I checked out the calendar today... in about 6 weeks we will be heading south for the winter. I always get excited about leaving, but then come February, I am ready to go home. I miss my kids.
I have started to get some things ready to pack. I don't like the packing in the cold. Most items can not go in till the day before we leave. I am trying to figure out how to take my sewing machine along and fabric. I got a rolling travel case for the sewing machine but I don't know where I can store it in the coach. Hmmmm!
Our fall has been cold. This has been an awful cold October. (14 degrees below normal) Another weird thing about it is that the leaves turn brown and then stay on the trees. What's that all about?
I got a good start on Christmas shopping done. We have Christmas at Thanksgiving with the family. I am still waiting for a list from our oldest son.
Yesterday was our 30th anniversary. WOW! Where oh where did that time go? And did we have fun?
No other boring news here.
Take care
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
Festival
This week end Wausau will host it's 45th annual Festival of the Arts. At Marathon Park we have Art in Park. I think they said over 200 vendors for this event. Crafts that include woodworking, pottery, jewelry and anything else you can imagine. Downtown we have Festival of the Arts. Artist sell their wares. Over 100 artists. A bit more pricey than the park, but still fun. We have also Birds in Art at the Woodson Art Museum. It will be a fun and full week end.
Come join us! So much to see, do and eat!
Come join us! So much to see, do and eat!
The trip
In my last blog I said I would not bore you with details of our summer. I got a comment from Ron and Barbara that I we traveled and I should write about it. OK!
Towards the end of August we ventured up to the north woods of Minnesota. The camp hosts from Fountainebleau live in Gilbert,MN. They had visited us in July and invited us up to see them. We traveled so we would go through Ladysmith, so we could also stop and see Roger and Delores. We also met them at Fountainebleau last winter and then we saw them again at Potter's Creek in Texas. We stopped but they were not home. We did leave a note for them. Since we are rolling in the dough (haha) we decided this trip we would stay at the high class campgrounds. (Walmart) We made it to Rice Lake, found the Walmart, parked for the night. Another man was also parked there. He was in his 80's, traveling with his dog. His wife does not want to travel, so he goes by himself.
In the morning we headed north on Hwy 53 to our next stop... Walmart, Superior,WI.. We arrived quite early in the afternoon. Mel went and asked if it was alright to park for the night, as we always do. We explored the town by car. Also drove into Duluth and did some exploring. We had found a farmer's market so we picked up some vegetables and headed back to the coach. After dinner we rented a movie,Grand Torino, from the Redbox in the Walmart. Good movie. In the morning we got fuel, propane, and dumped our tanks and hit the road. As we driving and about to turn back on to Hwy 2 Mel mentioned that the coach in front of us was really leaning to the right. As that coach turned onto hwy 2 it hit me.. that was Ron and Barbara form the blog I read...."The Road Less Traveled"! WOW! We got into the left lane as they were about to turn right we passed them,and sure enough it was them. I waved but I don't know if they saw it. Onward we went to Gilbert,MN.. This was our longest day of driving,almost 2 hours. Can we do it? We arrived in time for lunch. We stayed at LeRoy and Jess's house for 4 days and had a wonderful time. They took us all over and showed the mining in the area. They both worked at the mines. Jess only a few years but if I remember right LeRoy worked the mines until his retirement. Everyplace we went they were known. Even 50 miles form there house! Jess took us to see her friend, Ila's, flower gardens. Beautiful. They were so beautiful that I forgot to take pictures. Ila gave me some seeds pods form some of her poppies. Thank you Ila. Ila and her husband,Charles, also met us for a fish fry on Friday night. I know one thing for sure... people up in northern Minnesota sure do eat a lot. If they aren't drinking coffee, they are eating. We have never seen nor eaten so much in our whole lives. In fact when we left on Saturday, we did not eat until that night. The day we left them we drove all the way to Ladysmith. Whew! That was a long one. We took a different route back and discovered thrift shops that we stopped at. We spent the night at the Pamida storein Ladysmith. We did not know they had a Walmart. In the morning we stopped back to see Roger and Delores. They were home! Delores just had a knee replacement done. OUCH! She is doing well. We visited for over an hour then headed back home. We probably would of stayed out on the road longer but On Friday I got a call that my uncle had passed out and was in the hospital. He passed out at the car wash. When I went to get his car and keys the lady said he just fell backwards. He cracked his head pretty good. Had stitches. He has a history of heart failure and that is what happened. On Tuesday he had a pacemaker/defibrillator put in. On Wednesday he had to go back in because a wire came lose. He agreed to go to a rehab for a few weeks before going home. I am so thankful for that.
Ok, that was our trip and the excitement that followed. Boring, eh?
Towards the end of August we ventured up to the north woods of Minnesota. The camp hosts from Fountainebleau live in Gilbert,MN. They had visited us in July and invited us up to see them. We traveled so we would go through Ladysmith, so we could also stop and see Roger and Delores. We also met them at Fountainebleau last winter and then we saw them again at Potter's Creek in Texas. We stopped but they were not home. We did leave a note for them. Since we are rolling in the dough (haha) we decided this trip we would stay at the high class campgrounds. (Walmart) We made it to Rice Lake, found the Walmart, parked for the night. Another man was also parked there. He was in his 80's, traveling with his dog. His wife does not want to travel, so he goes by himself.
In the morning we headed north on Hwy 53 to our next stop... Walmart, Superior,WI.. We arrived quite early in the afternoon. Mel went and asked if it was alright to park for the night, as we always do. We explored the town by car. Also drove into Duluth and did some exploring. We had found a farmer's market so we picked up some vegetables and headed back to the coach. After dinner we rented a movie,Grand Torino, from the Redbox in the Walmart. Good movie. In the morning we got fuel, propane, and dumped our tanks and hit the road. As we driving and about to turn back on to Hwy 2 Mel mentioned that the coach in front of us was really leaning to the right. As that coach turned onto hwy 2 it hit me.. that was Ron and Barbara form the blog I read...."The Road Less Traveled"! WOW! We got into the left lane as they were about to turn right we passed them,and sure enough it was them. I waved but I don't know if they saw it. Onward we went to Gilbert,MN.. This was our longest day of driving,almost 2 hours. Can we do it? We arrived in time for lunch. We stayed at LeRoy and Jess's house for 4 days and had a wonderful time. They took us all over and showed the mining in the area. They both worked at the mines. Jess only a few years but if I remember right LeRoy worked the mines until his retirement. Everyplace we went they were known. Even 50 miles form there house! Jess took us to see her friend, Ila's, flower gardens. Beautiful. They were so beautiful that I forgot to take pictures. Ila gave me some seeds pods form some of her poppies. Thank you Ila. Ila and her husband,Charles, also met us for a fish fry on Friday night. I know one thing for sure... people up in northern Minnesota sure do eat a lot. If they aren't drinking coffee, they are eating. We have never seen nor eaten so much in our whole lives. In fact when we left on Saturday, we did not eat until that night. The day we left them we drove all the way to Ladysmith. Whew! That was a long one. We took a different route back and discovered thrift shops that we stopped at. We spent the night at the Pamida storein Ladysmith. We did not know they had a Walmart. In the morning we stopped back to see Roger and Delores. They were home! Delores just had a knee replacement done. OUCH! She is doing well. We visited for over an hour then headed back home. We probably would of stayed out on the road longer but On Friday I got a call that my uncle had passed out and was in the hospital. He passed out at the car wash. When I went to get his car and keys the lady said he just fell backwards. He cracked his head pretty good. Had stitches. He has a history of heart failure and that is what happened. On Tuesday he had a pacemaker/defibrillator put in. On Wednesday he had to go back in because a wire came lose. He agreed to go to a rehab for a few weeks before going home. I am so thankful for that.
Ok, that was our trip and the excitement that followed. Boring, eh?
Monday, September 7, 2009
Time Flies
It has been a long time since I blogged. I am not going to recap our summer. It would just be boring stuff about a whole bunch of nothing.
Today is Labor Day...already. This summer has just flown by. Today is a quiet day. Mel is working on a project in the coach. I did some laundry. John usually comes over every Monday night for dinner. Since it is Labor Day he came for lunch with Sara. I made Italian sausage's, an Italian pasta salad and baked beans. It was so good. I made a compound butter with oregano and thyme. I spread that on the buns and toasted them on the grill. I also had sauteed' onions, green and yellow peppers with mushrooms to put on them. Everything was so good. We had a nice lunch and a short visit. Off they went to do some shopping.
I don't know what I will do for the rest of the day. I do need to get some new plants into the ground, finish going through boxes in the basement for a garage sale in 2 weeks. All that sounds like to much work. I think I will just do a whole bunch of nothing.
Ask your doctor if medical advice from a television commerical is right for you!
Today is Labor Day...already. This summer has just flown by. Today is a quiet day. Mel is working on a project in the coach. I did some laundry. John usually comes over every Monday night for dinner. Since it is Labor Day he came for lunch with Sara. I made Italian sausage's, an Italian pasta salad and baked beans. It was so good. I made a compound butter with oregano and thyme. I spread that on the buns and toasted them on the grill. I also had sauteed' onions, green and yellow peppers with mushrooms to put on them. Everything was so good. We had a nice lunch and a short visit. Off they went to do some shopping.
I don't know what I will do for the rest of the day. I do need to get some new plants into the ground, finish going through boxes in the basement for a garage sale in 2 weeks. All that sounds like to much work. I think I will just do a whole bunch of nothing.
Ask your doctor if medical advice from a television commerical is right for you!
Sunday, July 5, 2009
4th of July
We had a wonderful 4th and we hope you did also.
We were invited up to a friends home on Lake Nokomis in Tomahawk, Wisconsin. We had not seen there new home yet so this was exciting. They have a lovely home. The weather was perfect. Shortly after we arrived 2 other couples came. After introductions the pontoon was loaded with coolers and food and away we went.
Our hosts: Jeff and Patty
We cruised our way around the lake and about half way we docked on a sandy shore and pulled out all the goodies that were brought along. We had enough hord de orves for 20 people! We ate well. The usual cheese, crackers, sausage, ham roll ups and we also had shrimp. Lots of shrimp. Everything was so good. After we packed the food away, we were off again to finish our trip around the lake. We were on the lake for almost 5 hours. We did run into some loonies though.
Our day was finished off sitting out on the deck waiting for the sun to set and then watching the fireworks.
It was very relaxing day and a good time was had by all.
Test of a rose
I trying to add a picture I took and yet add text. this is a test.
I think this may work...finally. Thanks Dee, you are my hero of the day!
I think this may work...finally. Thanks Dee, you are my hero of the day!
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
The fun never ends
We got the results form the ultrasound......nothing! They found nothing. So why is his wind pipe pushed over to the right? We saw the x-ray that started the concern and his trac is diffently push over to the right. SO, now he will have a CT Scan. This just gets scarier the further we go.
It has been raining here since Saturday. I thought it was going to be sunny today. Well, it was for about 10 minutes. I am hoping tomorrow will be better. We have Nova coming tomorrow to wash the house. If it rains then they will come on Thursday. How is that for excitement!! We really know how to live it up.
I have been having problems with chipmunks in my flower beds. We set up a live trap and so far we caught 7 and 1 mole. Gosh, those moles are weird looking things. We have been taking the chippies about 8 miles from here and letting them go. Mel wonders if they find their way back and we just keep catching them over and over. This adds another excitement factor into our lives.
