Sept 19 - 23 Front Royal VA

We got here to Skyline Ranch Resort just outside of Front Royal, VA, about 1:00 on Wednesday after a terribly twisty windy nasty road for our first day out!  We spent Wed afternoon just relaxing, doing the shakedown after sitting for 4 months!

Thursday we got up and headed for Skyline Drive and Shanendoah National Park.  I must say that the park is gorgeous as is the drive, but I most likely will NEVER do it again.  Up until mile 26 where we got to have lunch, see the stables, etc., the rest of the trip was green and for us, pretty boring.  I'm glad we did it though :)  We did have a marvelous lunch at the skyline cafe, where I had a Reuben and sweet potato fries and David had a burger and fries, and then we SHARED one of their signature desserts - blackberry cobbler with homemade blackberry ice cream...can you say YUM!

Friday we drove around Front Royal, picking up some groceries for the weekend, and getting a pretty good deal on some firewood, then we came back to the MH and just relaxed...our wonderful kids arrived about 8:30, got set up and then we had mountain pies and just relaxed around a good campfire.

Saturday morning Dawn made a fantastic breakfast pizza that we all just gnawed on!  Then we went for a nice long walk, the kids were doing the shakedown of their 'new' motorhome, so there were lots of things they were checking on - lights that wouldn't go out, lights that wouldn't go on, etc., just the usual stuff :)  All in all, pretty good day, I made sloppy joes, sweet potato salad, baked beans and of course there was the bonfire - and we plyed a great long game of 'Name that Tune' where the kids got as many tunes right as we did!  We did break out a bottle of bubbly to christen the kids motorhome :)  Here is a pic of both of the units, side by side!

This morning we all had breakfast together, waffles, sausage, eggs, juice - then they started packing up...it all went well, and they pulled out about 11:30ish.  I did shed a few tears because I don't know when we'll see them next, but at least they are in the states, and if I need a fix too bad I'll just fly to DC to see them!  I'd love to see them over Christmas, but that is always such a busy crazy time...sigh!

This afternoon we plotted our course for tomorrow - we were planning on going to Stafford, then over to the coast and south, but David has cold feet about driving in big city traffic, so we will be taking yet another windy twisty road to Lynchburg VA where we will stay for at least 2 days, maybe more. 

July to Sept 2012 Berlin PA

Well let’s play some catch up shall we :) 

·       4^th of July was fantastic with a great picnic, then fireworks with our friends Nancy & Harry Gindlesperger – we had front row seats and great company

·       The 6^th through the 14^th of July was spent getting the house cleaned, laundry done, beds made, and some cooking done for the grandkids visit.

·       July 15^th the Grands arrived, Devon, Branden, and Ariel.  Boy, it was so good to see them (of course it was good to see Dawn and Daryl too)!  No time for much cooking, I did make Eggs Benedict for breakfast before Dawn and Daryl headed back to DC to start their jobe.

·       July 22 – 29 We packed up the kids and the MH and went to Friendship Village in Bedford, where we (Branden, Ariel & I) spent much time in the swimming pool, and just enjoying each other’s company!  On Friday, Angie, Alan, Nick & Lauren came to visit, and later in the day Nancy, Harry, Shirley and Leonard came down and we had a wonderful picnic, with sloppy joes and corn on the cob – of course s’mores were made late into the night!

·       Time N time again – we had some cookouts/bonfires, shopped, cooked, did some sightseeing with the kids, (took them to the Flight 93 Memorial), and just had a great time! 

·       August 20 was David’s birthday, so we had lots of cake – and a bbq of course! 

·       August 21 – Devon and I headed to Daytona Beach FL where he is attending Embry Riddle Aeronautical University – we had a great road trip and I was honored to be able to represent his parents for orientation.

·       Aug 25, I flew from Daytona to DC, where Dawn and Daryl picked me up, and drove me to PA, where they picked up their two youngest and took them back to DC to get ready for school.

·       Aug 26 through Sept 11 was clean the house, do all the bedding, wash down all the ucky that had accumulated through the summer, and start the process of packing the MH for our trip south.

·       Sept 12 – 16 we spent in DC with the kids, playing tourist :)  We even rode the Metro!  We toured the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum, then we had an awesome tour of the Pentagon (where Dawn works), had a day of rest, then toured the Vietnam Memorial Wall, Vietnam Women’s Memorial, Korean Conflict Memorial and the WW II memorial – all of which we had seen before, but well worth seeing again!

