Sunday, December 30, 2012

2012-12-01-EndOfVisit


Click here to view these pictures larger
It is now nearly a month since the end of the vist with Ben and Elizabeth and I thought it was high time that I published the photos from their last days here with us.  Originally, we had intended to take them to the Mountain of Youth at Lulu's place; however, due to the time of the season and fewer than normal visitors, the rope climb was not available.  As an alternative, we visited an alternate site nearby where we all (including friends Pat and Dick) enjoyed an afternoon of racing go-carts.  The following day we spent a little time at the beach in Gulf Shores - quite a treat for the end of November.

Wednesday, November 28, 2012

PA Visitors - Louisiana, Fishing and NAS Pensacola


This week we have two visitors.  Ben and Elizabeth arrived in New Orleans, LA, on Saturday and are spending some time with us here in AL while mom takes a vacation.  Our friends Dick and Pat have been joining us for much of the adventure which started with a nice lunch at the Cafe Adeliade on Poydras Street in New Orleans, just down the street from the Mississippi River Walk and across the street from the Harrahs Casino.  So far the kids have enjoyed some fishing and a day of exploring the Museum at Pensacola Naval Air Station.  There will be a few more adventures on the agenda which we'll share at a later date, but between events, the kids must spend some times with school work.  Everyone is having just a great time and we are pleased to share these photos.

Monday, October 15, 2012

A Return to the Mountain of Youth


Last weekend we again visited Lulu's in Gulf Shores, AL, for another shot at the Mountain of Youth.  This time, it was not Deb participating in the climb, but friends Charles and Racine's grandchildren and Rob and Sue's children.  As you will see in the photographs, everyone had a great time and were happy to keep going as long as parents and grandparents would permit.  For the first 10 minutes or so, all 5 of the kids were proceeding with just a bit of visible trepidation; however, after just a bit of help and encouragement, they were soon scrambling all over the place with little fear and lots of smiles.  Click for photos.

Friday, September 21, 2012

National POW/MIA Recognition Day


 
  Until They Come Home  

Thursday, August 30, 2012

Isaac - The Aftermath

At the moment (Thursday evening) we continue to sit in The Woods RV Park and Campground which is located just to the South of Montgomery, AL.  We will most likely be heading South again on Friday, August 31.  We've (locally) not seen a whole lot of evidence of Isaac, although we did experience some rain last night and there's a pretty stiff breeze and many clouds in the area today and we've been under a tornado watch for most of the day.  I'm sure most of you have seen some of the devistation wrought by the storm in LA and the coastal areas of MS and AL.  While it certainly could have been much worse, we have been saddened by much of what we've seen, especially areas of Alabama and Mississippi that we have visited many times in recent years.  Also involved is our destination for just over a week from now.  Only time will tell if we'll be able to spend two weeks at Fort Pickens, FL.

Tuesday, August 28, 2012

STILL Watching Isaac


This shot of Isaac is as of 6pm CDT on Tuesday.  As you can see by the text on the radar shot, we are now located just to the South of Montgomery, AL.  We expect to be safe in this location, but still expect some rain and wind as of sometime on Wednesday.  You can also see by the radar that in areas of NW Florida (the Panhandle), were we were as of Monday morning, there are some bands of nasty weather crossing the area and there is currently a Tornado Watch in effect until at least 7am Wednesday.  As you know, the SE of Louisiana is now the center of the storm, but there is also very severe weather in other areas, where we've spent a lot of time in recent years, along the coast of Mississippi and Alabama.

Saturday, August 25, 2012

Watching Isaac

If you've not been paying attention to the approach of now Tropical Storm Isaac, as shown in the above graphic, it seems to be heading right for our current location in Holt, FL.  Yellow dots on the map indicate Cat 1 and Orange is Cat 2.  Obviously it would not be in our best interest to stay here for too much longer and we will be heading for points North to a position where the storm should be back down to a TS or Tropical Depression at the time we meet up with each other.  This is just to let those of you who are used to hearing from us on a regular basis that we may be out of touch for some days in the coming week, but we will be careful to stay away from the worst of the storm.

