St.Augustine

"The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page"

Arizona The Grand Canyon State

On Dec.4th Bruce and I met his high school buddy and his wife in Maricopa AZ. It's 20 miles south of Phoenix. We dry camped in the AK Chin Harrah's Casino for three days. On Sunday we drove three hours up to Sedona, where we took a jeep ride up into the mountains. We ate red dust and our kidneys were rattled but we had an awesome time.

Something to think about.

Be who you are and say what you feel, because those that matter don't mind and those that mind don't matter.


Someone sent this to me, and I thought it was a good way to look at things.

Turkey in a trash can

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Today we went to a dish to pass Thanksgiving dinner at the campground we are staying at. I have never heard of cooking a turkey in a trash can but it was good. I think it could have cooked longer but it was nice. I just wonder where all the juices go that you need for the yummy gravy. I think this method is for campers who don't want to heat up their motorhomes with a turkey cooking all day.

Last year a fried turkey, this year a turkey in a trash can. Who knows what they will think of next!! I must say I think I like the old fashioned turkey in an oven method best.

New Mexico Land of Enchantment

We decided to drive a hundred miles south to Carlsbad Caverns National Park. We hiked down 800 feet and were still 1650 feet above sea level. Needless to say we took an elevator back up to the surface. This cavern isnt the prettiest we've ever seen but they are the deepest. They have since found deeper caverns at the same park.

These are the only aliens we saw in Roswell New Mexico

Palo Duro Canyon State Park

Palo Duro Canyon is the second largest canyon in the USA. It's located south of Amarillo TX. The canyon is 120 miles long, as wide as 20 miles and more then 800ft deep. The rim is 3500 ft above sea level. There are more then 30 miles of cycling, hiking and bridle paths. During the three days(11/18-20) we spent in the park, Bruce and I hiked all of them or just about. We also did some Geo-caching and found ten caches. Hopefully, our pictures will show how lovely this park is.

After three nice days in the park, we headed out. We needed to stop at the dump station. While Bruce took care of that I decided to sweep the car out and accidentally locked the keys in the car. We only have one set of keys, so had to call AAA to help us out. That took a good three hours because first time we called they thought we were at a different park and they didn't get our number right to call us back. To make matters worse we couldn't find Bruce's wallet. After searching high and low and asking if it was turned in, I remembered I had stuck it under the car seat so while we were hiking it was out of sight. Thank goodness I found it!!!

We are now in Roswell, NM. There are green martians all over the place!! Tomorrow should be interesting.

Still trying to catch up on this blog!!

As Bruce and I are meandering west we stopped in the town of Helen Georgia. Thirty years ago they decide the town needed to be revitalized to bring in tourists. The whole town was done to look like an alpine village. They have the longest Octoberfest in the country. It lasts two months. Bruce and I spent two days Oct. 30 and 31st eating brats, drinking beer and singing German beer songs. Yes we actually sang, because Bruce knew the important words from his army days in Germany. Defending our country by making sure no one else got any beer.

As we were wandering around the town we went into a lapidary shop. They make jewelry out of rocks. She told us about William Hollands School Of Lapidary Arts about six miles from our campground. Bruce decided we should check it out. They were on their last week of classes for the season. We decided to take some classes and were lucky they had some openings. Bruce took a class in silver casting and made a couple of rings and necklaces and I took a class in seed beading. I learned some stitches and made some necklaces, bracelets and a pair of earrings. They even had some campsites on the property, so we moved there to be closer.

After leaving Georgia we stopped in Alabama at the Unclaimed Luggage store. Bruce bought himself a camera and I bought two books.

Next stop was Memphis where we went to our favorite BBQ, The BBQ Shop. We had our usual and bought some to freeze. You never know when the craving for The BBQ Shop will strike.

We decided since the weather was still reasonable we would head a little north and go to Branson MO. There we saw three shows. The Oak Ridge Boys-excellent, a group called SIX also very excellent. This group of six brothers, who by the way all own a brand new camaro with SIX across the side, sing a cappella. They are amazing!!!

