Happy New Year!!!!

We ventured away from the Rancho to spend the New Year with our girlfriend in Kissimmee, FL. We will be here for about five days.

Oops Go to run, I’ll finish later. The revelers are calling me back and after all, it is New Years Eve!!!

Gettin’ Ready for the Fat Man!

We are sittin’ here at the ‘Ole Hacienda’ tryin’ to prepare fer the holiday comin’ up. We’ve had company on and off since we came home, friends from Canada, more friends from Canada and more friends from Canada. Right now we’re done havin’ supper fer folks fer a while, just us to feed.

Before our last guests arrived with their two little ones Linda figured I should put up some Christmas decorations. We have several inflatable decorations that are a wiz to put up. I broke out the Santa and a frosty and got ready to decorate. I inflated Santa, then staked him to the ground, I had quite a time getting him to stand up, but in the end I succeeded. Next came Frosty’s turn. I inflated him, but he wouldn't stand erect, and after fighting with him, he went back in the box. Santa stood in the yard for several hours, but shortly before our company was to arrive, I found him bent at the waist picking weeds in the yard. So much for Christmas decorations, Santa went back in the box! Dinner went fine and we enjoyed visiting, see you in Canada in the summer.

Our friends Susie and Ron, invited us to a Christmas party at their ranch in Winter Haven, the weekend before Christmas. Of course we took them up on their offer and loaded up the Lance on the truck. We headed out Saturday morning planning on staying in a day are two with them. They have ample space and several RV hookups.

We we arrived at their place and Ron met us, we parked the Lance, got hooked up, and went to see Susie. She was all prepared for the evening's festivities.

Ron was overseeing the cooking were of one of their hogs for the party. The gathering started at 5:00 PM, and the guests had food & goodies galore. We partied until midnight, then called it a day. We had a wonderful time. Sunday morning we had a light breakfast in the camper so was not to burden Susie and then we visited for several hours. Afterwards Linda helped Susie clean and consolidate all the leftovers. We decided to let Ron and Susie rest up and rather than stay, we went on down the road.

Rather than heading back to the hacienda, we gave George and Della a call in Sebring. We told them we were about 40 minutes away, and they said, “Come on”. We arrived at George and Della’s home and after lots of hugs and handshakes we got the Lance parked, leveled and hooked up. We visited with them for the rest of the afternoon and then started to prepare dinner. We had a wonderful dinner of spicy chicken breasts and shrimp. After dinner it was more visiting, and showers and bed.

Monday brought us together over wonderful breakfast. Then George and I removed of built-in shelf in their wall unit to accommodate a new television they had purchased. After looking at the space we created it was decided a trip to ‘Wally World’ was in order to see if we could find a larger TV. They decided to keep the TV that they had bought as they got such a good deal on it. After returning home George and I setup the TV, and we had to give it a good test. We watched it awhile, napped a little and it seemed to work fine. Monday's fine dinner was cubed pork steak, mushrooms stuffed with crab meat and asparagus, Um,Um Good. The rest of the evening was spent visiting.

Tuesday morning after another great breakfast , we did some shopping, and Linda and I were able to find were a laptop computer for our granddaughter’s Christmas. George and I went to a local RV dealer and checked out some fifth wheels. Nothing to exciting so we went back home. In the early afternoon we decided to head on down the road. But we had one more stop to make, Linda's cousin has a winter home in Avon park, only about 15 minutes away.

We packed up for Avon, searching for a place we’ve never been. Our street atlas program took us right to their house. They were glad to see us as we were to see them and we visited for a few hours before venturing off on the golf cart to see the park where they live. It’s a beautiful park manufactured homes on one side and RV Park on the other, all on a beautiful lake. After our tour we went out for a late lunch/early dinner, then back to their place. We talked a while more then said our goodbyes and we were on our way home.

We had a wonderful four days visiting with our friends and relatives. We hope to see you all again soon.

We hope to see you down the road as we’re;

Dancin' on the Wind

Trudgin’ threw the Chores !

Been a while since I done any bloggin’, cause we been like a ‘One arm paper hanger’ gettin the ole Homestead in order. Lots and lots ‘o’ things to do.

Well lets see if I can bring ya up to date. We got home and spent the next two days cleanin’ house, cause the plane fact it needed it and Cousin Bonnie & Scott were comin’ to visit. They came on a Thursday, got here just before noon so we had lunch, visited all day had supper and visited some more before they headed back to Ft. Lauderdale, where they were stayin’. We had a great time visitiin’ with them on our ‘home turf’ for a change. Thanks fer comin’, Love you guys. I sent Scott home with 8 graphic audio books that Linda and I have enjoyed listening to back and forth across the country. Scott is somewhat of a western fan, like me and drives over the road so I thought these would entertain him while he travels.

Once we were alone again it was time to tackle the hay field. For the next week or so we cut and raked, trimmed trees so’s I could get under them with the mower or weed eater. After the first mowin’ the cuttin’s were so thick I had to rake, as the mowers kept boggin’ down and wasn’t cuttin’. Then I washed the truck camper and spent two days washing the 5ver, it was green from dirt and mold. Now I have to figure what comes next for the 5ver, some of the graphic stripes are peelin’ and need to be removed, the bedroom slide needs worked on, I have two areas of delamination to repair, moldings to replace, chaulking to change and it needs waxed.

Oh yeah we came home to find our daughter in the hospital and after a week they decided to remove her Gall Bladder. Then she came home to Mom & Dad to recuperate for two weeks.

This weekend was Ashley, our grand daughter’s 14th birthday and she wanted to have a party here. Oh Boy, More Fun! The party went well. Hamburgers, potato, macaroni salads, baked beans, cake and ice cream. We had a bonfire in the back acre and I think that might have been the driving force behind wantin’ to party here. There was teenagers everywhere, in & out and in & out, etc. I think Ashley had a good time as well as the other ‘kids’.

Today is Sunday and everything is quiet, everyone has gone home and Linda & I are once again by ourselves, her at one computer, me at another. It’s so quiet, it’s wonderful. I guess we really do enjoy each others company, that’s what enables us to survive in a truck camper for 3-5 months without killin’ one another.

