy.

SMOKEN-PIG

Friday night we went out to eat at a restaurant we had driven by a few times and the parking lot was always full of cars. I told Vern that must be a good sign that the food was good. The restaurant was called Smoken-Pig Bar-B-Q. We went early to beat the crowd. We got there just after 4:30 and got right in, but by 5:00 there was a steady stream of people coming in. The meal I got was a combo, you had a choice of two meats (chicken, pork, beef, ribs), two sides, (baked potato, sweet potato casserole, sweet corn, corn on the cob, other veggies), salad bar, and dessert bar, all for $12.99. I only ate about a 1/3 of the meat, but it was so good. It is definitely a place we would go back to.

LEAVES

I woke up this morning listening to rain drops on the motor home. Wrong! I was listening to leaves drop. It's not the first time this has happened. It is so strange to see leaves changing colors and falling in the spring.



We went by a church today that had at least 30 trees that were flowering. All the flowers were white, but it was really pretty. Because so many trees are leafing out and the flowers coming out the pollen count is high. I can tell, my eyes have been irritated and the sneezes. I don't think it is going to get any better for awhile. We'll probably get the same thing when we get to Pennsylvania. Maybe by the time we get to Iowa it will be better. :-)

SIGNS OF SPRING

For the last 3 or 4 weeks we have been watching the signs of Spring. Some of the trees have red buds on them and some have green buds. In the last week the leaves have been popping out. One tree has green leaves and the next one have red leaves. Then the next tree the leaves are turning yellow and falling off. I told Vern it looked like it was snowing leaves. The magnolia trees are blooming and some other trees are in bloom. Those trees are so pretty. Last year we went through spring 3 times -- in Georgia, Pennsylvania, and Iowa. We'll see how it goes this year.



Another sign of Spring here is the sports here. The high schools and colleges are playing soccer and baseball and softball. We went and picked up a few groceries the other night and a couple of boys were in the store in their baseball uniforms. February and March and they're playing baseball!!!! On the news they said one team had all ready played 22 games.



Its starting to warm up to normal temps. 60s and low 70s for highs and upper40s and 50s for lows. Not soon enough for me. Someone told Vern you wanted to be gone by the first of May, because it is starting to get hot. Good thing we are leaving for Pennsylvania the end of March. Will be in PA until the end of April and at the Ledges by the first of May.

SATURDAY BIKE RIDE

We woke up to 32 degrees and sunshine with a high forecast to be in the low 60s and no wind. We hoped it turned out that way because, Vern had a LONG bike ride planned for the day. -- 77 miles -- It started at 8:00 a.m., so Vern left the motorhome a little after 7:00am. The ride was through two county's on county roads and a little on major highways and is part of the Azalea spring festival in Valdosta, GA. There were about 120 riders. There were sag wagons and several aid stations, with fruit, water, gatorade, PBJ sandwiches, and energy bars. Vern was able to refill his water bottles and get snacks.



Vern said it would take him about 6 hours to ride the route. That gave me 6 hours to myself. I had a lazy couple of hours and then got a box of material out that needed pressing. I spent the next 3 hours ironing. Not a lot of fun, but it needed to be done and is easier to do when Vern isn't around. I have material all over the table and counter. I got a lot done, but still have a little more to do.



Vern was back before I expected him. He said he pushed it a little harder than he had planned on. He said his ride time was 5 hours and 20 minutes. He was tired when he got back. I can't quit figure out why. :-) Vern said the total was actually 79 miles by his bike computer. He said he wouldn't be doing that long of a ride for awhile. Maybe RAGBRAI?

SHIPS

Friday morning when I got up and checked for ships, I couldn't believe my eyes. There were 3 cargo ships sailing. Before we went to breakfast the ships were just entering the water way. When we got back we couldn't see them. We finished packing and decided to drive by the harbor to see if one of the ships was getting ready to unload. No luck. They hadn't even gotten into the harbor area yet. We talked about waiting for awhile, but decided not to. Who knew how long it would be before the ships were brought into the harbor.



On the drive home we went by a campground that has a lot of potential. It had a good sized lake and most of the sites were around the lake or within viewing of the lake. It also had an on site restaurant. The negative was it was next to the interstate. We'll do more research before next winter. You never know where we'll end up next winter.