Our gas fireplace stopped working so we had them come to repair it. The guy spent most of his time on the phone with the manufactor trying to figure out what was wrong. After an hour and a half it was decided the board was bad. It has to be ordered and when it comes in they will come out again to install it. This is not gonna be cheap. I wonder.. would it have been cheaper to just buy a new gas fireplace???? Oh, the excitement.
My computer is slowly dying. It locks up and spits and sputters worse than an old hen. So this Thursday I will be off to Best Buy with son John to see what I can get with the 50 cents I have left after getting the house washed, the fireplace fixed and putting gas in my car so I can haul chipmunks away.
The fun never ends! Stay tuned. You never know what we may do to make you jealous!
Stay well, be happy and smile!
Toodles
We'll be friends until we are old and senile. Then we'll be NEW friends!
It has been raining here since Saturday. I thought it was going to be sunny today. Well, it was for about 10 minutes. I am hoping tomorrow will be better. We have Nova coming tomorrow to wash the house. If it rains then they will come on Thursday. How is that for excitement!! We really know how to live it up.
I have been having problems with chipmunks in my flower beds. We set up a live trap and so far we caught 7 and 1 mole. Gosh, those moles are weird looking things. We have been taking the chippies about 8 miles from here and letting them go. Mel wonders if they find their way back and we just keep catching them over and over. This adds another excitement factor into our lives.
Our gas fireplace stopped working so we had them come to repair it. The guy spent most of his time on the phone with the manufactor trying to figure out what was wrong. After an hour and a half it was decided the board was bad. It has to be ordered and when it comes in they will come out again to install it. This is not gonna be cheap. I wonder.. would it have been cheaper to just buy a new gas fireplace???? Oh, the excitement.
My computer is slowly dying. It locks up and spits and sputters worse than an old hen. So this Thursday I will be off to Best Buy with son John to see what I can get with the 50 cents I have left after getting the house washed, the fireplace fixed and putting gas in my car so I can haul chipmunks away.
The fun never ends! Stay tuned. You never know what we may do to make you jealous!
Stay well, be happy and smile!
Toodles
We'll be friends until we are old and senile. Then we'll be NEW friends!
Saturday, June 6, 2009
Stress test
Gosh, I must be busy! It has been a long time since I wrote and so much has happened.
Mel had his pre-op and the next morning the phone was a ringing. Seems his EKG had some glitches in it and the doctors all went crazy. They canceled the surgery and he had an emergency stress test that afternoon. The doctor told me to make sure I went along. Hmmm, I know this routine. I have had friends and family that had that call. During the stress test things go bad and away to the hospital they go. Well, we fooled them.... He did the stress test, although he only made through a little over 2 minutes. We saw the cardiologist after. He was surprised to hear that the surgery was canceled but would not have results till late afternoon. He would call and let us know. The call came and his test was normal. Now if you know Mel I know you are saying WHAT? Well it was normal. Wednesday Mel was on the phone all morning getting his surgery back on the schedule for Thursday. He got it done! Surgery went well, but boy was he a crab that night. I was glad he staying at the hospital. I went up early the next morning. About 11:00 they decided to keep him another night because he had to much blood in his urine. That was the longest day. It seemed to go on forever. He did come home on Saturday and all has been good with the procedure.
This past week we got more calls from doctors. One about those glitches in his EKG. They want to do another test to make sure he has not had a heart attack in the past. His chest x-ray also became a concern. He has chronic pulmonary disease, due to his smoking. Hasn't made him stop yet...darn! The x-ray also showed that his thyroid is pushing into his wind pipe. He had an ultrasound on Thursday and we will see the doc on Monday afternoon. Mel thinks they are out to get him.
I have been staying busy just working around the house. Between housework, laundry, yard work, the flower gardens and cooking I am beat. I spent 12 hours in the yard yesterday just mowing and mowing , oh and mowing, weed whacking, working in my flower beds and finished planting. I ached so bad I could not sleep. Today I got caught up on all the paperwork. It had been 4 months since I did any. Lazy! Now we are up to date and we still have some money left.
Tomorrow I want to just relax but I will probably get into something. It is rainy and cool.. maybe I will bake bread and some other goodies for us. A pot of chili to warm us up!
Stay well ,be happy and smile!
Toodles
All those who believe in psycho kinesis, raise my hand!
Mel had his pre-op and the next morning the phone was a ringing. Seems his EKG had some glitches in it and the doctors all went crazy. They canceled the surgery and he had an emergency stress test that afternoon. The doctor told me to make sure I went along. Hmmm, I know this routine. I have had friends and family that had that call. During the stress test things go bad and away to the hospital they go. Well, we fooled them.... He did the stress test, although he only made through a little over 2 minutes. We saw the cardiologist after. He was surprised to hear that the surgery was canceled but would not have results till late afternoon. He would call and let us know. The call came and his test was normal. Now if you know Mel I know you are saying WHAT? Well it was normal. Wednesday Mel was on the phone all morning getting his surgery back on the schedule for Thursday. He got it done! Surgery went well, but boy was he a crab that night. I was glad he staying at the hospital. I went up early the next morning. About 11:00 they decided to keep him another night because he had to much blood in his urine. That was the longest day. It seemed to go on forever. He did come home on Saturday and all has been good with the procedure.
This past week we got more calls from doctors. One about those glitches in his EKG. They want to do another test to make sure he has not had a heart attack in the past. His chest x-ray also became a concern. He has chronic pulmonary disease, due to his smoking. Hasn't made him stop yet...darn! The x-ray also showed that his thyroid is pushing into his wind pipe. He had an ultrasound on Thursday and we will see the doc on Monday afternoon. Mel thinks they are out to get him.
I have been staying busy just working around the house. Between housework, laundry, yard work, the flower gardens and cooking I am beat. I spent 12 hours in the yard yesterday just mowing and mowing , oh and mowing, weed whacking, working in my flower beds and finished planting. I ached so bad I could not sleep. Today I got caught up on all the paperwork. It had been 4 months since I did any. Lazy! Now we are up to date and we still have some money left.
Tomorrow I want to just relax but I will probably get into something. It is rainy and cool.. maybe I will bake bread and some other goodies for us. A pot of chili to warm us up!
Stay well ,be happy and smile!
Toodles
All those who believe in psycho kinesis, raise my hand!
Sunday, May 10, 2009
Happy Mother's Day
Happy Mother's Day everyone! How was your day? Mine was great! I slept in. (till 9) Mel got us a Sunday paper and breakfast. I sat around reading the paper in my jammies. About noon I decided I had better get cleaned up and dressed. John came over at 2:00. He brought Sara's motorcycle over for us to see. He and Mel gave me a gift card for a one hour massage at my favorite spa! I will need that after this week is over. Then they took me out to eat at Texas Roadhouse. I cheated the whole day on my meals. It was great, but, tomorrow it is back to the veges, fruit and fiber. Oh brother! John stayed till almost 6. His friend Jeff from work stopped by also while he was here. We had a good time visiting with them.
The week went by so fast. I did my Curves everyday. I go first thing in the morning. Then the rest of the day is mine. It was not an exciting week. I did go to some garage sales. I found some items that John was needing for camping. Sara wanted some bamboo shades and I found them. Chelsea, a friend of John's needed shorts for her son. That was the most difficult item to find. Every sale I went to had lots of girl clothes. Girl clothes, girl toys everything girl! I called Chelsea and told her if she wanted a girl next time, she needed to move across town. It has to be in the water! Shortly after calling her I hit upon a sale that had boy clothes and in the right size and best of all FREE. It was picked over but I did manage to find some shorts the right size. So with my list complete I went home.
Saturday I had lunch with a friend, Sondra. It was so nice to see her and catch up with her life. Afterwards Lois and I went plant shopping. I picked up the plants I needed to make my hanging baskets and some of my planters. Later John and Sara stopped by to pick up the shades for her patio.
This week is going fly by. Mel has his pre-op appointment tomorrow, along with blood work and an EKG. The garden club plant sale is the end of this week. I need to go help set up Tuesday and possibly Wednesday. Thursday is Mel's surgery. Friday Mel will come home from the hospital. I hope he is not to uncomfortable. It will be a stressful time but we will get through it. I will need that massage once this all over.
That's all for now.
Stay well, be happy and smile!
Toodles
Illegal aliens have always been a problem in this country. Just ask any Indian!
The week went by so fast. I did my Curves everyday. I go first thing in the morning. Then the rest of the day is mine. It was not an exciting week. I did go to some garage sales. I found some items that John was needing for camping. Sara wanted some bamboo shades and I found them. Chelsea, a friend of John's needed shorts for her son. That was the most difficult item to find. Every sale I went to had lots of girl clothes. Girl clothes, girl toys everything girl! I called Chelsea and told her if she wanted a girl next time, she needed to move across town. It has to be in the water! Shortly after calling her I hit upon a sale that had boy clothes and in the right size and best of all FREE. It was picked over but I did manage to find some shorts the right size. So with my list complete I went home.
Saturday I had lunch with a friend, Sondra. It was so nice to see her and catch up with her life. Afterwards Lois and I went plant shopping. I picked up the plants I needed to make my hanging baskets and some of my planters. Later John and Sara stopped by to pick up the shades for her patio.
This week is going fly by. Mel has his pre-op appointment tomorrow, along with blood work and an EKG. The garden club plant sale is the end of this week. I need to go help set up Tuesday and possibly Wednesday. Thursday is Mel's surgery. Friday Mel will come home from the hospital. I hope he is not to uncomfortable. It will be a stressful time but we will get through it. I will need that massage once this all over.
That's all for now.
Stay well, be happy and smile!
Toodles
Illegal aliens have always been a problem in this country. Just ask any Indian!
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
Just another day
The week is half over, can you believe it? I didn't even do anything exciting.
Monday I ran errands to pick up fertilizer for the flower beds. Stopped at T J Max to "look" around and walked out a little poorer. Tuesday I worked outside putting down that fertilizer, raking it in and then watering everything down good. I wish we would get a good soaking rain. Everything is so dry. Today I did my laundry, cleaned my house and made a nice dinner of ham, au gratin potatoes, and corn. John stopped in right at dinner and had a little to eat with us. He was more interested in getting to Mikey's Red Hots and getting a Chicago dog. He had stopped over to borrow a card table and chairs for a gathering he is having this week end at his apartment. I also gave him a pile of paper plates. Oh yeah, on Tuesday I also went to get groceries and stopped at Sam' Club. Came home a whole lot poorer that day.
Tomorrow I will worked outside again unless it is raining. I have a couple of hosta's that need splitting real bad. I will probably get about 12 plants form the 3 I am splitting up.
Stay well, be happy and smile!
Toodles
If you can't fix it with a hammer, you've got an electrical problem!
Monday I ran errands to pick up fertilizer for the flower beds. Stopped at T J Max to "look" around and walked out a little poorer. Tuesday I worked outside putting down that fertilizer, raking it in and then watering everything down good. I wish we would get a good soaking rain. Everything is so dry. Today I did my laundry, cleaned my house and made a nice dinner of ham, au gratin potatoes, and corn. John stopped in right at dinner and had a little to eat with us. He was more interested in getting to Mikey's Red Hots and getting a Chicago dog. He had stopped over to borrow a card table and chairs for a gathering he is having this week end at his apartment. I also gave him a pile of paper plates. Oh yeah, on Tuesday I also went to get groceries and stopped at Sam' Club. Came home a whole lot poorer that day.
Tomorrow I will worked outside again unless it is raining. I have a couple of hosta's that need splitting real bad. I will probably get about 12 plants form the 3 I am splitting up.