Linda & I talked alot about sellin’ this house while we were gone these past months, prayin’ that this slump will pick back up like the stock market has, but it doesn’t look like it.  I spoke with a friend about maybe puttin’ our house up for sale but was advised that unless we were willing to take a rock bottom price for it we should wait. Hearin’ that I guess we’ll wait. Buildin’ this house was my dream, gettin’ away from suburbia and cookie cutter housing. I always said that it would be a big part of our retirement and we had always planned on selling it, but I have a lot of ‘blood, sweat & tears’ in this construction and I aint’ given’ it away!!!  So here we are, traveling when we want or as family and visiting friends allow us to. Both of us want to be rid of the ties of this house and property, but that will have to wait for now. I never thought I would have any problem selling this property for a good profit, but all that has changed for now. Our old house we sold for over $200K, four years ago. Houses in that neighborhood are sellin’ fer $32-50K. New homes that sold locally in ‘05 at $550K are now at $189K. So we wait, no need in gettin’ in a hurry now.

I think today will be a lazy day and we’ll just relax before we start to clean house again and get ready for the next visitors from Canada for Thanksgiving.

Well I got to go do some more chores and get my mind wrapped around somethin’ else fer’ now. Be seeing ya soon.

Dancin’ on the Wind.

The Last Hurrah !!

Well we got up this mornin’ had a lazy breakfast then got unhooked, dumped our tanks and settled up with the park for our stay. Funny but when we used to travel the closer we got to home it seems the faster we moved, being anxious to return home. Now it seems the closer we get the more I want to turn around and go somewhere new or different. If it wasn’t cause I had to renew my Commercial Drivers license at the drivers license office, we wouldn’t be here now. Well at least the weather is still nice, 59degrees. That’ll due just fine for early mornin’ temps. By early mornin’ I mean 8:30ish, no need to rush into anything. We took a walk around the park one more time and then it was ‘On the road again’.

We got thru Lakeland, stopped for fuel in Lake Wales, still headin’ east. Between Lake Wales and Yee Haw Junction, (ya’ll like that name, Yee Haw Junction, sounds like a rodeo or country music capitol, It’s Not), the temp started risin, 80, 85, 90, 95 degrees. What the H_ _ l is goin’ on here. Stopped at Wally World comin’ into Vero for some groceries and that thermometer was stuck on 95 degrees. I want to go away, wah, wah, wah. I don’t like it this hot, this is what I left at the beginnin’ of July. Oh well got things to do, and company comin’ fer Turkey day, so I guess we’ll have to put up with it fer now. I got a hay field to mow that’s gonna take me days to get cut down so’s the homestead is lookin’ proper come time the company comes.

Well that’s all fer today. Hope to see ya’ down the road as we’re;

Dancin’ on the Wind.

Almost there!!

We left Swuannee River Rendezvous headin’ south & east movin’ closer towards home. We headed easterly on Hwy 20 to High Springs, turned south on US 27 to Williston, then picked up US 41. Our destination today was Dade City, a Carefree Resort, Citrus Hill RV Resort. Another Passport America participating park. We’ve stayed at other Carefree Resorts before and found them quite, clean and accommodating.

We arrived at the park to find no one at the office, of coarse silly, it’s Sunday. The manager came over and showed us to a site and we told her we’d square up with her in the morning. Nice park, mostly Park Model trailers intermingled with RV’s. We paid $14 for a full hookup site, which was great as we could dump before we leave for our final leg of our trip home and eliminate making an extra stop at Flying J to dump.

We setup and took a walk around the park to check it out and for some exercise. The weather is still cool and comfortable which surprised us hearin’ about the heat wave they’ve been havin’ fer weeks. Tonight the weather guesser is sayin’ low 50’s, Wonderful.

Well not much else new. I’m still not up to feelin’ normal yet but I’m hopeful.

Hope to see ya down the road as we’re;

Dancin’ on the Wind.

Drawin’ Closer to Home

Left the Gulf Coast this mornin’ headin’ ever closer to ‘Home Range’. Took FL 20 east, great road, a few small towns, no traffic. Turned south on US 27 after passin’ the Tallahassee area, headed around the ‘Big Bend’ of Florida. Our destination today is Mayo, FL, a Passport park named Suwannee River Rendezvous. Found them listed on Passport America’s website and we’re gonna see what it like. When we reached Perry we were back on FL 20 again , next stop, The Rendezvous.

We arrived to be pleasantly surprised at the beauty here at this park. The grounds are covered with giant Live Oak trees, creatin’ a beautiful canopy, not your typical ‘awnin’ to slide’ commercial park. When we went to the office we were greeted by the owner Susie. She was surprised that we were inquirin’ about Passport in that they had just enrolled with them last week. So we were their first Passport America customers to come thru the door. We talked and talked, Susie’s husband Frank came up and we talked some more. Seems they were in Alaska in 2007 same as us, and we talked some more. Didn’t want to but we broke away from conversatin’ and went to find our site. Not too shabby, $11, full hookup and right on the Suwannee River. They’re regular rates are nothin’ to sneeze at $15 fer water & electric and $17.50 fer full hookup.

Here’s our site

Couldn’t resist this shot of the Suwannee through the trees

The rest of the day was pretty lazy after after the long drive/ We settled in and had some supper watched a little TV, did some internetin’ and read till I drifted off too La La land.

Saturday we awoke had a lazy coffee time and breakfast. Then it was out to explore this nice rustic, wooded park on the Suwannee river. We met some folks camped out in front of us, one couple was from Georgia and the other was from Jacksonville. They been comin’ to this park fer 25 years and said the new owners were takin’ much better care than the previous ones and had made a lot of improvements. Somehow we got on the subject of Passport America and we left them our directory to look over while Linda & I explored further. The park has an eight unit rental in the center under the oak hammock and another four units right on the river along with a couple of single cabins. I guess they get a lot of Scuba divers explorin’ the spring that lies just north of the office cause there were signs about asking to keep your wet scuba gear outside.

This is the eight unit rental

This is the four unit rental that backs right up on the river

Here’s Linda by the spring behind the office

If you look real careful like ya can see a small piece of orange tape at the top of the picture on the second tree from the right, I almost cut it off in the picture. That’s where the river crested this spring at almost 45 feet above flood stage, which is 29 feet. They’re website has more info on the spring & pictures of the flood.

I’ll tell ya I’ve lived here in the sunshine state fer 37 years and we always seemed to have adequate rainfall and lots of water flowin’ in the rivers. The last four years seems like it’s feast or famine when it comes to rain, last year it was dryer than a popcorn fart and you could drive down on some o’ the sandy river bottoms in the northern part o’ the state cause they had ‘NO’ water. We had a big problem with fires and such then this year the Suwannee is 40 feet above normal. Weather pattern sure has changed since them Hurricanes came through in ‘04. I been to Alaska and British Columbia and the Yukon and seen the glaciers, spoke with the locals and read the history regarding the glaciers. I as in WE don’t believe all the hub-bub of ‘Global Warmin’. It’s just a cycle of ole Mother Nature. Them glaciers have been growin’ and shrinkin’ back fer as long as people have been seein’ ‘em. Oh well back on track.

