Sunday, August 5, 2018

Good morning. It’s a warm sunshiny start to the day. I’m having a lazy morning before packing up to head home. We’re so glad we finished our waylaid vacation with a campout with the VIP club. It’s been fun. Here’s pictures from last night’s GRW sponsored dinner. 

Mark, me, Brenda and Mark. Dinner was Chicken, Shredded Pork, Beef Brisket, Mac ‘n Cheese (WOW!), Potato Salad, Coleslaw and assorted desserts. 

Foreground, Karen and Ray 

The Momentum table ... Monica and family 

Our MC, Pete. Mark and I had lots of fun playing the Vegas games. We lost all our chips, on purpose as we did not want to bid on anything and bring more stuff into the RV. LOL. As it was, I got rid of a new beach cover-up that I had bought but not liked when I got home, and Mark’s propane campfire, used once in Fort Lauderdale and hauled about the entire country. Ha!

No, it’s 1020 in the morning and I am packed up, the dogs are hooked up, and we are just waiting for Mark to finish up before we begin our ride home.

Back home, we unloaded, opened mail etcetera and now it’s Wine:30. Cheers. More tomorrow!

Saturday, August 4th, 2018

Good morning! We had a great sleep ... nearly 10 hours! Say what? Mark cooked up a bacon feast with cheesy eggs for us then pumped up the spare tire on the Dually. Now it’s RELAX TIME until 1 o’clock when pool volleyball begins. (I’m a cheerleader on the sidelines until I see the dermatologist on Tuesday!) 

Hahaha ... isn’t that the truth. 🤣

Here’s what’s going on with the VIP group today ...

Well we bobbed around the pool with “adult” beverages for 3 hours, we back and fed/walked the kids then back to the clubhouse for dinner and fun. My item is a swimsuit coverup and Mark’s is a propane campfire 🔥. (His will receive BIG BIDS!) It should be F U N .

Mark bonked his head on a cabinet door; yes the same one that gets Randy and Pete showed his sympathy. Hahaha. 

The games are underway.

It’s 9 o’clock and we’ve had dinner plus played roulette. Craps and Black Jack. We’re waiting for the auction to start! 

Friday August 3, 2018

Good morning Florida sunshine; we’re glad to see you! 🌞 It’s 9:10 a.m. and we’re on I-10 cruising along at 64 MPH. 

I saw this on Facebook ... funny but sad! 

OMG ... what a sense of humor this fellow has! 

While we’re rolling along I’ll catch you up on family happenings. 

Great-niece Crystal and daughter Avery are loving summertime! Avery turned 5 last March. 

Cousin Miles is 3rd from left. Ballet obviously keeps him happy at age 13! Kudos!

Pam flew in to see new Granddaughter Anna Juliet arrive. 

Congratulations to new mom and dad Allie and Dan. 💕

Blue skies, nothing but blue skies ... 😎

We stopped for fuel in Jacksonville with 132 miles to go. Mark needed a 2nd coffee this morning ... it’ll be half ‘n half HIS style ... half coffee half hot chocolate!

ICW at Jacksonville. 

Arrived at Seasons in the Sun RV Resort, Site 126. We hadn’t shut the engine off when Pete & Karen appeared on their red golf cart. Right away Pete spotted a bubble on our outer Dodge dually tire! Darn, those are nearly new! There’s a Pep Boys in Titusville nearby. So tonight’s fun is happy hour from 5-6 compliments of GRW ... then at 6 o’clock a Taco potluck party. Mark happened to have the ingredients, so we’ll be all set! 

Happy hour and dinner was loads of fun. We sat with some new members Mark and Brenda who live nearby this campground. They bought a travel trailer and after three weeks traded it in on a motorhome. After that, their first trip was to Indiana to visit his ailing aunt for two hours. Then, they began the trip back. There’s always a story. Dinner was good ... plenty of meat and cheese for tacos! Desserts were plentiful as were drinks. Mark and I were too tired to go to the campfire tonight. We will have to miss the Smore’s on the annual Smore‘s Day. Really! Who knew? 