Tuesday, August 14, 2012

Deb's Great Tractor Ride



Today (Tuesday, August 14, 2012) marks one week since we arrived in Florida for a one month visit with friends Dick and Judie.  Since our arrival, with the exception of perhaps one day, we've experienced thunderstorms every day, sometimes more than once a day.  As I write this, there is another storm rolling along Florida 4, just to the North of us and another larger system is bearing down on us from the Mobile, AL area.  We appreciate these storms in one respect, some temporary relief from the heat which has been constantly in the 90's since our arrival.  What we do not enjoy so much is the rain.  It does not just rain, it RAINS inches at a shot and everything here in the park becomes flooded, with inches of water rushing down the roads and over our site, etc.  It does all recede pretty quickly when the storm ends and we soon return to some very steamy heat.

Just before leaving PA, Deb had a chance to tool around on Bill's Ford tractor (she'd been bugging him to let her do that for years) and I'm including some photos of her experience.  I've also included a few shots of Cumberland Gap as we passed through on our way South.

Thursday, July 19, 2012

Shutterfly and Knoebels 2012

Beginning with this post, we've established a new site for viewing the photographs that are published with our blogs.  This was necessary due to the demise of the Kodak Gallery site.  For the moment, only new posts will have links that actually connect to photos; however, thanks to Shutterfly, the pictures on earlier posts will eventually become available and we will keep you advised about that.  Both the Blogger site and the Shutterfly site will be updated from this point on.


Last week we visited Knoebels Amusement Park Resort in Elysburg, PA.  This about the third or fourth year running that we've visited this park with grandkids Ben and Elizabeth so if you've been following our Blog at all, many of the photos will seem familiar except the kids are yet another year older.  We were joined once again this year by Bill and Mary plus a number of their relatives; Carol, Jim, Michael, Logan and Owen plus Linda and Gracie.  As we've mentioned before, everyone seems to really enjoy this park, thanks to the comfortable setting with plenty of trees and good food!  Click here for photos.

Tuesday, April 17, 2012

A Rainy Night in Alabama - Not a Brook Benton or Ray Charles Song

A Flash Through the Clouds

...just decided that I would take advantage of the rainy weather and sit myself at the computer for a long overdue blog entry.  I've been accumulating sets of photos for well over a month and if I don't do this now, it could grow into a monster that I might never get finished, especially with the days being so beautiful that it is hard to spend much time indoors.  Some of the highlights since the last blog (I could never manage to report on everything), include a visit by some family, a nice dinner gathering at LuLu's, 'acrobats' taking on the "Mountain of Youth" and some water slide activities by some who are old enough to know better.  There was also a "Big Daddy" dinner, a visit to the beach as Bill and Mary prepared to return to PA and some cropdusting in the field behind us.  Some weeks back, Deb volunteered herself and Pat (which somehow also includes Dick and myself) to cook meals that are offered at the Tiki Bar at the pool here at Johnny's.  The food service industry has never been my personal idea of fun, but we pretty much enjoyed the first couple days of it and it will be part of our regular routine for Fridays and Saturdays until we move on at the end of May.
Photo links follow:
RoadKill and Family Visit
A Dinner at LuLu's
The Famous LuLu Acrobats
Pool Sliders and Splashers
Big Daddy
Beaching, Singing, Dusting and Cooking

Sunday, March 4, 2012

Fishin' and Trashin'

Since the beginning of our RV Adventures, we've really not been too big on staying at RV "Resorts" where there are usually all sorts of planned activities available;  however, this year we are really enjoying our stay here at Johnny's Lakeside RV Resort in Foley, AL.  While we don't participate in all the events that are available, we are quite fond of the weekly dinner and dancing events and a few other offerings where we participate from time to time.  For this week, Deb made a couple of her own events, fishing and trashing.  The fishing is pretty much what you might expect, but the second might sound like a strange choice.  As a bit of background, the trash is collected daily from each site here by a number of guys that volunteer for the assignment.  A few days ago, as Mary, Bill and Deb were preparing and delivering some treats of Fastnachts to folks around the park, Deb convinced Mark, the Park Manager, to allow a group of women to do the trash detail the following day.  Deb was joined by Pat, Mary, Karen and Linda for a day of "fun??" and exercise.  The word of the evnet spread throughout the park and they were cheered on by a number of park residents (mostly women), while others (mostly men) tried playing tricks, like filling garbage bags with heavy items or water, etc.  What the guys didn't know - the trash ladies (known as the Trash Virgins (being their first time y' know)) were being tipped off by other women in the park. 
For a few photos, click here.