This here’s the Office, Lounge area behind the ‘Springs’

They even have a restaurant that boasts ‘Home Cooked Food, but we didn’t have the opportunity to try it. The lounge area in the office is spacious with many tables, free wi-fi and a big TV. So if you’ve got a hankerin’ fer some time away from the ‘Rat race’ of today’s world and enjoy not bein’ parked on top of your neighbor while drinkin’ in the splendor of ole Mother Nature, then stop by Suwannee River Rendezvous and get ya’ a spot fer a while and recharge your soul while drinkin’ in the beauty around ya’. By all means tell Susie & Frank we said Hi, and we hope to return soon.

We headed back to our site and stopped to pick up our PA directory and of coarse conversate some more with the folks we lent it to. Then it was time we got ourselves movin’ on down the road as this chapter of our wonderful adventure is comin’ closer to an end.

Hope to see ya’ down the road as we’re;

Dancin’ on the Wind.

Movin’ On, an On, an On

We left Mississippi headin’ east for Foley, AL. Today would be a short travel day, mileage-wise, about 85 miles. We’re headed there cause, you-know-who, thinks we should go eat at Lambert’s Cafe. I still don’t feel a hundred percent but I’m not gonna throw a wet blanket on her idea. Lambert’s is the ‘Home of the ‘Throw’ed Rolls’ and the food is quite good. We visited here for the first time last winter after we froze down the Natchez Trace Parkway. You get a goodly amount fer your money and they’s always the ‘pass-arounds’ as well. The ‘pass-arounds are vittles they bring by your table in big stainless pots, servin’ ya if ya want some. This visit they had fried okra, macaroni & tomatoes, black eyed peas, steamed cabbage and the best fried potatoes with onions I have ever eaten, along with all the rolls ya can catch with apple butter and sorgum syrup . Both Linda & I don’t care fer’ okra, but we got to admit the Lambert’s do somein’ to turn even that dish into somethin’ special. Linda had the Chicken Fried Steak at $11.95 and I had Chicken Wings fer $10.95. Sound too high, or just about right. Let’s just say we totted home more leftovers than we had room fer. The Chicken Fried Steak that Linda had left we cut in half to get it in a quart storage bag. Should call it ‘Showshoe Chicken Fried Steak’, we had the leftovers fer supper next night.

Before we did our ‘Dine Out’, we got us a spot fer the night at Bluegrass RV Park in Foley. Passport park, all full hookups, pull-throughs, $10/nite. Nice park, all grass, had some pricey rigs parked around. After Lambert’s we repacked everything so as to squeeze it in the fridge, then we went off to the shower. Then it was TV and lights out fer us.

Durin’ the night that storm started rainin’ on us. Everytime you were woke up from the rain it would stop, then wait a while, then start again to wake ya. Along with the rain the wind was gustin’ pretty good and rockin’ the camper right good. Along around 5 when everythin’ was mellow, the rains really let go. Ya can sure tell you’re back in the south again.

Friday mornin’ we left out headin’ easterly. Our destination today? Easterly! We took US 98 through Pensacola, balked at staying at Big Lagoon State Park, as it was just 10:30 when we passed it. Stopped at another State park along the beach, it was full, telephoned two more State Parks along the beach, there full. Next stop, Topsail Hill State Preserve, looked a lot like a country club goin’ in. Price was $42/nite +tx, at a State park, not in this decade, fer these folks. Down the road we go. This is gettin’ monotonous. Next stop is Grayson Beach State Park, they have one site in the old campground & several in the new one. Soo….. next question, “What is the difference between the two?” Turns out the ‘Old’ one was built in 1968, has water & electric at $24/day, the “Brand New’ one is full hookup at $30/day. “Can we look at what’s available?” The ‘Old’ was wooded, with vegetation buffers tween the sites. The ‘New’ had wide open spaces, fer todays mega coaches. big gravel pads and paved roads. Guess which one we chose? Here’s our site.

The site backed up on the water and by walkin’ down a little trail we had our own ‘Little’ beach.

Across the ‘lake’, you can see the high dunes of the beach.

We ventured over to the beach but didn’t stay too long as we were still on the edge of the ‘Front’ and the wind was blowin’ purty stiff, whippin up the Gulf waters. We’ve been down south further on the Gulf on stormy days but have never seen it as angry as it has been the last few days.

Linda was havin’ fun with the Seagulls

We had the ‘Left-Overs’ fer dinner, relaxed with some TV, I read, Linda, well, let’s just say she relaxed.

That’s all fer this leg of our trip. We’ll see what the future brings us. Hope to see ya down the road as we’re;

Dancin’ on the Wind.

I'm not slidin' I think I've Crashed!!

It's been a rough couple o' last few days. Tuesday started with me being woke up at 5:30am for an immediate call from nature, like right now. My illness seemed to be progressin' rapidly, in the wrong direction. For the next 12 hours I had 8 more 'restroom calls', to put it polite terms. Shortly after a light lunch of cheese & crackers, milk and some Mandarin oranges I started gettin' terrible pain in my upper abdomen. Not cramps that came and went, this was constant pressure pushing up under my sternum. Kind O' scary. But no fever, no achy feelin' anywhere else. Now with all the hype about H1N1 flu I'm gettin' worried. To add to this around 4:30pm, it starts comin' out the other end too.

Now I'm in the bathroom of a truck camper, goin' at both ends, at least I couldn't fall over as weak as I was feelin'. We started for the local hospital once, but after a bathroom bout I felt a little better. Then things went right downhill again. So I told Linda she had to take me to the Emergency Room, I know she was worried.

Now I don't normally run to seek medical attention and I think generally Linda & I are healthy. Well I was doubled up with pain fer 4-5 hours with no letup, so I needed to see someone. We arrived at the Ocean Springs Hospital at around 6pm, which just happens to lie across the road from the park entrance we're stayin at. Thank goodness it was a slow night. I were seen, taken back to a treatment room, given an IV, pain medication and had a EKG in 30 minutes. Then after blood and 'other' samples, we waited fer results. Well the EKG was fine, that's good, and as my pain is subsidin' a bit I fall asleep. I don't think I slept very long but when you're in pain like that you don't have a real grasp o' time.

