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July 06 CHANGE IN BLOG ADDRESSI have been having trouble with this blog address and have switched to another blog spot. Check it out. NEW BLOG ADDRESS <======= Press here for new address. Make sure you bookmark or make it a favorite if you intend to follow the blog. I will leave the old information here since it would be a lot of work to transfer it to the new format. Hope you enjoy the blog. July 04 Happy Independence DayJuly 4, 2010 Waynesboro, PA  Gerry and I joined Cassie, Lexa and Jack for the Saturday night fireworks display at Waynesboro, PA. Their church has property near the fireworks displays and they invited everyone to park in their vacant field and provided hot dogs, cola & chips. That was a very nice gesture. Cassie & Jack saved us a parking space next to them and we got to watch the fireworks together. Sorry that you had to see me sitting so close to a Dodge, but I didn't have a choice.  We hope everyone has a happy and safe Independence Day celebration. July 02 This and ThatJuly 2, 2010 Cruising the Area It's been a quiet couple weeks here at the cabin. Very quiet! We joined our friends Carolyn & Mann for dinner on Monday night. They were visiting Gettysburg with their grandson Dustin and were worn out taking him around the battlefields and were looking for a relaxing dinner. We went to the Ott House in Emmitsburg MD for dinner and enjoyed the company and meal very much. Dustin was a little apprehensive, as he thought we were going to the Outhouse for dinner. Since he seemed to enjoy his meal, it must not have left too strong of an impression. It's too bad they only were in the area for two nights. They were heading to Hershey, PA to continue their trip with Dustin. A couple days ago we decided to travel over to Charles Town, WV and check out the casino there. They have a racetrack and casino in the same area along with a hotel. The casino used to be a small spot with some slots. It has been expanded to include hundreds of slots as well as adding two huge garages next to it. They are opening a gaming room this week and have fixed up the place very much. We played the slots for 3-4 hours and managed to leave them some money to help them with the expansion. We were both up and should have quit, but the urge to win more overcame us, with the expected result. Actually, we don't really expect to win, but it would be a nice bonus. We had their buffet dinner after gambling and both felt the main meal was just so so at best but the deserts were outstanding. They really do have a great pastry chef. I don't usually eat deserts but these looked so good that I left room for 5 different deserts and they all were great. Gerry had to agree that it would be worth the visit just to have desert there. The drive to Charles Town took us through Antietam battlefield and through the quaint and neat old towns of Boonsboro & Sharpsburg, MD and Shepherdstown, WV. They have really done a great job fixing up the downtown area of Shepherdstown and we plan on going back there for lunch one day very soon. The author Nora Roberts bought an old hotel in Boonsboro, MD and had it remodeled. Gerry managed to get a picture of it at the traffic light before we had to move on. Check it out below.  July 1st was Jack's birthday and we celebrated it with Jack, Cassie, Lexa, Candace and her two children. I grilled a couple London Broiled steaks and they actually turned out very good, if I may say so. We brought a decadent chocolate cake over for desert and it was enjoyed by all. The cake is so rich that I can't eat that much of it, but Jack did manage to down his fair share. He opened his cards and gifts after dinner and we sat around and chatted for a while. Then it was time to let him get to bed since he starts work so early. We left their house and headed back to the cabin. I glanced at the odometer on the car and noticed what I consider a unique number. At least it was unique to me.  By the time we got back to the cabin the temperature was hovering around 50 degrees. We had to shut the windows and add a blanket to the bed, but it was great sleeping weather. See what an exciting life we lead. June 17 Maryland CountrysideJune 17, 2010 Smithsburg, MD We have settled into living in the cabin and working on it. Yesterday we went to the Doctor near where we used to live for my back problem. It seems I have pulled some muscles in my lower back and will have to wait for them to heal in their own good time. The usual remedy of no bending, lifting, stretching or anything to aggravate the muscles was prescribed. Poor Gerry, she has to do even more work than usual. We then had lunch with old friends Martin & Elaine at a favorite Greek restaurant of ours. Elaine isn't fond of Greek food and just had a salad. We talked and talked and got caught up with what has been going on in their lives. It was very nice to see them again. We drove by our old neighborhood and saw where the owners of our old house had cut down the three cherry trees that were in the front yard. The trees were old and dying so I guess he didn't have much choice. It sure looked barren without the trees, but now the lawn will get enough sun so it should do better. The County is working on the "Inter-County" connector road now in that area and we were surprised by how much construction was going on at the same time. They have to build a number of bridges over existing roads and we saw at least 6 places where they were working. The inter-county connector project has been in the planning stage since 1950 and successive environmental groups have delayed it for years. The road should have been built 30 years ago and now that it is being worked on I can't imagine the price tag. Better late than never. It sure would be nice if it was open now since we have a 190 mile round trip every time we go to the area and it would cut off several miles and not having to drive through neighborhoods. A few days ago we were out while the sun was shining ( rare event lately ) and we got this picture of the countryside near Smithsburg, MD. Maybe this will show people why we keep coming back to this area. Enjoy!  