Fun, Fun Fun!!

Fun, Fun Fun!!

Monday, March 30 – Chores & Softball

 

This morning we did our usual routine. Then we got busy with a few chores.

I put some chicken barbeque in the crock pot for dinner. 

I started laundry, then I helped Jesse hang our wine rack. I moved some furniture around and straighten up the living room.

Jesse fixed our washer door so that it is easier to use the washer/dryer.

We got dressed so we could attend Kelsey’s school softball game. It was at her school and started at 3:45. They won 4 to 3 – Yea!!

Kelsey on deck #9

DSC00811Batter up

DSC00819  Running to 1st base

DSC00820 Preparing to run to second base

DSC00815 My great niece (Justice)and nephew (Caden) were also there

DSC00813 DSC00812It was 55 degrees, on the shady side of the field and windy while at the game, so we were very cold.

Afterwards Jesse and I stopped at a local supermarket for a few groceries. I was able to buy Texas 1015 sweet onions. I was very excited.

We came home I made french fries and baked beans to go with the barbeque. Dinner was very good if I may say so myself.

We watched TV for the rest of the evening before going off with the sandman.

Saturday-Sunday, March 28-29 Spending time with family

 

Sorry, I am late in posting. I could give you an excuse, but the truth is I was just too tired. I just wanted to sit in front of the TV.

On Saturday we were up with our usual routine. Then Jesse, Mr. B and I were on our way to Ellicott City – In Howard County, MD. (Terry on our first full day) (We took Mr. B because he couldn’t be left for more then about 5 hours) the other two boys stayed home to take care of things.

We were surprising Mitch, Margaret, David, Katie and Marcia by crashing the party.

Before we left MD were had a Double Domino Saturday once a month. We would meet at a restaurant have lunch then go back to who’s ever turn it was to host the day and play.

The original six were Sondra (Jesse sister)

Sondra 2 Marcia our friend

Marcia Mitch and Margret (Jesse’s brother & our sister-in-law)

DSC00794We always had a fun time and Jesse and I miss them lots. They kept up the monthly games and are now substituted by

David (Mitch’s son and Katie David’s FiancĂ©)

David & KatieToday we made 8 for Domino’s. We had a wonderful time. We were at Katie’s parents home (they were out of town)and there was plenty of room there.

We ordered in food instead of going out. It was a long day fun day spent with our family.  Except for Sondra, this was the first time they have met Mr. B and he was a hit.

DSC00790On Sunday we were out the door by 11:30am. We were going to visit with Jesse’s Dad. He is 93 and has been in a nursing home for the past 5 years after having a stroke. He cannot walk and has dementia.

He has really been going down hill over the past few months. He didn’t know who Jesse was, but remembered me after a bit.

After our visit we went over to Sondra’s and had lunch and visited for a while.

We were home around 6:30, walked and feed the boys. I sat in front of the TV again watching Amazing Race.

I spoke to my sister on the phone. I also spoke to my nephew Rob (aka BJ; aka Goose). Goose is a nickname I gave him when he was much younger. (derivative of Silly Goose).

Anyway Goose and his fiancĂ©’ Sara are the main reason for our visit this time. They are getting married on May 9th and I can hardly wait to attend and share in their happy day.

Goose and Sara  Until tomorrow hugs to all and safe travels.

Friday, March 27 – We have arrived

 

We saw the sun this morning when we left at 9:35am. We only had 163 miles to go today so we were in no hurry to leave. It was sunny most of the day – no rain.

We took I-81 to US 340N towards Harpers Ferry, passing through Virginia, then crossing into Maryland. We merged on to I-70 for about 40 miles, then I-695 beltway around Baltimore, merging on to I-95 N arriving in Abingdon’s Bar Harbor RV Park & Marina at 1pm.

We have lived in Nevada, Kansas, Colorado and Maryland. Although we now take our home with us, Maryland will always be our home land.