While the Doc is lookin' at the test results and tryin' to make up his mind about admittin' this ole beaver, my pain is comin' on strong again. He finally comes back in to tell us everything looks good and their gonna send me home. But first their gonna give me some Morphine fer pain, another pain med that works on the abdominal area and a couple of Rx fer abdominal pain and nausea. All he come up with is that there is a bad abdominal virus gonin' around and that's probably what I have. They gave me the Mophine and I started to feel better over the next 20 minutes. Now I have had experience with Morphine when I had chest surgery 30 years ago. This stuff was a lot more mellow as it didn't hit me like a wave of silly, happy, pass out right now drug. I was discharged around 10pm and Linda had to drive to a neighboring town to find a Drug store open to get my Rx filled. I rode along feelin' pretty pain free, but exhausted from the days doin's. I thought about havin' her take me home first, but I didn't want her to have to drive there alone. We returned around 12am and we went right to bed.

I slept all night and awoke to feel much, much better. I had a lite breakfast, don't want to incur the wrath of the virus bugs. I was feelin' pretty washed out so we didn't do too much today and by dinner I'm feelin' like a new man, considerin' where I was yesterday. I did take a looong shower and enjoyed the hot water and steam of this nice campground.

One good thing to come out of this, if anything could be considered good? I think whatever I had has blasted the head cold out of me, as that part is feelin' much better also.

Early tomorrow it's supposed to start rainin' fer a few days so we're gonna head out. I loaded the Lance this evening and stowed all our 'outdoor stuff', so we wouldn't have to work in the rain tomorrow.

Here's a shot of our site

Notice: I was talkin' with the ranger this afternoon and she told me that the Fort Pickens Campground in the Florida branch of the park has opened 160 water & electric sites for use. The website states that all the sites are primative with no water even on the park site. This area of the park was hit really bad by Hurricane Ivan as it washed out everything includin' the highway to get there. After the road was finally finished they had issues with the bird breedin' season followed by turtle hatchin' season. So this is a big breakthrough fer us campers. This is only one loop so more sites are to be brought on line soon. At this time it's still, first come, first serve with no reservations till maybe 2010. Here is the link that tells about the new loop opening, Fort Pickens Campground.

Well that's all I can muster fer now. Hope to see ya down the road as we're;

Dancin' on the Wind.

Just tryin' to Recuperate!

We made it to Gulf Islands National Seashore. We're staying in the Mississippi branch called Davis Bayou. It has a nice quiet, little campground with 51 sites. Each site has 20/30/50 Amp electric and water. There is a dump station and restrooms with showers. No reservations needed cause it all first come first serve and at $16 a night is a good bargain. Those with 'Old Age Passes' can stay for half that.

Just can't wait for that day. Seems like I haven't wished to be older since I was a kid. Now that we're retired and doing whatever we want, and can afford, worrying about being older doesn't seem to fit into the equation any longer.

We set up camp removing the Lance from the truck cause we're gonna do some Casino visitin' and maybe try'n to put a dent in some buffets while we're at it. The rest o' the day was spent chillaxin' around camp. Linda was startin' to feel better yet with her cold, mine still seems like it's progressin' but not in the right direction. So we just sat in our recliners readin' and enjoyin the sun.

She had me to call some of the buffets but they weren't offerin' any deals. For dinner we decided to go to Popeyes for some spicy fried chicken, Love that Chicken from Popeyes!! We ordered 11 mixed pieces for $9.99 and we ate all but one, I just couldn't eat Linda's last piece so we took it home.

The rest o' the evening was spent watchin' TV, a little Internet fer me and then off to bed.

Snapped this on the way in today.

That all for today. Hope to see ya' down the road as we're;

Dancin' on the Wind.

Brrr……Headin’ South

We pulled out of Bryson City headin’ south headin’ fer some sun & warmth. Almost every day since we got here it has rained, clouds down around our ears and gotten colder day by day. Linda & I have both picked up a bug, hers is better, mine seems to be gettin’ worse. I can get to be a bear when I’m sick, but I guess it’s got to get worse before it gets better. Maybe some vitamin C from the sun is all I need. When we left Sunday morning there was snow on the mountain tops all through the Smokies. Sorry no pics, cause every time we saw the snow capped peaks, we went around a curve on the mountain roads. Escapin’ the heat is one thing, but we’ve had enough of this COLD to last a while.

Right now we’re headed fer the Gulf Coast in Mississippi to defrost fer a while for we head home. They been havin’ a record heat wave at home, mid 90’s with heat indexes at 105-110. No need to be runnin’ into that to soon. We’re gonna set at Gulf Islands National Seashore and visit some o’ the casinos in Biloxi and try our luck.

This is what we been seein’ fer most o’ the week

We've made it to Meridian, MS tonight and we're doin a Wally World overniter. There were some Passport parks in the area but I decided they were a might too far off our intended route. The weather is still a little on the chilly side soo... we decided we'd just move on down the road a little farther before we called it a day. Well that's all fer today. Maybe the Good Fairy will come by in the night and make me all better again.

Hope to see ya down the road as we're;

Dancin' on the Wind.

Life in the Mountains

Today is Monday and we are headed across the mountain thru the park.
The weather has been up & down. Friday was OK, I worked cleanin’ up branches and hulls from the chestnut trees and burnin’ em. Friday night we had tornado and severe thunderstorm warnings, all we got was some rain , thank goodness.
Saturday started as a rainy day, but cleared off around noon so we went to the local flea markets. A lady Linda worked for many years ago has had a booth here for many years so we visited a little, but she was closin’. We told her we’d come back and see her Sunday. Went home for dinner then some TV and internet. My air card doesn’t seem to work real well here even with the antenna. One minute I have 60% the next 10% signal and there’s a tower right down the road 3/4 mile, if that. I am workin’ off a Verizon network I think but I don’t know why signal varies so much, “Give me Sprint 3G” anytime.
Sunday was a nice day so we went back to the market to see Marret, the woman who owned the beauty shop Linda worked at shortly after we got married. Boy is that ancient history. Linda bought a pair of sunglasses she looked at Saturday. We then stopped at the Harrahs Casino in Cherokee to see if they had any Promo’s goin’ on, No luck. We headed home from there, had some dinner and another excitin’ night of TV watchin’.
As I said we’re goin’ over to Pigeon Forge to shop for unmentionables fer the wife, at Jockey and stop at the Coleman campin’ outlet store. It’s another rainy day so we figured we might as well do this as sit at home. The clouds are on the ground in the higher elevations today but the leaves are showin’ their best colors up there too.

This is Newfound Gap, where we ate dinner the other night
Made it to the ‘Unmentionables’ store and got more than what we came fer. I even got some new jeans and we ate dinner at Applebees, yum…. We also perused the Coleman Camping store and purchased 2 pie irons for makin’ mountain pies. Fueled up at 2.49/gal in Pigeon Forge then headed across the mountain fer home. The fog was lots worse on our return trip tonight.
Well that’s all the excitin’ news fer today. Hope to see ya down the road as we’re;

Dancin’ on the Wind.