While I tidied up after dinner, Mark changed the tire on the Dodge. He found it had a roofing staple stuck in it. It’ll be in for a patch tomorrow. 

That’s it for us for tonight. Talk talk talk tomorrow. 

Thursday, August 2, 2018

Cheers! THAT was quite the driving day! Whew. We packed up in the pouring rain and left Creekwood RV resort at 9 o’clock this morning. Instead of going the roundabout way that the GPS brought us 10 days earlier, we went to the left and through the town of Helen which seem to save us about 10 miles. Mark was happy with that. Within 45 minutes we were on a four-lane highway and not those twisty mountain roads with no shoulder. Traffic was light. 

Most of the drive was in light rain but we did have some downpour miles too. We were pretty impressed with the drivers overall. Not one person was using their four-way flashers while driving in the rain. We’re not in Florida yet, are we?

No 4-way flashers! Wow! That must be a Florida thing!

In the midst of the rainy malstrom Mark spotted Bo-Hunk moving coming from Georgia to Florida ...

Welcome! Everyone loves Florida! 

SEE ... Florida Welcomes You. 😎 (Well WE were happy to see the border; we had a great time in Georgia, but Florida’s home!)

Up north, Sue was shopping in Kenora while Wayne and grandsons Kyle and Gavin went fishing. 👍🏻 Hopefully there’ll be a fish fry for them. 

RanDawn called when they got back from Randy’s therapy session today. He’s doing well ... got his stitches out today! Step 4 ✅. Tomorrow they’re off to Daytona to stay at a fancy-schmancy hotel on the beach! Enjoy! Yeah, it’s a work-weekend for Dawn and Randy’s still in recovery mode, but a change of scenery. 

In other news, Bob & Jill moved into their new home in Oakbank. Congratulations 🍾 ... celebrate! How does Sadie like her new yard? 🐾💕 We want pictures! 😜

So we pulled into Lake City Campground at 4:45 just as the thunder rolled. We settled in Site #2 and cooked a pizza and drank wine. (The doggies had chicken thighs, garlic mashed potatoes, cauliflower, carrots and broccoli cooked in broth.) Hmmm, who runs this restaurant? 🐾💕😂

Wednesday August 1st, 2018

Good rainy daze from Helen, Georgia. The good news is we slept from 10 to 8:30 this morning! The rainy weather is perfect for gettin’ some 💤. 

So, the forecast for this area and Asheville where we’re going tomorrow is for flash-floods. We have a booking at Wilson’s Riverfront on the notoriously flood-prone French Broad River. What to do? Being Asheville you have to book RV sites nearly 6 months ahead of time as it’s a hot-spot for summer mountain camping. 

We went to lunch in Helen at the old Hofbrau Haus Restaurant GI Pub on the Chatahochee River There were a few tubers bobbing down the river ... and a lone white flip flop. Hahaha. Everyone that went past us had shoes on! (???) It was flowing faster today. 

Warnsteiner Pilsners, 2 rounds, German pretzel with beer cheese dip, 2 Reuben sandwiches and generic fries with tip ... $81.00 😲 

Back at the RV a decision was reached. The latest forecast is for TEN DAYS of rain and flash flooding from here to the coast. Asheville has been hammered for 3 days already and trees washed down on Paula’s mountain road (already.) I phoned Wilson’s ... he’s open today ... I called Bear Creek (booked,) Rutledge Lake (booked) ... Asheville KOA West (booked) ... ☹️. SO ... I called Wilson’s again and canceled. His reply, “So you’re not a water skier ⛷ then?” 😂 It’s back to Florida tomorrow; 525 miles to home. 

I phoned Sue today while we were in Helen. (Phone and internet is sketchy at our campground.) It’s cold (October-like!) on this first day of August at their cottage and going down to the 40’s overnight! Yikers.

Next, we talked to RanDawn and the cat’s outta the bag! 

DAWN CAN COOK! Look at this gorgeous meal prepped for Randy! Yum yum yum 😋. We told them about our plan change ... they will be in Daytona for Dawn’s update (work) training. Randy had a big day at therapy and more tomorrow. That’s the ticket after knee surgery. 