Stay well, be happy and smile!
Toodles
If you can't fix it with a hammer, you've got an electrical problem!
Sunday, May 3, 2009
No news
I am either very busy or just lazy. Probably just lazy. It has been over a week since I made a post.
I'll start with the meeting of John's girlfriend. We had a nice visit with them and a good dinner also. She is very nice and has a great sense of humor. We had a very nice time. Yes, Chelsea, she is Paula approved and Mel approved too. ;-)
The day before, Sunday, I took Mel to the Walk-In clinic. He was having blood in his urine for 3 days. They didn't do much about it. They did do blood tests to check his blood count and look for infection. That was alright. She did put him on blood pressure meds. On Monday we saw the urologist. He said the prostate was enlarged and pushing up into his bladder. The doctor flushed out a lot of blood and clots. He could take medication but, that would take up to 9 months to start working. Surgery would be the best option. He is scheduled for it on May 14. He has to have a regular doctor, which he did not have. He will see him for his pre-op exam. We both know more will come out of this than just the prostate. He knows he probably has high blood sugars and I suspect congestive heart failure. We will see what happens. He stopped passing blood Friday morning and now thinks he does not need the surgery. He is not liking this and does not want to see doctors. So, we will see if he follows through. Although he has to see a doctor to get his blood pressure medication. Why are men so difficult?
The rest of the week was quiet. I got the finished area of the basement cleaned and organized. Also got my laundry room cleaned up again. It sure gets messy when we get home. After I wash I make piles of what has to go back in the coach. Well, I had piles all over. I got it all in laundry baskets now and ready to go back in the coach. Now I have to clean the coach!
I went to some garage sales this week. I didn't find any real treasures though.
While visiting a neighbor she asked if I wanted something to drink. Sure. She came back and said all she had was Coke and if that was alright. Sure. I hadn't had a soda for awhile so that sounded good. She brought me a glass of soda. I was thirsty so I took a big drink. Hmm, tasted strange. I thought maybe because I had not had a soda for a while that was why. Took another drink and then it hit me.... it was diet! I can't have artificial sweeteners. I asked of it was diet. Yes,Coke Zero. I didn't drink anymore and didn't think I had enough to get my usual headache and nausea. After I got home boy did I get sick. I got the headache from hell and nausea. I would say I only had maybe 4 ounces but, it sure hit me. I was down for the rest of the day. About 3 am the headache finally left. I am in that small population of the world that has a reaction from artificial sweeteners. I was surprised that I got sick from such a small amount! I forget that not everyone knows I have this problem. I am thankful to those who do know and tell me when a cake, pie or what ever is sugar free. I guess I need to ask first.
So goes another week. How totally boring, eh?
Stay well, be happy and smile!
Toodles
Red meat isn't bad for you......green, fuzzy meat is bad for you!
I'll start with the meeting of John's girlfriend. We had a nice visit with them and a good dinner also. She is very nice and has a great sense of humor. We had a very nice time. Yes, Chelsea, she is Paula approved and Mel approved too. ;-)
The day before, Sunday, I took Mel to the Walk-In clinic. He was having blood in his urine for 3 days. They didn't do much about it. They did do blood tests to check his blood count and look for infection. That was alright. She did put him on blood pressure meds. On Monday we saw the urologist. He said the prostate was enlarged and pushing up into his bladder. The doctor flushed out a lot of blood and clots. He could take medication but, that would take up to 9 months to start working. Surgery would be the best option. He is scheduled for it on May 14. He has to have a regular doctor, which he did not have. He will see him for his pre-op exam. We both know more will come out of this than just the prostate. He knows he probably has high blood sugars and I suspect congestive heart failure. We will see what happens. He stopped passing blood Friday morning and now thinks he does not need the surgery. He is not liking this and does not want to see doctors. So, we will see if he follows through. Although he has to see a doctor to get his blood pressure medication. Why are men so difficult?
The rest of the week was quiet. I got the finished area of the basement cleaned and organized. Also got my laundry room cleaned up again. It sure gets messy when we get home. After I wash I make piles of what has to go back in the coach. Well, I had piles all over. I got it all in laundry baskets now and ready to go back in the coach. Now I have to clean the coach!
I went to some garage sales this week. I didn't find any real treasures though.
While visiting a neighbor she asked if I wanted something to drink. Sure. She came back and said all she had was Coke and if that was alright. Sure. I hadn't had a soda for awhile so that sounded good. She brought me a glass of soda. I was thirsty so I took a big drink. Hmm, tasted strange. I thought maybe because I had not had a soda for a while that was why. Took another drink and then it hit me.... it was diet! I can't have artificial sweeteners. I asked of it was diet. Yes,Coke Zero. I didn't drink anymore and didn't think I had enough to get my usual headache and nausea. After I got home boy did I get sick. I got the headache from hell and nausea. I would say I only had maybe 4 ounces but, it sure hit me. I was down for the rest of the day. About 3 am the headache finally left. I am in that small population of the world that has a reaction from artificial sweeteners. I was surprised that I got sick from such a small amount! I forget that not everyone knows I have this problem. I am thankful to those who do know and tell me when a cake, pie or what ever is sugar free. I guess I need to ask first.
So goes another week. How totally boring, eh?
Stay well, be happy and smile!
Toodles
Red meat isn't bad for you......green, fuzzy meat is bad for you!
Saturday, April 25, 2009
Wausau, WI
First I need to mention where we are......Wausau, WI.. I did that because while reading one of my blogs they said it frustrating to not know where a person is. So now that we have that cleared up....
My week has remained about the same as the past one. I finished cleaning my kitchen on Monday. I did the cupboards with Murphy's Oil and boy do they look nice. I stripped the kitchen floor and resealed it. It looks so nice. Mel had said when we bought this house we would put in laminate flooring so I did not deep clean the kitchen when we moved in. Well, the same ole flooring is still there so it finally got done. It took about 5 hours all together to do. I was really sore by the time I was done. Now everything on the main floor is clean. I will start on the basement soon..... I do need to recover some first!
On Thursday and friend Margo and I went out for lunch. We hit our usual Johanna's Tea Room. Wonderful lunch and good company too. Friday I went to the mall with my neighbor. We also went to the library for the book sale. I found some nice cookbooks and another book to a series I have been reading.
Our weather has been quite strange. Perhaps, mother nature is going through menopause or something. We have a day in the 70's and then 4 days in the 40's or 50's. We had some good ole thunderstorms the last few days. We sat out on our veranda and watched the light show last night. Lightning can be so spectacular sometimes. Today was a quiet day. I did regular housecleaning while Mel finished up working on the coach. After that we went to Sam's Club for laundry soap, gum, cheese and few other items. We came home and I made chicken breast on the grill.
This next week will be exciting. John will be bringing over his girlfriend, Sara, for us to meet. We have heard so many nice things about her and we are anxious to met her. As long as he is happy, that is all that matters. We will have a cook out. Hamburgers, brats, homemade coleslaw and homemade beans, peachy ice cream jello and lemon fluff. A number off years ago I found a recipe for KFC coleslaw and tried it. It was just like KFC coleslaw! Anyway, lets hope for good weather.
So that brings another week to a close.
Stay well, be happy and smile!
Toodles
Everytime I say the word "diet", I wash my mouth out with chocolate!
My week has remained about the same as the past one. I finished cleaning my kitchen on Monday. I did the cupboards with Murphy's Oil and boy do they look nice. I stripped the kitchen floor and resealed it. It looks so nice. Mel had said when we bought this house we would put in laminate flooring so I did not deep clean the kitchen when we moved in. Well, the same ole flooring is still there so it finally got done. It took about 5 hours all together to do. I was really sore by the time I was done. Now everything on the main floor is clean. I will start on the basement soon..... I do need to recover some first!
On Thursday and friend Margo and I went out for lunch. We hit our usual Johanna's Tea Room. Wonderful lunch and good company too. Friday I went to the mall with my neighbor. We also went to the library for the book sale. I found some nice cookbooks and another book to a series I have been reading.
Our weather has been quite strange. Perhaps, mother nature is going through menopause or something. We have a day in the 70's and then 4 days in the 40's or 50's. We had some good ole thunderstorms the last few days. We sat out on our veranda and watched the light show last night. Lightning can be so spectacular sometimes. Today was a quiet day. I did regular housecleaning while Mel finished up working on the coach. After that we went to Sam's Club for laundry soap, gum, cheese and few other items. We came home and I made chicken breast on the grill.
This next week will be exciting. John will be bringing over his girlfriend, Sara, for us to meet. We have heard so many nice things about her and we are anxious to met her. As long as he is happy, that is all that matters. We will have a cook out. Hamburgers, brats, homemade coleslaw and homemade beans, peachy ice cream jello and lemon fluff. A number off years ago I found a recipe for KFC coleslaw and tried it. It was just like KFC coleslaw! Anyway, lets hope for good weather.
So that brings another week to a close.
Stay well, be happy and smile!
Toodles
Everytime I say the word "diet", I wash my mouth out with chocolate!
Saturday, April 18, 2009
All Work and No Play
Being home is wonderful but.... the work is killing me!
It all started with unloading the coach. Not bad. I got it done in about 4 hours. We didn't need to unload freezable items, such as, shampoo, body wash, window cleaner,etc., so it was not to bad. Now that it was unloaded.. the house was a disaster! I had everything piled everywhere. Every room had a pile of something in it. That took another day just to sort and put stuff away.
I couldn't believe how dusty the house was. It was never this dusty when John lived here in the winter, and he didn't clean the main level. I started cleaning and decided to get spring cleaning done while I was at it. I have been washing woodwork, polishing woodwork, washing windows, edge cleaning and moving furniture. When John moved out last fall and took his cat I didn't get to moving the furniture and vacuuming. I now have enough fur for 6 cats in my vacuum! That cat should be bald! That's a creepy thought! As of today all I have left to do is my kitchen. Clean and wipe put cupboards, wash down cabinets and polish and do the floor. When we bought this house we did not like the kitchen flooring and Mel said we would put in laminate. Well, 3 years later and I still do not see any laminate. So I am going to to do the Armstrong heavy duty cleaning of no wax floors. That involves a stripper and then applying the polish. It is a very time consuming job. I did it at the house we rented after the fire. That kitchen was a quarter of the size we have now and it took me almost 4 hours to do that one. I am planning on a whole day for this one. I was going to do it last year but with a cat in the house that just didn't work out. So now, no cat and I will get it done.
Today we have 2 young guys here cleaning up our yard. One is 17 and the other is 20. They passed flyer's around the neighborhood. We decided to give them a try. So far , they are doing a great job.
We have not done anything real exciting since coming home. We had a wonderful Easter with our son. Way to much to eat! Lois and I went to Steven Point one day to shop the greenhouses. I got a few plants and some trays for my starter seeds.
Mel has been busy working on the coach. Our recovery tank sprung a leak on the way home. He removed it and got another one. He is making a new way for it to mount. He will be working on that for a while.
Once the work is all done around here we can play! Till then..
Stay well, be happy and smile!
Toodles
Happiness is good health and a bad memory!
It all started with unloading the coach. Not bad. I got it done in about 4 hours. We didn't need to unload freezable items, such as, shampoo, body wash, window cleaner,etc., so it was not to bad. Now that it was unloaded.. the house was a disaster! I had everything piled everywhere. Every room had a pile of something in it. That took another day just to sort and put stuff away.