June 12 Bridges of Washington Co., MDJune 11, 2010 Leitersburg Bridge No. 2 We had some errands to run today and drove by this pretty bridge near Leitersburg, MD. The bridge is over Antietam Creek and has a bend in the middle of it which is unique. This the same Antietam Creek which runs under the famous Burnside Bridge at the site of one of the bloodiest battles during the Civil War. The property near the bridge is well manicured and kept up by the family who lives there. Very beautiful.   Now we have to find Bridge No 1 and see what it looks like. Our work is never done. We stopped by the PA Dutch Market in Hagerstown to meet up with daughter Cassie. It was my first time there and I was surprised at the number of places to eat. We had a very nice lunch and continued on to finish our shopping. June 08 A June dayJune 8, 2010 South Mountain, PA Well, this day started out very cool. It got down into the high 40s last night and we ran the furnace to take the chill off this morning. What a crazy weather pattern we have been having here lately. Hot, cold, muggy, dry and on and on. Never two days in a row the same. We saw an unusual sight today at the cabin. Last year we had two Red Headed Woodpeckers around the cabin for a week or so. Today we had 4 of them around the area all day. They were very active and we got a couple nice shots of two of them, but not all four. They are real workers and throw out a lot of wood chips when they get going.  We had some errands to run and headed down the mountain to Smithsburg to do some banking, shopping and checking the mail. We drove across the train tracks that run through the center of Smithsburg and there were firemen and police at the crossing. We thought there may have been a car struck at the crossing but this wasn't so. The freight train had three cars jump the tracks and two more leaning over and almost falling over. A tank car was one of the cars, but the firemen said there wasn't a spill and no toxic material was in the tank car. It is hard to imagine the cars jumping the tracks since the train usually is going fairly slowly in this area.  We visited with Cassie & family for a short time and picked up some things from their house that we had stored there. On the way home we stopped to get a couple geocaches but only managed to find one. One of the caches we didn't find today was at a memorial to Civil War veterans in the Waynesboro, PA cemetery. It was a nice memorial and we will go back again to find the cache. I managed to get a photo of Gerry at the memorial and things are looking up.  The day was topped off by a stop at Gerry's favorite business in the whole world, Dairy Queen. Life is good. June 05 Fort Ritchie, MDJune 5, 2010 Fort Ritchie, MD The plaque says: "On the 17th day of September 1987, this tree was planted to commemorate the 200th Anniversary of the ratification of the Constitution of the United States. It serves as a living monument to the document that guarantees the freedom of these United States and those who served to defend it. The soil used was taken from the grounds of Independence Hall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania."Gerry and I woke up really early this morning and thought why not go out for breakfast. There aren't a lot of restaurants that near the cabin but Blue Ridge Summit has two nice diners and we thought we'd try the Summit Restaurant. We arrived around 7:30am and the place was packed. Luckily we got one of the two remaining booths and received prompt service to get our coffee. Since they were so busy, it took a while for the food order to arrive but we fortified ourselves with cups of coffee. The meals were good and for $9.84 we walked out of there full and content. Not bad. I had the foresight to bring the GPS and we went geocaching in the area. Fort Ritchie is next to Blue Ridge Summit and since it was open, we checked it out. A little history of Ft. Ritchie and it's present use. "Fort Ritchie is a 638 acre Army post in the hills near the Pennsylvania/Maryland border. It was officially closed in 1998, and is in transition. A development company is awaiting transfer, clean-up, and conversion, though the military still uses the facility for reservists. A proposal to headquarter the new Office of Homeland Security at the site was rejected. Much of the mission of the base was taken over by Fort Detrick, MD. One of the missions of Fort Ritchie was as the support facility for Site R, otherwise known as Raven Rock, an underground command center for the Pentagon, located underneath 650 acres, near the Fort. Site R is officially called the Alternate Joint Communications Center. Representatives of all the military departments and the Joint Chiefs of Staff for the federal government were said to have been (and may still be) located here as a contingency against a wipeout of the command structure in the event of a nuclear war. A new tenant is the Defense Information Systems Agency, Western Hemisphere, which reportedly operates the communication and command center located in 265,000 square foot bunker." There are a number of buildings on the grounds along with a small lake. Many of the old barracks are still standing along two streets and they will be for a long time since they are made out of stone. Other buildings have been torn down. One impressive building is shown below.  They planted a tree in 1987 commemorating the 200th year of the ratification of the US Constitution and there was a cache nearby, so we took the picture below. This was also our 500th cache find and thought that was very appropriate.  