Travel plans set in Oatmeal?

We left Maryville at our normal 10:30 – 11:00 early departure time after sayin’ our goodbyes. Made a stop at a Grocery for some vittles and got some great deals. I keep harpin’ “Our freezer Doesn’t have any more room” Then we see 2 filet mignon’s fer $3.30, Porterhouse fer 4-$5, New York strips 4-$5 and a fella just can’t turn down deals like that. So I buy some ice & throw everything in a cooler cause we’re gonna be in Bryson City in a few hours, then I’ll just throw em’ in the freezer there.

Well we got as far as Townsend, TN and we decided that we would drive through the park along Little River Rd. makin’ a stop at the ‘Sinks’ along the way. We fueled up in Townsend fer $2.39/gal and got us a Subway sandwich to split. We hadn’t stopped at the Sinks in a number o’ years so we stopped and ate our lunch. Then we got to walkin’ around and snappin’ some pictures.

 

 

 

A shot of the sinks

 

 

 

 

The rocks around here are jumbled & jagged, with some mighty swift water and it’s hard to get a good angle for a shot.

 

 

 

This is a little closer

 

 

 

After a while we headed done the road again towards home but only made it to Laurel Falls. “Have we ever seen this?”, “Not that I remember” I responded half-heartedly. So guess what?

It was a 1.3 mile walk along steep mountain switchback trails to see this.

Laurel Falls

We sure were thirsty when we got back. I don’t now why we can’t ever remember to take water with us. One o’ these days.

We started out again fer home and made it all the way to Newfound Gap at the crest of the Smokies in time for supper. What a beautiful spot for dining.

 

 

 

 

The view out the back door

 

 

 

 

After our supper with breath-takin’ scenery we started down the mountain towards home, again. About half-way down the subject of visitin’ the Elk at Cataloochee Valley came up. “Are we gonna go over to Cataloochee while were here?” “Well of course we will dear.” “If you recall, last year we caught the end of the ‘Rut’, maybe we should go now.” Well guess where we headed after fillin’ up on water. Ya see the campground lies in the valley about 17 miles off the highway. The last 10 miles are mountain switchback, one lane with turnouts, gravel road. As we headed out in the dark, it sure looked different, and a lot scarier than in the daytime. On our way in we discussed a couple we had met and became friends with two years ago in this campground, jokin’ that wouldn’t it be somethin’ if they were there. As we perused the campground loop we spied their camp.  We drove around the remainder o’ the loop back to the registration board & parked. We then walked the camp with the camp host and finally settled on a site across the way from Danny & Joy, our friends. After we got setup Joy come walkin’ by in the dark with Diane, a friend and said Hey. Still not knowin’ it was us till I asked if she was from Alabama, she looked at us and shrieked. Their were hugs all around and I told her I wanted to surprise Danny. I walked around the back of their camp where he was settin’ by the fire and said” Hey pilgrim do you remember me?’ He was surprised to say the least. Funny thing is as we were takin’ about them being here, they were doin’ the same. We hung out with them the rest o’ the night, then returned to our camp. We’ll see them again tomorrow.

Thursday before we got to eat our breakfast, Diane came over to invite us over for biscuits & chocolate gravy. Linda already had our breakfast made so we ate then went over to sample ‘Chocolate Gravy’. Very good Joy, you can make that anytime were together. They were leavin’ today and we couldn’t seem to keep ‘em, even though we told ‘em, “If you stay we’ll stay, but if your leavin’ we’ll leave to.” Oh well next time we’ll have better coordination in both our plans. Sorry guys, I know I have pictures from our last encounter but I can’t find ‘em.

After sayin’ goodbye with hugs all around, we left for the valley to check on the elk herd. We were a little late as the last group was just headin’ into the trees for the afternoon. We did get a picture of this one bull, he must have been worn out, from chasin’ women, as he didn’t move.

 

The leaves on this side of the park are comin’ on with their colors.

With no elk to watch we left Cataloochee for…. HOME? Just got back to Maggie Valley in time to have some scrumptious wings at a place called Smackers, for a late lunch. Next to the Anchor Bar in Buffalo this place runs a close second. We lucked out as on Wednesday & Thursday they have 25 cent wings so we had some hot & garlic parmesan. We’ll be back next week for more.

Well finally made it to our home in Bryson City where we’ll set for the next week or so, I Think. So that’s all for now from us. We’ll see what the next adventure brings.

Hope to see ya down the road as we’re;

Dancin’ on the Wind.

Goodbye Maryville

After leaving Spring City we ventured east for our next stop in Maryville, TN. We arrived at Amy & Randy’s house around 3 in the afternoon and pulled in the drive. We have not seen Randy in a year but Amy came over the mountain to Bryson City in July. Amy met us at the door and we had hugs all around. Randy was still at work so we visited and she showed us all the changes from remodeling since our last visit. Their house is beautiful and becomin’ more so everyday. Randy arrived home and we all sat down to a dinner Amy had prepared. After eatin’ we all sat down to some serious visitin’ then turned in fer the night.

Monday Randy started in removin’ paneling that he’s replacin’ with drywall in their dining room and kitchen. I figured to lend a hand so he gave me the task of changin’ out the duplex outlets all around the countertop. We did various other little jobs in preparation of drywall. Dinner was spaghetti with meat sauce and Italian sausage by Linda. She also made garlic bread with fresh squeezed garlic, Mmmm… good. After dinner we watched Green Bay battle Minnesota, Amy & Randy are from Wisconsin, so I guess you could say they were Packers fans. Sorry.

Tuesday they took us up to Look Rock Tower, not far from the house. We never cease to be amazed at the the mew sites we find in areas we spent a lot of time. The leaves are just beginnin’ to change here.

Linda & Amy at the base of the tower

Almost at the top

Here’s the view from the top

Another view

While we were up in the tower the clouds started to roll over us, it was kind of spooky.

After visiting the tower, I asked Randy if we could look at the campground that we spied on the way up to the tower. We’re always lookin’ fer a new place to set for a few days. As we’re rollin’ thru the campground, after a much needed restroom break, we come upon this guy slurpin’ up acorns.

Cute yearlin’ bear

Took this from about 80 feet

Ordinarily I wouldn’t get anywhere this close, out of respect for the bear, but this one never paid much attention to Randy & I. He was focused on eatin’ those acorns and fatten’ up for hibernation.