·       Sept 17 – 18 High gear packing the MH, finishing up the house and getting ready to head out.

·       Sept 19^th First leg of our journey…and a separate entry!

June 7, 2012 Catch up

We arrived in Berlin PA on May 2, and hit the floor running.  We did the 'open the house' stuff which will become ritual - you know, turn on water, turn on hot water heater breakers, swish the walls down with wall brush, vacumn, mop, dust, open windows, wash windows, put in screens, check freezers, then unload the necessary stuff from the motorhome, etc. 

David left for Grand Junction the 9th of May to attend Kaeleigh's graduation on the 15th, and while he was gone I really started cleaning out cupboards and getting ready for the 1st yard sale of Kitchen, canning, Decor and more.  I picked him up at the airport on the 18th, and we had the yard sale that weekend.  Did pretty well, got rid of almost everything!  Now, just in case you were wondering, I kept plenty of stuff, but my Mom never met a kitchen gadget or pot n pan that she didn't like :)  she also was very into the Home Interior stuff so I decluttered and managed to get rid of some of that!  I think I might try my hand at Ebay...with some of the more 'antique' things!  Many thanks to my cousin Donna who helped me tremendously with the yard sale!!!

David said he wanted to go see Niagra Falls, the Canadian side, so we left June 3, stayed at a very nice campground called Footerest on the way up.  We got an early start for the border, and arrived there about 1 - OMG what a time!  We went across the Peace Bridge, the young lady looked at our passports, took our money, asked us if we had any weapons/guns to declare, we said no and she directed us up to a pull off.  Five guys came out, told us to get out of the vehicle with Cinder.  Their first question was:  Where are your guns.  We said we didn't have any.  They asked if we had guns in TX - we said NO, they said 'If you have any guns and don't declare them, you will be in serious trouble', we said Nope, no guns, then one of them said 'So, you're one of the 10 people in TX that have no guns?', we said yep, no guns.  They directed us to go sit on a bench in the cold and rain...all of them went into our motorhome, was in there about 15 minutes, came out, gave us our passports and a yellow sheet of paper and directed us to the building...so, after standing in line for 20 minutes we got to go through all the questions AGAIN.  Finally we were free to go - we got in and took off.  When we got to the campground and checked in, we started looking around.  They had gone through every thing in the MH, moved stuff, pulled out the bed, pulled the sheets out, rearranged a bunch of stuff, but the thing that really ticked us off was that on our desk, we have hook and cup latches to keep the drawers from sliding out when traveling - they apparently pulled on a drawer and when it didn't open, they jerked it hard enough to break the latch out as well as the wood!!!  That was simply uncalled for, and we didn't appreciate all the negative remarks about Texas either!!!

Niagra falls is beautiful, Canada is beautiful, both are VERY EXPENSIVE - .79 a lb for bananas, a burger and fries, $11.95 and that was NOT a nice juicy pub burger, that was just a burger!!!  In Niagra you pay to park everywhere - if you want to go into a restaurant and eat, you pay $15 to park - plus the cost of the meal!  You can go broke there in a hurry!  We managed to find a handicap spot at the police station that we parked at the first day, we purchased out people mover 2 day pass (about $50 for both of us for 2 days), the second day we parked at the Whirlpool area FREE and used the people movers.  We drove to Niagra on the Lake and found the same thing - very very expensive.  If you park on the street, there are electronic parking robots - you put in your license plate number, state, and credit card - it is $3 per half hour!!!

We saved the best for last and took the maid of the mist boat trip up to the falls - it was awesome, but again, very expensive for a 20 minute boat ride! 

All in all, when we came back into the USA today, I wanted to kiss the ground.  We had no hassles, they didn't even come into the motorhome, we were through in 5 minutes with a Have a Nice Day!  Whew, it's good to be home!!!

Tonight we are once again at Footerest campground in Kane PA, enjoying the quiet...

April 16th through April 23 Heiskell, TN, Huntington, WV

The last update was getting to Raccoon Valley RV Park in Heiskell, TN, an Escapee’s Park.  Whenever we actually get to one of these parks, it is almost like ‘coming home’ – they welcome you with hugs and, once you’ve been in the system a while, almost always there is someone there you recognize or know!  Of course, it is kind of in the middle of nowhere, you have to hop on the interstate and go 5 miles either direction for restaurants, groceries, etc.  There is a Post Office and a convenience store with a deli in Heiskell, about 2 miles from the park.  The lady at the post office is very friendly, she even gave the park a phone number for you to call and see if your ‘general delivery’ mail is there so you don’t make an unnecessary trip!  Very good service :)  Another thing that is very nice is that they don’t charge you extra for electric – yaay  it is built into the daily fee!  No surprises.  They do have cable tv if you want it, it is an extra $1 per day!