Later on we ran into Cassie, Jack & Lexa and they joined us at the Dairy Queen for lunch. Since Gerry was such a good sport, I promised her that I would stop at the DQ. She needs a DQ fix every so often or she gets a little crabby. LOL They went geocaching with us for one cache to see if they liked it. I think the vote was split 2-1.  We went back to the cabin and crashed for a while and have been taking it easy since then. It is very humid up here with all the rain we have been getting the past few days. I don't remember it raining this much from years past, but I guess it did since every thing is so green here. Our TV reception is limited to receiving NBC and one other channel. UGH! We have to either subscribe to Directv or buy a new antenna for the cabin. We are leaning toward the antenna route since we don't need Directv while we are on the road since almost all campgrounds have cable or we can receive TV on our rooftop antenna on the MH. June 02 Thaddeus Stevens Blacksmith ShopJune 2, 2010 South Mountain, PA -- Caledonia State Park We had an early start to the day with the arrival of the plumbers around 7:30AM this morning. We needed some work done on the septic system and they helped a little but I don't think the problem is solved yet. I bought some " Root Kill " to put into the septic lines. Hopefully this will help take care of the problem. BTW: Do any of you know what plumber salaries are now? Whew! Later in the day we went shopping and geocaching. Caledonia State Park is very close to the cabin and we go there quite often when we are in the area. It is well worth visiting with a huge olympic size pool, camping, picnic areas, hiking, fishing just enjoying it's beauty. As you can tell, we like it there. The area is known for being the place where Thaddeus Stevens lived and worked. He wasn't a well known figure in history but he was a very interesting man and the father of the 14th Amendment. The following article details what his accomplishments were. Thaddeus Stevens Blacksmith Shop His old blacksmith shop still stands after 180 years. He also owned a furnace nearby the blacksmith shop.  The Caledonia Furnace was about 100 yards to the right of this building.   We managed to get most of our shopping done and even had time to do a little geocaching. A couple of the caches were difficult while the others were fairly easy. Maybe our experience finding more of the different ones helped find the caches. We are up to 493 found caches and should get to 500 fairly soon. That is, if the work that needs to be done around the cabin doesn't get in the way. It is hard to believe that it is June already. My, how time flies when you are having fun. I have one more photo to include this time. I want to see who recognizes what is in the photo and what it is for. Anyone know? Anyone out there?  May 30 Mountain LaurelMay 30, 2010 The Cabin We are slowly getting the cabin ready to move back into, but it is real slow going. I pulled a back muscle and moving slower than I usually do. Almost stopped. Gerry got a nice picture of some of the mountain laurel that is all over the place up here. It is very pretty when it blooms and just green after that. We haven't returned in time to see the laurel for a number of years and it is always nice to see it in bloom.  May 27 South Mountain, PAMay 27, 2010 South Mountain, PA We arrived back at the cabin today after being gone for over 7 months and we are planning our next trip already. Guess we really have hitch itch bad. We got back on a 90 degree day with high humidity and that was most unwelcome. The cabin looked to be in pretty good shape but I think we need some major work done on the septic and sewer system. Goodbye many $$$. Cost of doing business. I most likely won't be updating the blog on a daily basis for a while until we get everything back to normal. Hard to believe we left here on October 16, 2009 and it is now May 27. My how time flys. Hope everyone has a Happy Memorial Day and that you remember and honor the true meaning of the day. May 24 Duffs RV ResortMay 24, 2010 Midlothian, VA Gerry and I left Kerr Dam & Reservoir in a driving rainstorm on Sunday. Gerry brought me my sunglasses from the car and asked if I wanted them in the motor home for the drive up to the Duffs. I said no, but she said to be optimistic and take them anyway. That was a good decision since we drove from the rain storm into bright sunlight and back into another rain storm on the way up. Crazy weather. We arrived at the Duffs around 3pm and setup the MH in their driveway. Then we proceeded to get caught up on what they have been doing since we last saw them in the Fall of 2009. We managed to talk nonstop for several hours and then hit the hay exhausted. Today the four of us went geo caching for a couple hours in the afternoon. It wasn't fair to them since we found some caches that they had already found and some that they hadn't. We added 13 caches to our list and they added 7 to theirs. The streets in the area we were looking for caches didn't always go through and you had to take long roundabout drives to get from cache to cache. There were some very large and beautiful homes in the area and we drove along the James River for a few miles. We returned to the their house around 5pm and I caught up on my emails and rested for a bit. We had another great dinner prepared by Carolyn and sat in our their easy chairs after dinner. The guys were tuckered out and grabbed some shut eye and then we watched some tv and called it an early night. Great day. May 22 Kerr Dam & ReservoirMay 22, 2010 Kerr Dam CG, VA We have been taking it easy the past couple days and staying near the campsite. As expected, the weekend saw the campground fill up with mostly 5th Wheels and Trailers. Lots of kids, dogs & boats but very quiet overall. The sites are so large that sounds aren't a problem. We leave here on Sunday with Midlothian, VA the next stop at the Duffs Campground. They have been calling for rain the past couple days and it finally arrived this afternoon. It rained hard for about a half hour and then was spotty for a few hours. I will say we sure don't need the additional humidity. It has been difficult getting used to 80-90% humidity when we spent 5 months in the 15-20% range.  