We’ll see what tomorrow brings. Hope to see ya down the road, as we’re

Dancin’ on the Wind.

On the move again

We visited with our dear friends Margie & Odean at their home on Watts Bar Lake in TN. We arrived on Wednesday just in time fer supper. This is the second time we’ve been to their place in as many years. We met back in ‘05 at a campground in FL where we hung out fer the winter, 60 miles from home.

 

 

The view of the lake from the house

 

 

 

 

 

That’s us in the back thar!

 

 

 

After settin’ up we ate then set around palaverin’ fer hours. Then it was time to turn in fer the night. Linda & I retreated to the camper and I surfed the net fer a while. A couple o’ fellow travelers that I follow have had a rough time of late. Howard and Linda Payne of RV-Dreams have had a time with a wheel/axle/brake for the last week. Fixed once, nope, fixed twice, nope, fixed again finally. They just finished a summer workcampin’ stint and are on their way to host their own rally in TX when all heck broke loose for them. Now that y’all are on your way again I’m keepin’ my fingers crossed for ya.

Well Thursday we were up ate breakfast and were off to my favorite used bookstore. The Book Cellar in Crossville, TN is has a great western section, bigger than any I ever seen in a used bookstore, and being a western fiction & fictional history buff I take full advantage. They have a great exchange program where they will give you credit for books brought in at half the value they can resell it for. In other words, exchange two for one on most books, good deal.

Then it was back home for the girls to fix supper and another quiet night at home.

Friday Margie took us to a flea market, no new fleas needed here. For supper we decided to go out for fish. Shoney’s was the choice of our friends and we all opted for the buffet. We were skeptical but it was very good, especially the fish. Then it was back home for some more R&R.

Saturday the girls whipped up an apple pie, blueberry pie, pulled pork barbeque and sliced tomato’s with oil & pesto. We were off to another family reunion. We’ve had a passel o’ them this summer and only two were our family. We drove to Odean’s sister’s and spent the afternoon eatin’ up a frenzy. They had a turkey, two hams, meatloaf all kinds o’ salads and veggie’s as well as the vittles we brought. When the desserts surfaced I was so… full but there was a peanut butter pie that kept callin’ to me so I gave in. We returned home in the evening to talk & visit, cause we’re movin’ on in the morning.

 

 

Good Bye Margie & Odean

 

 

 

Thank You Margie & Odean, your very special people and we hold you close to our hearts.

That’s all for now. Hope to see ya down the road as we’re;

Dancin’ on the Wind.

Jackpot? Naa…!

We left Titusville and headed south in a round about way due to a detour. We were passin’ through Franklin and I said let’s stop and say goodbye to Diane & Denny, just take a few minutes right? Naa… Dennis was there but Diane wasn’t yet and Denny called to find out she was 15 minutes away.  Ok so we can wait 15 minutes. We walked over from the office to the store to have a cup of coffee while we wait. When Diane arrived they asked us to have lunch with them. After some arm twistin’ we agreed. We had some pasta, mine with meatballs and sausage. Diane also ordered enough wings so we could all share. We have also had pizza from one of their other stores about a month ago with them and Linda & I stopped one morning for a breakfast sandwich at a third store. All the food was all surprisingly excellent for a convenience store and I would have to recommend Red Express for a quick delicious bite to anyone.

After lunch we said our goodbyes and were on our way again. Someone decided we needed a new route so we headed west to OH. Stopping at a Flying J just inside OH we fueled up, dumped the tanks, filled the LP tank and added some air to one tire that seemed a little low. I always like Flying J for a propane fill cause they charge by the gallon. So many places now are charging by the size of the tank, no matter how full or empty it is. Just another rip-off!

We then headed south on US11 towards WV. When we reached Wheeling we stopped for the night at Wheeling Racetrack & Casino. After we split a sub from Subway we decided to check out the casino. Most casinos offer some sort of promotional deal if you sign up for a ‘Players Club Card’. Well we signed up and got $10 in free slot money, then started to peruse the casino. We stopped to watch a woman playing, then asked her a question, next thing we were just gabbin’ away. While the girls were gabbin’ I was gettin’ bored so I put my card in the penny machine in front of me and started to play. after gettin’ down to about $1.50 I hit for a decent amount, then hit for a good amount, I cashed out with almost $17. Linda sat at the machine the lady vacated and started to play after losing pretty steady she hit good and she cashed out with almost $11, so together we walked with about $28. Not bad for a stop for some free play. After we cashed out we walked around a little, checked out the dog track and bought a Power Ball ticket each with our winnings. Then we left and returned to the camper for the night.

Tuesday found us headed west then south, then west again. We stopped in Charleston,WV at another casino. This time they had no promotion going so we looked around and left. We stopped at what I call the ‘Feed Bag’, better known to Y’all as the Golden Corral. I call it the ‘Feed Bag’ cause after eatin’ there I feel like I’ve been fattened up fer slaughter. We spent some more of our winnings so lunch was on Wheeling. Then we were on the road again.

Tonight we’re stayin’ at a Passport America park for $12, full hook-up, called Walnut Meadow RV. The folks here seem very friendly and eager to please. The park is fine for an overnighter stop, we’ve stayed in a lot worse for a lot more money.

We’ll see what tomorrow brings for us. Hope to see ya down the road as we’re;

Dancin’ on the Wind.

Goodbye Titusville

Well we’ve completed our last visit and it’s time to start headin’ south towards our Smoky Mountain home. At this point we will probably only take a few days to reach our next destination in Spring City, TN. Our friends Margie & Odean will be surprised and happy to see us as we are to see them.

We stayed at the Big Red Barn at Don & Jessie’s for the last five days and visited with them. One day Linda and I went for a walk down to Drake Well State Park, birthplace of the oil industry, like we usually do. Instead of walking the bike trail that spans between Drake Well Park and Oil Creek State Park, we walked the levee that surrounds Drake Well Park. During our walk we passed all the early drilling, pumping and storage equipment located in the park. They still have pumps working today run by a big one cylinder motor and powered by push rods. If your in the area it is worth a stop to see the park, as it is quite interesting to see the innovative ideas they came up with.

This year is the 150th Anniversary of the discovery of oil and this summer they have had quite a celebration all summer long. When we last were here they were putting the finishing touches on a mural in downtown commemorating the anniversary. It seemed like they went from blank walls to finished in just a few days and it is beautiful.

The Titusville Commemorative Mural

Our days here have been relaxing and we’re ready to “Hit the road” again. Linda & I have slept so well here that we both commented on it this mornin’. One would think being retired and being able to travel that we would have little on minds to wake us or keep us awake. I can’t speak for the other half but I sometimes seem to still think about things that I need to get done, or things we have to squeeze into our schedule. I guess it’s just human nature. Lets hope we continue in this pattern of restful sleep.

