Last Lazy Sunday at the Beach

It's hard to believe a month has passed since we arrived here in Myrtle Beach. As Denny said a week ago, it's been the most expensive places we've ever stayed, due to all the things that have turned belly-up on us and the projects we've started.

But it's also been one of our most enjoyable visits, due to the fact that we had dear friends staying at the same campground for a couple of weeks. I believe we had fun, but my memories are tinged with a bit of alcoholic haze--Vicki tested several of her favorite libations on me and we had each had to have several to make sure they were made properly. Whew!

Through it all, the beach and the surf have been the consistently good portion of our visit. Sunrises weren't always beautiful, sunsets were mostly blah, the weather varied from hot, to pleasant, to wind-driven sandy, to pretty darn chilly. But the peace and tranquility that the sound of the waves brought to me every time I stepped onto the sandy shore reminded me of why we keep coming back. Denny has promised me that if we end up working on his dad's garden again this coming summer our reward to ourselves will be another month at the beach. That's a happy thought.


We were promised a beachfront site once the horses left and this is what we saw out our living room windows once we moved. Not bad, huh?


The campgrounds along the Strand (Myrtle Beach is called the Grand Strand) are working hard to maintain the sand dunes, beach grasses and sea oats in an attempt to keep the sand erosion down. The softly rustling sea oats provide a counterpoint to the louder crash of the waves.


Some mornings I was the only person on the beach for a half-mile or so. Sleepy-heads miss out.


Some mornings there were no clouds on the horizon, so I just took pictures from the warmth of our trailer.


Thanksgiving weekend brought many more people out on the beach to watch the sunrise.



Often the sunrise would look like a sunset.


I'm going to have to work with the settings of my camera to figure out how to get a good shot of the full moon at night, but of course I won't have the surf reflecting the moonlight after tonight.

Horse Meets Ocean at Myrtle Beach

Okay folks, this is the last of the horse posts at Myrtle Beach. Many of the horses which were involved in the Heart Assocation ride on the beach were seeing the ocean for the first time, and there were those that wanted no part of it. This fella's introduction to the waves ended with his practically running backwards and alsmost falling on his rear end, but of course I didn't have the camera on video for that. What follows was the second attempt for the rider to get his horse to walk into the surf.

A Parade of Horses at Myrtle Beach

Finally, I'm able to upload pictures. It's wonderful to have 24/7 access to the Internet once again--I'll be the first to admit I'm spoiled.

The turkey is ready to put into the oven, the pumpkin pie is cooling on the counter and Denny's favorite cranberry salad is jelled in the frig. That means I can blog and surf guilt-free for the afternoon. We had thought about attending the turkey dinner provided by the campground (they make the turkey and ham, and campers bring a side dish), but the best part of Thanksgiving dinner is the leftovers and there are no leftovers at a potluck.

As promised days ago, here are photos of the parade of horses and some of the costumes worn by the riders and the horses.

All Work and No Play

It's a good thing we got all our fun beach time in while Don and Vicki were here, because we have been working hard the past few days. In addition to dealing with modem hassles and finding new washing machines, Denny started ripping up (literally) the ceramic tiles in our kitchen/entry so we could replace them with wood laminate flooring. Whoo boy, talk about misguided intentions.


Denny started off slowly by removing the tiles from the edge of our kitchen slide out. This was our first indication of how difficult the job was going to be. 3/4 inch tiles firmly glued to the plywood subfloor are extremely difficult to pry up.


We had to lay down a layer of floor leveling cement because a lot of the plywood splintered while prying up the tiles. Of course. Because nothing is ever easy when we do a project.


You work with what you've got when you're on the road. Someone left broken bricks behind at the campsite next to us, which worked perfectly for weighing down the new flooring while the glue dried.


Next, starting on the big job--the 12 inch tiles. Denny could only do 6 tiles before he'd have to stop for the day as it took a lot of hard pounding to shatter the tiles and pry them loose from the floor. The bits and pieces flew all over the trailer to boot, so the vacuum cleaner saw a lot more use than it normally does.


Denny girds his loins for the next batch of tile prying while a section of leveling cement dries.


Strangely enough, Denny kept his plumb bob line marker when we sold the house, so he could mark a straight line to lay his first course of boards.