Back at the motor home the first thing we noticed was the tree that dropped it's branch on the car was gone. KOA had trimmed and cut down 10 trees. I guess having a branch fall on a car got them moving on the problem.



Vern went for a bike ride this mooring. He's training for a 77 mile bike ride this Saturday. More on this later. Next weekend he's going to run a 5K race during the Azalea Festival. It's sunny today and the temps are to get in the mid 60s so Vern is going to golf this afternoon. It has been rainy and cold, so he hasn't been able to golf much. I'll have the afternoon to myself. :-)

RV SHOW

Thursday was cold and windy and you didn't really want to be outside. We didn't have anything planned for the day, so we decided to go to Jacksonville to a RV Show. We hoped most of the exhibits were inside. Well, about a 1/4 of the exhibits were inside. We saw RV's priced from about $17,000 to over $600,000. We were walking and going up and down stairs for over 4 hours. One of my favrates was a 5th wheel that put the living area in the upper level and the bedroom at the back. It made the living area separate from the galley area. The bad thing with the 5th wheel is the galley cabinets. They are so high I can hardly reach the bottom shelf.



Vern had his DMACC jacket on today and while we were looking at a RV, someone came up and said "Des Moines Area Community Collage" jacket. We both looked around at this guy and he said he was from Des Moines. We all laughed and said it was strange to see someone from Iowa there, let alone someone from the same area. Small world.

CARGO SHIP

On Wednesday when I got up it was cloudy and gray outside. Rain was in the forecast. It waited until late in the afternoon to rain. It was cold and windy all day. We didn't do much all day. Vern did go for a bike ride in the a.m. I went down for breakfast and chatted with some of the other guests about the weather. One couple was on there way to Maine and hoped the snow storm would be over before they got there. We also talked about Iowa weather. I hung out in the room until Vern got back.



The first thing I do in the morning is check for ships on the horizon. Wednesday morning there was one out there. I watched it move closer to shore for awhile and then went and had a shower. When I checked it again it was starting into the channel between Florida and Georgia. This one moved in faster than the others had. That night we went out to eat at a restaurant on the harbor. Our table looked out to the port of call and there sat the cargo ship I had seen come in that morning. They weren't unloading anything, but it would have been neat to see how they did that.



Thursday morning when I checked on ships, there going out to sea was the cargo ship. What a surprise. There were also 3 fishing boats going out to fish. There was also a ship way out in the ocean and the only thing I could see was a smoke stack. I hope I get to see another one on Friday.

OCEAN

On Monday we drove to Fernandina Beach, Florida, on Amelia Island. The drive wasn't the greatest. It started raining about 9 a.m. and didn't stop until about 5 p.m. We got here about 2:00. Our hotel room looks out over the Atlantic Ocean. The first thing we did after unpacking was take a nap. Well, I guess I took the nap and Vern watched the Olympics and was on his computer. After I got up we went looking for a place to eat. We found a restaurant called Barbara Jean. (I have a sister named Barbara and another one whose middle name is Jean. I think we made a good choice.) The restaurant over looked a marsh and the huge bridge that connects the island to the mainland. Great view!!!!! After we ate we drove around the island to check the area out and see if there were any changes from when we were here about 10 years ago.

What a view of the sunrise we would have had from our room, except for the fog this morning. We couldn't even see the water and it is a block away. Maybe tomorrow, but it is supposed to rain. Well I guess there is all ways Thursday or Friday. After breakfast the fog had cleared some so we went for a walk on the boardwalk. After a couple of blocks we walked down to the beach and walked. There were a lot of people walking on the beach. The galls were flying around and making a lot of noise.

After our walk we drove to Fort Clinch State Park. After paying our $6 per car fee, we drove to one of the campgrounds and checked it out. All sandy sites and it had it's own boardwalk to the beach. Then we checked out the fishing pier. We walked out to the end of the pier and watched some of the people fishing. We didn't stay there to long. I can only be around the water so long. After listening to the waves crash against the reef it was time for me to get back to dry land. It was much better when I had beach on one side and water on the other. Most of you know I don't like water, so walking on the pier was a big thing for me. Our walk out and back took about 35 minutes. We figured the pier was about a half mile long. I got my walk in, a mile on the pier and 20 minutes on the beach. We then went and checked out the other campground. It had 40 sites and is on the Amelia River and surround by trees covered with Spanish Moss. To me it looked dirty. I'll take the Ledges any day.