The RV park is located about 1/2 mile from where we built our home. We use to walk to the park with the boys before we moved to Colorado in Feb 2006.

When I was a kid, I had to go camping with my parents for vacation. (I hated it back then) We use to camp at this camp ground, back then we camped in a tent, but no tent camping is allowed here now.

After we got set up and we freshened up ourselves, we met my brother, Gene his wife Debbie their daughter Kelsey and her girl friend Morgan at her school. The bus had just dropped them off from playing JV softball game at another High School. They Won!!

We all went to Longhorn Steak House for dinner and catching up on all the happenings. It was a very good dinner made even better by the company. The price was over the top, because my brother treated us.

Thanks Gene and Deb!!

Afterwards we came home and relaxed for the rest of the evening.

I am posting this entry and Thursday’s entry on Saturday morning – because we wanted to surprise Jesse’s brother Mitchell and his wife Margaret. We will see them later this morning, therefore I will be posting as usual now.

Hugs

Thursday, March 26 – Travel Day

 

I am posting this late because we didn’t want our family to know how close we were. We are going to surprise them and arrive earlier then we said.

We had an uneventful 291 miles today to Creekside Campground in Edinburg, VA., leaving at 8:45 this morning and arriving at 2:20pm.

Leaving Bristol, TN

DSC00770

Crossing into VA along US-11E

DSC00772Then we merged into I-81 for about 275 miles. It rained the whole day and didn’t go above 50 degrees. Where’s the warm weather?

This camp ground is nested in along a tree lined creek. It is surrounded by homes along the other side of the creek.  It is very cute small park.

DSC00777We stayed hooked to the truck today as it was raining and we were fairly level.

The side of the office building.

DSC00778 Stoney Creek

DSC00776 Houses behind our rig on the other side of the creek.

DSC00781

Wednesday, March 25 – Travel Day

 

We left at 8:30am and traveled 308 miles and arrived at 2:15 central time to Lakeview RV Park in Bluff City, TN.

It was raining most of the night and was still sprinkling when we got up.  It lightly rained for a lot of our travel today, although the trip was very uneventful, but as you can see we are in the hills of Tennessee.

DSC00767 Very pretty country

DSC00765I made breakfast for dinner, one of my favorites. We will be traveling tomorrow again.

Hugs!

Tuesday, March 24 – Country Music Hall of Fame

 

Jesse slept well last night as usual, I did until, the trash truck came to empty the dumpsters at 3:00am. Then all I could hear is the vehicles going past on I-65 which is behind us.

I can’t believe they pick up trash that early in a campground.

Anyway we were up at 6:30am and doing our normal routine.

I was pleased to see that Rollie and Gina have started a blog.  I read all they have written and can’t wait to hear about what's going on in their lives. Good job guys!!

It is a large part of our daily routine reading about where all our friends are, what they are doing and what fun they are having. We enjoy visiting with them while having our morning coffee.

Today we left at 11am - going to Country Music Hall of Fame and the Grand Ole Opry.

Our 1st stop was the Waffle House for some breakfast. I was very surprised, the last time Jesse talked me into going to one it was not clean and everything was greasy, today’s was very good.

Country Music Hall of Fame

DSC00763The Museum’s architecture, with its unique design and materials, celebrates country music and southern culture.

The windows on the front resemble black piano keys.

The giant sweeping arch on the right side of the building portrays a 1950s Cadillac fin.

The cylindrical shape of the Hall of Fame Rotunda recalls the water towers and grain silos found in rural settings.

The four disc-shaped tiers on the Rotunda’s roof represent the evolution of recording technology: 78’s, vinyl LP’s, 45’s and the compact disc.

From overhead, the building resembles the shape of a bass clef musical note.

Inside the on 1st floor you find the rotunda where all the plaques are displayed for its inductees with facial likenesses and thumbnail biographies. Our picture is not so good below. All around the top the words “Will the circle be unbroken” which is the unofficial anthem of the Museum.