The Oak Ridge Boys sound as awesome as they did years ago!! I loved the long white beard.

Iceland

Me and a Troll

The above photo is a glacier. Very cool site!!

Our tour guide Neil Mac Mann. He went to Iceland thirty years ago from Ireland and stayed. He speaks Icelandic very well.

Iceland is green and Greenland is ice

After a busy and eventful summer we are underway. Our busy summer included one funeral, very sad, three weddings, a new roof and many visits with friends and family. I especially enjoyed my time with our granddaughters, daughter,son and Jack (a dog).

Our first trip was a cruise to Iceland. We flew to London, rented a car and drove to Southhampton England. On the way we stopped at Winchester. We couldn't get into the cathedral because the BBC Antiques Road Show was there.

We arrived in Southhampton and spent one night at White Star Inn. It had been owned by the same company that owned the Titanic and other ships.

Our cruise was nice but we had the crankiest bunch Ive ever seen on a cruise ship. There were three altercations between all the senior passengers. Two of them were phyical fights where a guy ended up on the floor. The other a women hit a guy with her purse and he punched her in the face. Yikes!!! Have to watch out for those old people.

I am so far behind on my blog that I am just going to post the pictures I've taken. I especially enjoyed Iceland. It is so amazing because of it's geographical features. THe temperature there was 55 degrees and sunny. It only felt cold when the wind blew.

Bruce and I are in Memphis TN and heading up to Branson MO for three days. We descovered they have a week long Veteran's Day celebration. Hopefully we can get to see a show and the parade on Thursday.

Happy 30Th Birthday Keith!!

WELCOME TO HOLLAND!
by Emily Pearl Kingsley

I am often asked to describe the experience of raising a child with a disability - to try to help people who have not shared that unique experience to understand it, to imagine how it would feel.

It's like this . . . When you're going to have a baby, it's like planning a fabulous vacation trip - to Italy. You buy a bunch of guidebooks and make your wonderful plans. The Coliseum, the Michelangelo David, the gondolas in Venice. You may learn some handy phrases in Italian. It's all very exciting. After months of eager anticipation, the day finally arrives. You pack your bags and off you go. Several hours later, the plane lands. The stewardess comes and says, "Welcome to Holland." "Holland?" you say. "What do you mean Holland? I signed up for Italy! I'm supposed to be in Italy. All my life I've dreamed of going to Italy." But there's been a change in the flight plan. They've landed in Holland and there you must stay.

The important thing is that they haven't taken you to a horrible, disgusting, filthy place full of pestilence, famine and disease. It's just a different place. So you go out and buy new guidebooks. And you must learn a whole new language. And you will meet a whole new group of people you would never have met. It's just a different place. It's slower paced than Italy, less flashy than Italy. But after you've been there for a while and you catch your breath, you look around, and you begin to notice that Holland has windmills, Holland has tulips, Holland even has Rembrandts. But everyone you know is busy coming and going from Italy, and they're all bragging about what a wonderful time they had there. And for the rest of your life, you will say, "Yes, that's where I was supposed to go. That's what I had planned." The pain of that will never go away, because the loss of that dream is a very significant loss. But if you spend your life mourning the fact that you didn't get to Italy, you will never be free to enjoy the very special, very lovely things about Holland.

Killing two birds with one stone

I think we are getting obsessed with Geaocaching!!! Bruce and I are in VA now. Yesterday we decided to go geocaching again and found one on the Appalachian Trail. We drove about 22 miles along the Blue Ridge Mountains, to get to the trail that led to the geocache we were searching for. We then had to hike the trail for over two miles to find the cache. Along the way we met a couple of people hiking, saw some pretty flowers and the scenery was awesome, as usual along the Blue Ridge Mountains. There are some Lookout Points we stopped at on the way back down.