When we were walking on the beach this morning we saw a white spot in the distance and figured it was a boat of some kind. It didn't seem to be moving. While we were on the pier we could still see the boat, but it still didn't seem to by moving. After we had lunch (the restaurant was on the beach) we could see the boat and it seemed to be moving a little closer. After we got back to our room it was time for me to take a nap. I walk, but not when the sun is shining and the temps are in the mid 60s. When I got up the ship had moved in a lot closer. It was some kind of cargo ship. It was making its way into the water way between Florida and Georgia. It would have been neat to be on the pier then, because it would have went right by us.

THUNDER

A couple of weeks ago we were getting groceries at Winn-Dixie when we heard thunder. We looked at each other and wondered what was gong on. We were in the produce section and they were getting ready to mist some of the produce. A warning to take a step back out of the way so you didn't get misted also. Now when we here the thunder we say it's going to rain on the produce. It's kind of cool. More stores should do this, kids would really like it, or they would get scared. Maybe not such a good idea. I did see one Mother take her kids up close so they could put their hands in the mist.

EXTENSION CORD

We went for a ride, so Vern could show me something he had seen on a bike ride. It was a really long extension cord. You're probably thinking, big deal an extension cord. Well, this extension cord went across the front yard of a house, then across the road and up a power poll and attached to a black cable. Back to the extension cord in the yard, it was attached to a black cable that ran to the house. Vern thought the extension cord was attached to a cable TV line. I guess they didn't want the expense of running the cable underground. Vern said he had seen a couple of other houses the same way. We never know what we're going to see here.



Vern went for a bike ride today and saw a produce field that had been covered in sheets of plastic, so we went for another ride, so I could see it. The field was huge and part of the field was all ready planted with something. We hope it comes up before we leave so we can see what it is.



We saw another field with huge heads of cabbage, acres and acres of cabbage. Most of it was green, but there was some purple cabbage. You never know, you could be getting Georgia cabbage.

BIKE RIDES

Vern rides his bike at least a couple of times a week. He changes his routes all the time. A couple of weeks ago he did a new route and came back telling me he had something to show me. We went for a ride later and we went by two produce farms. Not much was happening now, but there were places where some fields had all ready been planted. Some of the fields where sand and I wandered what could be grown? We know that sweet potatoes grow in sand, but I can't remember what the other things were.



When we got here in November we drove by a field of tomato plants with tomatoes still on the vine. Not something you see in November. We went by the same field a couple of weeks later and there was still tomatoes on the vine. It made me want to stop and pick some fresh tomatoes. Oh sounds so good.



We still see some produce stands in parking lots selling fresh produce. I'm not sure what they are selling, but some of it is rutabaga.

WINTER STORM

Iowa and Pennsylvania have snow for there winter storms. In Georgia they have rain for winter storms and we had one on Friday February 12th. The rain woke me up about 4:00 a.m. and rained until about 8:00 p.m. It was a steady rain all day. The weather man said the rain should clear out about 5 or 6:00 p.m., boy was he wrong. The high for the day was 39*, cold for here. The average high is 60* and the low is 40*. If we had been about 20 miles north we would have had some snow. We were told it has been 20 years since they had snow in Lake Park.



I had a good book to keep me busy, watched some TV, and of course I took a nap in the afternoon. I had to keep busy some way. Vern spent a lot of time on his computer.

PHONE CALL

Tuesday afternoon Vern went for a bike ride. There was a rail to trail bike trail that he rode on. He rode out 16 miles and then back. He was gone all afternoon. I did some reading, worked on my valentines, took a nap, and some more reading. Great afternoon.



That evening my phone rang and it was my sister Linda. We talked for a bit and I told her we were in Tallahassee. She said she was glad she called me Tuesday, because they were in Mississippi and were going to drive to Lake Park to see us. A change of plans, they drove to Tallahassee Wednesday afternoon for a quick visit. We had a great time catching up, going out to eat and getting back to the hotel in time for the cocktail hour. The best was the warm from the oven chocolate chip cookies. We met again for breakfast Thursday morning. Linda and Jerry left to start their trip back to Iowa and Vern and I did a little shopping and then drove back to Lake Park.

