Pictures of the PA group

Our group of 21 from North Etowah Baptist Church

Joyce was the recipient of Darewin's practical joke!  Happiness or Surprise?

Sister Shirley does her shoulder exercises even while on the trip.  Good for you Shirley.

Here is Darewin and my hand is holding his pacemaker!  I was easy on him because

 I didn't want anything to happen to him.

Gary's waiting on Brenda to finish shopping.

Horse and buggy in Lancaster.

Enjoying Huntsville & Surrounding Area

My site 64 at Point Mallard

Camp Host has lots of halloween lights, hard to tell during the day.

Lots of inflatibles.

Now this looked really good at night.

You could get caught up in spider webs easily around here.

Very creative with inflatables.  Lots were plugged into their rig, how'd they pull that many amps at once?

Here I am at the Antique shop where Sarah has one of her booths.

Here are Sarah and I after listening to an organ recitel by the owner of the antique shop.

Video of Tail of Dragon

This is 5 minutes of curvy highway and it's a little slow in some places but if you want to get an idea of the Hwy 129, take a look.

It Was Worth The Wait

Yesterday storm were horrible in Tennessee. I decided to wait until those storms passed and I left today. It was worth it. I drove down Hwy 50 from Waverly to Columbia TN and the drive was beautiful. The sky was a deep, deep blue with the whitest fluffy clouds and with the sun peeking through what was left of the colorful leaves the colors danced in the puddles on the ground.

I was happy I didn't have to drive to Nashville to get to Decatur AL. There was only 64 mi on I 65. Point Mallard Park was easy to find, easy to get into and easy to register. I found a site that was pull through which allowed me to get set up with full hook-ups and relax a little before I broke the toad down. The park has a variety of sites. Some heavily treed and some more open for better TV reception. This park would be wild during summer with all the parks that I'm sure brings lots of kids camping. I get good reception off my antenna, on my air card, and on my telephone. Yeah! I'm back in the electronic age.

The roads through the park are paved but the sites are gravel. Since this is a city park it's only $19.58 fhu w/Good Sam discount and taxes. Gonna meet up with some fellow RVers tomorrow and then Sarah and I will be going to play bingo. I'll be headed to FL. Weather is terrific tonight. Good sleeping I'd say.

Later...

Intercourse, Bird-in-Hand and Paradise PA

Yes, you read correctly. I've just returned from a trip to Intercourse PA in the heart of Amish Country. It was a beautiful week and the countryside was awesome. There are plenty of little shops to visit. Saw this beautiful hot air balloon flying over the town. I highly recommend Intercourse Village Restaurant. Good food.

I'll definitely go back to the Amish area of Lancaster when I can visit the farms and shops on the property of the Amish. It was just too rushed with the church group. I could see spending about 2 weeks at the Lake in Wood campground in Narvon PA and go to many of the surrounding areas.

Later...

Hershey PA and yes, they still make candy there.

There was no doubt I was in the town of Hershey you can tell by the street lights that there's something sweet going on here. The street lights are fashioned after Hershey Kisses. Hershey's motto is the Sweetest Place on Earth.





As we began our tour, these cows started singing a welcome to us. We went through the simulated factory and ohhh those smells. Gosh, could that be chocolate? I believe it is, piped in, but that's okay, it's still good.







Sister Shirley and BIL Doug look like they are in heaven with all that chocolate.








Once you are finished riding through the factory, you are conveniently exited into the gift shop/candy shop. They had shelves and bins full of any Hershey product you could want. There was even a little struggle over the giant 5 lb Hershey Bar.






I had heard that the entire candy making production had moved to Mexico so I asked if that was the case. The answer I got was that most of the candy is still made at the Hershey PA location. Some made in Mexico and some in Canada (Jolly Rogers). It says on the back of the package/bars where they are manufactured.

Here is a big vat of chocolate, looks good enough to swim in.








Oh my goodness, look at all these kisses and they even provide a tote board to let us know how much is manufactured daily.











There is a campfire available for SMORES! It is only open on the weekend so I didn't get to go but I would have been there. You know how I love my smores!