DSC00748 Walking through the other two floors with all the displays of information, costumes and records is overwhelming to say the least.

DSC00739 DSC00745 DSC00747A little trivia: Did you know that ROY ROGERS is the only person inducted two times into the Hall of Fame. The first was with the Original Sons of the Pioneers in 1980, the second was as a solo artist in 1988 the same years as Loretta Lynn.

After leaving we made our way to the Grand Ole Opry which is not what I thought it was. But I will get to that.

On the way we saw a Camping World, so we went there. We purchased some soda flavors and I got a wine glass rack to mount under the cabinet between the kitchen and living area.

This is the only picture I have of the Grand Ole Opry.

DSC00760This was located in a huge complex with a hotel and a small mall. Not at all what I thought, but I wanted to take a look inside, but Jesse didn’t want to get out of the truck and walk around, so we did not.

I was upset, because this was the reason we stayed two nights in Nashville to begin with. He confuses me so much sometime, but of course he won’t talk about it.

After we got home we walked the boys and I sat to write this entry. I also had a glass of wine so I could mello my mood.

For dinner I made chicken breast, stuffing, gravy and mixed vegetables.

We watched TV for the evening until bed time.

We are traveling again tomorrow, so see ya down the road.

Monday, March 23 – Travel Day

 

We pulled out this morning about 8:45am. It was warm and partly cloudy, we drove the 236 miles to Nashville and arrived at 1:15 to Nashville Country RV Park without incident.

Although we have traveled in Tennessee several times over the past few days this is the 1st time the Kram-a-lot has made the trip.

DSC00720A view of Memphis’s skyline.

DSC00716 And one more of the pyramid which is easily viewed from I-40 east.

DSC00723 It’s a very cute park with a swimming pool and about 100 sites. We paid for two nights so we can explore Nashville tomorrow.

There was a note on the office door to just find a site and come back in one hour. We did that, but it was about 1 1/2 hours before someone returned.

The girl seemed as if she was not feeling well and there was a man there giving her a bad time. I really felt sorry for her but she handled him quite well.

It seems that he had been parked in a spot with his motor home and left today to have something done to his rig and went he returned, someone was parked in his space. She was going to give him a new space, but all he wanted was a refund.

I guess even in a campground you have to deal with difficult people.

Once we were set up we both relaxed for a few minutes, then took a ride to Subway to get $5.00 foot longs for a combo of lunch and dinner. We also got some cookies for dessert.

After eating we bathed the boys. I did Buddy and Mr. B, while Jesse did Bayer. They really needed them and they smell and look so much better. Hopefully I will groom them tomorrow after we do our exploring.

I started a load of laundry, and now we were ready for kick back time, so that’s just what we did for the rest of the evening.

Hugs to all!!

Sunday, March 22 – Graceland? YES

 

Today was the day. We left about 11:30am and went straight to Graceland. We paid our $10 to park and then our $28 each to do the platinum tour: (I had a $10 coupon)

  • an audio-guided tour of Graceland Mansion and grounds
  • a self-guided tour of Elvis' two custom airplanes
  • a self-guided tour of Elvis' Automobile Museum
  • a self-guided tour of Elvis in Hollywood Exhibit
  • a self-guided tour of Elvis Lives: The King and Pop Culture Exhibit
  • a self-guided tour of Private Presley Exhibit
  • a self-guided tour of '68 Special Exhibit

Average Tour Time: 2 ½ to 3 hours

Front YardDSC00641 Back YardDSC00670

Once we paid we had about 1 hour before the mansion tour, so we did the self-guided tours first.

I was not really surprise by anything I saw, because I have read many books and articles about his life and I have seen lots of pictures over the years of the mansion.

I was most surprised by the area that Graceland is located. I guess in the late 50’s it was mostly a rural area, but not now.

I was impressed by the trophies and the display of the records.

We were allowed to take pictures of the inside but was not allowed to use flash.