We were so very busy that we didn’t take any pictures of the park!  How bad is that…especially when some folks asked me to do so – I apologize, but it was a fun and busy busy busy week!

When we got there and I went into the office, who was in there but Bob, who was our neighbor in Hondo for about 5 weeks – his wife, Donna uses a walker/scooter and it was nice to see them!  They were actually two spots from us!  Then, when we went to social hour (held 7 days a week at 4 pm) in walked Clair and Sandy Souter, who also have a lot at LSC in Hondo.  What a surprise on both our parts!  Sandy invited us over for ‘dessert’ of fresh strawberries with angel food cake – it was very yummy, and we talked for a couple hours.

The next day we went to the Appalachia Museum, about 7 miles from the park.  We spent 5 hours there, and did not see it all!  I knew quite a bit about the area, but nowhere near what I learned there.  The grounds are beautiful and they have done a marvelous job, moving Mark Twain’s cabin to the grounds, a real still, blacksmith shop, quilters, oh and music!!!  There were several groups playing  fiddle music – the one I sang along with and remember, ‘Silver Slippers’ – do you remember that song???  We had lunch at their café, and I had herb chicken, mac and cheese and pickled red beets, David had homemade vegetable soup and a tuna salad sandwich.  The food was also excellent!   We went back home and napped!  In the evening we had Clair and Sandy over for dessert and I fixed peach cobbler with ice cream…yum!

We took one day and drove down to Cleveland, TN, where my EX mother in law, sister in law and brother in law live.  I had an address, but had not spoken or emailed them since they moved from Venice, FL to Cleveland, TN.  After 2 hours drive, I knocked on the door, and when Annie came to the door we both hugged and cried!  What a wonderful visit.  Mom recognized me immediately, which tickled me, ‘cause she didn’t know Dawn (my daughter) when she visited a couple years ago!  This was an ALL DAY visit, and we’ve been invited back, and when we are in the area, we will do so!  Annie, Bob and Mom – love you all!  Only took one pic, of mom…she is almost 90 and still baking :)

Then there was Cades Cove, and the Great Smokey Mountain National Park…breathtaking and I have no room for all the pictures we took – here are a couple.
So..suddenly it won't let me add any more pics :(

Gatlinburg – and Pigeon Forge – amazing and fodder for another trip when we will stay closer to do some evening shows – I don’t like to drive far at night on roads I don’t know ;) 

We went up to Powell for a lunch at ‘The Golden Girls’ that was recommended to us – and the food was marvelous, and the dessert…they had coconut cream, lemon merengue and chocolate cream pies, plus pecan and several berry types.  We had the first two and WOW, worth the trip!  Here is a picture of the flowers in front of the restaurant – if you know what they are, please let me know, I should have asked inside – never seen anything like ‘em! 

We went for a drive around Norris Dam State Park – beautiful place!  That concludes our week in Raccoon Valley!

Our next stop was in Berea, KY, where there was ‘supposed’ to be a Passport America park – who no longer accepted PA…grrr.  However it was a decent park, full hook ups for $20 per night, no cable, but decent wifi.  When we arrived we immediately went to the Kentucky Artisan Center where there are hundreds of artists’ works, everything from pictures to sculpture, weaving to basket making.  Lovely place with interesting treasurers around every corner.  I saw a lamp that I’d love to have for the living room in PA – but it was priced at $3,000.00!!!   Needless to say, I left it there.  They also have a little café there and we had lunch – I had a wonderful Rueben and David had a plate lunch with corn pudding on it – all great food!  The Rueben was served on a rye sub roll, obviously homemade and I didn’t leave a nibble.