Here they are: Darewin and Patsy. If you will remember, Darewin is the practical joker. This time he got Joyce on the trip. He's always thinking and scheming. They are a great couple.






Joyce is my BFF from childhood. We went all through school together and remain friends today. Brenda is a great friend and Christian influence from my childhood. We all had a blast on this trip.





Someone on the grounds seemed to be having some fun with their supervisor by fashioning this pumpkin head in a supervisor's uniform. Hey, everyone has to have a little fun!









Years ago there was a swimming area surrounding the lighthouse. It was a little piece of the ocean for the people of Hershey.










Later...

Tail of the Dragon (Hwy 129 TN)

There is a brief 5 minute video of my Saturday afternoon trip riding down the Tail of the Dragon. (Will be posted when I figure out how to post a video, AGAIN!) What, you may ask, is that? It's actually US Hwy 129 in TN/NC. It's more well known in motorcycling circles as in 318 curves in 11 miles, but you can also do it in regular cars. Some have attempted it in RVs but I wouldn't even think about it. There were cyclists from all over the country at this store.
Later...

Cherohola Skyway and the Joyce Kilmer Memorial Forest

Yesterday on a wonderfully crisp fall day in the East TN mountains, Jerry, my nephew, and I head out for a fall color drive through the Cherohola Skyway. It was a less crowded adventure than if we had gone to the Smokey Mountains.

As we were driving up the mountain the colors were just not "there." As we began to get higher in elevation there they were in all their splendor. I asked Jerry to describe what he was seeing and he began with, pretty leaves, nice color, sky is bright and then I asked him to put color to what he was seeing and then he said, "this looks like a sunset at high noon!" OMG, that was perfect! What a way to describe what we were seeing. The sun kissed oranges/yellows, the vibrant reds, even the greens had a nice hue to them. The higher we got the more brilliant they were. The we hit a spot that had changed and we were seeing mahogany & chocolate browns and they were just as beautiful. We pulled into many of the overlooks to capture some pictures and to just sit in awe of the beauty.

I sure have a greater appreciation for my friend Liz who drove her Class B RV on the Cherohola Skyway this summer. It has several areas of 9% grades and lots of curves. I actually think I could do it in Somewhere but if I had my choice, I probably won't but you never know.






Along the way we stopped at the Joyce Kilmer Memorial Forest. Now you may not recognize Mr Kilmer by name but I bet you will remember a little 16 line poem titled "Trees." It's a poem that we had to learn while in grammar school. I think it's now called elementary school. LOL There is a 1/2 mi trail up to the Memorial and very large trees. As we were hiking I saw some red berries along the way and then there was a tree that looked like a dinosaur. One of the trees had fallen across the trail and you had to climb over it. It seemed like a good photo op for me looking like I was riding on a horse. The closest thing to a horse I'll ever get on again. The trees were huge and from what I read were larger but have been cut down for area furniture. JKMF is in North Carolina close to Robinsville where there is a very active furniture mgf plant.



Also from the JKMF about 4.5 miles is an
overlook you cannot miss. It's the Maple Springs overlook and it is such a rich and fantastic view. You can even see part of Hwy 129, a.k. Tail of the Dragon, from this vantage point.

Later...

Friday Night Lights at the Pond

I am in Etowah, TN, well technically, Englewood since I am staying at my nephew Roy's house. We decided to have a cookout at the infamous pond. We invited my King nephew's and their families & friends and a good friend, Mark. We had a total of about 17. Jerry built a big bonfire which was good because it was so cold.

It was a fun time for a beautiful fall evening.

I will be heading to PA on Monday and Tina agreed to keep Sedona for me while I'm gone. Sedona may turn into a country dog while I'm gone. She has explored more than in all of her 4 years. She has played with a cat, Sir Edward Spencer King, and has gotten along better with Roy's rat terrier, Willie Augustus King than ever before. Now there are two other really big dogs who belong to Jerry that she is just not crazy about so she keeps her distance.

It has been an awesome time while here.


Later...