I couldn't believe how dusty the house was. It was never this dusty when John lived here in the winter, and he didn't clean the main level. I started cleaning and decided to get spring cleaning done while I was at it. I have been washing woodwork, polishing woodwork, washing windows, edge cleaning and moving furniture. When John moved out last fall and took his cat I didn't get to moving the furniture and vacuuming. I now have enough fur for 6 cats in my vacuum! That cat should be bald! That's a creepy thought! As of today all I have left to do is my kitchen. Clean and wipe put cupboards, wash down cabinets and polish and do the floor. When we bought this house we did not like the kitchen flooring and Mel said we would put in laminate. Well, 3 years later and I still do not see any laminate. So I am going to to do the Armstrong heavy duty cleaning of no wax floors. That involves a stripper and then applying the polish. It is a very time consuming job. I did it at the house we rented after the fire. That kitchen was a quarter of the size we have now and it took me almost 4 hours to do that one. I am planning on a whole day for this one. I was going to do it last year but with a cat in the house that just didn't work out. So now, no cat and I will get it done.
Today we have 2 young guys here cleaning up our yard. One is 17 and the other is 20. They passed flyer's around the neighborhood. We decided to give them a try. So far , they are doing a great job.
We have not done anything real exciting since coming home. We had a wonderful Easter with our son. Way to much to eat! Lois and I went to Steven Point one day to shop the greenhouses. I got a few plants and some trays for my starter seeds.
Mel has been busy working on the coach. Our recovery tank sprung a leak on the way home. He removed it and got another one. He is making a new way for it to mount. He will be working on that for a while.
Once the work is all done around here we can play! Till then..
Stay well, be happy and smile!
Toodles
Happiness is good health and a bad memory!
Sunday, April 12, 2009
Home again, home again......
Our trip home was an adventure. We left Manndeville, LA on Monday March 30. We headed up to Natchez,MS to drive the Natchez Trace. The Trace is a wonderful drive. The speed limit is 50 so it is a very leisure drive. We arrived at the Rockey Springs camping area about 4:30. It is one the free camping areas along the Trace. It was full! Well, the host site was open and another site that was in about 6 inches of water. Since we are not hosts we did not feel we could go into that site. We did notice people were doubling up in sites. A couple from Ontario pulled in and took the host site. We went to talk to them. They were not hosts but felt they could use the site since it was not being used by a host. Hmmm! He said we should go ask a couple from Quebec if we could share that site. He told us that people from Ontario and Quebec do not get along so he could not ask but we could. After driving through the campground we noticed all but 2 sites had Canadians in them. We went and asked the couple from Quebec if we could share the site . They agreed. Now I am not ranting, but think about this: Why do I have to ask someone from another country if I can camp by them, when I pay taxes for this federal parkway and campground!? Anyway, it is a nice little campground. It is just boon docking but quite nice.
In the morning we moved on. We drove to a visitor center on the Trace and stopped. The people were very nice and we had some good conversation with them. Shortly there after we left the Trace and got on the interstate. We stopped at a COE campground in Coldwater, MS for the night. Hernando Point campground. Another very nice COE campground. It was not very full so we had a nice choice of sites. We got settled in and we went out for dinner. We had a nice quiet evening. In the morning we got ready to head out. Upon doing our light check on the tow car Mel said we had no brakes! Yikes! We drove out to the boat launch area parking lot. No brakes! Now what? We got out and did a walk around to see if we could see fluid on the ground anywhere. That would tell us where a brake line may have broken. As I walked around the back I saw pink fluid on the fins by the radiator. We were also leaking radiator fluid! We could not find any fluid on the ground that was brake fluid. Mel went back in and did the brakes again while I stayed out and walked around. I saw it! When he pushed the brake I saw fluid by the drivers front wheel. We unhooked the car and drove into town. Coldwater is a very, very small town. Can you even call it a town? Mel saw a place that had school buses by it and men working on them. He pulled in. After a bit he came back and said the man was coming with us back to the coach. He said he could fix it but we had to get it to his shop. He would drive it if Mel was afraid to. Mel drove and I followed in the car. It took about 3 hours to get the brake line fixed. The man spend much of that time talking to other people that stopped by. We had a hard time understanding him. He not only talked southern but black southern. Well, over $200.00 later we were fix and on our way. We do believe we were ripped off on the price but what can we do when we had no other choices. We drove on to Sikeston,MO.. We stayed the night in the Walmart. Of course we had to go to Lamberts's Home of the Throwed Roll for dinner. A person just gets to much food at this place. We knew that from past experience but did that stop us....no! We ordered the smallest thing we could find on the menu. I had smoked sausage and Mel had a hamburger. Mel had french fries that came with his and I had my choice of 2 sides. If you have been to a Lambert's you know that they come around with different pass arounds. Such as: fried potatoes, fried okra, black eyed peas, tomato noodles and then all the throwed rolls you can eat. Mel's hamburger was huge! My dinner was way to much. We left so stuffed we did not eat again till late afternoon the next day. This is the first time were at Lambert's that they were really throwing the rolls instead of tossing them. This young man was whipping them across the dinning room and people were having a blast catching them. I missed my first one, it was to high. I don't know where it went or if it hit anyone behind me! We have decided that we will probably never go to one again... too much food! Also, we think it is pricey.
The next day we drove to another COE campground in southern IL. We pulled into a site and Mel got the satellite hooked up. We saw that bad storms were headed right for us. Mel decided we were outta there! We drove about 80 miles north to Lake Carlyle COE and spent the night. We had a little rain. All the bad weather was south of us. I was surprised at how full this campground was. It was a very nice COE. We left in the morning and headed for Wisconsin. Mel decided he would like a Famous Daves for dinner that night. We stopped in Janesville, WI and went to the Famous Daves. Mel was in heaven and stuffed when we left. He had the combo plate of ribs and brisket. I had half of a BBQ chicken. We waddled our way back to the coach. Although Mel wanted to quit driving for the day I wanted to get home. We were 2 hours away and I could almost feel it so I wanted it. About a mile from our exit I saw a skunk crossing the road and thought "OH NO!" It made to the side of the road just as we passed it but, it sprayed us anyway! Coach and car no less! We made it home! Another winter behind us. Although the neighbors wish we would not have brought that smell with us. It took about 3 days before the smell was gone. We stayed in the house so the neighbors couldn't say anything to us.
Ahhhh, it is good to be home. So good I couldn't wait to bake cookies!, and I did just that on Monday.
Stay well, be happy and smile!
Toodles!
HAPPINESS IS GOOD HEALTH AND A BAD MEMORY!
In the morning we moved on. We drove to a visitor center on the Trace and stopped. The people were very nice and we had some good conversation with them. Shortly there after we left the Trace and got on the interstate. We stopped at a COE campground in Coldwater, MS for the night. Hernando Point campground. Another very nice COE campground. It was not very full so we had a nice choice of sites. We got settled in and we went out for dinner. We had a nice quiet evening. In the morning we got ready to head out. Upon doing our light check on the tow car Mel said we had no brakes! Yikes! We drove out to the boat launch area parking lot. No brakes! Now what? We got out and did a walk around to see if we could see fluid on the ground anywhere. That would tell us where a brake line may have broken. As I walked around the back I saw pink fluid on the fins by the radiator. We were also leaking radiator fluid! We could not find any fluid on the ground that was brake fluid. Mel went back in and did the brakes again while I stayed out and walked around. I saw it! When he pushed the brake I saw fluid by the drivers front wheel. We unhooked the car and drove into town. Coldwater is a very, very small town. Can you even call it a town? Mel saw a place that had school buses by it and men working on them. He pulled in. After a bit he came back and said the man was coming with us back to the coach. He said he could fix it but we had to get it to his shop. He would drive it if Mel was afraid to. Mel drove and I followed in the car. It took about 3 hours to get the brake line fixed. The man spend much of that time talking to other people that stopped by. We had a hard time understanding him. He not only talked southern but black southern. Well, over $200.00 later we were fix and on our way. We do believe we were ripped off on the price but what can we do when we had no other choices. We drove on to Sikeston,MO.. We stayed the night in the Walmart. Of course we had to go to Lamberts's Home of the Throwed Roll for dinner. A person just gets to much food at this place. We knew that from past experience but did that stop us....no! We ordered the smallest thing we could find on the menu. I had smoked sausage and Mel had a hamburger. Mel had french fries that came with his and I had my choice of 2 sides. If you have been to a Lambert's you know that they come around with different pass arounds. Such as: fried potatoes, fried okra, black eyed peas, tomato noodles and then all the throwed rolls you can eat. Mel's hamburger was huge! My dinner was way to much. We left so stuffed we did not eat again till late afternoon the next day. This is the first time were at Lambert's that they were really throwing the rolls instead of tossing them. This young man was whipping them across the dinning room and people were having a blast catching them. I missed my first one, it was to high. I don't know where it went or if it hit anyone behind me! We have decided that we will probably never go to one again... too much food! Also, we think it is pricey.
The next day we drove to another COE campground in southern IL. We pulled into a site and Mel got the satellite hooked up. We saw that bad storms were headed right for us. Mel decided we were outta there! We drove about 80 miles north to Lake Carlyle COE and spent the night. We had a little rain. All the bad weather was south of us. I was surprised at how full this campground was. It was a very nice COE. We left in the morning and headed for Wisconsin. Mel decided he would like a Famous Daves for dinner that night. We stopped in Janesville, WI and went to the Famous Daves. Mel was in heaven and stuffed when we left. He had the combo plate of ribs and brisket. I had half of a BBQ chicken. We waddled our way back to the coach. Although Mel wanted to quit driving for the day I wanted to get home. We were 2 hours away and I could almost feel it so I wanted it. About a mile from our exit I saw a skunk crossing the road and thought "OH NO!" It made to the side of the road just as we passed it but, it sprayed us anyway! Coach and car no less! We made it home! Another winter behind us. Although the neighbors wish we would not have brought that smell with us. It took about 3 days before the smell was gone. We stayed in the house so the neighbors couldn't say anything to us.
Ahhhh, it is good to be home. So good I couldn't wait to bake cookies!, and I did just that on Monday.
Stay well, be happy and smile!
Toodles!
HAPPINESS IS GOOD HEALTH AND A BAD MEMORY!
Saturday, March 28, 2009
What a day!
The storms have finally passed. We have had heavy rains and bad storms since wednesday night and it is so good that they are gone now. We had a lovely day with lots of sunshine, a light breeze and much less humid conditions. The high today was around 71 and 41% humidity.
Sandy, Jessie and I went over to the farmers market at the trailhead in Mandeville. Not as many vendors as last week and mostly jewelry, crafts and made up food stuffs. I did buy a Raspberry Haberno jelly. Jessie and I split a volcano...which is a bread bowl filled with a filling of shrimp, crawfish, spinach in a light cheese white sauce. It was quite tasty.
Later, Sandy and I went down to Lakeshore Drive and did our walk along the walkway by Lake Ponchatrain. It was very windy but we found the new area a fun place to walk. The homes are huge and quite expensive. After our walk we just had to go to McDonalds and get a sundae. ( Sandy's idea... honest!)
Mel and I sat outside for a while today and just enjoyed the wonderful day.
I made potatoes and steaks on the grill for dinner. After dinner I went and washed rugs. Tomorrow I will do the rest of the laundry and clean. I also need to pack things away since we will leave here on Monday. We will be starting the trip home. YEAH! I am homesick I will admit. I do not think I would make a good full timer at this. I miss my family and friends to much.
It is so wonderful to not have the air conditioner running. ( and quiet too)
I will try to do another post tomorrow before we do not have internet again.
