Shady Maple

The park here has a full schedule for the weekend to keep the people entertained.  Today they had an ice cream social and a wagon ride.  When I heard about he wagon ride I visualized a horse drawn wagon with a straw bed in it.  No straw and the device pulling the wagon has 200HP rather than one HP.  They had a few people in the wagon as a tractor pulled it around the campground.

It was hot today, but not as bad as previous days and we decided to take a ride in the Lancaster County countryside and go to a restaurant recommended by my FSILINC.  He and a coworker were there earlier in the week and the bakery really impressed him.

Along the way we enjoyed the beautiful farms and rolling hills of this part of Pennsylvania and the quaint old town/villages along the way.  We saw a number of Amish people in their horse drawn buggies and managed to get this nice shot of two men on their way to market.   It is hard to imagine how these people have been able to continue with this way of life among all the modern trappings of today's world.  

We continued on until we arrived in East Earl where the Shady Maple Smorgasbord restaurant is located.  They also have a market next to the restaurant.  When I say restaurant, think of a huge building the size of a basketball arena or larger.  They have a 40,000 sq ft gift shop on the basement level, a huge banquet room and a restaurant that seats 1100 people at a time.  On a typical Saturday they serve 10-12K customers.  That is thousands of people.  The food section is over 200 ft long and there are 4 distinct sections of food. 

When we arrived there must have been well over 100 people waiting in 4 lines to pay for their meals.  Of course, we picked the slowest line by far and it took almost 30 minutes to pay and be seated.   Our luck continued to be bad and we were seated as far from the food as possible.  I did manage to make two trips through the lines and Gerry made 3, including a final trip to pick up dessert for us.  We enjoyed the meal and didn't even get a chance to sample all of the food available.  If we had, I am sure we would have burst.

Gerry wanted to check out the gift shop and I looked at the Hummels with her and we were amazed how expensive they were.  Gerry had a number of the same Hummels and these were 4-5 times more expensive than what she paid for them.  I sure am glad she got them when she did.

On our way out we drove by a barn where the Amish had parked their buggy wagons and there was an Amish family sitting along a curb.  Gerry snapped a quick picture and we moved on.

 We had a nice leisurely drive back to the campground and loafed around to let the food settle.  Now to get to bed early and have a good nights sleep.

Thanks FSILINC for the heads up on the restaurant.

It was a dark and stormy night

We got settled in to the RV park last night and enjoyed a happy hour and nice dinner.  It was in the high 90s and it took the a/c a little while to lower it and make it comfortable.  It was so comfortable that we finally had a relaxing evening and watched a little tv.  Not very exciting, is it?

Around 4pm this morning the excitement level was turned up when a severe thunderstorm rolled and roared through the area.  Once again we had hail on the roof of the mh and the car received some also.  No damage to either unit, but just south of us they weren't so lucky with a lot of wind damage and a possible small tornado.  We took a ride this afternoon and saw some of the damage about a mile from the rv park.

Now this evening they are calling for severe weather south of us all the way down to TN.  There is a storm moving around 50mph with winds up around 70+mph.  I am sure glad that we aren't in the sights of that storm.  Hopefully, we will miss all that mess and have a quiet evening.  It's quiet now around 10pm and I hope it stays that way.

We had dinner at a local restaurant that we thought served German food, but were out of luck.  The service was good and the price was right, but the meal was very ordinary.  We are going to try a place our FSILINC recommended to us.  It's about 30 miles from us and is a buffet with a great reputation.

The park here filled up very fast today with 2-3 units coming in at a time.  It is mostly a younger crowd with a lot of children, but they are well behaved and seem to be having a great time.  Everyone is outside cooking and playing, unlike so many parks we have been in.  Nice to see people having fun.

The Sales Pitch

We met the saleswoman who gave us the guided tour and sales pitch to join their membership resort.  It is part of the Afinity Group who also control Good Sam, Camping World and other companies having to do with RVing.  That was the first thing I learned today.

We took a ride through the park and she pointed out all the nice features like the fishing pond, bath/shower house, pool, cabins, campstore, snack room and other features.  They have weekend activities all during the season and have a lot to offer for someone who is interested in those types of things.  We weren't interested in many of them, so it was a no go for us.

They also had travel offers, condos, and a lot of other nice goodies.  They have a total of 6 parks under their wing and also a connection to Coast to Coast campgrounds.  There are three parks in Ohio, one in North Carolina, one in Pennsylvania and the last park is in Florida.  A new park is in the planning stage and they were uncertain when it would be online.  Something for everyone and if we were younger, we might have looked into it more closely.  