May 20 Henderson, NCMay 20, 2010 Henderson, NC We had a few things to buy at the grocery store today so we drove down to Henderson, NC. After we picked up the groceries we stopped and picked up a few geocahes on the way back. We found 12 of them very quickly since they were so close together. Not a lot of walking also helped in the search. We did find one very interesting cache. Ricky Pearce a backhoe operator created the statue from molds filled with concrete. They are 17ft tall and weigh 40 tons. He was inspired by the famous Marilyn Monroe picture blowing up her skirt. The neighbors have mixed emotions about the statue being placed between two churches but he isn't violating any laws so they have been there since 2001. You never know what you will find when you are geocaching.  The campground is starting to fill up compared to yesterday. It seems everyone has a boat or two parked on their site. I guess fishing must be great this time of the year. They do have stripers here at the lake that get quite large. It would be fun to hook onto one of them. May 19 John H. Kerr Dam & ReservoirMay 19, 2010 Kerr Dam, VA Gerry and I arrived here yesterday after a 200 mile drive. We got a real nice campsite on the lake among the numerous oak trees. There aren't many fellow campers here so it is like have a private campground to ourselves. Kerr Dam is a Corp Of Engineer ( COE ) campground and we get a site for 1/2 price which comes to $10/day. One of the few advantages to being old.   We went geocaching for a while in the area and managed to find three caches. There aren't a lot of caches in the area and a couple of them are the hardest level to access and a couple others require a boat. So much for them. One of the caches was near the original Randolph-Macon college and one of the old buildings was in a sad state of ruin. They have a group trying to restore the building to it's original glory. Randolph-Macon was founded in 1830 by the Virginia Methodists, and is the oldest Methodist-run college in the country. It was originally located in Boydton, near the North Carolina border but as the railroad link to Boydton was destroyed during Civil War, the college's trustees decided to relocate the school to Ashland. The college was named for statesmen John Randolph of Roanoke and Nathaniel Macon. (The original site of Randolph-Macon features a historical marker and ruins of the classroom buildings.)  The lake level was lowered a few months ago and is now filling back up with it gaining a foot a day. That is a lot of water since the lake is miles long. They produce electricity at the dam and I would imagine they don't draw down the lake that much during the winter. Yesterday there wasn't much water flowing behind the dam like it has been in the past. May 17 Lowes Speedway CGMay 17, 2010 Concord, NC I went up to the office today and talked them into extending our stay another day so Gerry could rest up and take it easy. It worked. We had to move to another site, but did get the additional day. This is raceweek and they rent by the week starting today at the tune of $450 a week. No daily rate. They did rent to us for the daily rate, so that was great. It rained cats and dogs today and I am glad we weren't on the highway. Not much fun driving a MH in high winds and driving rain. The forecast for Tuesday is more rain, but not as bad as today. We only have 200 miles to go and hopefully can get there before the rain begins. Our next campsite will be COE CG at Kerr Lake on the Virginia/NC border. Henrys 50th BirthdayMay 16, 2010 Concord, NC Henry celebrated his 50th birthday today after all the celebrations of Sean's graduation. They surprised him with a gift of a lawn tractor and his very good friend from Maine flew in for the celebration. He had a great time and Shawn, Steph's fiancee; grilled chicken outside in the rain.  The birthday boy doesn't look his age at all.  We lured him into the garage to get a picture on his new lawn mower. Someone had bought some string in a can, but they were hesitant to use it on Henry. I was elected to do the honors. He likes a good joke and also to return a good joke so I guess I will have a surprise in the future. He did take it very well.  There was a lot of good company, food and drink and everyone had a great time. May 16 Seans GraduationMay 15, 2010 Raleigh, NC North Carolina State University We attended the graduation of our grandson Sean Hagadorn this past weekend. He graduated from NCSU on Saturday and we were honored to attend his graduation. We drove up there on Friday afternoon and went out to dinner at the 42th Street Oyster Bar with the family. After the graduation we drove the 2 1/2 hrs back to Barb & Henry's house and prepared for a big party. Talk about hectic and I didn't even do that much. Sunday was a party for Henry's 50th birthday and they had the family over for the celebration. Ted, an old friend of Henry's surprised him by flying down for his birthday. The kids all chipped in and bought him a riding mower for his 50th. Now that the boys have moved out Henry has to cut the grass by himself. Now he can do it in style. We took a number of pictures and I have included them below. Sean, the proud graduate is first in line. We also are very proud of Sean for graduation in 4 years and then getting a job before he actually graduated. Way to go Sean!  