Well see what the next leg of our journey brings. Hope to see ya’ down the road as we’re;

Dancin’ on the Wind.

Our Visit Comes to an End

After our “Eatin’ Frenzy” campin’ trip with Diane & Denny we are back at Bonnie’s for a few days. We have some last minute rush visitin’ to try and get done. Linda has a couple o’ girlfriends from her high school days we want to try to hookup with. When we got ‘home’ to Bonnie’s,  Scott’s sister, Sheila, that Linda went to school with back in the day, was visiting with her husband Al. Bonnie had made a wonderful beef stew dinner and after dinner the girls visited, laughed and slashed and cut up on many of their school mates. They were joined by another girlfriend Rosemary around 8 and just kept at it until it was time to retire for the night. Before they broke up Linda & Rosemary made a lunch date for the following day.

 

 

Left to right, Linda, Sheila & Rosemary

 

 

 

Monday, Sheila & Al were headed back home to Michigan, but first they invited us to join them and Bonnie for breakfast. After our weekend “Eatin’ Frenzy” we decided to decline they’re invite and have coffee & toast at home. We’re just to full from the campin’.

Before noon we headed up to Wally world to get an oil change on the truck. We were meetin’ for lunch but we had time to drop it off and it would be all finished when we returned from lunch. We then moseyed on over to Bob Evans for lunch. Rosemary, her husband Don and Bonnie were waitin’ fer us. We had a nice lunch, stuffed again, and a nice visit with Rose & Don. When we left to return to pickup the truck, it wasn’t done, they didn’t even start. Seems they forgot to have me sign some wavier, so they never touched it. So we wait! When we were finally done we left and went to visit Aunt Mary, Bonnie’s mom, for a while. When we returned to home, to Bonnie’s she wanted to know “Where have you been?” I said,”We were visitin’ your Mommy”. She couldn’t say any more. Dinner was next to nuthin’ cause we were all still stuffed!

In the evening Linda went out with Rosemary to visit Rosemary’s mother for a little while, I got to rest.

Tuesday we were scheduled to see Aunt Doris, who was takin’ us to a little country church Linda used to attend when she was just a little shaver. Well the visit took the whole day. We chewed the fat for two and a half hours, then went to the church, then they took us to lunch at a little restaurant called Montana’s. Lunch was delicious. Linda & I both ordered what we thought was an opened face sandwich, since it was two o’clock already,Ha-ha,. Mine came on two pieces of thick cut sourdough and hers on big rye. Boy are we stuffed again, and we have a dinner invite fer 6PM. We got back to Bonnie’s just in time to change clothes and leave for our dinner date.

 

 

The Little Church

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cousin Ron, Aunt Doris, Linda and Doris’ sister Beverly

 

 

 

We met Rose and Craig at a little Italian restaurant, in Oil City, we had eaten at with them on a previous trip. We tried to eat lite, no luck, I feel like curlin’ up like one o’ them rolly-polly bugs. We had a great time and closed the restaurant. Thanks fer’ the great meal and company Rose & Craig. We’ll see ya next trip, unless y’all can make it to FL in the meantime.

Wednesday we loaded the camper on the truck for we are departin’ for Don & Jessie’s before we start our slow trek southward. They been havin’ some heavy rain compliments o’ Mother Nature, in the south so I’ll  have to do some research afore we go runnin’ to far south.

Well that’s all fer now. Hope to see ya down the road as we’re;

Dancin’ on the Wind.

Campin’ with the Cousins - Part II

We are together again with cousin Diane & Denny for another weekend campin’ extravaganza! Linda & I wanted to spend some one on one time with them before we moved on down the road. Not sure when we’ll be movin’ on but we’re talkin’ about meetin’ Jason, our son, in NC nearabouts the early part of October. Still have more visitin’ or re-visitin’ to get done here.  We decided this weekend was a do or die for a campin’ trip with the ‘Campin Cousins’. We decided on the same spot as last time as it’s convenient for them and us and it’s nice and quiet here fer visitin’.

On arrivin’ at Tionesta we stopped for some ice to chill our adult beverages, then went to see the Lighthouse. That’s right I said Lighthouse! Who’d of though, a Lighthouse on the Allegheny River between two dams. We have seen the Lighthouse from the other side of the river several times travelin’ up & down the road and just have not finagled a stop to see it. Of course it wasn’t open today but we still got to walk around it, snap some pic’s and learn the story behind it.

It was built and owned by the Sherman family as a beneficial landmark for the Tionesta community and to serve as a place to preserve the heritage of the Sherman Family. It is 75 feet high, 16 feet in diameter, six floors and a basement, it has a rotating light in the 24 foot tall lantern room at the top. Quite the memorial. The family has erected three more on the shores of Lake Erie.

We arrived at the Tionesta Outflow camping area, and it’s deserted, even the camphost is not here. We set up in the #2 space and after a while decided to get the fire goin’ so’s we can cook chicken on ‘er later. So here we set waitin’ on our campin’ buds so’s we can commence ta’ havin’ a good time.

 

 

They ain’t sqeezin’ em in right now

 

 

 

Diane & Denny arrived around four thirty and we gave ‘em a hand settin’ up camp. Then I chimed up “It’s five o'clock somewhere” and broke out an ‘Girlie Beer’. Good thing we started the fire cause Diane said we needed some appetizers of bacon wrapped scallops, Yum, Yum.

 

 

I could eat these all night 

 

 

 

 

 

Then came the Peach Bourbon Glaze

 

 

 

 

 

Next came the MOJO marinated chicken

 

 

 

After a great dinner we all spent the evening sitting around the campfire. Real close to the campfire cause it got really cold down there in that holler the camp sits in. We finally relented and retired to the campers around 10PM.

Saturday we were awake at 6AM courtesy of the clown with the truck camper in the site next to us. His starter on the truck kept spinning thru and grinding till it finally started. Think he could get it fixed, na…., Here’s your sign.  He arrived Friday night while we were eatin’ our dinner and promptly threw a big bag off firewood out the back door then threw some of it in the fire ring and struck a flare to ignite his fire. It was so appetizing smellin’ all that sulphur eatin’ dinner. Ya think people would have more consideration fer their neighbors. We never saw the guy the rest of the night I think he went to bed.

