Home Again

We arrived home on Friday, Nov. 14 after visiting with Gene's family in Georgia over a couple of days. We have seen gorgeous leaves all the way from New England to North Georgia where we stayed at Yonah Mountain Campground in Cleveland, GA.

It's great to be home with family. We attended Alisa's 6th birthday party on Sunday - she's one of our 5 great granddaughters. The babies Ryan and Ruby have grown tremendously. Ryan is learning to walk (10 months old) and Ruby delights us with her smiles. We will be attending Jared's school play tomorrow night, and Illiyana's play on Tues. at her school. On Thanksgiving we will travel to Eustis to my brother and sister-in-laws house. As I said, it's great to be with family again.

We don't have internet at the house yet, so I'm at the library typing as fast as my fingers will fly.

We are in the process of getting our house back in order. It's like moving in all over again - the excitement and unpacking - finding items you forgot you had. Traveling in a 20' RV limits the items you can take with you. I feel like I have a whole new wardrobe.

I will post periodic updates, so don't think I've disappeared.

Until next time, God's blessings and our prayers are with all of you.

Wendng our way homeward

First of all, our heartfelt thanks to all the veterans who fought and died to preserve our freedom.
May we never take their sacrifice for granted.

We spent three days with our friends Tom and Nancy in Raleigh, NC and then continued our "leaf tour" over to Thousand Trails Forest Lakes for the night. We have been amazed at the blaze of colors that have seemed to move southward with us. I have put a few of these pictures into Gene's webalbum at http://picasaweb.google.com/roadytreky/ and will transfer more after we get home.

Our next stop was Thousand Trails Carolina Landing near Fair Play, SC for the weekend. We met up with Mark and Sharleen, new friends we had met at the Gypsy Gathering in Ohio, and enjoyed visiting with them. T. T. was sponsering a Thanksgiving dinner on Saturday, so Gene signed us up and we enjoyed the turkey, ham and mashed potatoes they provided, plus the culinary talents of many other women there.

Monday morning we were on the road again into Georgia and Gene did an excellent driving job through the mountains. There was rarely a vehicle behind us, so he took it nice and slow down the hills and around the hairpin turns. We drove to Dillard, GA to enjoy a sumptious feast at the Dillard House. It was Gene's first time (my third time) and he seemed quite pleased with the variety of food that was brought to us.

We are now at Yonah Mountain Campground in Cleveland, GA. The weather has turned cool and the sky is overcast. It's been a good day for resting and reading. Tomorrow we will head to Atlanta area to visit new friends we met at Minden, NE.

Our plan is to be home by this weekend. Our great granddaughter, Alisa, is having her 6th birthday party on Sunday, and we want to be there for that event.

Until next time, God's blessings and our prayers are with all of you.

My First Sailboat Ride

It was a wonderful first time experience on Keith and Martin's 48' sailing vessel "Pearl". They have owned her for eight years and are both very experienced "sailors". It was a little cool and overcast, but Martin and I were both layered up quite well and didn't get chilled. Again I was very thankful for the hat that Jared bought me in Iceland!

We headed out of their marina into Mobjack Bay using the engine, then they hoisted the sails - an impressive feat since they do it by hand instead of electronic means. It's a very peaceful feeling listening to the sails ripple in the wind and hearing the little waves splashing up on the sides of the boat. Keith took us out to Chesapeake Bay, then back to the East River, and up it a little way. He pointed out interesting places along the way, such as Williams Wharf where the steamboats used to travel to, and a tidemill where corn was ground for George Washington's troops. We then went back to their marina and disembarked. It was an exhilarating first trip and I look forward to sailing with them again.

Yesterday Gene and I left Thousand Trails Chesapeake Bay and drove down to our friends Tom and Nancy's home in Raleigh, NC. It was another overcast day, but the rain didn't start until we were safely settled. We'll stay here a few days and then head out again.

Hope everyone gets out to vote today if you haven't already done so.

Until next time, God's blessings to all of you.