T-Time: Happy Memorial Day! (5/30/11)

Mike and I would like to take a moment to salute all of our armed forces, both past and present.  God bless you, and God bless America!

Sunday, 5/29/11: Steak, movie, and racin'

Wednesday we went over to Jim and Dee's for an excellent steak dinner.  We brought macaroni salad, potato salad, and one of Terri's homemade apple pies.  Sorry, I forgot to take pictures.  Jim fixed the steaks on his grill, while Dee made some beans.  Dee doesn't like steak, so she had a brat.  Everything was delicious.  After dinner, we went inside and visited some more and then watched an episode of The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson that they had recorded.

Thursday the four of us went to the movie theater nearby and saw "Pirates of the Caribbean, On Stranger Tides."  This is the fourth in the series.  Terri and I had only seen the first one, but Jim and Dee assured us that we could watch this one and not be lost.  We all enjoyed the movie.  It's been a long time since Terri and I have been to a movie, and we had forgotten how much we like to go.  After the movie, we took Jim and Dee out to our house.  I wanted to pick up the mail, and they wanted a tour of the house.  After that it was time for dinner, so we headed to El Azteca in Ashland for some Mexican food.  Terri and I have been going there for years, so we knew it was good.  We all enjoyed our food.

Saturday, after watching the weather, weather.com, and the speedway's website, Jim, Dee, and I went out to Virginia Motor Speedway in Jamaica, VA.  Terri isn't a race fan, so she elected to stay home.  We drove through some pretty heavy rain showers on the way.  Jim was keeping track of the weather on his Droid.  It wasn't raining when we arrived at the track, but the clouds were looking very ominous, so we stayed at the car and waited out the weather.  A large storm cell was headed our way from the south.  We got some pretty heavy rain, but it didn't last long.  Jim pointed out that this was the only area in Virginia that was getting rain.  I've been to this track many times and have a good sense of how they operate.  I knew that they would cancel the show if they didn't think they could get the track into shape.  By the way, this racetrack is a half-mile DIRT oval, so rain can be a real factor.  They did, in fact, get the track prepared for racing and got the show completed.  Because of the delay, the show ran a bit late, and we didn't get home until about 1:30 AM.  But it was worth it because it was a good night of racing, and we all had a good time.  By the way, if you ever go there, the bologna burgers are excellent.

Sunday was a day that Jim looks forward to every year.  There were three major car races on TV, and he watched all three of them. I watched most of them with a few breaks here and there.  Dee stopped over just after lunchtime, and she, Terri, and I sat outside and chatted for a while.  Then later in the evening Terri and I stopped over at their place for a while.  We visited some more and watched part of the NASCAR COKE 600 on TV.  After about an hour or so, Terri and I headed back home.

Jim and Dee will be leaving tomorrow, Monday, to head north.  We've had a very special and enjoyable time with them.  It was so much fun getting to know them better, going to places, doing things, and meeting together with other RV'ers.  Terri and I look forward to meeting up with both of them again in the future.  Of course, we'll be keeping up with them through their blog.  Thank you, Jim and Dee, for stopping by and spending some time with us.  We'll really miss you two after you leave.

Tuesday, 5/24/11: Hollywood Cemetery and Geocaching with Jim and Dee

Sunday was a day of relaxation.  We stayed home all day.  I watched the NASCAR race Sunday afternoon, and we did TV and internet Sunday night.  Not much else going on.  Monday we planned to spend the afternoon with Jim and Dee. However, the weather forecast looked kind of marginal so we decided to postpone to Tuesday.  Terri and I went out and ran some errands instead.  We never did get the rain storms that were forecast for our area.

Today we finally made it to the Hollywood Cemetery in Richmond.  Terri and I have been to this cemetery a couple of times before, but this was Jim and Dee's first visit.  This is a very old cemetery dating back to 1849.  We looked at many of the tombstones and memorials.  Because of the cemetery's size, it would take days to view everything.  There are two U.S. Presidents here, James Monroe and John Tyler, and the only president of the Confederate States of America, Jefferson Davis.  There's also a 90-foot high granite pyramid built as a memorial to the more than 18,000 enlisted men of the Confederate Army that are buried in the cemetery.  Here are some pictures.  Click on them to enlarge.

Iron statue of a dog standing watch over a little girl's grave

Another view of the dog and grave

90-foot high granite pyramid memorial

Dee and Terri walking up to the pyramid

Dee and Terri standing in front of the pyramid

View of the James River

Dee and Jim with the James River behind them

"Hello, anybody home?"