Stay well, be happy and smile!
Toodles
Sandy, Jessie and I went over to the farmers market at the trailhead in Mandeville. Not as many vendors as last week and mostly jewelry, crafts and made up food stuffs. I did buy a Raspberry Haberno jelly. Jessie and I split a volcano...which is a bread bowl filled with a filling of shrimp, crawfish, spinach in a light cheese white sauce. It was quite tasty.
Later, Sandy and I went down to Lakeshore Drive and did our walk along the walkway by Lake Ponchatrain. It was very windy but we found the new area a fun place to walk. The homes are huge and quite expensive. After our walk we just had to go to McDonalds and get a sundae. ( Sandy's idea... honest!)
Mel and I sat outside for a while today and just enjoyed the wonderful day.
I made potatoes and steaks on the grill for dinner. After dinner I went and washed rugs. Tomorrow I will do the rest of the laundry and clean. I also need to pack things away since we will leave here on Monday. We will be starting the trip home. YEAH! I am homesick I will admit. I do not think I would make a good full timer at this. I miss my family and friends to much.
It is so wonderful to not have the air conditioner running. ( and quiet too)
I will try to do another post tomorrow before we do not have internet again.
Stay well, be happy and smile!
Toodles
Sunday, March 22, 2009
Memories? Can I remember?
If you think I can remember every little detail from the past 8 weeks, you are reading the wrong blog!
We left Fountainebleau State Park on Feb 2 and returned here March 15. How is that? The in between stuff is a fog!
We stayed at Sam Houston Jones State Park in Lake Charles,LA. for 2 nights. Why? I dunno know! Sandy and I made a fleece tied blanket. We went out to eat at BBQ place but I can't remember the name. It was good though. We tried the dirty rice and it was spicey hot!, but so good. On Thursday the 5th we dorve to Port Lavaca,TX. Cute little town on the gulf. We stayed at the city park. Price went up from 18/night to 30/night! Whoa! While at Sam Houston Jones SP we noticed our water heater was not working all the time. Hmmm. When we got to Port Lavaca a moble rv repair truck was next door. Mel went over to talk to the man. He came and tested the board and found it was bad. For 100.00 we got a new board installed and we were good to go. It was very windy at Port Lavaca. Sandy and I took a walk out on the pier and almost got blown away.
Friday it was on to Port Aransas. We waited 45 minutes or more to load the ferry. Hard to believe they take us big rv's across. I saw a semi come off one also. Once across it was on to the beach we went. Dave and Sandy noticed that the beach sand was much softer than usual. Hmm. I think you know what is coming ...right? We pulled out onto the beach after paying and getting our permit. Another Safari was on the beach just like ours only 2 years older. Shortly after getting set up a Class B pulled up by us and sunk into the sand ! We did manage to get him pushed out. It was nice when we arrived... sun shining and not to windy. We saw this new Fleetwood coach pull onto the beach. He came in quite fast and stopped quite fast. Although we did not think to much about it till about an hour later when we saw it was sunk down to his frame. Boy, was he sunk! The guy from the other Safari worked for 4 hours trying to dig him out. He would dig and then make a path out of logs. He would back up onto the logs and then sink again. He would do this over and over. Of course the local young guys were watching all this and just waiting for the chance to pull the guy out. For $500.00! They said a tow truck would charge anywhere from $1000.00 to $1200.00. Geez, lets rip off the tourists!at about 6:00 pm the guy finally gave him and had the local boys pull him out. They brought a huge, I mean huge rope. Attached it to the back of the coach. Took off his mud flap. They got the rope tight...then on 3 he pulled the coach out with his pick up truck. It came out so slick. The guy drove his coach right in the campground behind the dunes of the beach. He paid the kid the $500.00. Later we learned that the kid could not charge the man because he had no business license, no insurance to tow ans was a legal contractor for the park. The guy that got pulled out also called a local tow company and found out he would of only charged him $250.00. Seems many people get taken by these local boys that get stuck on the beach. Oh yeah, and guys wife sat in the tow car the whole time drinking beer and getting totally wasted!
Weather changes and boy did it. The next morning the winds had picked up. If we wanted to be outside we had to sit behind the coach out of the wind. Not just wind but salty, sandy wind. We decided it was time to get off the beach. The sands were shifting, people getting stuck and I did not want to take the chance of getting stuck. We got off the beach and went into the campground behind the dunes. The whole time we were at Port Aransas it was windy. We washed the car almost daily just so we could see out of it. We went out to a place called Moby Dicks for dinner one night. We had shrimp that were huge!, and so good. Sandy and I went on the hunt for sand dollars one morning. We found a few small ones. We noticed a lady a head of us with a bunch of big ones that she and her husband were picking up. We still had fun and a good time. We left the island on Tuesday Feb 10. We drove to just north of San Antonio to a rest area for the night. We had bad storms go around us. Heavy rain and small hail. Although we washed the car again before we left the island, we had sand that washed out of the car form somewhere in the morning after the storm. In the morning we headed to a COE park north west of New Braunfels called Potter's Creek. I love this park. We got a nice site. Weather was nice, no wind! we sat outside until we decided we had best wash the coach. It had salty sand all it also. We washed, cleaned windows and rinsed off the car again. We went for a drive around the park. While driving through the 2nd loop we saw that Roger and Delores were there! We had met them at Fountainebleau State Park in January. We had a nice visit with them. While in the area we drove to Lockhart to go to Smitty's BBQ. Smitty's is on the food network and also in Forbes magazine, we are told. It was interesting and good. We also went to the outlet mall in San Marco's. Hugh outlet mall. Roger and Delores came over a few times to visit while they were at the park. They left a day before us. They were starting their trek home. Roger wanted to be home by March 1 to make maple syrup.
Next we went to Lake Georgetown and to COE Jim Hogg Park. We didn't do anything real exciting the week or so we were there that I can remember.
Onto Lake Sommerville in Sommerville, TX. Another COE park. Not much around in this area. Drove to College Station for groceries and also saw the George Bush Library! Not a whole lot of excitement here either.
March 1 we went to Cagle Rec area in the Sam Houston Nat'l Forest. What a beautiful park! We had full hook ups. (50 amp, water and sewer) We also got 1/2 price with Mel's Golden Age Passport. (10.00/night for us) We stayed for 10 days and loved every minute of it. We drove into Houston one day and had lunch. Traveled around the area. Got a haircut in Conroe. On day while driving back to the campground we came around a curve and saw smoke. Lots of smoke! Like forest fire smoke. My heart fell down to my toes. The closer we got the more smoke we saw. It appeared to be coming from the campground. I was about in tears when we saw the sign that told us it was prescribed burn and once we made the last curve we saw it was on the other side of the main road from us. WHEW! Let me tell you... we had a rush and almost a heart attack when we first saw that smoke.
After 10 days we went the Sam Rayburn COE park. Spring breakers had the park almost full. We got one of the last 2 sites. That was luck. We stayed for 2 nights. It was another one that out in the middle of no where. We left and drove to Orange ,Tx.. We got a WIFI signal at a Flying J truck stop. We checked into sites available at Fountainebleau. It was booked for the next 3 nights. We made a reservation for Sunday March 15. We stayed at the Flying J that night. (Thursday)The next day(Friday) we drive to Gonzales, La and stayed at the Walmart. YIPPEE! On Saturday we drove to Hammond, LA and stayed in another Walmart. These last 2 nights were quite humid and rainy. We could not open the windows and we had no electric. We could of started the generator but being in a parking lot we were not comfortable with that. Although we did start it in the morning for a short period of time. Finally it was Sunday and on to Fountainebleau State Park. We got registered and into the campground we went. Jes and LeRoy were quite surprised to see us. As we turned the corner to get to our site I looked and could not believe it... there was Dave and Sandy! (the people we went to port aransas with) What a surprise! We got parked and settled. Lots of hugs form everyone. We talked a while and then I had to get into the shower. After dinner we went over to LeRoy and Jess's to sit around a campfire. This was just like coming home! We had a quite week just veging out and visiting with friends. Us girls did a get away day. We went to craft and farmers market and to Cafe de Monde for bienets.
Today, Friday, March 27 Mel and I drove to Madisonville and went to the Maritime museum. Had a great time.
So now you are up to date and I am exhausted and have a headache. We plan to leave here Monday, March 30 and start our trek home. I want to be home by the 5th.
Stay well, be happy and smile!
Toodles
Oh by the way.. I have removed the music from the blog.
We left Fountainebleau State Park on Feb 2 and returned here March 15. How is that? The in between stuff is a fog!
We stayed at Sam Houston Jones State Park in Lake Charles,LA. for 2 nights. Why? I dunno know! Sandy and I made a fleece tied blanket. We went out to eat at BBQ place but I can't remember the name. It was good though. We tried the dirty rice and it was spicey hot!, but so good. On Thursday the 5th we dorve to Port Lavaca,TX. Cute little town on the gulf. We stayed at the city park. Price went up from 18/night to 30/night! Whoa! While at Sam Houston Jones SP we noticed our water heater was not working all the time. Hmmm. When we got to Port Lavaca a moble rv repair truck was next door. Mel went over to talk to the man. He came and tested the board and found it was bad. For 100.00 we got a new board installed and we were good to go. It was very windy at Port Lavaca. Sandy and I took a walk out on the pier and almost got blown away.
Friday it was on to Port Aransas. We waited 45 minutes or more to load the ferry. Hard to believe they take us big rv's across. I saw a semi come off one also. Once across it was on to the beach we went. Dave and Sandy noticed that the beach sand was much softer than usual. Hmm. I think you know what is coming ...right? We pulled out onto the beach after paying and getting our permit. Another Safari was on the beach just like ours only 2 years older. Shortly after getting set up a Class B pulled up by us and sunk into the sand ! We did manage to get him pushed out. It was nice when we arrived... sun shining and not to windy. We saw this new Fleetwood coach pull onto the beach. He came in quite fast and stopped quite fast. Although we did not think to much about it till about an hour later when we saw it was sunk down to his frame. Boy, was he sunk! The guy from the other Safari worked for 4 hours trying to dig him out. He would dig and then make a path out of logs. He would back up onto the logs and then sink again. He would do this over and over. Of course the local young guys were watching all this and just waiting for the chance to pull the guy out. For $500.00! They said a tow truck would charge anywhere from $1000.00 to $1200.00. Geez, lets rip off the tourists!at about 6:00 pm the guy finally gave him and had the local boys pull him out. They brought a huge, I mean huge rope. Attached it to the back of the coach. Took off his mud flap. They got the rope tight...then on 3 he pulled the coach out with his pick up truck. It came out so slick. The guy drove his coach right in the campground behind the dunes of the beach. He paid the kid the $500.00. Later we learned that the kid could not charge the man because he had no business license, no insurance to tow ans was a legal contractor for the park. The guy that got pulled out also called a local tow company and found out he would of only charged him $250.00. Seems many people get taken by these local boys that get stuck on the beach. Oh yeah, and guys wife sat in the tow car the whole time drinking beer and getting totally wasted!