Barbara & Gerry on graduation day. I don't know which one was prouder of Sean, but would have to give the edge to Barbara.  Proud parents Henry & Barbara and Sean  Grandparents Liz, Gerry, Sean, Larry & Henry  Ryan, Stephanie, Sean & Jared.  Taylor & Sean Taylor graduated from Nursing School Today & Sean from NCSU  Gerry and I both are feeling the effects of infected sinuses and coughing. I have been getting better and Gerry is about 3 days behind me. I hope we can get back on our feet soon since we are due to leave here on Monday. I will write more when I feel better and have time. May 10 Tornado AlleyMay 10, 2010 Crossville, TN As those who follow my blog knows our son Larry Jr. and his family live in Norman, OK. We visited with them for almost two weeks and left there Wednesday of last week. While we were there the weather was great, some wind, rain and what you would expect for spring. Well, today changed all that in the Norman area. They had two tornados roar through there around rush hour and the damage was great. Larry Jr. had driven up to OK City to pick up Grant at school was driving back when the weather turned terrible for them. First off, they are fine. They had to drive by Moore, OK and that was one hard hit area. Then on to Norman where there was widespread damage. The second tornado head east through Norman and went right over Lake Thunderbird SP where we camped for the time we were there. All is well with them and their house didn't sustain any damage that he mentioned. We did watch TV and they showed destroyed houses, businesses, schools and much more out there. We are hoping to get out of Crossville on Tuesday but it will depend on how I am feeling. Right now it doesn't look too good for an early departure. Maybe this infection will break overnight and we can hit the road. May 09 Mothers DayMay 9, 2010 Crossville, TN HAPPY MOTHERS' DAY I just wanted to wish all those special mothers out there a very happy day. It won't be that special for Gerry this year since I have a bad sinus infection and taking antibiotics for the infection. We took a drive up to the ER this morning around 4am and received the best service I have gotten. I have been fighting a loosing battle with this for 5 days and hopefully this will clear up in a couple days. I told Gerry that we would celebrate Mother's Day on Father's Day so she doesn't miss out on her special day. It looks like we will be here another day to give me a chance to shake this thing. May 08 Silver Lake CGMay 8, 2010 Crossville, TN We drove from Memphis to Crossville today and made good time. We were concerned about driving through Nashville after all the flooding, some of which closed I-40 in two places. Today it was a breeze driving through Nashville, light traffic and it was was moving well. We didn't see any signs of flooding anywhere from the road. I-24 was still closed north of Nashville in one spot, but that was all. Nashville always make for an interesting drive on I-40 since I-24, I-65 and I-40 share sections of the road and you have to really watch which lane you are in. The light traffic made the job easier this time and I only had to force my way into one lane one time. If I give a turn signal, then the drivers behind us speed up so we can't change lanes, so the best thing is to just switch and then turn on the signal. Very effective. We arrived in Crossville around 4pm and set up on a lake front site. It was cool outside today and that is great for driving since I don't have to use the A/C. All in all it was an easy day. I am still fighting a sinus attack that won't go away. It is getting better slowly, but still taking a long time. Hope it clears up before the graduation ceremony next week. May 08 Silver Lake CGMay 8, 2010 Crossville, TN We drove from Memphis to Crossville today and made good time. We were concerned about driving through Nashville after all the flooding, some of which closed I-40 in two places. Today it was a breeze driving through Nashville, light traffic and it was was moving well. We didn't see any signs of flooding anywhere from the road. I-24 was still closed north of Nashville in one spot, but that was all. Nashville always make for an interesting drive on I-40 since I-24, I-65 and I-40 share sections of the road and you have to really watch which lane you are in. The light traffic made the job easier this time and I only had to force my way into one lane one time. If I give a turn signal, then the drivers behind us speed up so we can't change lanes, so the best thing is to just switch and then turn on the signal. Very effective. We arrived in Crossville around 4pm and set up on a lake front site. It was cool outside today and that is great for driving since I don't have to use the A/C. All in all it was an easy day. I am still fighting a sinus attack that won't go away. It is getting better slowly, but still taking a long time. Hope it clears up before the graduation ceremony next week. May 06 Lakeland, TNMay 6, 2010 Lakeland, TN ( East Memphis ) We were worn out yesterday and went to bed early and still couldn't get on the road early. We left Sallisaw and drove 335 miles to Lakeland, which is about 20 miles east of Memphis. There was a lot of rain in this area last week and you could tell it from the rivers and stream being out of their banks. The closer we got to Memphis the more water we saw. Nothing serious though and the Mississippi River was within it's banks as we crossed over it. We hit Memphis at rush hour and it was slow going for a while. I-40 winds and weaves around Memphis and you have to be on the correct side of the road for the turns. i.e. Sometimes a left turn crops up and I-40 is down to one lane and nobody will let you in. Then further down the line everyone is jumping