Then they got down to what it would cost to join the membership parks and the yearly dues.  I won't tell you what they started at, but it was 5 figures not including pennies and they wound up taking features away and came up with $6300 initiation fee and $365 yearly for dues.  We decided to not go any further with it and ended the presentation.  

They promised us a lunch after the presentation and Gerry accepted her chili dog and chips.  My stomach has been acting up so that didn't sound too appealing to me and I passed on the free meal.  

The electric power at the park was terrible and we decided to move on and skip the last free night of camping rather than take a chance of frying our electronics.  

We wound up in Pennsylvania east of Harrisburg in a nice little campground with full hookups.  We will be staying here until at least Monday morning and then driving back to the area nearer our cabin.  That is the nice thing about motorhomes, you can pick up and leave and still take your bed with you.

I hope you all had a great day..  

Catoctin Furnace & MH Inspection

Today was the big day to get the motorhome inspected so we could get Maryland tags on it.  We got up early and were ready to drive over to the inspection station and arrived 35 minutes early.  We sat there and fixed our lunch and finished about the time the technician came to pick up the motorhome.  He said it would take 3-4 hours and we could pick it up around 5pm.  That left us 4 hours to kill so off we went.

Thurmont, MD is just down the road and it is an interesting old town.  We stopped by Catoctin Furnace historical site to see what was there.  We've driven by this area hundreds of times over the years and never stopped to see the furnace works that date back to before the Revolutionary War and steel and cannon balls were manufactured during the war for the U.S.  Some of the buildings were in ruins and others restored to their original time period.

Ruins of Ironmaster's Home

The actual furnaces were located about 100 yards in front of the above house.  It must have been impossible to keep the home clean with all the smoke, soot and debris from the furnaces.

Isabella Furnace

The Catoctin furnace site is just south of Thurmont, MD and on Catoctin Furnace road.  The area is well maintained and there is a self guided walking tour of the area.  Now we know what they were talking about when they mentioned.the furnace area.  Just down from this area is the Catoctin Mountain Zoo which used to be a snake farm.

We went back to the RV center to wait for the completion of the inspection and sat in the waiting room watching Channel 8 news out of Washington, DC repeat itself every 30 minutes.  It was in a busy walk through area and each time an employee would walk through is was "how are you doing" etc.  It reminded us of Lazydays where all the employees welcome you and ask how you are doing.  

While I was there I returned a part that I had purchased in October 2011 and never used.  The original cost in 2011 was $71 and now it is selling for $103 without any improvements.  Who says the cost of living isn't going up leaps and bounds?  I offered it to them for the $103 but that didn't fly with them.  I was happy to get my $71 returned without any hassle.

We finally got the MH back and it passed inspections with flying colors.  We do have a leak in the radiator fan motor and will need to have that repaired.  It should be covered under warranty and if not, we have an extended warranty that will cover it.  Now we have to find a Tiffin dealer that can repair the leak.

The next step will be to get the repair done and possibly drive out to South Dakota and become residents of that state.  It doesn't really matter what our address is, just that we have an official address for Homeland Security.  There are a lot of advantages to having a South Dakota address and we are seriously considering making this move.  Lots of thinking will have to go into this possible next step.

We are now camped at the Gettysburg Battlefield Resort as their guest for a few days.  We will attend a presentation on Thursday morning, listen to their spiel, but they have us in a 30amp site and we only have 106-108 volts and not enough to safely run our a/c.  Not a very good introduction to the place.  We also have our electric and water lines running across a small creek which is dry at the moment.  What a crazy way to provide connections for the campsite.  More to come on this on Thursday after the sales pitch.

Campground Search

We went up to the cabin today to see what it looks like after the winter.  Jack & Cassie went up there Sunday and did some de-winterizing and all looks good with the cabin.  Now, if we could just get the motorhome up there.

The road up the mountain is being worked on again and is very rough for a section.  They have been installing new drain pipes under the road and it has taken them 4 years of working piece meal to get as far as they have.  One more year and they should be finished.  I think it is a budget thing and they work until the funds run out and move on to the next item in the budget.

The last mile or so leading into the cabin entails driving on a township road, forest road and then a private drive.  The forest road has trees and branches growing over the road and it looks like a tunnel.  An 11 ft tunnel and we have a 12 ft motorhome.  We will have to go in and trim almost a 1/2 mile section of road for low lying branches, saplings, etc in order to drive the motorhome in without pin striping it.  Jack has volunteered to help and it looks like I will rent a gas powered trimmer on the end of a 12ft pole to do the job.  More to follow on this.

