Sunday, October 27, 2019

Good afternoon. We managed to sleep until 9 o’clock and awoke to vivid blue skies and sunshine. This is a gorgeous part of the world in October when the sun is shining. Try as I might, I could not get a good picture of the mountains in full autumn color while driving down the highway. 

A wee chapel in Maggie Valley 

Driving into Maggie Valley 

Jonathan Creek behind our Campground 

The campgrounds in the area are pretty full at this time of the year. Storekeepers told us it will quiet down after October and then get busy in December and January with the snow skiers. 

So we came back to the campground about 4 o’clock, started a fire and sat outside with the doggies until 10 o’clock. Our dinner was corn on the cob and wieners. We anticipated having a steak, but we were too full after our big lunch at Biscuits and Gravy. It was a perfect night for an evening, clear skies and in the 50s. We were amazed that everyone was in bed and lights off at 9:30. What the heck? 

Rick M called on FaceTime and we chatted for a while. He and Ruth are leaving for Mexico on November 2.

Mark’s sister Paula traced us down to Maggie Valley before we had a chance to call her and suggest meeting for dinner. So, tomorrow we have a few phone calls to make. 

We enjoyed a bonfire tonight with corn on the cob and franks ... plans were for steaks, but lunch was very filling. It was a great day! 

Saturday, October 26, 2019

Good afternoon! It’s a cloudy and cool day so we stayed in and hooked up our RV’s Roku and King wifi booster! It took some brain power 🤣 but we got it done! After lunch we watched Netflix! Super duper. Thank you Long-Wayno for suggesting it. 

The doggies enjoyed an hour of rawhide chews ... lying on old Princess (cruise) towels we keep for picnic benches. Amazingly they know the rules and keep their mess on the towels. Smart pups. 

Here’s our campsite ... great time soaking up autumn colors! 

This evening, we went to J. Arthur’s for our 25th anniversary dinner. Our reservation got muddled up but the maître d’ compensated us two glasses of wine. That’s fair. 

We had a nice table in front of the fireplace. Some nice folks who we met in the lobby took this picture for us.
😜 

This is the best of what we took ourselves at the RV. Yup, this is us. 😂😂

We had a fabulous day and evening. Mark proposed a toast to our next 25 years! 🥂🍾❤️

Friday October 25, 2019

Good morning. It’s a beautiful 60° here in Saint Matthews, South Carolina. We had a great nights sleep as it is a lovely quiet area. Of course I felt bad for the donkeys because they do not have much of a barn. It’s taking a little more effort to hook up this morning because the ground is very un-level and we are off kilter. Mark had to make a ramp to run the truck up on to hook up to the fifth wheel. (The front jacks didn’t retract fully and we trenched slightly onto the gravel road!) Mark pressed the retract switch again and lucky- lucky 🍀 they retracted 6 more inches! We’re going to raise the truck hitch up when we get home! 

It was a good day’s travel and we pulled into our secret-nato-crypto honeymoon spot at 12:30. 🤫 

We’re on the anniversary trip too! 😜💕🐾

Tonight Mark’s BBQing steak, mushrooms and quinoa for our dinner. 😋 

Cheers to 25 more 🥂🍾❤️.

Thursday, October 24, 2019

Good morning y’all. We’re up early, ready for our honeymoon trip. 

We left home just before 8. It was a slow drive through the forest with a meth head in a black Blazer driving 35 mph! Yikes. We did see a sundog ...

                               Sun dog!


Jacksonville was easy sailing today! It’s cloudy and 77. 

Savannah River

We will be spending the night at Sweetwater RV Farm in St. Matthews, South Carolina. It’s a pretty farm setting with a lake, hammock and donkeys! Here’s the dapper fellow who visited us. 

He’s an Amiatina Italian donkey. 😎

Well, on the downside, the sites are not level and Mark got us in here but we’ll have to raise the hitch to get us out! 🤨 

Wednesday, October 23, 2019

Good morning all y’all ... it’s a sunny cool start to our day. Our high today will be 80°  😎

The plans today are to finish loading the RV, water the plants and go to dinner with friends LaDonna and Wayne tonight. 

I phoned Kris about noon ... he was doing okay but felt loopy from the meds and hadn’t exercised yet. With pain under control he’s ready for some rehab time. (Nurse Ratchet will be in shortly.)

At 3:30 I phoned Wayne. He has a good attitude but a sore hand. He thinks Saran Wrap should be used now as his skin is so thin. I thought bubble wrap might help. 😜 

We’re all ready to go on our RV adventures tomorrow morning! All I’ll say is it’s going to be great to have days in the 50’s and 60’s. 😜

We had a fun time at Stavros ... LaDonna and Wayne met us ... and their daughter is friends with Connor. 😂 We had lots of laughs!  

Our friends Marky-Mark and Lani, in Canada, have adopted a new 10-year-old Jack Russell.

To us, he sure looks a lot like old Jake. Congratulations and we look forward to meeting him soon. 

 

Tuesday, October 22, 2019

Good afternoon. It’s been a busy day around our place taking the Dodge in for an oil change and wash. While it was in the shop, Mark and I did our pre-RV trip shopping and went to lunch at Perkins. It was at this time that I checked on everyone.

Randy is having a wonderful birthday and is spending it with Dawn and friends Dan and Mary at a food show in Orlando. Everyone who knows Randy knows he is a foodie, and will be having a blast. Happy happy birthday Randy! 🎂

Kris had hip replacement surgery this morning and Diane has just gone to check on him now. She is quite improved and feels she’ll be able to look after him. Oh boy, Nurse Ratchet has nothing on her! 😂 👩‍⚕️ 

Wayne has been at the dermatologist office since 745 this morning and just finally got home a few minutes ago. He had two chunks taken from his hand, six stitches inside and 14 outside. I am sure he will be in some pain today.

Ten trips up and down the RV steps in the 89 degree heat finished me. Ha. We’ve been binge watching Orange is the new black ... and it’s great; raunchy, bit good. That’s it for today. 

Monday, October 21, 2019

Good morning. It was a terrible night in Texas with springtime type tornadoes. Here, we’re expecting scattered showers and steamy heat. 

Happy Birthday Pam 🥂🍾 Cheers to you! ❤️

Ohhh ... bad humor. 😜 Hope this gets you one step closer to retirement and fun!

This afternoon, I did an interview for our Spotlight On series in the Harbor Shores newsletter. Liz and Bill Bell are well-traveled and have lived in our neighborhood 40 years! It’s always nice to get to know our neighborhood. 

Tonight we’re going to watch DWTS and sip wine. That’s exercise isn’t it?