We had heard much of ‘The Bourbon Trail’ of Tennessee and Kentucky, and we particularly wanted to tour Maker’s Mark in Loretto, KY.  So off we went pretty early in the morning, and it was about 70 miles away on some pretty scary twisty narrow roads!!!  Danged GPS took us the ‘shortest, fastest’ route rather than the interstate!  What an experience.  The tour is about an hour, and at the end we got to taste Maker’s Mark regular, something called ‘46’ and a ‘white’…David got a bottle of ‘46’ and oh yeah, he had his tastes and mine – I am NOT a bourbon girl!  Once again they had a café and we had lunch there – I had a pulled pork sandwich with their bourbon bbq sauce that was excellent, David had a burger.  We also drove to and took a mini tour of Heavenly Hills, another distillery on the trail.  We were not up for walking to the ‘rick houses’, but David had more bourbon :)

By the time we got back home I was exhausted, having caught a pretty nasty cold several days prior, and forgot to take my Dayquil before we left in the morning.  I had put a crockpot of beans and smoked sausage on and it was quite aromatic when we got home.  It poured all night long, and when we got up yesterday morning David had caught the ‘cold’.  Of course everything he gets is worse than when I get it (goes to his chest), but I doped him up and we came on up to Huntington WV, where we are staying for 3 nights at least – maybe more!

That brings us up to date – we’re gonna try to get better!

April 14 to 16, 2012 Nashville to Heiskell TN

So – Nashville, David said we would only stay 2 nights, and leave on Sunday because he didn’t want to drive through week day traffic.  We had a fantastic dinner Friday night at the Moose Club, strip steaks and all the trimmings, got up Saturday and headed out.

First stop –Loveless Café, famous for their breakfast and biscuits, and many music stars that have eaten there. I will say that it was very good, the biscuits were fantastic, but the noise level was atrocious! We couldn’t hear each other without yelling, and it actually hurt David’s ears :( Also, it was pretty expensive – cost us $25 for breakfast, which is way more than we are comfortable paying – but we did it and won’t need to go back there! 

Then, we plugged ‘The Hermitage’ into our trusty GPS and off we went.  This is one place that you should NOT miss if you are anywhere close.  Our cost for the two of us INCLUDING the carriage ride was $50, and it was well worth it.  We spent over 5 hours there – each person is given a map, a headset and a monitor – as you walked along, there were numbers on things, you plugged in the number (100 example) and it told you about something that happened there, or something that was happening in the country at a particular time.  There were brown signs that were all about Andrew Jackson, green signs that were all about his wife, Rachel, and blue signs that were informative about Daughters of American Revolution.  WOW, the house is beautifully restored, including the wall paper which is well over 100 years old – furnishings, china, carpets and other things – the guides were all in period dress, and very knowledgeable.  We took the carriage ride around the grounds – they are so expansive that there was no way David could walk the entire grounds.  Highly recommend this place!!! 

So, I've downloaded the pictures and now can't find 'em!!!  Sheesh...this getting old is for the birds!!!

It balanced out my disappointment in Tupelo, which I thought would be great and wasn’t, with a place I thought would be so-so, and it turned out to be quite a gem!  We got back to the Motorhome and were just exhausted – took naps and then went to a ‘Brewhouse’ for excellent burgers and fries! 

We got up Sunday morning and by noon we were at Deer Run RV Resort in Crossville, TN, where we didn’t even unhook the car – we simply enjoyed the lake and the down time.  Being a tourist is HARD work!

Monday morning we were on the road to Heiskell, TN, Raccoon Valley an Escapee park near the Smoky Mountains.  Once again, we just kind of vegged out, had a very nice social hour – and I recognized a couple that were parked beside us in Hondo, then at social who walked in but Clare and Sandy Souter from our home park in Hondo!  We talked and talked, and Sandy invited us over for dessert – she made yummy strawberry shortcake!  Thanks so much for a great dessert!

April 13, 2012 Tupelo to Nashville

Well, Tupelo was a disappointment to both of us.  We went to Elvis' birthplace and museum, looked at the gift shop where his CD's that I can buy for $10 at Wal-Mart were $18.99 there...t-shirts were $22.95, there was NO music playing - why would you have an Elvis museum and not have music through the place???  Then, when we looked in the museum what we saw was a bunch of posters, and not much else.  They wanted $12 each to tour the museum, the church and the shotgun house he lived in...we elected to not pay the money and just walk around and look at the outside of things.  Once again, disappointed - I guess I've heard so much about 'graceland' that I was expecting more - David has been to Graceland, and he was also pretty disappointed.  Here are a couple pics we took while there.
Shotgun house where Elvis was born.

David & a 'teen' Elvis

Fountain of Life

Tupelo did have an excellent Veterans Memorial park.

We drove up to Bryce Crossing Battle site.  Once again, nothing but praise for NPS - they've done a marvelous job with the museum, movie and battle site.

