Happy Birthday to Me!! 60 years young on July 3

I had a terrific day.  It was spent with family.  My first nephew, David, invited us to come up to his house in Copper Hill, TN.  We had a huge shrimp boil, good fun in the pool and a few adult beverages.  Great hosts and thanks David and Jan.  Great time.

He just thinks I'm over the hill.

Jonathan and Taylor gave me a remote control boat for my birthday and I have been having a blast with it.  Only bad thing is it draws the kids when I use it.  I'm in Nashville now and have been taking the Lemon Drop Express out for a ride on Percy Priest lake and man, here comes the kids.  All of you who know me, know I just love the kid attractor.  Hey Roger, watch this maiden voyage.  Of course I didn't open her up, don't want to show you all my secrets!!  Look out Citrus Ridge!!

While in Nashville I'll be having my annual checkup w/Dr Holmes, eye exam, dental cleaning all the usual Dr things that must be done to keep my lower cost higher paying insurance.  Also, I'll be getting Somewhere's oil changed and tires rotated and balanced and other fluids checked.  Yearly maintenance for all of us.  Sedona had her teeth cleaned while asleep and toes clipped (a major feet while she is awake).  So we should all be ready to go for another year.

Later...

Henderson NV and Sedona AZ

I flew out to see Becky and Ron.  Here is a pictorial of our trip.  The captions tell about the trip.  Thank you Becky and Ron for a great trip.



Later...

Wonderful 10 days at Parksville Lake

As usual Parksville Lake was filled with fun, family and relaxation.  Our annual trek across the waters consisted of Sisters & B-I-Ls, Wanda and Don and Shirley and Doug.  Of course the rest of the family came in and out all week.

I picked up Taylor, granddaughter, on Saturday and she stayed the whole week with us.  At 14, 15 on July 30, I feel luck that she is still wanting to spend time with Gran, especially when she has no cell signal.  All was not lost, seems we can text while we can't talk.  I took my kayak down so we could get out in the coves and play around.  Taylor was quite the navigator for both Wanda and me.  She liked to paddle, I liked to ride.  Doesn't get much better than that.  Taylor presented Doug with a big orange adult bib.  Seems he was always spilling food down his "my Joy," what he called his tummy.

On Monday the Kings came down (our nephews) and we had a shrimp boil.  I cooked at least 360 shrimp and they were all devoured.  Only 1 new potato remained.  Shirley wanted to play some Minute 2 Win It games so you will see some of those in the slide show.

Shirley also introduced her giant marshmallows.  We used the stove to roast those giant things.  I heard they made great smores.  I didn't have a single one all week but will confess to a few cups of homemade ice cream.

Tuesday, Taylor and I came in to town as Jerry and Leah were going to take her for a horse back ride.  It stormed but that didn't let it sway them.  They went after the worst of the storms and were soaking wet.  Taylor didn't mind coming in to play and shower, 3 of them as a matter of fact.

The Slacks came down on Wednesday and it was Italian day.  Wonderful lasagna, salad and bread were in order.  Of course there is always lots of swimming and tubing that goes along with kids at the lake.

Jonathan and his friend, Ali and her kids, Grace, AJ and Ty arrived to town on Thursday but didn't come down until Friday.  Jonathan presented me with my early birthday present.  Are you ready?  A remote control boat equipped with lights and a siren.  I plan on having fun with this in the winter at Citrus Ridge so Roger you better get ready.  We christened it the Lemon Drop Express.  I'm sure you will see more on this little number in later posts.

Saturday was family day.  We had 43 people show, we cooked 15 lbs of hamburgers (63), 34 hot dogs and loads of dessert.  Homemade ice cream both chocolate and vanilla was to cool us off and then the smores for those who could stand the fire.

Our weather was varied during the week.  Storms, rain, cold, hot, nice, you name it we had it.  Of course I loved the cool nights, they made for some good sleeping.  No black bear sightings this year.




Later...