Weather changes and boy did it. The next morning the winds had picked up. If we wanted to be outside we had to sit behind the coach out of the wind. Not just wind but salty, sandy wind. We decided it was time to get off the beach. The sands were shifting, people getting stuck and I did not want to take the chance of getting stuck. We got off the beach and went into the campground behind the dunes. The whole time we were at Port Aransas it was windy. We washed the car almost daily just so we could see out of it. We went out to a place called Moby Dicks for dinner one night. We had shrimp that were huge!, and so good. Sandy and I went on the hunt for sand dollars one morning. We found a few small ones. We noticed a lady a head of us with a bunch of big ones that she and her husband were picking up. We still had fun and a good time. We left the island on Tuesday Feb 10. We drove to just north of San Antonio to a rest area for the night. We had bad storms go around us. Heavy rain and small hail. Although we washed the car again before we left the island, we had sand that washed out of the car form somewhere in the morning after the storm. In the morning we headed to a COE park north west of New Braunfels called Potter's Creek. I love this park. We got a nice site. Weather was nice, no wind! we sat outside until we decided we had best wash the coach. It had salty sand all it also. We washed, cleaned windows and rinsed off the car again. We went for a drive around the park. While driving through the 2nd loop we saw that Roger and Delores were there! We had met them at Fountainebleau State Park in January. We had a nice visit with them. While in the area we drove to Lockhart to go to Smitty's BBQ. Smitty's is on the food network and also in Forbes magazine, we are told. It was interesting and good. We also went to the outlet mall in San Marco's. Hugh outlet mall. Roger and Delores came over a few times to visit while they were at the park. They left a day before us. They were starting their trek home. Roger wanted to be home by March 1 to make maple syrup.
Next we went to Lake Georgetown and to COE Jim Hogg Park. We didn't do anything real exciting the week or so we were there that I can remember.
Onto Lake Sommerville in Sommerville, TX. Another COE park. Not much around in this area. Drove to College Station for groceries and also saw the George Bush Library! Not a whole lot of excitement here either.
March 1 we went to Cagle Rec area in the Sam Houston Nat'l Forest. What a beautiful park! We had full hook ups. (50 amp, water and sewer) We also got 1/2 price with Mel's Golden Age Passport. (10.00/night for us) We stayed for 10 days and loved every minute of it. We drove into Houston one day and had lunch. Traveled around the area. Got a haircut in Conroe. On day while driving back to the campground we came around a curve and saw smoke. Lots of smoke! Like forest fire smoke. My heart fell down to my toes. The closer we got the more smoke we saw. It appeared to be coming from the campground. I was about in tears when we saw the sign that told us it was prescribed burn and once we made the last curve we saw it was on the other side of the main road from us. WHEW! Let me tell you... we had a rush and almost a heart attack when we first saw that smoke.
After 10 days we went the Sam Rayburn COE park. Spring breakers had the park almost full. We got one of the last 2 sites. That was luck. We stayed for 2 nights. It was another one that out in the middle of no where. We left and drove to Orange ,Tx.. We got a WIFI signal at a Flying J truck stop. We checked into sites available at Fountainebleau. It was booked for the next 3 nights. We made a reservation for Sunday March 15. We stayed at the Flying J that night. (Thursday)The next day(Friday) we drive to Gonzales, La and stayed at the Walmart. YIPPEE! On Saturday we drove to Hammond, LA and stayed in another Walmart. These last 2 nights were quite humid and rainy. We could not open the windows and we had no electric. We could of started the generator but being in a parking lot we were not comfortable with that. Although we did start it in the morning for a short period of time. Finally it was Sunday and on to Fountainebleau State Park. We got registered and into the campground we went. Jes and LeRoy were quite surprised to see us. As we turned the corner to get to our site I looked and could not believe it... there was Dave and Sandy! (the people we went to port aransas with) What a surprise! We got parked and settled. Lots of hugs form everyone. We talked a while and then I had to get into the shower. After dinner we went over to LeRoy and Jess's to sit around a campfire. This was just like coming home! We had a quite week just veging out and visiting with friends. Us girls did a get away day. We went to craft and farmers market and to Cafe de Monde for bienets.
Today, Friday, March 27 Mel and I drove to Madisonville and went to the Maritime museum. Had a great time.
So now you are up to date and I am exhausted and have a headache. We plan to leave here Monday, March 30 and start our trek home. I want to be home by the 5th.
Stay well, be happy and smile!
Toodles
Oh by the way.. I have removed the music from the blog.
Sunday, February 1, 2009
Leaving Fontainebleau for Port Aransas!
We leave Fontainebleau State Park tomorrow. I must tell you that this is a wonderful park. It is not only beautiful here but the park is maintained quite well. I would recommend this park to anyone. Any campground can have it's problems, but we have not had any real "major" problems here with the park. I am sure we will be back.
Saturday we went to dinner with both camp host couples. We went to Applebees and had an just "alright" meal. We were all disappointed with the service and then the food.
Today I went a did 2 loads of laundry. I won't have to worry about laundry for a week.
We were going to go to a Mardi Gras parade today but laundry took to long.
Sandy and I went to Barnes and Noble and then to get groceries. I hope we are stocked up and I have not forgotten anything.
I do not know when we will have an internet connection again. So, all I can say is, keep checking back.
Stay well, be happy and smile!
Toodles
Friday, January 30, 2009
Suds, lunch and shopping
Oh no , It's Friday already! The days just fly by and now I will try to download my memory and see just what we did this week!
Tuesday was a work day. Time to suds my duds! After brunch I headed out to the the laundry. They only have 2 washers here so 4 loads take awhile. Took my book along. After I got the second round going I came back for the sheets I had forgotten to take off the bed. I started laundry at about 1 and got done at almost 5. Someone needs to invent the 5 minute wash and dry! I threw some potatoes in the oven and we headed off for showers. We had meal in peel for dinner then just sacked out with the tv.
Wednesday...now this was a fun day! First off Mel and LeRoy headed off to an Rv place in Hamilton to pick up parts LeRoy ordered as did Mel. They left about 8:45 in our car. At noon us "girls" ( Jessie, Sandy and Judy) planned to go to lunch. The guys also went to another rv place and got back at 11:45. We thought they would be back by 11. I think they went to the mall and went shoe shopping and just don't want to admit it. ;~o The girls headed off to Slidell to Bayou Country for lunch. This place was huge. We walked in and they had a store with all Louisiana products. That took up about 90% of the place. We finally found the cafe in the back. Ordered our lunches. I had the soup and 1/2 sandwich. Smoked chicken and a crab bisque. Oh my! That bisque was so good, and the sandwich wasn't bad either. After we ate we just had to walk around the store and shop. I picked up some goodies for gifts to bring home, along with some pralines for ME! I guess I will share a little with Mel. We all had our goodies and left so happy with our treasures. We tried to find the Barnes and Noble in Shildell but no luck. We got back around 3.
We had the leftover soup I made for dinner. I wished I had some crusty bread to go with it.
Thursday was a nothing day. We dumped tanks. Thought I would share that happy thought with you. I cleaned and vacuumed. We grilled steaks, and potatoes and also a pack of sweet potatoes. Mel loves potatoes cooked in a grill pack. I love the sweet potatoes grill packed. They were all so good.
Today, Friday, is still up in the air. I think we will go and get groceries. We leave here Monday with Dave and Sandy. We will follow them to Port Aransas,TX and camp on the beach. I will need to get groceries before we leave. I am looking forward to seeing an area we have not really been to before. A number of years ago we did got to Padre Islands while John was on spring break. We don't remember much of that trip, except John was awful sick.
Stay well, be happy and smile!
Toodles!
Tuesday was a work day. Time to suds my duds! After brunch I headed out to the the laundry. They only have 2 washers here so 4 loads take awhile. Took my book along. After I got the second round going I came back for the sheets I had forgotten to take off the bed. I started laundry at about 1 and got done at almost 5. Someone needs to invent the 5 minute wash and dry! I threw some potatoes in the oven and we headed off for showers. We had meal in peel for dinner then just sacked out with the tv.
Wednesday...now this was a fun day! First off Mel and LeRoy headed off to an Rv place in Hamilton to pick up parts LeRoy ordered as did Mel. They left about 8:45 in our car. At noon us "girls" ( Jessie, Sandy and Judy) planned to go to lunch. The guys also went to another rv place and got back at 11:45. We thought they would be back by 11. I think they went to the mall and went shoe shopping and just don't want to admit it. ;~o The girls headed off to Slidell to Bayou Country for lunch. This place was huge. We walked in and they had a store with all Louisiana products. That took up about 90% of the place. We finally found the cafe in the back. Ordered our lunches. I had the soup and 1/2 sandwich. Smoked chicken and a crab bisque. Oh my! That bisque was so good, and the sandwich wasn't bad either. After we ate we just had to walk around the store and shop. I picked up some goodies for gifts to bring home, along with some pralines for ME! I guess I will share a little with Mel. We all had our goodies and left so happy with our treasures. We tried to find the Barnes and Noble in Shildell but no luck. We got back around 3.
We had the leftover soup I made for dinner. I wished I had some crusty bread to go with it.
Thursday was a nothing day. We dumped tanks. Thought I would share that happy thought with you. I cleaned and vacuumed. We grilled steaks, and potatoes and also a pack of sweet potatoes. Mel loves potatoes cooked in a grill pack. I love the sweet potatoes grill packed. They were all so good.
Today, Friday, is still up in the air. I think we will go and get groceries. We leave here Monday with Dave and Sandy. We will follow them to Port Aransas,TX and camp on the beach. I will need to get groceries before we leave. I am looking forward to seeing an area we have not really been to before. A number of years ago we did got to Padre Islands while John was on spring break. We don't remember much of that trip, except John was awful sick.
Stay well, be happy and smile!
Toodles!
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Prevost,cake and cooling off
Sunday was cloudy and rain so we just stayed in for the most part. I made my hamburger, vegetable and barley soup. It makes so much that I took some over to LeRoy and Jessie. I have no room in the freezer.
Sandy and went for a walk and ended up in the Prevost that is here in the campground. (Charolette and Dennis) Very interesting couple. I could listen to the stories they told for hours.They lived fulltime on a yacht for 9 years and a motorhome for 5 years. They were anchored on the Potomac River on Sept 11.(911) They told of the mayham in Washington that day. A very interesting couple.
When I got back we were invited to LeRoy and Jessie's for cake. Dave and Sandy were there also. We had a good time face flappin with everyone we talked to all day, everyday!
We got back home and finally had dinner. The soup was so good. I was tired by them so dishes waited till Monday while I veg'd out.
Monday we woke up to sun. By noon I had on a tee shirt and was out walking. By the time I got back it was cloudy, windy and I had to put on a sweatshirt. We decided to go out to Backyard Hamburger for dinner. Pretty good!
Stay well, be happy and smile!
Toodles
Sandy and went for a walk and ended up in the Prevost that is here in the campground. (Charolette and Dennis) Very interesting couple. I could listen to the stories they told for hours.They lived fulltime on a yacht for 9 years and a motorhome for 5 years. They were anchored on the Potomac River on Sept 11.(911) They told of the mayham in Washington that day. A very interesting couple.
When I got back we were invited to LeRoy and Jessie's for cake. Dave and Sandy were there also. We had a good time face flappin with everyone we talked to all day, everyday!
We got back home and finally had dinner. The soup was so good. I was tired by them so dishes waited till Monday while I veg'd out.
Monday we woke up to sun. By noon I had on a tee shirt and was out walking. By the time I got back it was cloudy, windy and I had to put on a sweatshirt. We decided to go out to Backyard Hamburger for dinner. Pretty good!
Stay well, be happy and smile!
Toodles
Sunday, January 25, 2009
Reservations and a jolt!
Another week has passed! I must have been busy doing something. I'll work on jogging my memory.