It's starting to look pretty good. The floor is finished between the kitchen slide out and the kitchen island, but we still have the entryway to do off to the upper right of the picture behind the island. But we'll work on that in Georgia as we're celebrating Thanksgiving by being grateful that the job is halfway done and leaving the rest for next week.

In case you're wondering why we'd do this to ourselves, just a few months after we bought our trailer Denny took a rough railroad crossing a bit too fast and a tile cracked right in the middle of the floor. Eventually, a couple other tiles developed a couple of spider cracks and they just bugged me, so a new floor was in order, since our trailer manufacturer hasn't made our model of trailer in four years. I didn't think they would continue to stock individual tiles and there is no way we could have pried a single tile out of the middle of the floor. Ergo, new floor.

Horses on the Beach

I promised pictures of the horses that were here for the American Heart Association Beach Ride. Better late than never, right? Having the horses here was truly a unique and enjoyable experience and part of why we enjoy this lifestyle so much.

Finally!

The modem arrived, we're back to 24/7 Internet access. Yay.

Quiet Time

The word from Hughes is that our modem should arrive late this afternoon. Finally. That's good news, but we're distracted by news from the family right now. There's emotional upheaval going on and life will not be the same for one of our own from here on out. Being so far away makes it hard for us, because we want to be there to help naturally. Nothing different from what thousands of families go through all the time, right? Well, that doesn't help.

The last few days have had a pattern for us; water aerobics in the morning for me, followed by a couple of hours of hand-and-arm-numbing labor for Denny as he pounds away trying to pry up those hideous tiles. Patches gets a walk to make up for being subjected to the noise of the hammering and the vacuuming up of all the bits and pieces that follows, and then we relax a bit in the sun, listening to the sound of the surf. Sometimes a nap occurs later in the afternoon, sometimes we have errands to run, sometimes we just read. The rhythmic sound of the surf soothes us as we walk the beach searching for beach glass to add to Vicki's collection, bringing back memories of our extended stay here after we first sold our house and hit the road as full time rvers. The only thing we haven't done this month is walk all the way up to the state park for ice cream cones, as was our habit of our past visits, because it's been too cool for ice cream so we promise ourselves "next time we come back". Because the pull of the ocean is strong, and we will be back.

Someday.

A Different Lazy Sunday

Sunrise over the Atlantic is not nearly as spectacular as sunset over the Gulf of Mexico, but there's a serenity to watching the surf in the early morning that almost makes up the difference. There have been a couple of cold, cloudless mornings that I've taken the lazy way out and watched the sun pop up from the ocean from the comfort of our fifth-wheel, coffee cup in hand and sleeping cat curled up on my lap. Other mornings as I stand in the stiff breezes I'll be the only one out on the beach for as far as I can see.

Standing there, the never-ending line of breakers create a rhythm that your heart and breathing try to match. As your body relaxes and sways to the pull of the sound of the surf your eyes search the waves for the dark comma of a dolphin jumping out of the water, silhouetted again the slowly brightening sky. A pelican, "whose beak holds more than his belly can", hurtles straight down from the sky with a speed that seems likely to break his neck when he hits the water and comes up with a silvery bite of breakfast. Some type of swallow skims the waves looking for goodness-knows-what type of insect so far from shore and moving faster than I'll ever be able to catch on camera.

I am centered here. This is my Lazy Sunday.

Good Intentions, Bad Idea

I'm still fighting with Hughes to get a new modem. I'm dealing with people whose first language is NOT English and we seem to disagree on the meaning of the words process, order, and shipping. First I was told our modem would be delivered by today (after the order was placed Saturday night by their tech support) and today I was told the order is still not processed but it SHOULD be processed by the end of the business day today. But if not, then I should call tomorrow to be told that the modem order was not processed. Or something like that. What I can't seem to get is a definitive answer of WHEN the modem will arrive and of course our time here is coming to an end, with a holiday tossed in there for good measure.

All of which means I'm not reading blogs, not uploading pictures, not doing a lot of stuff online I'd normally be doing. Sometimes, that's not a bad thing though.