in the line and slowing everyone up. Crazy system out here. The campground got good reviews but you have to drive through a trailer park to get to the campground. It looks like a lot of working people use the campground as their permanent residence. It isn't a destination campground, but for one night it is fine. Lots of kids. We did get setup in time to watch Survivor and Russell still is up to his devious ways and doing fine. He really knows how to read people and spots signs of weakness. I don't think he can win since everyone dislike him and he has double crossed everyone along the way. He does deserve to win since he outwits and outplays them all He just has to work on his people skills. On to Crossville, TN for Friday night if the weather holds up. The Cumberland River runs near Crossville and it is in flood stage at the present time. They are also calling for stormy weather with a lot of rain. We may keep on going if it looks like bad weather is settling. Stay tuned. May 05 Sallisaw, OKMay 5, 2010 Sallisaw, OK Gerry had ordered some eye glasses while we were in Tucson and they delivered the wrong prescription. Dr. Snyder said they were so far out the prescription that it was laughable. Costco manned up and redid the glasses and said they would send them via UPS to Norman, OK at our sons house. It took forever for them fill the prescription and then UPS took the full 5 days to deliver them. They finally arrived late this morning and we had lunch with Jane & Larry and then headed back to the MH to get ready for the road. We only went 160 miles today but that was enough. I have a bad case of allergies and it has wiped me out. See, we don't live an exciting life all the time. May 03 Oklahoma City, OKMay 2, 2010 Cafe do Brasil, OKC While we really love it in Tucson, we haven't run across a really memorable restaurant in the 4 winters we have stayed there. Lots of middle of the road places, but nothing outstanding. Oklahoma City has a lot of great places and we had brunch at one of the nicest places we have been to in a long time. Cafe do Brasil. The restaurant is located downtown in an old section amidst restored buildings. It was decorated in the Brazilian flag colors and looked really nice. I am not sure what the building was originally, but they did a great job remodeling it into a place to eat.  We all ordered something different and enjoyed the food very much. It wasn't your standard fare and was very tasty. They had a piano player there who played about 8 other instruments and he entertained us with Brazilian and Latin music. We sat in an enclave above the main floor behind him and with all the talking and music it was pretty loud. It was like most Latin American restaurants are in Costa Rica with a lot of chatter. We all enjoyed the meal with the adults enjoying it more than Grant.  Grant did enjoy the Flan desert served after the main course and went through it very quickly. We took our time and savored the Flan which we always look forward to in a South American restaurant. The mixed ceviche wasn't up to Costa Rican standards but it was a nice treat. It was different with palm hearts and pineapple in the ceviche.  Grant has a school project where he has to get pictures of different styles of architectural design in Oklahoma City. The downtown area around the Cafe was loaded with old buildings built in the early 1900s and columns, arches, etc., were prevelent in that era. We saw a very nice old marble building for sale and were impressed with how nice and solid it looked. It is a shame that these old buildings aren't still put to use. The Baptist church in that area took up over half a block and was two stories high with huge steeples. Very impressive. As we were driving down a street the windows in a building reflected us driving by and I thought it would make an interesting shot.  The building reflected had stained glass windows on all floors and Gerry had to get some shots of the windows. The heart window still had vivid colors and was beautiful. See for yourself below.  We then stopped at the old Central High School in downtown OKC. It was built circa 1905 and was very impressive. It looked like it could be a Federal Reserve Building with all the marble and stone used in it's construction. Many of the leaders of Oklahoma were educated there and they have a very proud heritage. Across the street from the school was a small garden with roses and other plantings. In the middle of the garden was a fountain and Gerry has a thing about fountains, also. Out she jumped and ran over and got this photo of it.  There is a lot to see in OKC if you take the time to look. Sunday was a good time to be there since we didn't have to fight the traffic. We drove down Broadway which used to be the center of the automobile sales district. The old names are still etched on the buildings and it was neat seeing Hudson, Packard and other old car names still in view. Keep in mind that a lot of these car companies went out of business in the 1950s or earlier. Many of the old buildings now house modern companies with tech names. They will more than likely outlast the newer buildings being built now and even their successors. We capped the day off with picking up a few geocaches on the way back to Norman and then watched our favorite program on TV, The Amazing Race; great program and interesting. Our favorites are still in the race and they are down to the final three contestants. The Cowboy brothers form Oklahoma are doing really well and we wish them the best of luck. Shopping dayMay 1, 2010 Norman, OK Today was shopping day for Gerry here in Norman, OK. Our grandson Sean is graduating from North Carolina State on May 15 and we are headed there for the graduation. Gerry "doesn't have a thing to wear" and wanted to get something nice for the graduation. That