Monday I finally got a haircut. We drove into Slidell and went to the Walmart. Mel browsed the store while I got my ears lowered. We stopped at Taco Bell for some lunch. That was just ok. We drove about Slidell and Mel stopped at boating store and picked up something for the coach. Replaced a broken cup holder. Cheaper than an rv store.
Mel went back to Danny's Auto repair today. They were the first to try and fix our alternator problem. He talked to Danny about the charges and how they did not fix our problem. After much talk and stuff he gave us 100.00 back! A check of course. Banks were closed Monday so Tuesday morning Mel headed the bank that the check was written from. He had to put his thumb print on the check. It was cashed.
Tuesday was spent doing laundry. We had to move to Fairview on Wednesday so I wanted to get the laundry done here. I don't like the laundry at Fairview. After laundry I started to get things put away for the move. Tuesday evening LeRoy and Jessie came over for some face flappin.
Wednesday we said farewell, dumped our tanks and headed out for Fairview for our 7 days. Louisiana State Parks only allow you to stay for 14 days and then you have to out for 7 days. That is why we keep moving back and forth. Mel had made our reservations at Fairview and then back here at Fontainebleau. We arrived at fairview, went to the office and....no reservation! What? I went back to the coach to get confirmation number. The girl in the office checked it and it was for Fontainebleau as was the one after the 7days there. Rats! They could not transfer the reservation or the payment. we would have to call headquarters and see if we could get our money back. Instead, Mel called Fontinebleau and talked to the manager. Told him of our mistake and if we could have an extension so we would not loose our payment. He told Mel he has to be more careful when using the internet but he would allow us to extend for the 12 more days we needed. Whew! So back to Fontainebleau we came. We drove in and I think LeRoys mouth dropped to the ground. He asks whats going on? we told him of Mel's error in reservations. We would rather be here anyway! We don't care for Fairview as much as here.
So are parked in our spot till the 2nd of Feb.. Then we hit the road!
Thursday was a quiet day. Jessie and I along with Sandy were going to go to quilting but Jessie was sick. She thought she had a flu but later thought it might be food poisoning. I went for my walk and we just chilled out for the day.
Friday was a jolting day. Mel was outside putting some tools of his away and got a shock from the coach. Hmmm. We thought it may be stray voltage. Mel told LeRoy about it and together they started to check things out. Then Dave came over to help. He is the other host. It finally came down to our electric cord... it had a bad end on it. We drove over to Slidell again to find ends for the cord and replace them. We hit the Lowes, Home Depot and Walmart. We also went to an electrical store. Mel finally found one of the ends he needed. He dropped me off at Pennys while he went to another store. I wanted to go to Pennys because they were having a buy one get one free sale on all clearance items. My neighbor from home told me about it when she called Thursday evening. She got almost 250.00 of clothes for a little over 40.00. I spent a half hour in the store and found....nothing! I did find one top but I could not another that I liked. So I put it back. Mel and I stopped and had a sandwich before heading home.
Saturday we were off to RV stores to look for the female cord end that Mel could not find on Friday. We also had a list from LeRoy and Jessie of a few items they wanted. We stopped at Berryland Campers and Camping World. Found almost everything we needed. Mel found the end we needed and a few more items. We got what L & J wanted except the camping directory. Back home again.
Just a quiet week in the life of a snowbird!
Stay well, be happy and smile!
Toodles
Monday I finally got a haircut. We drove into Slidell and went to the Walmart. Mel browsed the store while I got my ears lowered. We stopped at Taco Bell for some lunch. That was just ok. We drove about Slidell and Mel stopped at boating store and picked up something for the coach. Replaced a broken cup holder. Cheaper than an rv store.
Mel went back to Danny's Auto repair today. They were the first to try and fix our alternator problem. He talked to Danny about the charges and how they did not fix our problem. After much talk and stuff he gave us 100.00 back! A check of course. Banks were closed Monday so Tuesday morning Mel headed the bank that the check was written from. He had to put his thumb print on the check. It was cashed.
Tuesday was spent doing laundry. We had to move to Fairview on Wednesday so I wanted to get the laundry done here. I don't like the laundry at Fairview. After laundry I started to get things put away for the move. Tuesday evening LeRoy and Jessie came over for some face flappin.
Wednesday we said farewell, dumped our tanks and headed out for Fairview for our 7 days. Louisiana State Parks only allow you to stay for 14 days and then you have to out for 7 days. That is why we keep moving back and forth. Mel had made our reservations at Fairview and then back here at Fontainebleau. We arrived at fairview, went to the office and....no reservation! What? I went back to the coach to get confirmation number. The girl in the office checked it and it was for Fontainebleau as was the one after the 7days there. Rats! They could not transfer the reservation or the payment. we would have to call headquarters and see if we could get our money back. Instead, Mel called Fontinebleau and talked to the manager. Told him of our mistake and if we could have an extension so we would not loose our payment. He told Mel he has to be more careful when using the internet but he would allow us to extend for the 12 more days we needed. Whew! So back to Fontainebleau we came. We drove in and I think LeRoys mouth dropped to the ground. He asks whats going on? we told him of Mel's error in reservations. We would rather be here anyway! We don't care for Fairview as much as here.
So are parked in our spot till the 2nd of Feb.. Then we hit the road!
Thursday was a quiet day. Jessie and I along with Sandy were going to go to quilting but Jessie was sick. She thought she had a flu but later thought it might be food poisoning. I went for my walk and we just chilled out for the day.
Friday was a jolting day. Mel was outside putting some tools of his away and got a shock from the coach. Hmmm. We thought it may be stray voltage. Mel told LeRoy about it and together they started to check things out. Then Dave came over to help. He is the other host. It finally came down to our electric cord... it had a bad end on it. We drove over to Slidell again to find ends for the cord and replace them. We hit the Lowes, Home Depot and Walmart. We also went to an electrical store. Mel finally found one of the ends he needed. He dropped me off at Pennys while he went to another store. I wanted to go to Pennys because they were having a buy one get one free sale on all clearance items. My neighbor from home told me about it when she called Thursday evening. She got almost 250.00 of clothes for a little over 40.00. I spent a half hour in the store and found....nothing! I did find one top but I could not another that I liked. So I put it back. Mel and I stopped and had a sandwich before heading home.
Saturday we were off to RV stores to look for the female cord end that Mel could not find on Friday. We also had a list from LeRoy and Jessie of a few items they wanted. We stopped at Berryland Campers and Camping World. Found almost everything we needed. Mel found the end we needed and a few more items. We got what L & J wanted except the camping directory. Back home again.
Just a quiet week in the life of a snowbird!
Stay well, be happy and smile!
Toodles
Monday, January 19, 2009
Shrimp, campfire and dumplings
I have been doing so well at getting a walk in everyday. I am usually gone about an hour. I have been walking the 2 campgrounds here but I need to get over by the lake and check out that area. A horned owl has a home in the park and has has a baby. It is interesting to check it out daily.
Friday we did groceries. Mel also went to talk to the place that "tried" to fix the alternator for 200 plus dollars, and failed. The owner was not in. Friday night we went out to eat with both camp hosts ( LeRoy, Jessie, Sandy and Dave) also another couple from the park. (Mick and Ann) We went to Louie and the Redheaded Lady. Food was good but the service was terrible. I had AYCE shrimp. They were very good. After that the camp hosts came over for dessert. I made strawberry shortcake. We has a fun evening with much laughter.
Saturday was just another day around here. We putts around here. I went for my walk. We went over to check out the visitor center. Quite interesting. Displays on the history of the park. A man was whittling in the center. It was a small paddle. About 6 inches long. I was watching him and noticed another one laying by him. I wondered what he was making. So, I asked! I though he was making something for a display or something. He handed me the paddle and said I could have it. It was made from cypress shingles that were on a building in the park. The shingles were put on in the 30's by the CCC. The roof was replaced about a year ago. He carves different items from the shingles. I also bought a tee shirt. After dinner we went to LeRoy and Jessie's for a camp fire. Many couples attended and it was interesting to listen to the many tales.
Sunday was just a lazy day. Mel putted around doing and checking different things on the coach. I went for my walk and visited with Dave and Sandy for awhile. Our neighbors are a family traveling with there children. The dad is an insurance adjuster. They travel where ever he is needed. The children are home schooled. They worked as relief workers here after Katrina. The stories she told me are just horrible. They are leaving today and we wish them many safe travels. In the late afternoon I went over to show Jessie how to make dumplings. She has tried and tried to make them and they never turn out quite right. She made them with me showing her how we make ours. She did very well and they were delicious. She made chicken and dumplings. I had made that earlier in the week. After dinner we came home and had a quiet evening watching tv.
So goes the life of an RVer.
Stay well, be happy and smile!
Toodles
Friday we did groceries. Mel also went to talk to the place that "tried" to fix the alternator for 200 plus dollars, and failed. The owner was not in. Friday night we went out to eat with both camp hosts ( LeRoy, Jessie, Sandy and Dave) also another couple from the park. (Mick and Ann) We went to Louie and the Redheaded Lady. Food was good but the service was terrible. I had AYCE shrimp. They were very good. After that the camp hosts came over for dessert. I made strawberry shortcake. We has a fun evening with much laughter.
Saturday was just another day around here. We putts around here. I went for my walk. We went over to check out the visitor center. Quite interesting. Displays on the history of the park. A man was whittling in the center. It was a small paddle. About 6 inches long. I was watching him and noticed another one laying by him. I wondered what he was making. So, I asked! I though he was making something for a display or something. He handed me the paddle and said I could have it. It was made from cypress shingles that were on a building in the park. The shingles were put on in the 30's by the CCC. The roof was replaced about a year ago. He carves different items from the shingles. I also bought a tee shirt. After dinner we went to LeRoy and Jessie's for a camp fire. Many couples attended and it was interesting to listen to the many tales.
Sunday was just a lazy day. Mel putted around doing and checking different things on the coach. I went for my walk and visited with Dave and Sandy for awhile. Our neighbors are a family traveling with there children. The dad is an insurance adjuster. They travel where ever he is needed. The children are home schooled. They worked as relief workers here after Katrina. The stories she told me are just horrible. They are leaving today and we wish them many safe travels. In the late afternoon I went over to show Jessie how to make dumplings. She has tried and tried to make them and they never turn out quite right. She made them with me showing her how we make ours. She did very well and they were delicious. She made chicken and dumplings. I had made that earlier in the week. After dinner we came home and had a quiet evening watching tv.
So goes the life of an RVer.
Stay well, be happy and smile!
Toodles
Friday, January 16, 2009
John's Day
Today is our son John's birthday!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY JOHN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
We love ya and wish you a great day.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY JOHN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
We love ya and wish you a great day.
Life goes on!
It seems so boring around here now that we are repaired. With nothing to worry about I had go and do laundry. I had quite a bit to do. I am not sure how we had so much already. I think someone else added to it. I got it all done including the rugs. Took 2 1/2 hours but then I had nothing else to do.
When I got back Mel was at the neighbors. A gathering of the minds! Looked like a union meeting going on! The gathering was by Roger and Delores' trailer. Delores brought out King Cake for everyone. King Cake is a big thing here during Mardi Gras. It is like a cinnamon bread only in an oval and is filled with cream cheese or a pudding. A baby is baked inside. A little plastic baby doll. Whoever gets the baby has to buy the next King Cake and host the party. Both King Cakes we have partaken in had the baby on the outside of the cake. We think that may be for liability reasons. Someone could choke on that baby doll. The cake has a heavy glaze on it and then colored sugar. The sugar is almost as thick as the glaze. You would surely have sugar fix if you have a piece. I scrape most of the glaze and sugar off. We have not gone into New Orleans for any Mardi Gras events yet. I really don't think we will. We have events going on around this area also. Every weekend many different "balls" are going on all around New Orleans and the area. I was told a woman never wears the same gown twice to a ball during Madri Gras. Each "ball" she wears a NEW gown. How come a man can wear the same tux but a woman has to wear a new gown? Now I know why I see so many Gown Shops here.