One of our first projects here in Myrtle Beach was to repair the toilet. The flush mechanism was leaking, which is a marine-type toilet means that you disassemble the entire toilet to replace the seals and/or the flush ball. I thought this would be a great "do-it-yourself" instructional post on for beginning rvers to put on my RV Vagabonds website about the fulltimers' lifestyle, complete with pictures. Not. a. good. idea. I don't think the world is ready for pictures like that, despite a number of folks who post pictures of the contents of their child's diapers on their blogs. Not only was it a disgusting job, there was of course the obligatory bloody, scraped knuckles and blue language that accompanies a lot of Denny's repair jobs. I can laugh about it now, but it's never any fun when it's happening. But the job was finally finished (sans pictures), the toilet works properly and we've moved on to our next project; ripping 3/4 inch thick 12x12 inch ceramic tiles off the kitchen floor to replace them with Pergo laminated wood flooring. Out of the frying pan into the fire.

I need chocolate. A lot of chocolate.

Necessity Is A the Mother

Planning a life on the road takes a lot of planning and thinking and lists, but one thing you rarely allow for is the possibility of appliances and "things" breaking down while you are on the road. Often this means rushing to buy a replacement quickly simply because you may not be able to stay in one location long enough to have something shipped to you and often you'll find that your credit card company won't allow an item to be shipped to a location other than your billing address for fraud reasons. Which is great, unless your billing address isn't where you happen to be--ever!

Breakdown-wise, this has been a bad month for us. The modem went kaput on our satellite Internet system and this week my washer's computer board went belly up. The appliance repairman that came out was honest enough to tell us that the part and the accompanying labor charges would be well over what we paid for the washing machine. And of course, the warranty expired precisely two weeks ago. Now we have a problem. All washing machines that are installed in recreational vehicles are either apartment sized 110 volt appliances or ones that are specifically manufactured for use in RVs. Either way, you don't just pick them up at the local store, they have to be ordered. And while we're going to be here another ten days, Thanksgiving weekend falls smack-dab in the middle of that period so now the available time for shipping is cut down even more. This is the kind of thing you don't plan for when you think about hitting the road.

I made a quick call to Camping World, the toy store for RVers, where the parts manager told me that there were five washing machines in the central warehouse but that she didn't think she could get one in before we were due to leave. Shoot. Putting me on hold, that very accommodating lady checked their store and found a machine on the floor and told me we could have that one. Yay! So Denny and I hopped in the truck, drove to the place that gets a large percentage of our income and bought it. One of the employees helped Denny get it into the truck but then we had the problem of how to get it into the trailer. Hmm.

Denny sometimes has a problem communicating his ideas of how to work something, but he's pretty darned ingenious at figuring out how to do a work-around. Here we were, no furniture dolly, no young men around to help lug this several hundred pound piece of equipment up three narrow steps and through a narrow doorway into the trailer. So Denny had me fold in the entry steps and he backed the truck up to the doorway. Then he laid two of our 2x6s from the bed of the truck to the doorway and we wrassled (you wrestle, I wrassle) that bugger onto the boards and pushed/slid it through the doorway. Next, how to get it up two more interior stairs and another small doorway. This time I came up with the idea of using a throw rug on the steps and laying the washing machine on its side to allow it to slide more easily. Denny threw a rope around the bottom of the washing machine and hauled on the rope while I pushed from below. Dang, but we're too old for this stuff!

We got that puppy up there and now it sits waiting to be installed. But we need a little recuperation time before we do that. We figure that will be the easy part, but then again, we've learned never to make assumptions like that because they'll bite you in the rear.

I keep telling myself, at least we're at the beach. It's becoming my mantra, I think.

Cryin' Time

Oh it's cryin' time again, you're going to leave me. I can tell by that faraway look in your eyes....

Don and Vicki pulled out today. Their plans are to work their way back to Georgia in time to celebrate Thanksgiving with friends and family. We're staying here another two weeks.

Having old friends around a campground is unusual for us. Normally, we just make the acquaintance of people camped near us, chatting on a casual basis and figuring never to see them again once we leave. But in the past two weeks here at the beach there's been a lot of quaffing of liquid beverages and noshing on a variety of finger foods, while we gossiped about mutual acquaintances and caught up on what we all had been doing. A couple of times Vicki and I were out on the beach at sunrise, looking for beach glass and pretty shells while waiting for the sun to make its appearance. Our time together passed quickly and all too soon they were putting away the lawn chairs, loading up their motorcycles and driving down the road away from us.

The good news is we'll meet up again at New Year's at a campground in Florida for a week. We've got more memories to create.