We looked for alternative ways to spend the summer months here without doing all that trimming work, but it doesn't look like there are any alternatives.  We checked out a KOA, Jellystone and another campground and no luck.  Jellystone didn't have any space and if they did, they wanted $1000/month plus electric.  KOA was cheaper at $775/month plus electric, but the sites were too small and it's an old campground.  The private campground turned out to be tree houses and not for RVs.

Maple Tree Campground at the tree house

 On the way out of this above area we ran into some old fashioned grass cutters who demonstrated that the grass was greener on the other side of the fence.  There were about 12 of them and two were straining to eat outside the fence.  Quizzical looking guys.  They reminded me of the time I worked in Cairo, Egypt for a couple months in the late 1970s.  The nice apartment I was using had a vacant lot behind it and there was always a herd of goats eating everything in sight.  It was sort of odd seeing goats grazing in a real upscale neighborhood.

We checked into camp hosting at Greenbrier State Park and they said they had enough volunteers for this summer, but if we signed up they would put us on a list for any cancellations.  It sounds like it would be an interesting job (unpaid) to host there since they are only busy on weekends and require you to work a total of 20 hours/week per couple.  No bathroom cleaning, so that perked my interest.  Maybe next year.

It was a busy day with very little positive results, but there is always tomorrow.

Movie Time

We finally got a day to basically do nothing and it was enjoyable.  We had a copy of the movie "Bad Teacher" with Cameron Diaz and Justin Timberlake and decided to watch it today.  I thought is was going to be something that kids could watch and relate to it, but the language and comments were very adult oriented.  Not something I would let my teenage child watch.  We did find it had some funny parts and it was light, so we did enjoy watching the movie.

Cassie, Lexa, and Lexy stopped by the motorhome on their way back from the doctors visit and Jack stopped by on his way home from work.  We had a very nice visit and caught up on what is going on in their busy and hectic life.  Better them than us, since I know there is no way I could keep up with them.  It was the first time we met Lexy and she seemed like a sweet girl.  Cute as a button, also. This is going to be a confusing summer for me with Lexa and Lexy being around us.  

They are forecasting a low of 54 tonight and that should be great sleeping weather.  Since there aren't any other campers around us making a lot of noise, we may be able to sleep in.  For some reason I was up at 6am this morning and saw that big globe rise up in the sky.  This is getting to be a bad habit of mine getting up so early.

That was our quiet and relaxing day here at Greenbrier State Park and we loved it.
 

Greenbrier State Park, Maryland

We took our time getting out of Pocohantas State Park today and when we stopped by the dump station there were 3 other RVs there.  The first two people used the two dump stations, but they decided to chat up a storm.  One unit was a small travel trailer and couldn't have had tanks larger than 30 gallons.  The third unit was waiting for the station that I would have used so I had to turn the RV around and come at it from the other way.  To make a long story short, it took us over 30 minutes for something that should have taken 5 minutes.

We finally got on the road and just our luck there was an accident in Richmond that took over 30 minutes to get around and then farther down the road north of Richmond there was another accident.  This one had been cleared up so only slowed us down for 15 minutes.  That seems to be the norm for the Richmond area with the unbelievable traffic on I-95 North.  Now I see why the Southwest traffic is so nice.

We ran into a very heavy rainstorm for 30 miles or so and that slowed us down also.  Are you beginning to see a pattern here?  We finally arrived at Greenbrier SP only to find the parking area for motorhomes blocked off.  I drove to the gate and the young attendant said he would move the cone and I could back up.  Yeah, right.  He then said I should turn into the exit road and park there.  The road was barely one lane wide and such a severe angle that you couldn't have turned a car into the parking lot.  Then his suggestion was to drive into the park and turn around in the parking lot about 1/2 mile away and then make a sharp left turn into the parking lot.  After all that, I told him I was going to park on the road and people could go around me.  No problem!

The entrance to the campground has a combination lock with a lower one for cars and a taller one for motorhomes.  Guess which one had black tape all over it and wasn't working.  Yep, the tall one.  Gerry got out and managed to squeeze in between the RV and the lock to open the gate.  The entrance way left me 4 inches of room on one side and about 8 inches on the other.  Not for the faint of heart driving in there.