Since all were up early we had a big breakfast then ran to the Flea Market for some fleas. Lord knows we need some new fleas. I did get a vacuum breaker rebuild kit for the commode in the 5’ver for $5. If it fits I saved myself better than $50, if it doesn’t I’m out the five. We then went back to camp for some pie iron pizzas, yummie.  After a filling lunch we chatted fer a time before Denny said “Do I have to force everybody into the car for ice cream cones?” Not in this lifetime!!! We all piled in the car and we were off for dessert.  There’s a little country store in East Hickory, PA down the road that has the best waffle cones, I had Oregon  Blackberry Cheesecake. Then it was back to camp to prepare fer dinner, whew! Dinner was tube steaks, leftover chicken, baked beans & Linda’s potato salad.

Sunday was a lazy day. Breakfast, lounging, lunch and more lounging, throw in some showers and a walk and that comprised our day till we had to break camp and head for home. We said our goodbye’s and were off back to Seneca.

That’s all I have for now. Hope to see ya down the road as we’re;

Dancin’ on the Wind.

Seneca, PA

Hi! We’re back at Bonnie & Scott’s fer the next week or so minus the upcoming weekend when we’ll be campin’ again with Diane & Denny.

On the way down from Gloria’s we made several stops. First stop the auction at Springville,NY, held every Wednesday. The first time we visited this auction was probably the early eighty’s. They have an livestock auction in a big barn in the afternoon as well as an auction outside in the morning and a flea & farmers market that runs till about 2PM. Last year I bought a series of Graphic Audio CD’s from my favorite western author, William Johnstone, for a measly $10. The Graphic Audio CD’s are more like a movie than a book in that they have all the sound effects associated with the story. I was only able to find one book to purchase, a Johnstone western. The I bought some yummy New York XXXX Sharp cheese. Then we moved on down the road.

When we got to Great Valley, NY we detoured to a yummy little place that Bud & Linda turned us onto called Sandy’s. Last time we were here we all had a fish luncheon that was so good I thought I’d gone ta’ heaven. Today the special was Cheeseburger and fries or potato soup or salad. It was not as good as usual, but I guess everybody has ‘Off Days’. Before we left we bought a loaf of her cinnamon Raisin bread. Sandy makes all of her own bread, muffins, cinnamon rolls & doughnuts everyday and they are Good….

Back on the road again we stopped to fuel up in Killbuck, NY, Diesel at $2.51 a gallon, can’t beat that. We then to Allegheny State Park. Just wanted to drive thru a check out the park. It is really beautiful and as we started to go up, up, up the mountain the fall colors were starting to come on strong. We checked out the Red House Campground and it was nice, sites a little to close together for us.

Down the road to Bradford Linda wanted to stop at the Zippo museum. Zippo has been manufactured in Bradford since the early 30’s, the company gettin’ it start durin’ the depression.  The museum was nice and in the 90’s they acquired another Bradford institution, Case Knives, which are also exhibited in the museum.

 

 

Zippin’ along at Zippo

 

 

 

Yea! we’re here at Bonnie & Scott’s after a trip of 156 miles and only 9 hours on the road with many stops. We’ve only one day here and then it off on a weekend campin’ trip with Diane & Denny.

Well that’s all for now. Hope to see ya down the road as we’re;

Dancin’ on the Wind.

Back in the good ole’ USA

We’re back in the State’s. We did stop at Duty Free to look for some Woody’s pink grapefruit, my new favorite ‘Girlie Beer’. They had some in 4 packs but they were 10 or 12 oz. bottles for $8.99. A little too rich fer this fella! I’ll try to find it when we get back home.

 

 

 

Yummie Stuff!

 

 

 

 

We traveled to our niece’s house in Holland, NY where we will sit for three days or so and visit with them. We timed this visit just right cause Gloria, who normally works Saturdays, was off this week so we spent the day with her, Fred was workin’ on one of the many local farms.

The next three days were spent just visitin’, eatin’ and unwindin’, although the girls did go shoppin’ a couple ‘o’ times. Seems Gloria wants to redo her kitchen and Aunt Linda was the perfect sounding board/advisor. They even got me involved in strippin’ wallpaper off the kitchen one day.

When we were here a few weeks ago  Gloria’s horse Ben was not gettin’ around to good and this visit he had regressed further to the point Gloria had to have him put down. She was pretty upset about that and Linda consoled her as much as possible.Strange how things seem to work sometime in the fact that we were here but left only to return at a time when we were needed here.

All in all we had a great visit. Thank you Gloria & Fred. We wish we weren't so far so we could visit more often.

Next stop is back to PA and Bonnies & Scott’s for a few days.

Hope to see ya down the road as were;

Dancin on the Wind.

Back in the 'Slow Lane'

Yeah team! The last few days we spent with our friends in Ontario were at a more relaxed pace.

Wednesday Wayne and I went to a couple of 'Big Box Stores' for some supplies. He has been replacing the siding on his garage since he has retired and had three sides completed. We picked up some 1x3's, 1x4's, some glue and screws. Returning to the house we measured and cut all the pieces, for the 40' garage, then proceeded to install everything. Whew!!! We worked for a solid two hours straight. I haven't worked that hard in a long time. Just got done in time to clean up then have cocktails. Dinner was at home this evening, followed by chewin' of the fat, then we all turned in.

Thursday Wayne went to work to pick up a truck so's we could make another trip to pick up siding now that the glue had a chance to dry. He returned and we went back to the 'Big Box' for the siding. We had pre-measured and had all the siding cut to length at the store, sweet. After a bite to eat we started puttin' up the sheets o' siding. Glue, place, align & screw, only nine more sheets to go. After two & a half hours we were done, looks like I got in a half hour of OT today. I told Wayne that was going to cost him. In the evening we drove to Kichner so Wayne & Colleen could practice for an upcoming Clogging show on Sunday. Colleen has been a Clogging instructor for many years and holds classes in two cities near them.

Friday was a day of chores, getting ready for a departure on Saturday. Colleen got home from work early today and we went to out dinner at a local restaurant called Kelsie's. Kind of like an Applebee's or TGI Fridays, not bad, but not good either. After dinner we drove over to Duane & Thyra's to say "Thank You" for their hospitality and also "Goodbye" for now. Thyra will be coming to Florida this November for several weeks vacation and we will get to see her then.

Saturday we were up at the crack of 8:30, as usual, for a short travel day. Wayne had to go in to work to check some layout on a job so we had breakfast and got ready to roll. He came back as we were finishing up and started our Goodbyes. "Goodbye Wayne & Colleen, we love you both", and "Thanks again for everything".

Next stop our niece Gloria's in NY for a few days as we promised.

Hope to see ya down the road as we're,

Dancin' on the Wind.