Well that was our day. Now it’s Wine:30. Ta Ta TIL tomorrow. (It’s really pouring now; quite tropical.)

Tuesday, July 31, 2018

Good morning! What a great sleep 💤 we had last night with the A/C cranking in the bedroom. The entire RV was 72 when I got up at 6 o’clock. Mark and BeeZee are still sleeping while Robbie and I are watching Discover Helen TV. My ear lobes are recovering but still sting; I just have to ignore it. Ha! They feel like I’ve been wearing tight earrings for a week. 

After a big breakfast Mark and I went HIKING to Anna Ruby Falls. It was a lovely drive into the area along the wooded Chatahoochee River but no room for error. Cost was only $3 each for access but of course spent 10 times that in the gift shop. 😏 We bought a cool rug for the RV entrance. Oh yeah, the hike was very pretty but also very steep after the half-way point. 

There were 2 spots to rest on the steepest parts and finally my ebeneezer mcgeezer knees turned to jello and I plopped down on the 2nd bench. Mark continued on but said it was very steep. 

Anna Ruby Falls is 154’ tall ... gorgeous! 

Taken from the pedestrian bridge. A young couple had 2 rambunctious toddlers running across it ... yikes! 😱 It rained and the walkway was a bit slippery. Ya gotta wonder how we manage to survive young parents. 😂

After the hike we went grocery shopping at the only food store in Helen! It’s super cool and the prices not too bad. 

Fancy a cold drink? Awesome OLD store. 

Here’s the handmade rug we bought today! 

Beary cute eh! 

Tonight we’re cooking pork chops on the grill with foil wrapped potatoes. We had rain earlier and more is forecast. A great night to relax with the kids. 

Monday, July 30, 2018

Good morning! Rain is forecast which we don’t mind at all. Our internet has been worse than sketchy here so I’m not sure how much Blog will get published today.

Beer at The Troll in Helen with RV friends Susan & Larry who we were with in Stone Mountain. The rafters were floating past the balcony. They have much fancier ones than the old inner tubes we used to use!

Chatahoochee River fun! There were plenty of dumpings over the swifter parts when the floats bunched up. 😂

Shopping downtown Helen! No rain! Mark bought a T-shirt and shot glass and I bought a magnet for the RV, a post card and a hanging star ⭐️ light for over the game table in the Sunroom. Oh yeah, and 2 Delft Blue Scotties! Good retail therapy. 

Robbie and BeeZee have been model citizens with dogs at every site in this campground. The folks next door came to Helen on their FIRST RV TRIP from Cape Coral, Florida with a brand-new 40’ Endeavor motorhome. I talked to Jim and said how brave he was tackling narrow mountain roads on his first trip. His reply was, “I’m not sure brave applies; more like stupid!” We both laughed as I told him that we went from Florida to Maine on our maiden trip. They have 2 big dogs, 1 is 15 years and the other 9 months. Lots to learn. They’re here for 7 weeks getting away from Southern Florida’s humid summer weather. 

Mark’s ready for a German beer 🍻 or two. 

Shopping at a Cuckoo clock shop with Susan & Larry. They have a 5th wheel too and are staying about a mile from us. Their thoughts on the Cherokee campground is that Mark and I got the better place at Creekwood! 

Cigar shop window prompted this picture. Haha. 

Did I mention “what a cute town?”

Back at the RV we sat outside with the kids while they ate frosty paws on the big rug. (We drank beer.) 

Robbie is butting his nose into my leg every few seconds as I make their dinners. Tonight’s special ... ground turkey, cottage cheese, potato with cauliflower/broccoli mix cooked in chicken broth. (Yup, it’s worth poking for!) Both dogs are at their idea weight and in good shape; no barfing from dog food nowadays! The last bag we bought was in February. It’s more work but hey, they’re our kids. 😜

Mark is chopping firewood, walking the Scotties and keeping busy. Pizza for tonight’s dinner. 👍🏻

Randy had therapy today and Dawn is going to call tonight to let us know how he’s doing. Yesterday, he was in a lot of pain. Phone service here is somewhat lousy, usually picking up every second or third word. Well, we are in the mountains. Ta ta.