We finally arrive at our designated campsite after driving 225 miles and had to park a 40ft MH on a 30ft site.  No, I am not kidding.  I knew in advance the site was small, but it is one of the largest sites in the campground and I had parked the 37ft Southwind there before so figured it wouldn't be a major problem.  We finally got the motorhome parked and almost level and called it quits.  Happy hour time and a two drink one at that.

Check the angle on the car.

The front step is 1 1/2 ft off the ground

Looking downhill

Up hill shot

I fired up the TV and got one channel of reception, so we will have to find some other form of entertainment.  We have a number of movies and will watch them the next few nights.

We have camped here a number of times over the past 47 years and have always enjoyed the park.  It is heavily wooded, has a lot of hiking trails, wildlife and a very nice lake with a beach.  The park is very heavily used on the weekend and they close the entrance and turn away hundreds of people on some weekends.  There are 4 camping areas with one dedicated to tent/popups, another much the same, an electric hookup area and a dry camping campground.  It is very hilly and the roads are narrow one lane wide and one direction.  We still love the park and highly recommend it if you can live with the limitations.

We had a very nice visit with Carolyn & Mann and will try and meet up with them another time this summer for a couple nights.  They like to camp in the Hershey Park area and that isn't that far from us.  Hope to see you guys soon.

Now I am going to collapse and do nothing for the remainder of the evening.   

Computers & Crafts

Gerry and I spent the afternoon at our friends Carolyn & Mann's house and the boys and girls went to their sections of the house.  Gerry & Carolyn spent the whole time chatting about things that girls talk about.  Kids, crafting, rving, etc and who knows what.

Mann and I discussed computers the bulk of the time and different programs that we use.  He has a super fast internet connection and I took advantage of that to download some freeware and other large files.  I couldn't tell you in detail what all we discussed, but there never was a lull in the conversation.

They have a diesel motorhome and he gave me a number of tips on care and maintenance of the unit.  Between what he told me and what the PDI guy at Lazydays said, my brain is on overload of how to take care of the unit.  I will approach it like I did with the gas units and learn as I go.  A long session of reading the manuals will occur in the next few days once we catch our breath. 

We had a nice dinner with them and chatted some more and then left them early enough to get back to the motorhome and get to bed at a reasonable hour.  We saw a number of deer and a small fox on the way back, but they all behaved themselves.

We will be leaving Pocahontas State Park on Sunday morning and make the 200 mile drive to Greenbriar State Park near Hagerstown, MD.  We made a reservation at one of the last sites in the park that the motorhome will fit in.  The online reservation system says it has a 30ft limit, but we have stayed there before in our 37ft motorhome and it fit in the space with no problem.  They only have 30amp service with water spigots throughout the area.  I will have to fill the fresh water tank on the way in and use it.  It won't be a problem since we have a 90 gal fresh water tank.

That was our day, how was yours?  

Costco $3.16 gas and visiting friends

We drug our tired old bodies out of bed this morning very reluctantly and had a late breakfast.  We were worn out from all the activity the last 6 weeks and could have slept in for a couple days to recharge the bodies.  

Our destination for the day was to visit with friends Carolyn & Mann at their beautiful home.  We were low on gas in the Saturn and stopped by Costco for a fill up.  It seems there were a lot of people with the same idea since all the pumps were busy and we got the last space.  The gas price was $3.16/gallon which is the cheapest we've filled up on gas since before the last big price increase earlier this year.  It's hard to believe that I'm writing about cheap gas at that price, but that's how it is now.

We had a nice lunch at Mann & Carolyn home and chatted up a storm with them.  We share many similar interests like computers, rving, geocaching and politics so there was no end to the conversations.  Mann and I shared some computer information and discussed some of his many programs that he uses.  Now I have to go out and download some of the freebies and get my system up to date.  

We went out to dinner at Joe's Inn and had a very nice meal.  I ordered Veal Parmesan and Gerry had Lasagna.  The meals were so large that we saved over half of each and brought it back to the motorhome for lunch.  After dinner we visited some more and decided to call it an early night and return to the motorhome and get caught up on some much needed sleep.

The road back to the motorhome is narrow, hilly and curvy and out in the woods.  We had to keep an eye out for deer and did see some out on the way back.  They were good deers and kept out of the road. 

On The Road Again & Happy Birthday

Today is Lexa's 15th birthday and we called to wish her happy birthday, but all we got was a message saying they weren't there.  We called again, but no dice.  So, Happy Birthday Lexa.  We hope it was a nice day for you and you had a good time.