This is the first time we hiked any park of the AT and it was really nice. Geochacheing and hiking the AT was neat.

Treasure Hunting using GPS

Or Geocaching using a GPS instead of a map with an X on it. Bruce and I spent three hours today finding six caches in Paynes Prairie Preserve State Park. This is a very lovely park 10 miles south of Gainesville, FL

The first step is to log onto www.geocaching.com and type in the zip code for where ever you want to find some caches. We found lots of them in the general area. Then you need to transfer the coordinates from the website to your GPS. There are also some clues as to where the cache is...under a palm tree, on the ground covered with leaf debris, past house under tree, or under a dead oak tree.

A cache is a container with stuff in it. The container could be an ammo box, plastic food containers that lock shut, or even a rusty can. The stuff can be anything from small toys, stickers, pencils, Mardi Gras beads(LOL that is what I leave), or just about anything that is not X rated. You can take whatever trinket you want, as long as you leave a trinket behind. There is usually a little notebook for logging when you found the cache, your name, what you took and what you left.

What we found in all of the caches today, were Travel Bugs. These are bought by someone who puts them in caches and then when found by some else, they are taken to another cache. The TB has a registration number on it and you can log on and find out where it was started, where it has been and how many miles it traveled. You actually need to post(on the Geocaching site) where you found the TB and where you may be taking it. Some of the TB's have been in circulation for years. I found an alligator that is apparently in a race to somewhere. The TB that traveled the farthest was from Washington State and British Columbia. We found one from Maine, NC, CA, MI.

Geocaching is a great way to get outdoors and enjoy the hot, humid weather that has finally arrived in Florida. The only thing that makes me uncomfortable are the bugs, spiders, ticks and things that bite you when hiking around in the brush.

Heading north

Bruce and I have started to head north for the summer. Our first stop was The Ocala National Forest. We went to Salt Springs where I swam in the Fountain of Youth that was thought discovered by Ponce De Leon. The water was crystal clear and refreshing. The amount and variety of minerals found here are not found anywhere else in America.

I have a new outlook on Florida. Once you get away from the traffic, malls and tourist traps it really is a beautiful state!!

President Kennedy

On March 26 my grandmother turned 96 years old. The old pictures came out and I thought this would be fun to post. Great Uncle Alec was commissioned to work on one of the fireplaces in the White House for President Kennedy. He was a marble worker from Italy.

Great Aunt Clara was upset, because when Jackie Kennedy came to join in the picture she stood next to the President and Aunt Clara had to move over. Aunt Clara wanted to stand next to the President. She is on the right, behind Jackie Kennedy. I also remember it being told that while Uncle Alec was working on the fireplace, Jackie Kennedy came to shake his hand. He didn't want to because they were dirty from working, but Jackie didn't care.

Animal Kingdom Orlando FL

Dick and Sara from Ithaca

Bruce and I had some friends from Ithaca meet us in Orlando to visit Animal Kingdom. We had a great time. Went on the Safari Ride three times. Decided to put a real Safari on our bucket list for the future with our friends.

Swamp Cabbage Slaw

Tough outer layers of the Hearts of Palm

Preping swamp cabbage

Florida The Sunshine State

Bruce and I just spent four days at a rally for Country Coach owners. The Nor'easters. We are at the River Bend Motorcoach Resort in Labelle FL. We've been through here on our boat during our cruising days. It was fun to return to our old haunt. The resort is on the Caloosahatchie River and we remember passing by it on the boat.

This weekend was the 44 th Swamp Cabbage Festival in Labelle. We went to the parade, armidillo races, lawnmower races and saw one mower t bone another and one of the riders broke a leg. I just had to sample some swamp cabbage slaw and pickled swamp cabbage. Swamp cabbage is hearts of palm from the sabal palm tree. The sabal palm tree is the state tree in Florida. I guess I can say that I "ate a tree".