No Modem, No Pictures on Lazy Sunday

The installer was here last night (literally after dark) working to troubleshoot our system. The end result was a diagnosis of a failed modem. That will have to be shipped from Hughes directly, so we will not have our high speed internet access for at least another week. Boo hiss.

So the post below is the only picture you'll get on this Lazy Sunday. Now it's time to go out for breakfast and find a shrimper for some fresh shrimp. Don and Vicki will be coming down for happy hour and shrimp cocktail today. Life is tough, huh?

Sunrise at Myrtle Beach

It's cold here this morning on the beach. Setting the clock back means the sunrise is now at 6:37 or so, but that's okay because I'm awake at 4:30. Flannel sheets on the bed along with the sudden warmth of the furnace that Denny turns on for me hold me captive for a while, but then Patches sees me stirring and knows that she'll soon be fed.

A quick glance out the windows tells me that there's a chance of a colorful sunrise as there are a few thin clouds near the horizon. It's way too early, so I use the mind-numbingly slow dial up service to check for e-mail while Patches curls up in my lap to warm her feet. The ceramic tile floor is freezing; sitting up so high on wheels the cold air circulates under the trailer and no amount of insulation ever keeps the tiles warm this early in the morning.

Denny is starting to stir, so I don't feel guilty about going into the bedroom to toss on some clothes and a fleece jacket. I grab the camera and head over to the beach where I find I'm the only one out there for as far as the eye can see. I'm the only person foolish enough to brave the chill, I guess. Pelicans graze the waves searching for breakfast while seagulls hover above my head, hoping for treats. A lone great blue heron passes directly overhead, stretched out like a missle with his pointed beak and long, long legs, looking to make a deadly strike upon some unsuspecting fish.

I'm still too early for the sunrise so I stand watching and listening to the surf, hoping to see some dolphins dancing in the distance. But today the only things out there are the olive green curls of surf topped with champagne bubbles. The rhythm of the waves is soothing and hypnotic, crash after crash coming with metronomic regularity. Then suddenly there's a pause as the ocean holds its breath and there's no sound of surf for the briefest nanosecond while time stands still.

And then we both breathe.

Another day has begun.

Still Catching Up

Note: This post was written on Monday, November 5

Well, it's been a week and a day since we've had full access to Internet service and I must admit, Denny and I are suffering from severe withdrawal pangs. That makes it sounds like we're online for hours and hours (well, maybe on a rainy day), but actually what I miss is the ability to jump online to find a local tire dealer when we had the flat, or get the address quickly for the Ace hardward store, or find the phone numbers for our favorite restaurant or bakery. Or to get quick updates on the weather when the wind suddenly picks up and tosses our awning up in the air--things like that.

As of now, we're still awaiting a telephone call from the "local" (in North Carolina while we're in mid- South Carolina) installer. I've spent over three hours on the phone with Hughes support staff trying to get it through their heads that we are in a new location. Long story, very aggravating.

I guess if one is stuck without easy Internet access the best place to be is at the beach. We moved to a beachfront site on Sunday and today the trash haulers will be removing the huge dumpsters placed along the roadway for the "horse debris" so we will have a great view of the ocean after that. I will get pictures online eventually, even if I have to break down and pay the outrageous $10 daily fees by the local Wi-Fi connection that the campground contracts. Shudder. I've done that once so far and gritted my teeth the whole time I was online.

Don and Vicki have been a wonderful diversion for us. We're so used to making temporary, casual acquaintances at the campgrounds we visit, so it's been great having familiar faces that have history with us. We've had a happy hour almost every day as we nosh on a variety of snacks and play catch up plus talk about our full-timing lifestyle. The weather has been very cooperative about sending us gloriously warm sunshine-y days, although a cold front is due in late today and we may have to break out warmer clothes for the next few days. Still, we're AT THE BEACH!

Next up, major repair issues. Stay tuned.

Horses

Note: Still uploading old posts--this one is from October 31. The pictures will have to wait until I'm back to satellite upload speeds. Dial-up s*cks.