It's hard to believe that we were in Larry Jr & Jane's driveway for over two weeks and it was time to leave.  We had made reservations at the Pocahontas State Park in Chesterfield, VA and it was time to hit the road.  Jane stopped in to tell us goodby on her way to work and wished us a safe trip.

Grant came out to the motorhome and joined us for breakfast.  He likes to have Grandma fix him hot chocolate to go along with the milk and cereal.  He had his NATO helmut with him and really seems to enjoy wearing it.  We were sad to have to tell him good bye since he is a lot of fun to be with.  I asked him where his buddies were and he said he wanted to spend time with us and would see them later.  Great kid.  

We got up early and started putting away all the stuff that had managed to creep into the motorhome.  I hope we find where we stashed the things when we need them.

With a toot from our air horns, we were off and heading down the road and one of Larry Jr's neighbor was power washing the sidewalk by her house and I offered to let her wash the motor home for $20, which she refused.  We had only gone a mile when we ran into road construction, but managed to be the last vehicle in line to get through one lane area.

We had an easy drive up I-85 once we got by the next construction area which lasted about 15 miles.  The traffic moved fairly quickly and then thinned out once the construction zone fell behind us.  I-85 in Virginia had some really rough spots that shook the motorhome and we slowed down to get through the rough areas.  

The Virginia state police were out in force stopping speeders.  I think they must have set their quotas up a couple notches again.  We were running 65mph and weren't affected by the police, so it wasn't a problem for us.

We arrived at the Pocahontas State Park around 6pm and managed to snag a nice pull through campsite that is relatively level.  We had to dump our holding tanks first since they don't have sewer hookups at this park.  You would think for $30/night they would provide them, but they don't.  

Carolyn and Mann came over and joined us for some Tequila Lime chicken wings and catch up conversation.  We chatted until it was after 11pm and they had to begin their drive back home.  This area is loaded with deer and you can't make good time driving since the deer are so thick.  

 

Baby Carnations & Dinner

Barbara brought some flower starts over to Larry & Jane on Sunday and today was planting day.  The baby carnations started their lives in Illinois in the 1950s and have traveled from IL to Maryland, Virginia, and North Carolina.  We got the original starts from my old football coach and his wife, ( Charles & Betty Heinz ) and then gave them to Barbara where she has taken them from house to house as they have moved.   Cassie also has some flowers from the starts and now Larry Jr. will have some starts.

Baby Carnations

It has been very hot here lately and they decided to get an early start around 8am when the area was shady and relatively cool.  Barbara also gave them some Iris plants and they put both groups of flowers in the same bed.  

I heard a small motor running and couldn't figure out what it was and looked outside and saw Larry Jr. using his small roto tiller.  His soil is red clay and very thick, so he added some mulch to the mix.  Their dog Guiness was doing what he could to help speed up the process.  

Barbara got off work at noon and Gerry wanted to watch a TV program they recorded for her a month or so ago.  When we got there to watch it, she had already seen that episode.  It was a good one so she watched it again.  They worked on some card crafts after that until it was time to go to Sean & Taylor's home for dinner.  

Henry and Barbara joined us for a delicious stuffed chicken, mashed potatoes, vegetables and biscuit dinner.  She topped it all off with a strawberry tart dessert.  Excellent meal and as usual we all walked out stuffed to the gills.  Since they had to get up early for work in the morning, we called it an early night. 

Sean & Taylor

 We then returned to Larry Jr's house and watched some TV with them and admired Grant's new WWII helmut.  He was very proud of it and wore it while we watched TV and took it to bed with him.  I hope he didn't sleep in it.  

It was a long day and we called it quits after 11pm and retired to the motorhome.  Exhausted, but we had a great day with the family and that is what it is all about for me.

Good night!

Making the rounds

Our daughter Barbara and her family all live in the Concord/Charolotte, NC area.  Three of the grandchildren are married and one grandson, Jared is single and not looking to get married soon.  We had dinner at his apartment last week and enjoyed the dinner and visit very much.

Our oldest grandson Ryan and his wife Dee recently bought a nice 4 bedroom house in the University of NC Charlotte area.  It is about 10 years old and was recently renovated and looks very nice.  They have a large 2 car garage and carport so they don't have to park on the street.  We went over there today for a visit after dinner and enjoyed getting to chat with them in their new home.  They are two very proud people and enjoying their new home.  Well done, Ryan.

Our granddaughter Stephanie and husband Shawn bought a house a number of years ago and we stopped by to see it then.  I thought she would have bought another house by now, but doesn't seem that interested in getting a larger home.  