We decided we like it here at the resort and have always liked Labelle so are staying three more days. Labelle is old Florida, with orange groves and wide open spaces.

What a conundrum!!

OK, We are hanging out with most people who are our age or ten years older and 20 pounds heavier than we are.( I will always continue to fight the weight gain,) I just cannot explain how I feel. I am in their age group, but don't feel as if I am at that stage yet. They can suck down a bottle of wine or a pitcher of beer as fast as I can. They are lots of fun and have done the same things we have done. We've met people who have lived on boats, have pilots licenses, ride bicycles, scuba dived, have grandchildren and have age spots on their faces.

I am torn between joining this group and admitting I am one of them or thinking I am just not there yet.

Fat Tuesday!!

Not only is it Fat Tuesday or in French, Mardi Gras but it is also my birthday. We went to 3 parades in 3 days and caught 47 pounds of beads. Bruce is calling me the "Bead Whore". Today we actually saw a sticker with that on it. I discovered being next to kids or very loud agressive people cuts down on your chances of getting beads and other goodies thrown your way. This morning I wasn't taking any chances so I made a sign "It's my birthday". It actually worked. This morning at the ZULU parade everyone is after the coveted painted coconut. One of the guys saw my sign and threw the coconut to Bruce. Unfortunately, he fumbles and someone behind him got the coconut. Oh well !! Maybe next float I would get one. Next float comes along and I am waving my sign and yelling Coconut!! Coconut!!! No coconut, but someone on the float sees my sign and sends me a stuffed ZULU mascot!! It was so exciting!!

After lunch we walked down Bourbon Street, which was mobbed. People on balconies were throwing beads to those below. I really wanted a feather boa. I took out my birthday sign and started yelling, " can I have a boa?". The guy motioned for me to flash him and needless to say I ran away. Guess that's the only way to get a boa because my sign didn't impress this guy.

We had a ball and would come back here again. What a birthday experience this day was!!

Louisiana Sportsmens Paradise

Who dat? Who dat? Who dat say dey gonna beat dem Saints?

More Kites

Went back to the Kite Festival today. I take back what I said about the bigger kites just getting them up and nothing else to do. It's a challenge getting them up and then occasionally they fly around and get tangled together. They are heavy when filled with air.

Go Fly a Kite

Bruce and I went to the South Padre Island Kite Festival. It was pretty cold and windy. I never thought about it being too windy for flying a kite but it was for some of the kites. There were groups that came from as far away as Oregon and Canada to fly their kites. One of the groups was a five man one women team called the I Quad. They flew their kites in a synchronized routine to music. Very cool!!! Their control was amazing. Some of the kites were so big that they were tied to the tailgate of the car. Once the kite was in the air there was really nothing to do. I liked watching the smaller kites doing their routine. Seemed like more of a challenge. Afterward we went to a different beach and flew one of our kites. It "seams " I may be sewing up some kites for us to play with.

Howdy Partner

Bruce and I are still meandering around southern Texas. We've spent a lot of time in the Rio Grande Valley. A few days ago we went to a bull riding competition in the town of Mercedes. It was pretty cool, although I hated to watch the guys get thrown off of the bull. A few of them were stomped on or chased by the bull. Most of the younger guys wore helmets and padded vests for protection.







What do you call a bull that is taking a nap?

A bulldozer. LOL!!!







We've been to a couple of wild life preserves for bird watchers. (Bentsen Rio Grande State Park and Laguna Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge) Those bird watchers are serious. They have all sorts of cameras with telescopic lenses and they hide behind blinds to wait for the birds to arrive. Have you ever heard of a green jay? Either have I, but we saw a few and they are pretty. We saw a bunch of chachalacas and if anyone ever calls you a chachalaca it's because you talk too much. They say 80% of the red head drake from Canada and northern USA spend the winter down here in the Laguna Atascosa Refuge. The parks are pretty and have trails to walk or ride bikes on. The American Bird Conservancy designates the refuge as a "globally important bird area".