Jefferson Davis

After we finished up at the Hollywood Cemetery, we headed back to Ashland and had lunch at the Dairy Queen.  Jim and Dee wanted to give us a sampling of geocaching, so after lunch we headed out to see what we could find.  We found two separate caches.  One was about the size of a shoe box, and the other was called a micro cache.  It was very interesting, and we had a lot of fun.  Terri and I will have to see if we can find any on our own sometime.

Setting up the GPS

"I know it's around here somewhere."

Micro cache (sorry, a bit out of focus)

After geocaching, we headed home.  Another great day of fun with our friends.

Saturday, 5/21/11: Food and friends...Friday update

Guess what I did on Friday...

  

I cut grass again.  It just seems to keep growing and growing and growing, and I keep mowing and mowing and mowing and mowing...

We also made a Wal-Mart run for groceries.  I'm sore, and I'm tired.  Like an idiot, again, I mowed the whole yard and then walked around Wal-Mart too.  As a result, my feet hurt, my back hurts, my neck hurts.  Luckily with a little rest Friday evening and most of Saturday, the pain has subsided.

Saturday was another wonderful day with RV friends. Jim and Dee have decided to stay another week, and Terri and I are looking forward to spending more time with them.  Jim called early afternoon wondering if we had a caulking gun.  Apparently Dee got a little aggresive with theirs and broke it.  Well I still have all my painting supplies in the trunk of the car including the caulking gun.  So I walked it over to their site and "helped" Dee caulk a small spot on one of their slides while Jim was checking out the roof of their fiver.  He came back down, and the three of us talked for a few minutes.  Jim made me an offer I couldn't refuse on a pair of X-Chock Tire Locking Chocks.  He didn't want them anymore and I was actually planning on purchasing some, so that worked out real well for both of us.

Saturday night the four of us headed north to Fredericksburg, VA.  We met Paul and Marti at Carrabba's Italian Grill.  We got there a bit after 7:30, and the restaurant was still very busy.  It looked like it might be prom night.  The food was excellent, and the fellowship was even better.  Afterwards, we headed over to Krispy Kreme Donuts.  They were serving HOT donuts.  If you like donuts and ever have a chance to get HOT KKD's, GO FOR IT!! 

Marti and Paul

Dee and Paul photographing donut sign, as Marti watches

Jim, Dee, Marti, Paul, and Terri

oooooooh, donuts

oooooooh more donuts

Jim and Dee

Marti and Paul

We talked for about another hour.  After hugs and handshakes and photos, we headed home while Paul and Marti headed to Wal-Mart.  Wal-Mart was always their "favorite" store, however lately Lowe's has become their number one with all their house upgrades.

We got back home about 11:30.  A late night out for us, but well worth it.  Spending time with friends is what it's all about.  Tomorrow is another day of "take it easy" with no real plan for the day.

Thursday, 5/19/11: Friends, Lunch, and More Friends

Today's weather was beautiful -- mostly sunny and temps in the 70's.  We did have some sprinkles of rain in the afternoon, but it was very light.  Here in Virginia this time of year, no matter how nice the weather, there’s almost always a chance for late afternoon showers.  Often when it does rain, the sun is still shining.  It’s very strange but common.


Today Jim, Dee, Terri, and I took a little road trip.  We headed north-west on Route 33 towards Gordonsville, VA, to Shenandoah Crossing Resort.  John and Bridget, 

John and Bridget

RV-Dream friends of Jim and Dee, are staying there.  After the initial meet and greet we got a tour of their beautiful new 2011 Mobile Suites. 

It’s a very nice unit.  We sat and talked for a while and then headed into Gordonsville for lunch.  We went to a local barbeque place called The Barbeque Exchange.  They had all the usual BBQ items on the menu.  One item was pork belly.  Jim tried it and said it was pretty good.  He offered a bite for me to taste, but I passed on that one.  I got the brisket platter with baked beans, macaroni and cheese, and a roll with an order of onion rings on the side.  Terri got the four ribs platter with cole slaw, macaroni and cheese, and a pumpkin muffin.  I'm not sure what everyone else had, but we all seemed to enjoy the food.  After we finished eating, we sat and talked the afternoon away.  It’s so nice to be able to casually talk and spend time with friends and just relax.  We really enjoyed meeting John and Bridget.  Thanks Jim and Dee for introducing us to some new friends.  We look forward to keeping up with their travels via their blog, and hopefully our paths will cross again someday.