Sisters Day Out

Tuesday was a terrific day out with my sisters, Shirley and Wanda.  We went to the movies to see Bridesmaids.  It was funny but not funny like I had heard.  They could have done away with some of the language but other than that, it was good or at least a rental.

After the movies we went grocery shopping for our week at the lake.  That was fun, 'cause you see, Shirley loves, loves Walmart.  She could stay in there for hours.  I, on the other hand, go in get it and get out.  I was driving the cart and away we go.  We were in and out in less than an hour.  Shirley explained to Doug (her husband) that she didn't get to tarry long enough at Walmart so on Wednesday, off they go to Walmart, again.  Funny!

Then we headed down to Parksville lake where we will be spending the remainder of this week and next.  Next Saturday all the family will come down and do our annual cookout.  I'm sure through the rest of the week we will have others coming and going.  I'm taking my kayak down to get in some much needed paddle time.  I'll pick up Taylor on Saturday and she will get to spend the week with us.  BTW, I'll be in a cell/aircard black hole the whole time I'm at the lake.  Can you say withdrawal??

Later...

Pool time in Englewood TN

Starting off simple with a new post. I arrived back to Somewhere on Sunday. You should have seen Sedona. She was so happy to see me. She had been to the pond and when she saw my car she turned it out full speed to get to me. OMG, she was so happy and so was I. I sure did miss her.

On Monday Roy and I set out to find water. We were going to lake hop.  Instead, what did we do?? What else, we went to buy a pool. Yep, one of those inflatables that is 18 X 4. The 4" deep is a little deceiving. It's 4" from the top of the pool. The water is about 3 1/2" but it's still good enough to get wet and use a float in. It's is just about the next best thing to a full size pool.

Now I have everything I need at Roy's paradise. I may never leave! LOL Loving the life!

Sedona is checking it out.

Pump is in place.

Don't you think it's a little late to read the directions, Roy?

Feels good.

Oh, yeah, it's cold.

All ready to go. 1 mile of water, 5680 gals.  Whew!

 Later...

Greetings from Sedona AZ

Another quick note just to let you know that I am in Sedona AZ enjoying life. I am penning this post from my NookColor so won't be posting pictures until later unless I figure out how to do it from my Nook.

We went on a hike yesterday to Devil's Bridge. First, We went to the Hike House where they have an electronic trail finder. You put in distance, elevation, time, difficulty. Then it gives you the trails that match the hiker. It was on target and off we went with hiking sticks, water, snacks, hats and excitement. We got some great pix.

Today Becky and I got a reading from Robin Kelley of Sedona Spirit. It was very interesting.

The pool and hot tub has been very refreshing.

Later...

Just checking in

I'm okay and I've got a lot to report on a wedding, a visit w/fellow women rvers and a festival.  At the time I'm dashing out to head to Las Vegas and then to Sedona AZ so bare with me and I'll get back to you in 14 days or so.

Found out this didn't post so I'm editing from Las Vegas.  Becky greeted me at the airport with a sign that said BFF and a big smiley face.  I had always wanted to be greeted at the airport like that and it happened.

Marathon Driving Day

Whew, what a day!  I started out at 9 a.m from Kingsland GA and arrived in Englewood TN at 6:15 p.m.  Against everything I have ever planned but by the time I got to Atlanta @ 2:30ish, I thought, at least get to the North side and get through the traffic.  I stopped once on I 16  exit 88 and then onward.  I had planned to stay at Walmart in Cartersville.

I've never stayed in a Walmart so a question for all you veterans.  When you stay in Walmart parking lot, do you change into your nightwear?  or do you stay in your street clothes?  That was just something I thought about as I had plenty of time to think while on the road.