Saturday, February 25, 2012

Fairhope, AL - Mardi Gras Parade

In PA Dutch country and parts of Europe it is Fastnacht Day; other places it is known as Fat Tuesday, but here on the Gulf Coast it is Mardi Gras.  In all the years we've been here at this time of year (mostly in NW Florida), we have never attended any Mardi Gras events, but this year we decided to travel with Bill and Mary to the Eastern Shore of Mobile Bay to enjoy a parade that was held in Fairhope, AL.  Not known by most of us from the North, it is Mobile, not New Orleans that was the birthplace of Mardi Gras in 1703 when the city was the first capital of French Louisiana.  Other than some difficulty in finding a place to park, we had a fun evening of catching beads and a host of other things, including moon pies, that are cast into the crowd by the folks riding on the floats. Click here for photos.

Sunday, February 5, 2012

Another Saturday Night in Alabama

It is another Saturday Night here in Alabama at Johnny's Lakeside RV Resort.  While there is quite an array of daily activities here, our favorite is the weekly dinner and dance.  Since our arrival here in late December, we've atteded this event every Saturday and we can always count on enjoying some great food, good music and a fun evening of dancing.  This week's main food event was some excellent smoked pork butt and chicken, provided and prepared by Johnny and his staff [a full 2 day cooking event] and, as usual, some very tasty dishes made by all the folks attending.   These events are well attended and there is no question that everyone has a good time.
Lots of folks participate in the line dancing:
...and, as in prior events, Deb was invited to join the band for a few songs.

Sunday, January 29, 2012

Karaoke at Mexican Night

Over the last two days we were very pleased to have a visit by friends Marian and John who are currently residing near Lake Okeechobee in South/Central Florida.  It was so nice of these folks to take the 11 hour drive to see us!  We all enjoyed an excellent visit, not the least of which included "Mexican Night" here at Johnny's with some great food and featuring John as emcee for some Karaoke and dancing after dinner.

Deb sings "I'm Not Lisa" with John at the controls.




Mary sings "What Part of NO..." (fuzzy, sorry) - Deb & John "Baby,You've got What it Takes"
With the Karaoke idea just beginning to draw some interest here at Johnny's, Deb and John were left to do most of the singing; however, a few others were eventually encouraged to join in and everyone seemed to have a really good time.  I'm sure we will see more participation at future events.

For full-sized photos in a slide show click here.

Monday, January 9, 2012

Deb Sings at Johnny's Lakeside RV Resort

Many of you know that Deb and I have been singing at Friday night Karaoke sessions while we have been here in Alabama and this time we actually got Mary to join in too.  She did a very good job of it and I think she's now hooked.  This week at our Saturday night dinner and dance here at Johnny's, Deb was invited to sing with the band.  She sang two songs in the first set and was so well received by the audience and the band that she was asked to sing two more songs in the second set.  She has now been asked to sing with this duo at another venue where they perform regularly in Gulf Shores and we'll keep you posted on that.  Click here for a few photos.

Monday, January 2, 2012

An Alabama New Year

We had the pleasure of welcoming 2012 with friends Karen and Roger along with family Mary and Bill at a great party that was hosted by the folks here at Johnny's Lakeside RV Resort in Foley Alabama.  The party turned out to be considerably more than we expected; a great meal, live music and an excellent fireworks display.  Johnny and his fine staff really made it an enjoyable evening for all. 

On the first day of the new year we went with Mary and Bill on a bit of a tour of the area, stopping at a beach along the Gulf of Mexico just a bit East of Gulf Shores and another location just a few miles from the Florida border.  We then proceeded to Pensacola Beach where we enjoyed another great dinner at one of our fravorite eateries in the area, Flounder's Chowder House.  As you will see in the photos (click here), it was a fantastic beginning of the year.