After our visit and King Cake I drove to Slidell with Sandy. Sandy and her husband Dave are the hosts on the other side of the campground. We went over to go to Hancock Fabrics. She had been wanting to go for a while but didn't know where it was. I had seen it on a couple of our trips to and through Slidell. I took her and she was so happy. She wanted to get fabric to make fleece throw blankets. The kind that does not need to be sewn. You just cut and tie. I have seen them but never made one so I got some fabric also. Sandy and I will make throws.
Sandy and Dave will leave here the end of the month for Port Aransas Texas. We are going to go with them. They camp on the beach. This will be a new adventure for us and we are looking forward to it.
We got back in time for CSI. Grissom's last show. I think he made the whole show. It will be interesting to see how the show goes without him.
We were in bed by 9:45!
Stay well, be Happy and smile!
Toodles
When I got back Mel was at the neighbors. A gathering of the minds! Looked like a union meeting going on! The gathering was by Roger and Delores' trailer. Delores brought out King Cake for everyone. King Cake is a big thing here during Mardi Gras. It is like a cinnamon bread only in an oval and is filled with cream cheese or a pudding. A baby is baked inside. A little plastic baby doll. Whoever gets the baby has to buy the next King Cake and host the party. Both King Cakes we have partaken in had the baby on the outside of the cake. We think that may be for liability reasons. Someone could choke on that baby doll. The cake has a heavy glaze on it and then colored sugar. The sugar is almost as thick as the glaze. You would surely have sugar fix if you have a piece. I scrape most of the glaze and sugar off. We have not gone into New Orleans for any Mardi Gras events yet. I really don't think we will. We have events going on around this area also. Every weekend many different "balls" are going on all around New Orleans and the area. I was told a woman never wears the same gown twice to a ball during Madri Gras. Each "ball" she wears a NEW gown. How come a man can wear the same tux but a woman has to wear a new gown? Now I know why I see so many Gown Shops here.
After our visit and King Cake I drove to Slidell with Sandy. Sandy and her husband Dave are the hosts on the other side of the campground. We went over to go to Hancock Fabrics. She had been wanting to go for a while but didn't know where it was. I had seen it on a couple of our trips to and through Slidell. I took her and she was so happy. She wanted to get fabric to make fleece throw blankets. The kind that does not need to be sewn. You just cut and tie. I have seen them but never made one so I got some fabric also. Sandy and I will make throws.
Sandy and Dave will leave here the end of the month for Port Aransas Texas. We are going to go with them. They camp on the beach. This will be a new adventure for us and we are looking forward to it.
We got back in time for CSI. Grissom's last show. I think he made the whole show. It will be interesting to see how the show goes without him.
We were in bed by 9:45!
Stay well, be Happy and smile!
Toodles
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Energized!!
We carefully brought out of her coma. She awoke slowly. At first no sign of charging! Arghhhhhhhh! Then it happen. The needle jumped up and it was charging. Hooray! We went out for a ride. The last time we thought it was fixed it broke 12 miles down the road. So, the big test. We got on the interstate. Drove into MS. We drove about 40 miles. All is fine. We stopped at a casino and went in to have the buffet. Came back out. Started her back up. At first she did not start charging right away. Again, all of sudden she started charging. We drove home. After 80 miles it is decided that we may finally be mobile again. We were gone so long that LeRoy called to see if we were alright. Once we got back to our camp site we had quite a gathering. Seems many people were concerned about us.
We are feeling so good that we are both exhausted! It will be an early bed night.
Thanks to everyone for advice and good wishes.
Stay well, be happy and smile!
Toodles
We are feeling so good that we are both exhausted! It will be an early bed night.
Thanks to everyone for advice and good wishes.
Stay well, be happy and smile!
Toodles
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Transplant update
So far the transplant has been a success. The alternator is charging. Tomorrow a test drive will be done and that should tell us the outcome.
It has been a terrible 13 days. So many "fixes" and then the let down. So far this has been the best result we have had. This one was done on our own also. So other than parts we did not have to pay anyone. Whew! It was getting expensive!
Today I went with Jessie and Sandy to the quilt club at Jessie's church. We tied a couple of quilts that they give out to Hospice and such. It was a good time and relaxing. When I returned Mel had everything taken care of with the alternator. Moods are much better here tonight. It was getting pretty crabby around here and it got worse each day.
Last night Jessie and LeRoy had us over for dinner. She made pea soup from scratch and it was wonderful.
The weather has turned cooler here. High the past few days has only been around 59. That is alright with me. Better than the humidity. We sleep much better also when it is cooler. We like the bedroom around 60.
Stay well, be happy and smile.
Toodles
It has been a terrible 13 days. So many "fixes" and then the let down. So far this has been the best result we have had. This one was done on our own also. So other than parts we did not have to pay anyone. Whew! It was getting expensive!
Today I went with Jessie and Sandy to the quilt club at Jessie's church. We tied a couple of quilts that they give out to Hospice and such. It was a good time and relaxing. When I returned Mel had everything taken care of with the alternator. Moods are much better here tonight. It was getting pretty crabby around here and it got worse each day.
Last night Jessie and LeRoy had us over for dinner. She made pea soup from scratch and it was wonderful.
The weather has turned cooler here. High the past few days has only been around 59. That is alright with me. Better than the humidity. We sleep much better also when it is cooler. We like the bedroom around 60.
Stay well, be happy and smile.
Toodles
Day 13, appendage
Day 13 and the appendage has been removed. During a highly skilled procedure yesterday in Slidell an unusual growth was apparent. Along with a non responsive internal organ. A donor was found and new organ is being transferred here. We should know by later today if the transplant was a success and if the patient will survive.
Monday, January 12, 2009
Prosthesis or not? This is a question!
It is day 12 of the on going drama of the alternator. What will happen today? Mel is off to Slidell to another Alternator and Starter business. Also, a stop at Oscar's. Oscar is an older man that does repair at his home. He told Mel on Friday that he could get it running. So... can it repaired or will we have to amputate? Prosthesis?
Friday, January 9, 2009
Handicappped
Just to let everyone know. We are still handicapped! we had 3 fixes done to the alternator and it is still broken. Argh! Mel is totally stressed out and I am worried about him and the stupid alternator. We did get moved back to Fountainebleau State Park. LeRoy and Jessie are helping us as much as they can. What will happen next is a darn good question. We are off to find a alternator place in Shildell. I pray for answers.
Thursday, January 1, 2009
Good, bad and yummy!
Started out to be a nice day. It was sunny and a little cool.
I went to get groceries. Many shelves were empty. A lot of people must of had house parties. I got most of what was on my list. The few things that were out of stock I can wait on.
When I got back Mel was checking into things on the coach. He noticed that when we drove over here yesterday, the batteries were not charging. He checked out the isolator, it was good. Checked fuses... those were good. Went on line and checked some other things. When he went back to look at the engine area again..well, that is where it all went bad. He saw a wire off of the alternator. I found it he says. Thinking he would just have to wire the wire back up. Wrong! The connector was broke also. Drats! We don't know if the wire can be fixed or if the alternator shorted out form the broken wire. So we will look for a repair place tomorrow. We did go online and found some places to call tomorrow. I get so stressed out whenever something happens and then I just want to sell this RV and stay home. Well, we will see what tomorrow brings.
On a good note. We had a wonderful dinner tonight. I made baby back ribs and baked potatoes. The ribs were so good. I mix up a rub that we just love. The ribs come out so tender and full of flavor.
More fireworks are going off tonight along the river. Have not gone out to see any though.
Stay well, be happy and smile!
Toodles
I went to get groceries. Many shelves were empty. A lot of people must of had house parties. I got most of what was on my list. The few things that were out of stock I can wait on.
When I got back Mel was checking into things on the coach. He noticed that when we drove over here yesterday, the batteries were not charging. He checked out the isolator, it was good. Checked fuses... those were good. Went on line and checked some other things. When he went back to look at the engine area again..well, that is where it all went bad. He saw a wire off of the alternator. I found it he says. Thinking he would just have to wire the wire back up. Wrong! The connector was broke also. Drats! We don't know if the wire can be fixed or if the alternator shorted out form the broken wire. So we will look for a repair place tomorrow. We did go online and found some places to call tomorrow. I get so stressed out whenever something happens and then I just want to sell this RV and stay home. Well, we will see what tomorrow brings.
On a good note. We had a wonderful dinner tonight. I made baby back ribs and baked potatoes. The ribs were so good. I mix up a rub that we just love. The ribs come out so tender and full of flavor.
More fireworks are going off tonight along the river. Have not gone out to see any though.
Stay well, be happy and smile!
Toodles
Fireworks
Happy New Year everyone!
We moved over to Fairview State Park yesterday. Such a long drive! (11 miles) We got set up but no Direct TV. To many trees in our way. Local tv only. Do you think Mel will survive?
We were invited back to Fontainebleau for a camp fire last night. We went over around 6 ish. Leroy, Jessie, Sandy and Dave. We could hear fireworks going off. Lots of them. Jessie served King cake. Yummy! She got the piece with the baby in it. Well, actually, the baby was on top instead of in the cake. She decided she would take it. Tradition is that who ever gets the baby has to buy the next King cake and host the party. We had a nice time sitting around the campfire and just talking and laughing with some very nice new friends. We left about 9 and then drove down to the lake front. Thought we might we see some fireworks. Only a family with children in the park and sparklers.
On the drive home we could see fireworks in the sky all over in different sub-divisions. Once we got back here we had lots fireworks. The homes around the park were shooting off some pretty nice big ones. The park is along the Tchefuncte River. At midnight I think every home along the river was shooting off fireworks of some kind. We went outside and everywhere we looked we saw the sky lit up. Unbelievable! It was so pretty!
It was cooler this morning when we got up..42! Kind of an overcast day with little peaks of sun so far.
Stay well, be happy and smile!
Toodles
We moved over to Fairview State Park yesterday. Such a long drive! (11 miles) We got set up but no Direct TV. To many trees in our way. Local tv only. Do you think Mel will survive?
We were invited back to Fontainebleau for a camp fire last night. We went over around 6 ish. Leroy, Jessie, Sandy and Dave. We could hear fireworks going off. Lots of them. Jessie served King cake. Yummy! She got the piece with the baby in it. Well, actually, the baby was on top instead of in the cake. She decided she would take it. Tradition is that who ever gets the baby has to buy the next King cake and host the party. We had a nice time sitting around the campfire and just talking and laughing with some very nice new friends. We left about 9 and then drove down to the lake front. Thought we might we see some fireworks. Only a family with children in the park and sparklers.
On the drive home we could see fireworks in the sky all over in different sub-divisions. Once we got back here we had lots fireworks. The homes around the park were shooting off some pretty nice big ones. The park is along the Tchefuncte River. At midnight I think every home along the river was shooting off fireworks of some kind. We went outside and everywhere we looked we saw the sky lit up. Unbelievable! It was so pretty!
It was cooler this morning when we got up..42! Kind of an overcast day with little peaks of sun so far.
Stay well, be happy and smile!
Toodles
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