MUSEUM of FLORIDA HISTORY

Monday we went to the Museum of Florida History. It is in down town Tallahassee in one of the State buildings. When we got there we had to sign in at the security desk and get a visitor pass to wear. When we got downstairs to the museum we had to sign in again. We watched a short film on the history of Florida and then started our tour of the the museum.



There were displays on the origins of the people of Florida, from the ice-age Paleoindians to the later native groups. The exhibit included a mastodon skeleton and a diorama of an Indian village from 1450. There was cargo from two Spanish shipwrecked plate fleets from the 1700s. There were exhibits from the twenty-year era when Florida was under British rule. There were exhibits of Florida during the Civil War the 20Th Century Forestry and Agriculture and early transportation.



My favorite was in the transportation display -- a Model T Ford Tin Can Camper. It was something else!!!!! They would remodel the trucks into campers with sheets of tin and travel in them and eat out of tin cans. -- tin can campers. It was neat how they made beds. If you've never heard of them (like us), try to do a web search and look at one.

TALLAHASSEE

For the last couple of weeks we have been planning a trip to Tallahassee. We left Sunday afternoon and drove an 1 and 1/2 hours through pine trees and more pine trees and more pine trees to Tallahassee. Pine trees are a major crop here.



Our hotel has complementary hot breakfast and a complementary cocktail hour. (soda, wine, beer, party mix, and fresh baked chocolate chip cookies)



Today we drove to the Gulf of Mexico. (35 miles from Tallahassee) A lot of water and sand. It was nice to look at, but I wouldn't want to be out on the water.



The neatest thing we saw were the houses on stilts. They were 10 to 15 feet in the air and then 1, 2, or 3 stories high. These houses were right on the water. It might be a nice place to live, but I wouldn't want to be there in a storm and defiantly not in a hurricane. There was a campground right on the water also. No way would I camp there.



Monday we went to the museum of Florida History, but will tell you about it in another blog. Wednesday we're going shopping and to an old mission. Will tell you about it later.



Wednesday we're getting a surprise visit from someone. You'll have to wait and see?????????

CORN FIELDS

Earlier this week we went for a drive to check out some routes for Vern to ride his bike on. We were in Florida and started to see fields with cattle. A lot of cattle. I had just commented on the cattle when I saw a corn field, then another one and another one. I bet we saw at least six to eight corn fields. I didn't think Florida would have cornfields, but I know why with all the cattle.



About a month ago Vern was on bike ride and came back and told me there was something he wanted to show me. We went for a drive and he showed me a bean field. A bean field in Georgia!!!! Who would have thought. The strange thing was that it hadn't been combined. It was ready, past ready. We went by it a week or so ago and it still hadn't been combined. We couldn't figure out why it hadn't been combined. You never know what we'll find on our drives and Vern's bike rides.

HAPPY NEW YEAR

Hope everyone had a Happy New Year. We had a quiet day and didn't do anything. Just laid around and took it easy.



Saturday didn't go the way we planned, because I did something dumb. First I slept late, not a bad thing, just not the way I planned. I was going to do my laundry and while the clothes were washing I was going to the office for breakfast. When I was done we were going shopping. Vern had a gift card from Target he wanted to spend.



By the time I got to the laundry room, someone was already there and both washers were in use. -- 2 washers are broken and waiting to be fixed -- I had to wait a 1/2 hour for the washers. I went to the office and had breakfast and talked with the staff until the washers were done. I finally got the laundry started and went back to the office and checked out the books in the book exchange and looked at a magazine. Went back and got the laundry in the dryers. I went back to the motor home to wait for the dryers and talk to Vern, he was back from his jog. After about 40 minutes I went back to the laundry room to check on the clothes. (the dryers run for about 50 minutes) (Now for the dumb part.) The clothes were still wet, I forgot to push the start buttons on the dryers. How dumb or forgetful can you get. Even though the dryer didn't run the timer did. When I did push the start button I had about 7 - 8 minutes dry time. I had to use another $1.25 to dry and wait another 50 minutes for the dryer. I bet that never happens again. Vern said he has done that before, but caught it before he left the laundry room.



We finally went shopping about 12:30. The traffic on I-35 was heavy going both north and south. We decided some of it was travelers headed home and people headed for bowl games. There will probably be a few Iowa cars headed for Miami for the orange bowl game on Tuesday.



Everyone take care and have a great day. Love to you all.