When I got to Cartersville I decided I was only 89 miles from my destination so I might as well continue and I had plenty of day light left.  So I stopped and got gas, walked Sedona and myself, ate peanut butter & crackers (my staple for the day) and hit the road again.  I got 7.1 mpg which is the best I've gotten in a long time.  It was an absolutely beautiful driving day.  Window down, no a/c so no generator running and my topper window covers worked great to keep that sun out of my eyes and keep Somewhere cooler inside.  Even though it was a long day and this morning my body is sore, I'm glad to be here.

I got here and Jerry was here to help me get set up which was very nice because I was very tired and my knee was killing me.  I tried one approach of pulling up and backing in but the road is too narrow for me to do that and I was going to hit the front on the trees so I backed down the hill (mountain in my book) and turned into the driveway and the yard is big enough for me to turn around and get backed up.

A very nice park like setting

Did I mention he put in 30 amps for me?

I slept very well last night and so did Sedona. 

Later...

Great News on the Knee

I suppose I was a little premature on posting I was going to have surgery.  I'm NOT.  Yep, Doc said surgery wouldn't help what was going on so he gave me a big shot of cortisone (yuck).  Cortisone sends your blood sugar out the roof and I'm having to deal with that today.

I have mixed emotions about not having surgery.  I'm so active and I didn't like pushing through the pain on a walk or hike.  I hoped the surgery would make it whole, well maybe like I was 10 years younger (ha) but that's not going to happen so I'll go to a physical therapist and learn the exercises to strengthen my knees.  That will be a good thing.

This premature actions cost me a few extra bucks.  I thought I would leave for Las Vegas out of Nashville so I booked the flight, then I changed the flight thinking I would leave out of Jacksonville so now I've changed to leaving out of Nashville again.  Thank goodness Southwest does not charge change fees.  But my window where you get the best deal had closed so I didn't get the same rate out of Nashville as I did before but it will still be worth it.  Becky, Ron and I will be going from Henderson NV (their home) to Sedona AZ for the week and I can't wait.

Now I'm making plans for my route to TN so I'll be there in time for my great niece's wedding.  Back to my original plans.  Roy (my nephew) has put in a 30amp service so I'll be staying up there and leaving Somewhere there while Sedona and I go on day trips.

By the way I forgot to tell you about this great little restaurant, Barbara Jean's, on St Simon Island GA.  OMG I got the crab cake and it was to die for.  Every bite contained crab, there are no fillers.  Outstanding and the vegetables are to die for, cooked well and seasoned perfectly.  Oh and you can order their items off the website.  She even has a recipe for the crab cakes.  I see that BJ's is located in other locations so you want to check it out.

Later...

Plans constantly changing

Where to begin...
I arrived at Jonathan & Taylor's on Easter weekend.  We went to the beach at Fernandina on Saturday which was wonderful and then on Sunday we went to St Simon Community Church with Jonathan's girlfriend, Ali and her children.

Ali is a nurse at an Orthopedic group in Brunswick and I had been having trouble with my left knee since the last week in December.  I asked her if she could get me an appointment at one of her Drs.  Sure enough, Tuesday was my appointment, Thursday was an MRI, Monday I go back to the Dr for the "official" results.  Ali got my MRI results and it looks like I'll be having surgery on Tuesday.  I have a floating piece of bone, bone spurs under my knee cap, a little arthritis (surprise) and a sprained ACL.  Guess they can't do much for the sprain but everything else can be cleaned up.

So my week at Jonathan's has turned into more like three weeks.  Before I knew about getting my knee fixed I made arrangements to go to Vegas to see Becky and then they invited me to spend a week in Sedona with them.  The Dr has assured me he will have be ready to go to Sedona and in hiking shape by May 18 and I'm all about that.

If the results change after tomorrow, I'll keep you posted.

Today was another beach day and the weather was perfect.  The water was great and not near as cold as last weekend.  The bad thing is that I won't be able to go to my great-niece's wedding next weekend.  Taylor is going to be a Jr Bridesmaid and her dress is so pretty.  I'll miss seeing all the family but I need to get this knee taken care of so I can continue to enjoy my lifestyle.

Later...