is one disadvantage of staying in the motor home for long periods of time, no storage for everything. She has some nice clothes back at the cabin but they aren't available. She went shopping at 3 stores and found one outfit she liked, but did not put it on hold. We had agreed to meet Larry Jr, Jane and Grant for dinner at Olive Garden and she ran out of time. Luckily Olive Garden was just a couple minutes from the shopping center. The service and food at the Olive Garden was outstanding and we managed to stuff ourselves to the gills as they say. We like Olive Garden Restaurants, but this one was a cut above the others. Grant spent the night with us in the motor home after dinner. He is an early to bed kind of guy and about 15 minutes after we returned to the MH he said he was tired. We made up his bed on the dinette and he was asleep in a flash. We had the TV on and were talking and it didn't faze him a bit. I wish I could fall asleep that fast and stay asleep. April 30, 2009 Tucson - Desert Flower We have been enjoying the brilliant and beautiful desert flowers in the area the past month. The different cacti produce flowers that rival roses, iris, and those routinely found in more moderate climates. As you drive down any back road you will see bunches of flowers of all colors coming out of the cacti. This was an eye opener for us when we first came to Tucson for the winter. We thought the desert would be devoid of color. Not so. I have included a couple pictures of some of the flowers. Enjoy.     The photo above was from a Trek motor home that came into the park. April 25, 2009 Coronado National Memorial, Naco, & Bisbee, AZ We decided to take a drive up to Bisbee, AZ today and went via the Coronado National Memorial and see what was there. It was a nice side trip through a canyon on switchback road and we drove up to the top of Montezuma Pass, Elev 6575 ft and we could see for miles. The border fence between the US and Mexico was quite clear even from 10-15 miles away. There is no statue, instead the Memorial is the whole area comprised of 4,750 acres. It is the largest Memorial in the National Park system. The black line in the center of the photo is the border fence. Mexico is at the top of the photo.  We left the Memorial and drove to Naco, AZ which is a border town south of Bisbee, AZ. We have heard of Naco but hadn't been there so we wanted to see what was there. Basically, there is a tavern, grocery store, other stores boarded up, a golf course & RV park ( for sale ) and not much else. The Mexican town of Naco across the border was much larger but we didn't venture across the border due to not having enough time. Maybe next year.  The border fence is easily seen from the highway as you enter Mexico. It doesn't look like it would be difficult to scale the fence.  We next drove up to Bisbee to look the town over again. They were celebrating Earth Day in Bisbee and had a bike race. We arrived after the race and most people had left by then. Great. We were able to get a table at our favorite restaurant in town, Santiago's. Bisbee is built on hillsides, canyons and is a neat place to see. It used to be a mining town. There is a huge mine in the center of town with tailings and abandoned mines all over the area. We took a picture of part of the mining operation and it is below.  We left Bisbee and drove to Tombstone, AZ and spent a few minutes there. It was long after 5pm and all the shops were closed and the streets were deserted. We have been to Tombstone numerous times and didn't stay long there. If you have never seen it, then you should. Uneventful drive back to Tucson and we we settled in to watch TV for a while. We were both tired out after our 210 mile drive and were getting ready for bed when we heard a helicopter flying right over the motorhome. It was circling and vibrating the motorhome it was so low. They had a spotlight on and I knew that wasn't a good sign. It wasn't! It seems one of the people in the park was getting out of a truck and the driver drove off and ran over him. The helicopter was the emergency one and they landed about 100 ft from our motorhome on the entrance road. What a racket. All this commotion went on for about an hour and finally the copter flew away and then an ambulance left. The injured person was in the ambulance and was in critical condition. Not a whole lot is being said about the events, so I will leave it at that. Update. The injured person was accidentally run over by the rear wheels of a pickup truck. The injuries were so severe that he did not survive. Very sad to hear about that. Just your everyday Saturday in the wild, wild west. April 20, 2009 Update on washer/dryer repair. I called Splendide in Oregon this morning and ordered the needed part. $135 with shipping via UPS arriving on Thursday or Friday. It just so happened that a mobile RV repairman was in the park working on a neighbor's RV. Ron saw the repairman and asked him if he had the part. He did!!! For $10 more I had the part in hand and installed in no time. Cancelled the part from Oregon and we are good to go. WOW!!!! April 19, 2009 Washer Dryer Repair This last week has been a slow one for us. Almost all of the snowbirds have left and it is very quiet here today. We had dinner with Betty & Lyle at the American Legion Post on Friday and enjoyed a nice meal of chicken fried steak. The company was great also. They packed up and left Saturday morning for Iowa. The washer/dryer has been leaking the past few days and Ron & I pulled it out of the cabinet and checked it yesterday. There were a few clamps that were loose and we tightened them hoping it would fix the problem. No such luck. Today we pulled the unit out and thoroughly checked it again. The problem was traced down to the water pump. The bushing was worn out and had a slow leak. I have the part number and will check on Monday for a replacement part. Wish me luck. The offending part is shown below.  