Our last grandson Sean and his wife Taylor bought their house last year before they go married and Sean and a room mate lived in the house until he got kicked out once Sean & Taylor were married.  They have a nice house on a quiet street and we will be going there for dinner on Wednesday.  

While we love to see everyone and enjoy home cooked dinners, we have to get out of here before we put on so much weight that the motor home is overloaded.  We are fast approaching the point and it shows.

Wednesday plans call for us to help Larry Jr & Jane plant some flowers.  Story to follow on that Wednesday night.

Our two weeks here will be coming to an end on Thursday morning when we head to Richmond for a few days.  It seems like we just got here and now it is time to leave.  Time does fly by when you are having fun and being with the ones you love.  We will be back the first of August for a anniversary celebration and see everyone then.  That will be fun.

GPS & Detours

We have noticed over the years that May seems to be a deadly month for teenagers.  It starts with prom night when there always seems to be a fatal car crash involving a number of young people.  It continues through graduation night and we lose loved ones during this period also.  

We were driving to Barbara & Henry's house today on a two lane, curvy road at the speed limit of 45 when a group of kids passed us going about 75mph and all over the road.  They picked an intersection to a small housing development to make the pass and if someone had turned onto the road to the right, there would have been a crash.  Luckily there wasn't anyone else near us at the time.  By the time we went a block, they had traveled 4 blocks and blew through a stop sign and continued on their way.  What is it with these kids that makes them think they are immortal?  

Back to the GPS.  We have a Tom Tom XXL GPS and it came with free lifetime map updates and I received an email reminding me to load the latest update.  Since it is around a 2gig update, I waited until we went to Barb's house and used their fast internet.  Even using hers, it took almost an hour to download the files and update the GPS.  Now we are good to go for now and until we can find another fast internet service to update the GPS for the next cycle.

The road we take to Barb's was barricaded with detour signs and we had to take an alternate route.  Luckily we were at the intersection where I-485 and RT 51 meet and were able to jump on the interstate.  It was only a short delay, but if you weren't familiar with the roads in the area it could have been a long delay.  The GPS would have been handy to have at that time.  It's amazing how dependent people become on their gadgets.

Gerry had decided to prepare one of everyone's favorite meal this evening.  She makes a great meat pie Roma dish that never makes it through two meals since everyone helps themselves to seconds.  She did make two pie plates of the meal and there was enough leftover to feed Henry for lunch.  Larry Jr & Grant joined us for the meal and it was touch and go if there would be enough for all.  Jane was driving to Raleigh to attend a meeting and couldn't make it.

No pictures today and after yesterdays post, I imagine everybody has seen enough of our mugs.

Fathers' Day

Early this morning I received an email from SIL Henry with his great breakfast that Barbara had prepared for him  Great is how Henry described it, but I'm not sure everyone would hold it in that high esteem.  It consisted of a diet coke, warmed up BBQ spareribs and scrambled eggs.  Judge for yourself if it would be high on your list of breakfast meals.

The family gathered at Larry and Jane's home for Fathers day and we all had a great time.  The only ones missing were Cassie, Jack & Lexa from Maryland and Taylor & Sean from North Carolina.  Taylor & Sean were celebrating their first wedding anniversary with a weekend getaway.  Cassie and I chatted on the phone for while and it was great hearing from her.  We are looking forward to seeing her and the family again.

Barb & Larry at the bar

Henry & Larry taking it easy.

Shawn & Stephanie

Jane, Ryan, Larry Jr. & Dee

Gerry & Barb

Monterrey Chicken dish

Jane & Lerry Jr.

Soccer Star

Grant with birthday gift

Jared scoring a touchdown

When the whole family is around we play volleyball, but there weren't enough for teams so soccer and playing catch with the football was the order of the day.  Larry Jr's backyard is quite large and there was more than enough space to play the games. 

Larry & Jane prepared the main meal and others brought chips, dip, vegetable tray and other goodies.  There wasn't any reason for anyone to go hungry with all the food around.  I am going to have to get out of here soon or I will gain 100 lbs.  

Shawn & Stephanie came by also and spent some time with her father and us, but had to leave and spend some time with Shawn's father.  Having relatives nearby can be a help or hindrance with dividing time between families.  We ran into that early in our marriage when we went back to Illinois on vacation.  It all worked out and we managed to keep everyone relatively happy.