Just about every town has a flea market and we've gone to a few. The one we went to in Mercedes was mostly Mexican. They sell lots of used clothing, new clothing, fruit and veggies and the usual junk. We've been eating lots of tacos and found a very tall Mexican making some authentic tacos. I say very tall because it seems that most Mexican men are short. Anyway his tacos were really good. We bought the usual ground beef tacos but he had us try a fajita taco, which was awesome. Of course we had to buy two more. Mexicans don't put cheese on their tacos. He put cilantro and onions on. I usually don't like cilantro but these were really good. We listened to some music at this market also. They call it conjunto music. It's like polka music with a Mexican twist. There is aways an accordion in the band.

Since Mexico is just across the Rio Grande we decided we should venture over the border. It's easier to park the car and walk over. It only cost a quarter each way, and the US checks passports on the way back. It was interesting. All the venders wanted you to check out their stuff. I found the tin ornaments I wanted. We had a nice lunch in a recommened restaurant that was filled with tourists. Mostly older retired people. We bought a bag of Churros from a street vender and his wife. These are fried dough type things with sugar on them. I also found what they call milk candy. This is condensed milk and sugar cooked to a soft ball stage with pecans on it. I might try to make this some day.

Tonight we are at South Padre Island and are going to a kite festival tomorrow. I'll post picture of kites tomorrow.

Quote for today

Life isn't fair
But it's still good

I saw this on a sign this morning and thought it was a good quote. I especially wish younger kids could learn this lesson, they might be happier.

The Other Woman

Her name is Garmin "sita" and she saved our marriage. Usually the "other woman" destroys marriages, but not this one.

I must have some kind of mental block when it comes to directions, although I have noticed some family members who have issues with directions also. Maybe it is an inherited disability. Bruce just thinks I don't pay attention. I kind of like that reason because that leaves room for improvement. Years ago when we took flying lessons and I had to read charts, Bruce thought that my map reading skills had improved. I probably got good at it because I didn't want to crash into a radio tower or a tree. Driving around you just get lost and have to turn around a few times. No biggy!!! No pressure!!!

With Garmin "sita" we just push her buttons and she tells us where to go. She is sometimes wrong herself, which is even better because then I can blame our wrong turn on her. Instead of Bruce and me telling each other to go to !#@%, we let Garmin "sita" tell us where to go!!

Lansing NY, Lansing MI

I recently discovered that Lansing MI was named after Lansing NY.( I've lived in Lansing NY for over 20 yrs) I thought this was an interesting fact.

The North Log Cabin, the oldest in Tompkins and Cayuga Counties and one of the oldest in the country, was reassembled in Myers Park this summer. It was originally built in 1791 by Thomas North. The family played a part in American history since the Revolutionary War. Two of Thomas North's grandsons moved to MI where they named their new home Lansing. I Googled Lansing MI history and this is what I found. I was hoping Lansing MI was named after Lansing NY for a more romantic reason !!!

The area that is now Lansing was originally spotted by explorer Hugh Henward in 1790 while canoeing the Grand River.^[7] The land that was to become Lansing was surveyed in 1825 in what was then dense forest. There would be no roads to this area for decades to come.^[8]

In the winter of 1835 and early 1836, two brothers from New York plotted the area now known as REO Town just south of downtown Lansing and named it "Biddle City." All of this land lay in a floodplain and was underwater during the majority of the year. Regardless, the brothers went back to New York, specifically Lansing, New York, to sell plots for the town that did not exist. They told the residents of Lansing, New York that this new "city" had an area of 65 blocks, contained a church and also a public and academic square. A group of 16 men bought plots in the nonexistent city and upon reaching the area later that year found they had been scammed. Many in the group too disappointed to stay ended up settling around what is now Metropolitan Lansing. Those who stayed quickly renamed the area "Lansing Township" in honor of their home village in New York.^[8]