After hugs and handshakes and a few pictures we headed back home.  We took a few minutes to feed the pets and take Katie out.  Then we picked Jim and Dee back up, and we headed over to another campground about ten minutes away.  Jim and Linda are staying at

Linda and Jim

 Kosmo Village Mobile Home Park and RV Campground overnight.  Jim called Terri yesterday to let us know they were going to be there today.  We were all thrilled that he called so that we could visit.  We met Jim and Linda last year at the RV-Dreams rally in SC, and we saw them again this year at the rally in TN.  As luck would have it, Jim and Dee just saw them a few weeks ago in NC.  It was very nice to be able to spend some time with them.  Linda made a delicious cake and peach tea.  I was so glad we were able to see them, and hopefully we'll get to see them again later this summer in IL.  The friendships that we’ve developed already in this lifestyle are so treasured.  It’s really neat to be able to keep up with friends through their blogs and then be able to visit with them as our paths happen to cross.  After more hugs, handshakes, and pictures, we headed back home.  Another truly enjoyable day with friends.

Terri and I spent the rest of the evening with TV, internet. . . and occasional dozing off.  Don't know what's in store for tomorrow.  Stay tuned.

Wed., 5/18/11: Touring Richmond with Jim and Dee

Rain was predicted for today.  Except for a few sprinkles late in the afternoon, we had a beautiful weather day with lots of beautiful sunshine.  Jim and Dee walked over to our site around 12:30.  We had plans to go check out The Museum of Edgar Allan Poe on Main Street in downtown Richmond.  I've driven by there a few times before, so I knew how to get there.  A parking lot is located directly next to the museum, and there was plenty of parking available for this mid-week visit.  Regular admission is $6, but they give a $1 discount for AAA, senior, or military.  Jim and Dee used the military discount, and we used the AAA discount.  The museum is very interesting and includes four different buildings and a courtyard.  Guided tours are available, but unfortunately we missed the 1PM tour, and the next one was later than we wanted to wait.  We opted for the self-guided tour.  We all enjoyed the museum and learned some things about Poe.  Jim was especially interested in the rare first editions of Poe's books and first printings of Poe's tales as they appeared in magazines and newspapers.  There are many items to see ranging from furniture to clothing to a lock of Poe's hair.

After we were finished at the museum, we all piled back into the car and took a driving tour.  I took them to Shockoe Bottom, downtown Richmond, Monument Avenue, The Fan district, and Carytown.  We drove past the State Capitol building, the Science Museum of Virginia, the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, the Sauer Company, The Diamond,  the Virginia War Memorial, and the Byrd Theatre  We crossed over the James River and back.  We also stopped in at Richmond International Raceway.

Dee (and Jim) took many pictures today.  If you haven't already been there, go to their blog and check it out.

After our driving tour, we headed over to Anna's Italian Restaurant in Mechanicsville, VA.  This is the place we tried to go to on Monday, but it was closed.  The Wednesday Special is a large cheese pizza.  Jim and Dee got a large pizza with mushrooms, sausage on one side, and ham on the other.  We got a large pizza with sausage.  Terri and I have had their pizza many times, and it's very delicious.  Jim and Dee said they really liked their pizza too.  Afterward, we headed back to the campground for the evening.  Another excellent, wonderful day spent with friends.

We dropped Jim and Dee off and headed home for another evening of TV and internet.  Tomorrow we have plans with Jim and Dee to head out west of Louisa, VA, and visit John and Bridget.  On the way back home we're going to stop and visit with our friends, Jim and Linda.  They're going to be staying close by at another campground Thursday night.  It should be another fun day with fellow RV-ers.

Tues., 5/17/11: Quick visit, Tumbleweed, dinner... rain

Welcome to new followers FD5 (John and Bridget) who we’re looking forward to meeting soon, and Laura Raber who we had the pleasure of meeting at the RV Dreams Rally last month.

Yesterday, in comparison to recent days, was a rather busy day for us.  We’ve been in contact with Jim and Dee (Tumbleweed) and were looking forward to their arrival here mid-afternoon.   Late in the morning, as we were tidying up the RV, we got a phone call from our good friend Paul (R Sanity RV Adventures) wondering if he could stop by for a visit.  Of course we were thrilled to have him stop by, and he arrived about an hour later just as we finished tidying up.  It was a beautiful sunny day, so the three of us sat outside and talked for a while.  Paul and Marti have given us tremendous support throughout this entire process and transition.  He was aware of Jim and Dee's pending arrival and hoped to see them before he left but just missed them.  We’re hoping that he and Marti will be able to meet up with us before Jim and Dee move on.