John Deere & Spareribs

What a day for me.  I did something I haven't done in over six years and this time it was even easier than before.  Everyone was working in the house and I volunteered to cut the grass for Larry Jr.  He has a nice 18hp riding lawn mower and it made short work on his 3/4 acre lawn.  

The grass cutting wasn't without incident though.  I was trying to cut as close as possible to the rear of the motor home and misjudged how low the tow bar hitch was.  Thankfully I was moving slowly and the motor home wasn't damaged and the mower had a little scratch.  When I showed it to Larry Jr he replied "now we are even for me wrecking the Toyota in Costa Rica".  The odd thing was, I was going to tell him the same thing.  Great minds think alike.

Barb & Henry had invited us over Friday night for a bbq spareribs dinner and we went there, but Barb had to work late and was frazzled when she got home.  It took two Canadian Club and Pepsi drinks to calm her down and by then it was too late for the spareribs.  So the spareribs dinner was shifted to Saturday night and Grant joined us for the dinner.  They were some of the best spareribs I've had in a long time and the corn on the cob, grilled sweet potato and garlic bread were fantastic.   Needless to say I managed to get my full share of the food and then some.  

Come on Henry, quit eating for the picture!

Not much left of 4 huge ribs.

Grant & Gerry looked satisfied.

After dinner we sat around and chatted for a while and were going to watch a movie, but there weren't any good movies on the Cable Channels so Henry went and retrieved King Kong from his movie DVDs.  None of us had seen the latest one so we thought it would be a good movie for all ages to watch.  It was, but nobody knew it was over 3 hours long and there were some tired people there at the beginning of the movie and really tired people at the end.  What a marathon and we actually had a short intermission for some ice cream.  I wasn't sure I was going to be able to walk out of there for the drive back to the motor home, but we all made it.

And, that is why I am sending the blog posting out a day late.

Ipad3 & Apple Strudel

Larry Jr and I made a Costco run today to restock his pantry and for me to pick up some much needed items.  He grabbed a shopping cart and took off on his mission while I walked around picking up the few items on my list.  Costco has a nice feature where they give out samples of products they are selling and the first sample of the day for me was a small piece of Apple Strudel.  Big mistake on my part since it was so good that I put one in my basket.  It was delicious and made me want more.  Yes, I know I am weak when it comes to Mince Meat pie and Apple Strudel.

Our son in law Henry recently changed jobs and decided he wanted to try out an Ipad3 as a supplement to his laptop.  There are a number of features that he likes about the Ipad3 but overall he doesn't think it is worth the price for what he needs.  I have been interested in the Ipad and he loaned it to me for the weekend to take it out for a test drive.  I haven't had much of a chance to use it so far, but my first impression is that it won't be of much use to me either.  I will fool around with it for a few days to see if maybe it will become a member of the family in the future. 

I know there are a number of apps available for free and purchase and if I have time I will check into some of them today.  Itunes isn't something that interests me and we don't have an Iphone so that limits some features right off the bat.  It is small enough to carry around with you and to use it on your lap will watching tv and such.  We spend a lot of  time in the motorhome and my laptop does many of the same things and has many more features.

Do any of you readers have an Ipad and if so, what do you use it for?  I know our friend Gloria has an Ipad and uses it, but not sure what she uses if for.  Gloria, any input?  I am looking for justification to buy something that I don't know if I would ever use.

We have been having great weather here in the Charlotte, NC area the past few days and the forecast is for more of the same.  I hope it lasts until we get out of here and there aren't any more thunderstorms.

We plan on leaving the area next Thursday morning and driving to Pocahontas State Park in Chesterfield, VA and staying for three nights.  We made reservations at the park,  since we thought it might be a busy season for them with the school children being free for the summer.  Our good friends, Carolyn & Mann live nearby and we always enjoy visiting with them.

Moochdocking day & Card Crafting

We've been moochdocking in Larry Jr. & Jane's driveway a week now and catching up on visiting with them and Grant.  They recently moved to a very nice neighborhood and Jr. has been painting and working on the house.  He has painted more than 1/2 of the interior rooms and done other repairs that needed to be taken care of.  It's been a huge job since they have 4 bedrooms, a library and a large bonus room in addition to the kitchen, kitchen nook, dining room and large family room.  

Pano of the house

The motorhome is parked on the right side of the garage.  The picture is a pano of three photos, hence the curve in the roof of the house.

The homes in the neighborhood are very nice homes and quite large.  Some look large enough to be a small hotel and the lawns are landscaped nicely.