DSC00701  DSC00685 On board the Lisa Marie

DSC00633 The meditation garden was out by the swimming pool. He, his mother, father and grandmother are all laid to rest there.

DSC00709Afterwards we went to Walmart to pick up a few items, then home.

We travel again tomorrow to Nashville.

Until then, hugs to all

Saturday, March 21 – Graceland? No Rain, Rain-Bus Tour

 

We got up this morning at 7am. Jesse took the boys out for their morning walk. As soon as they got back it started to rain. It rained steady until about noon.

From what we could tell yesterday when we drove by Graceland, there is a lot of standing outside waiting to enter the different places, therefore we didn’t want to go in the rain.

So we formed another plan. We decided to take a bus tour of Downtown Memphis. We went with Blues City Tours. For $24 per person. It was to start at 2:00 and was a 3 hour tour.

DSC00582Beale Street -  we were able to get off the bus and walk around for about 30 minutes.

DSC00584

Showed us a few Victorian houses from the bus

DSC00597 Sun Studios

DSC00593 DSC00595 St. Jude Children Hospital and pavilion where Danny Thomas is entombed.

DSC00607 DSC00610 Memphis Pyramid, built at a cost of $68 million for basketball, Memphis Grizzlies. It just sits because they built the FedEx Forum for the same purpose at a cost of $250 million. What a waste!

DSC00613 DSC00622 We rode by Lorraine Motel (The site of Dr. King's Assassination) the wreath marks the spot of the assassination.

DSC00621 Statues of Elvis and B.B. King downtown in the visitors center

DSC00616Our final stop was the Peabody Hotel to see the ducks retire for the evening. They actually walk the red carpet at 5:00 pm to the elevator to go up to their suite for the evening. They come back down the next morning at 11am.

As you can see there are hundreds of people crowded around the area, so we couldn’t see anything. I excused myself all the way up to the fountain to get a picture then joined the rest of my bus tour.

DSC00624 DSC00626

The bus tour was okay, I wouldn’t recommend it, but it was something to do. The 4 other people on the tour with us were very nice people from Houston, TX.

We were dropped back at the terminal and went to Applebee’s for some dinner. At home the boys were glad to see us. We walked and fed them and relaxed in front of the TV for the evening.

Graceland tomorrow, I hope!

Friday, March 20–Graceland? NO, tires

 

Our siteDSC00576We were up earlier today, because the sun rises at an earlier time the further east we go.

When we were in Kerrville the sun didn’t rise until 7:20am, today it rose at 6:40am.

DSC00566We left the Kram-a-lot around 10am. We  planned to go to Graceland today.

I forgot to tell you that yesterday when we stopped to register at the campground, Jesse noticed that one of the trailer tires had a flat.

Now we needed to purchase new tires for the 5er, but Jesse was going to have that done once we were home.

That was not to be. He remembered that there was a tire place right outside the campground area so he wanted to stop.

They didn’t have the right size in stock and sent us to another place. They also didn’t have the correct size and sent us to yet another place. They had the tires in stock, but they could only install them TODAY. Not tomorrow, not Monday.

So Jesse made an appointment for them to come on site at 2PM to install 4 new tires. Now there was not enough time to go to Graceland and be back by 2:00pm.

Of course I gave him a hard time because I was dressed and ready for the day. I got over my disappointment quickly and made my apologies for my outburst.

We went to Cracker-barrel to get something to eat. We rode by Graceland just to see it from the road. The neighborhood is not what I expected. We also stopped at a local grocery. Jesse wanted hamburgers for dinner and we needed buns.

We were back at the Inn before the guy came.

I worked on tax stuff while it took the tire guy about 1 hour to bust the old tires from the rims and mount the new tires all by hand. Jesse thought they would bring a truck to mount them automatically.

Old tires

DSC00572 New tires

DSC00577   Here is another barge going against the river flow

DSC00579 After dinner we just computered and watched TV until bed. We are going to try for Graceland again tomorrow.