Around 4:00 I went outside to see if I could see Jim and Dee's rig.  They were here, so we decided to walk over and greet them.  They were all set up and settled in. 

They invited us inside, and we sat and talked for a while.  After some catching up we decided to head to a local Italian restaurant for dinner.  However, when we got there the doors were locked and the sign said that they were closed on Monday.  Well great!  Now what?  This was one of those moments, that in retrospect, you realize how things some times make sense.  There was a number of routes I could have chosen to get to the Italian restaurant.  It just so happens that the route I chose took us past a local seafood restaurant that Terri and I really like but tend to forget about.  While we were trying to decide on an alternative, Jim mentioned the seafood restaurant.  So we headed over to Calabash. 

We all enjoyed our food, the waitress was great, and it all worked out well.  If I hadn't taken that particular route, we probably would have missed out on an excellent meal at Calabash.  Afterward, we called it a night and dropped Jim and Dee off at their Cameo.

Yesterday was a great day of both expected and unexpected visits with friends.  It was great spending some time with Paul, and then later with Jim and Dee.  Jim and Dee are planning to stay here a week, and we’re all looking forward to spending more time together.

Today was a rainy day.  Since the forecast called for rain most of the day we hadn’t made any set plans, so first thing in the morning, I headed over to the house to pick up yesterday’s mail and then run another errand.  After that we just relaxed the rest of the morning with our laptops and TV.  Jim and Dee stopped by in the afternoon.  It’s so nice just to be able to sit and talk and spend time with friends.  We decided that, due to the rainy weather, we wouldn't do anything special today.

Later in the afternoon I drove back over to the house to pick up today's mail while Terri baked a cherry pie.  After dinner we took a couple of pieces of the pie over to Jim and Dee and enjoyed some more conversation.  After another enjoyable evening, Terri and I headed back to our place for TV and laptops... and cherry pie.

Another great day with friends.  We've made some plans for the rest of the week.  Tomorrow we’re planning a little sight seeing, so stay tuned.

Saturday, 5/14/11: Another house to sell! Back to Louisa/friends, Grass/bolt

Well, it's been about three weeks since I posted anything, so here's an update.  I would’ve posted this sooner, but our computer was on the blink last week so we were off the grid until yesterday.  During those few days we realized how totally dependent we are on the internet, so we’re much happier now that we’re back online. 

We arrived at the Ashland KOA on Easter Sunday and we've been here

now for three weeks with two more to go.  I’m getting hitch itch.  It’s painful to watch all the rigs arrive in the afternoon and then watch most of them leave the next morning.  I wonder where they’ve been and ponder where they’re headed.  I look forward to the day that we can head out on our journey.

Here's the big news:  we have another house to sell.  What?  Another house to sell?  Here's the deal:  we have a contract on our house with the contingency that the buyers sell their house.  Not the best scenario, but at least we’ve got an offer.  And, if someone else comes along with an offer in the interim, we can sell it to them instead, if the current buyer chooses to opt out.  If they choose not to opt out, they must buy it even though their house hasn’t sold yet.

On Thursday, May 5th, we went back to Small Country Campground to visit our friends Rick and Gail.

They’re fulltime fellow RV-Dreamers who happened to be passing through the area.  We spent about three hours talking and laughing and just enjoying each others company.  They gave us a tour of their beautiful motorhome.  It's very nice and has some wonderful upgrades.  A special one is Gail's kitchen faucet.

She's very proud of it.  Rick had the “fun” of installing it.  We certainly enjoyed the afternoon and look forward to seeing them again some time.

It drives me crazy to have to sit here waiting for the grass to grow at the house just so I can go over there and cut it.  I've had the pleasure of cutting the grass a couple of times already this month -- a chore I’m definitely not going to miss!  Good news, however.  Before I started mowing, I looked for that missing handle bolt again and I found it!  It was right where I thought it should be, and I found it in the last place I looked.  : )

Phoebe, Murphy, and Mabel

The last few days we've had a bird visiting us.  It appears this bird wants in as it keeps bumping up against the window.  I tried to get a picture, but so far I've been unsuccessful.  This little bird has been "entertaining" the troops.  Here they are on full alert. 

Meanwhile, Terri has been getting some love from Puffy.  Puffy likes to lick Terri's face.  She just climbs right up and gives kisses.

I'll close with the results of my attempt at photographing a sunset.  Hopefully I can improve my skills and maybe get some better shots of sunsets and sunrises in the future.