Horses to the left of me, horses to the right...horses as far as the eye can see. Early Wednesday morning the horse trailers started pouring into Lakewood Camping Resort. Big trailers, little trailers, fancy trailers, plain trailers. One horse, two horse, red horse, blue horse. Across from us are four horses in an electrified fence, behind us is the more standard metal tube corral with three horse and more to come. There are paints, piebalds, scewbalds, palominos, buckskins, roans, dappled grays--the colors and sizes and markings are gorgeous. I am in horse heaven here!

All of these horse people are here for the American Heart Association ride. They come from New York, Virginia, North Carolina and wherever for the opportunity to ride their horses on the beach--a once a year opportunity. Greeting are yelled to each other as yet another trailer pulls in and unloads another two or three horses and once folks are settled in some of them saddle up, grab the leash of their dog(s) and off they trot through the campground to visit. I grin with pleasure just watching them.

It will be noisy here until Sunday--there is a lot of whinnying and horsey verbal challenges going on. But I picked up a big bunch of carrots at the grocery store today and boy, am I going to be sucking up to some horse owners this week so I can live my childhood fantasy of being around horses all the time--at least for four days.

Today Is Better

Note: This post was originally written on October 31. I'm too lazy to backdate it.

Today was a much better day than yesterday. No, the Hughes satellite system still isn't working and we have no clue when (if) one of their installers will call to make an appointment to come out to look at the system. Yes, we had to give in and call Hughes knowing we would be "outing" ourselves as folks who travel with a system that's supposed to be permenantly installed on a roof or pole at a residence. So be it.

But this morning I walked down to the indoor pool and did water aerobics with a group of very nice ladies and it felt so good! It was a cold walk back, because it was only in the 40s still, but the exercise was worth it.

Later in the afternoon as I was walking Patches I saw a familiar truck and fifth wheel combo pulling down the road towards us and sure enough, it was Don and Vicki arriving for their two week stay. Yay! Denny and I gave them a little time to unhitch and then became one of those semi-annoying couples who come over to visit while you're in the process of setting up your home and getting settled into your campsite. However, I came bearing a pitcher of Chi-chis, so I figured that made up for it some. We sat in the afternoon sea and salt tang of the air doing a little catching up and then made plans to go out to dinner together later.

Denny and I are starting our tenth year of traveling full time and we've been perfectly content just to meet new folks on the road and wander by ourselves but I must admit, it felt really good to see such beloved faces.

Life is good.

Catching Up

I had written a few posts on the desktop computer when I assumed our satellite dish problems were only temporary. So I've had to transfer them to the laptop to get them online and I'll be adding them shortly. They will be a bit outdated, so bear with me since they were written last week. Here's the first one:


Okay, I told you about the flat tire and getting that fixed. What I didn't mention is that we haven't been able to get online using our satellite internet service since we stopped in Tennessee last week. I think it's a problem with our cables, but our signal meter that we use to locate the proper satellite isn't reading at all and often during our testing procedure the computer shows that we aren't getting any signal at all to attempt to get online.

One of the difficulties of traveling with a satellite system that's not supposed to be moved from location to location is that you can't call tech support at the company to get assistance. You have to rely on the network of other folks traveling around the country doing the same thing you are. That's all well and good if there's a wi-fi service in the area so you can hop on the laptop to connect to the internet to e-mail the group, but if you have no wi-fi then it's more of a problem trying to problem solve when you're sitting in a parking lot somewhere with free wi-fi while your satellite system is three miles away.

So last night after dinner we stopped at a new Home Depot (new major shopping center at the Highway 17 By-pass that wasn't here five years ago) and bought a couple of new cables to attach to the transmitter. Arrived home, attached them, still no signal. Denny gave up at this point because he was working by flashlight. Today, maybe we'll try switching another set of cables, but those are the ones that didn't work at the last campground, so it doesn't bode well.

Sometimes, when it rains, it pours.

But!! Good friends Don and Vick arrive at our campground today and will be here for two weeks with us. Yay! Plus, there is a heated pool here and they have a morning water aerobics program. A mile and a half walk up the beach will take us to the pier at the state park where they have scrumptious ice cream cones (I know, I'm talking exercise and ice cream in the same paragraph--that's how I roll). There will be horses in the campground. And we're at THE BEACH!

Still No Satellite Internet

The installer called yesterday--he will be here Saturday between noon and five. So I'm still using the free Netzero service. Thank goodness Lakewood Campground provides free telephone service to each campsite or I'd be laying on the ground kicking and screaming by now.