There is a very beautiful hydrangea bush next to the driveway that is in full bloom now and should flower until September.  It is a striking bush and shows off very well.  

Gerry and Barbara had a card crafting day planned so I drove Gerry over to Barbara's house and we picked her up and went out for a nice lunch at a local family restaurant.  I was surprised to see one of the lunch specials was a grouper platter and that was my choice.  It was very good and was very filling.  

I dropped off the girls and went back to Larry's house and helped him hang a chandelier and basically took it easy after that until Jr, Grant, Jane and I went to Bellacino's Restaurant for dinner.  I had an Italian Grinder and that filled me up nicely.  I sampled a piece of the pizza and it was tasty and would be a nice meal for the future.

Larry Jr. had received a call from Shawn ( Steph's husband ) asking if Jr. could help him move an air conditioner into Sean's ( grandson ) house.  Shawn is an a/c technician and had picked up a new a/c for Sean and will install it in their home on Saturday.  Sean was still at work, so we drove over to lend a hand.  We meaning Larry Jr.  I held the door.  We also met Sean & Taylor's puppy who got out of the fenced in area and ran around like a wild banshee.  They finally corralled him and got him back in the fenced in area.   Yes, we do have a Sean and Shawn in the family and it sure is confusing when we all get together.

Barbara & Gerry stayed out late with their card crafting and I received a call about 10:30pm asking me to come over and pick up Gerry since it would have made Barbara getting to bed very late.  She had to go into work at 6:30am on Thursday to process some orders and have them ready by 8:00am.  No problem, since I do love to drive when there isn't any traffic on the road and it was a relaxing drive in the rain and fog.

That was my day, how was yours?

Dinner at Jared's and Hockey

Our grandson Jared invited Barbara & Henry and us over for dinner this evening.  He and his roommate Lee share an apartment in downtown Charlotte, NC.  They didn't tell me that he has a third floor walkup apartment until we got there.  Sneaky people. 

Jared & Lee.

  

They prepared an excellent meal of chicken fajitas and I went back for seconds.  As a matter of fact, we all had seconds.  Delicious.  I have to give them credit for a job well done.  

Jared challenged his father to a hockey game and Henry is the acknowledged hockey king in the family.  He got ahead of Jared real fast and then Jared made a comeback, but he fell short of winning.  They really got into the game and it sounded like war with them spinning the players and hitting the side of the table. 

Henry & Jared in combat mode.

 Their apartment is right in the midst of downtown Charlotte near the Panthers football stadium and the restaurant & bar district.  Perfect place for them to party and live the good life.  This is the view from their balcony window.

The NBA playoff game between the Thunder and Heat was almost on when we decided to give them a break and head back home.  I know they are big sports fans and wanted to see the game and not have to entertain us. 

Thanks for the meal and company guys.  

Fathers Day & Birthday

Henry's parents, Henry Sr & Liz, were on their way back to New York after a trip to Florida and stopped in for the weekend.  Since we were here also, it was time for a party and to celebrate Father's Day and Grant's birthday.  We tend to bunch up the celebrations since we aren't always in the area when they occur.  

The gals prepared a feast fit for a king and we all managed to stuff ourselves and have a few drinks.  When we got there the NASCAR race was on and people were all talking above the race which made it necessary to raise the volume on the TV to overcome the noise.  Needless to say, I heard a lot and couldn't understand anything.  I just nodded my head when spoken to.  I hope I didn't promise something that will come back to haunt me.

Gerry managed to get some pictures of the family and was busy working so we didn't get one of each person.  These are some of pictures she managed to take.  

Barbara & Henry are celebrating their 30th wedding anniversary this year and their children had planned a surprise celebration for them in August.  Henry recently changed jobs and was scheduled to take a trip in August so they had to tell them about to make sure it didn't interfere with his trip.  So much for the surprise.

Henry & Barbara

Shawn & Stephanie

Taylor & Sean

Jared & me

Jane & Larry Jr.

Grant opening birthday present.

 The weather started of good, but it began to rain about the time all the food was ready.  The plan was to fix most of the meal inside and it's a good thing we did.  Henry did bbq some chicken outside and managed to finish it before the rain came.

We had a lot of catching up to do with the our children and their families.  There sure weren't any lulls in the conversations that I heard of and everyone had a great time. 

Grant came back with us and spent the night in the motorhome and has been with us every night so far.  He does love to sleep over with us and just barely fits on the loveseat bed if he lays at an angle.  He is growing like a weed and will have to sleep on an air mattress real soon.