April 12, 2009 Happy Easter We are enjoying the great weather out here in Tucson on Easter Sunday. We went to the children's mass and enjoyed how well the priest worked with the children. It helped that the mass started at Noon and that fit into our plans very well. We returned to the MH and have been very lazy all day. Nice. I have included a couple pictures taken today. Happy Easter to all.   April 11, 2009 CCRV Tucson, AZ Well, this day started off with a big bang about 2:30am as a strong storm front rolled through here last night. We had a gust of wind that must have been in the 60+ mph range that snapped a tree in half right next to the motorhome. There was so much force that the top of the tree was blown right over the motorhome and scraped the top. I checked last night for damage but the wind was blowing so hard and raining that it was a cursory check. This morning I climbed on top of the MH and checked it very carefully for damage. There were marks where the tree top drug over the roof and skylights and slidetop but thankfully there wasn't any damage. That is a relief. Just another of the benefits of RVing. There were other branches blown down at the campground and one large tree blown over near the pool.  April 10, 2009 Fry's Grocery Store The photo below was taken at a local Fry's grocery store here in Tucson. We thought it was neat enough to include on the page since it has been a slow couple days.  We did go to lunch yesterday with friends Ken & Arlene on their last day here in the park before heading back to Minnesota. One by one they are leaving us. Hope they aren't experiencing the winds that we are here in Tucson. The wind has been blowing at a constant 25-35 mph with gusts up in the 40s. Now that a lot of RVs have left we are more in the open and getting the gusts broadside. It isn't a problem, but does rock the MH every once in a while. I guess that is the price you pay for being in Tucson in April. We have driven past the American Legion Post 109 in Corona de Tucson a number of times and always made the comment that we should have dinner there one Friday evening. Well, today was the day. They had a fish dinner this evening and that worked in fine with our likes. The dinner was good and fairly inexpensive. The best part was that there were two tables of older Veterans from the local VA Hospital eating there. Most of them were in their 70s & 80s and some were in wheelchairs. We noticed them, but didn't really pay much attention to them. When they got up to leave we found out that most of them were blind. You would have never known it except that they needed a hand navigating the tables to get out. It was an uplifting experience seeing them fitting in so well. The manager of the Post said they came in a couple times a month and had dinner for free. The Post collects all the tip money and applies it to paying for the cost of the dinner. They also come by for lunch on occasion and it is free, too. I don't know if all American Legions have something like this for the Veterans, but think it is a great idea. So, if you are there for dinner, please leave a generous tip. It's for a good cause. April 8, 2009 Saguaro East Nat'l Park Gerry and I made one of our frequent trips to the Saguaro Park to see what has changed since the last time. It seems a lot of others had the same idea since there were many cars in the park for a Wednesday afternoon. A jogger passed us up and said she was from Maryland also and slowed down and chatted a few minutes. She lives about 15 miles from Colesville, MD where we lived previously. She was jogging the 9 mile road through the park which includes some steep climbs. Wish I was in as good a shape as she was. The flowers are beginning to blossom and there were a number of beautiful flowers there. I have included a few of the photos for you to see how beautiful the desert can be. The Saguaro cactus is the main attraction in the park, however when the flowers are in bloom it is great. If you are in the Tucson area, it is a must see.  .  April 7, 2009 Happy Birthday Barbara   April 6, 2009 CCRV Tucson, AZ Well, more people left CCRV today and our friends Ron & Dee joined them. They deserted us along with the others. Not only that, they left with a smile on their face.  April 3, 2009 Cattletown Steakhouse & Saloon Our friends Ron & Dee joined us at the Cattletown Restaurant this evening for the Friday night fish dinner. They have an all you can eat codfish dinner that is very good and very reasonable.  This has been the windiest day this winter for us in Tucson. There are gusts up to 50 mph and constant wind in the 20-35 mph range. The motor home is rocking in the wind, but all is well. I feel sorry for those RVers who are driving in this wind. I think it is too dangerous and difficult driving when the gusts are so high. To each his own. Many more snowbirds left today even though the winds were acting up. This part of the park is really starting to look bare. More friends are leaving in the next few days and most park activities will end soon. Time to get the RV ready to hit the road. April 1, 2009 Tucson, AZ Happy April Fools Day to all. Nothing out here to fool around with so you are safe for the time being. Today is the day that there will be a mass exodus from the park as people begin to head back home. There have been a lot of people who have already hit the road and the park looks empty except in the evenings when people come in off the road for the night. Guess it will be lonelier here in a short time. We plan on leaving the first of May and heading north. No firm plans yet, but some tentative ones. More on that later. |
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