Got up and left on Thursday and drove up the Trace to Merriwether Lewis Camp, where once again we were blown away by a National Park Campground.  Very very nice, pull through sites as well as back ins, reasonably level - and FREE! 

This morning we got up and headed back up the Trace to Nashville.  We are now sitting in the parking lot of the Moose Club, with electric and water, and we fell into a wonderful steak dinner...wonderful steak!  We tried to get a tour bus to tour Nashville for tomorrow or Sunday, they are all fully booked (note to readers, if you want to tour Nashville on a bus without having to drive, book well in advance).  So, we'll see what is going on tomorrow... :)

April 10, 2012 Vicksburg to Tupelo

We stopped and stayed at Natchez State Park for 2 nights, this is a wonderful state park only about 11 miles north of Natchez.  We had water and electric, there was a dump station and the cost was $26 for 2 nights!  What a deal!  Some of the highlights of these 2 days were:

Ø Windsor Ruins – WOW, here are ruins of one of the largest antebellum homes in the state of Mississippi, that survived the civil war, but burnt to the ground because a guest dropped a cigarette into some construction debris on the third floor during a party.  It is very eerie to look at these columns still standing where the flora and fauna are taking over.

Ø Went to Lorman, MS on the advice of Lisa and Murphy Matthews to the Old Country Store.  Oh my – it is an old graying building, looks kind of like an old warehouse, when you go in (they open at 11) it looks like an antique shop – the walls and ceiling are lined with shelves and shelves of antiques – from dolls to dishes, from weapons to farm implements, toys to…you get the picture!  It is all buffet, and has been featured on Diners, Drive Ins and Dives, because of Mr D, who is famous for his fried chicken!  I must say that after I had the first bite, I had to agree, it was totally the best fried chicken I ever ate!  There was salads, all made from scratch, the potato was very close to mine, excellent, apple butter, cole slaw, about any kind of salad and pickle you’d want – and the hot table, besides the chicken, there were pork chops, with bell pepper & onion, and without, ribs, with and without a marvelous sauce, sweet potatoes, corn on the cob, green beans with bacon, black eyed peas, creamed corn, mashed potatoes and two kinds of gravy, watermelon, pudding, and of course we had to share a blackberry cobbler with ice cream…

Ø We toured some Indian Mounds which were interesting ONLY if you read the book – they just looked like a big football field with a ring of dirt around them, planted with grass. 

Ø Sunken Trace – the Natchez Trace Parkway had its beginnings from peoples feet over many years, which is actually sunken into the ground – this is called the ‘old trace’ and when you stop at these areas and walk into the woods just a little bit you get a sense of just how rugged those pioneers were to endure the hardship of this travel.  We stopped at many turn outs to read information, and see what there was to see.

Ø We detoured to Vicksburg for a couple days where we stayed at the Ameristar Casino RV Park for 3 days, so we were not on the road for Easter.  We toured the Vicksburg National Military Park – we got in free with our Access pass, went to the visitor center, watched a movie, bought the auto tour cd, began our tour.  It is a 16 mile tour, encompassing 20 miles of reconstructed trenches and earthworks, 1,325 historic monuments and markers.  With the audio tour, it explains what happened where and you feel like you are really there.  In the park is also the USS Cairo (an ironclad that was sunk), and Vicksburg National Cemetery.  Here are a few pics, but they do not do it justice – if you ever get near Vicksburg, you owe it to yourself to go and experience this!

Ø While in Vicksburg we toured more antebellum homes, had a wonderful lunch at a little place called The Tomato Patch, and had Easter dinner at the buffet at the casino.  It was fantastic – all the normal stuff, prime rib, fried shrimp, ribs, etc., etc….

Ø Toured the USS Battleship Museum - $5 donation and excellent models of all the different types of ships that ply the Mississippi.  Also included a movie about the siege of Vicksburg, told from peoples journals that survived it.

Ø Toured the riverfront mural area – and a terrific children’s park! 

Ø Monday, April 9 we went up the trace and spent the night at Jeff Busby National campground – no hook-ups, very dark, but nice for a change.  It really is too tough to do much boondocking with the oxygen that David needs!  We hate running the generator so much.

Ø While at Jeff Busby we toured “French Camp” and had lunch at the historic café there.  I had potato soup and David had chili, and we shared a ‘monster’ BLT on homemade bread!  They have a sorghum festival every fall, where they make syrup and molasses, very similar to the Maple Festival in Meyersdale, PA in the spring! 

Ø We arrived here in Tupelo, MS April 10^th – which brings us up to date once again!