So no pictures for a few more days. Assuming all goes well with the service call, that is. Anymore, I'm not taking any bets.

The Myrtle Beach Horseback Ride for the Heart Association

For those who were interested in the Myrtle Beach horseback ride for the American Heart Association here are two links: http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=3024406

http://www.morganhorse.com/news/news_article.php?id=519

The word at the campground here is that there were actually 1900 horses this year and the riders raised just over $350,000. Pretty neat, huh?

No Lazy Sunday

Hughes never sent out an installer this week to fix our satellite internet system (I'm using Netzero dial-up and wow! is it slow!) and now we have to change our campsite once all the horse people leave. Eventually, we will be back online and I will get something relevant posted here.

I think.

Good News/Bad News Revisited

Our trip here was uneventful. Since we had paid in advance, our registration at the campground was quick and easy. We will have to move in 6 days to get to our actual beach front site, as those sites had all be reserved by horse people. Yes, horse people. Apparently sometime this week 1,200 horses will be at this campground. I'm not quite sure of the reason, perhaps only because it's much cooler here this time of year and 90% of the tourists have gone for the season.

The main sign that horses will be here are huge dumpsters sitting along the main driveway that are marked "For use for horses only". Gad, that will be a lot of horse poop! But I'm really looking forward to the sight of all those horses gathering here or galloping down the beach. It will be interesting to see how Patches reacts to them.

As Denny was backing our fifth wheel into our campsite while I guided him with hand signals (no, not those kind!), I was chatting with the folks sitting outside their motorhome in the site next to us. It turns out they are from northern Ohio and he was/is a police officer too. But a man standing with them walked to the other side of our trailer as I was preparing to put our stabilizing jacks down in the rear and pointed out a flat tire on the trailer. Gah! It was very hot, but not, thank goodness, shredded, which would have caused damage to the underside and side of our trailer. We know, because we've suffered through that before.

So before we could even take a look at the ocean or have lunch or relax a tiny bit, Denny had to jack up the trailer, pull the tire off and climb back in the truck to see if we could get the tire puncture plugged. Because yes, there was a huge nail imbedded in the tread.

A half-hour and a lot of money later we were out the door with a new tire. The old one had been sliced by the nail since we probably drove on it for quite some time. The manager handed me two carnations--I guess he thought I was upset by the hassle and expense or something. Hey, I was just glad the tire didn't blow out as we were traveling. Small favors.

Back to the campground, lower the trailer, put on another block of wood to try to get the trailer higher off the ground, dig out a bunch of sand because we can't get the rig higher and can't get the tire on the wheel. Thank goodness we're on sand. The tire is installed, the air compressor is put away, the cat is given a treat to make up for the fact that she's not getting a walk at the moment and off we go to find something to eat.

Welcome to Myrtle Beach.

We're Still Here

Have you missed us? Yeah. Our satellite Internet service hasn't worked since last Thursday. We had free wi-fi at the last campground, but no such luck here. This morning I broke drown and paid their exorbitant fees for wi-fi to catch up and pay bills, but in the meantime we're waiting for a service tech to call to come out and take a look at our system.

After today, posting will be erratic again until we get the danged thing fixed. More later.

Going Back a Bit on Lazy Sunday

The year was 1985. New Coke was introduced, "We Are The World" was recorded, the wreckage of the Titanic was located, the Ninendo game console was introduced, leaded gas was officially banned in the U.S. and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame opened in Cleveland. Oh, and Denny and I got married.

The family took two trips that year; one to Gatlinburg where we got married and one to Stone Mountain, Georgia. Denny and the boys took a separate trip to our property near Fair Play, South Carolina, but since I was not fond of using a 5 gallon bucket as a commode, I passed on that particular vacation. I much prefer the way we travel now.


Our beloved van (with the paint job I designed) and our 14 acres on "Lake Linda". When we asked the realtor who assisted our purchase of the property what the name of the pond was, he quickly responded "Lake Linda". He was good, real good--and he made the sale!


Lake Linda--hard to believe we sold this, huh?


Stone Mountain in Georgia. This is a great place to bring your kids--they can climb the mountain, play at the water park, ride a train and more. The laser light show at night is fabulous.


You can walk all the way to the top of Stone Mountain, and twenty-two years ago Denny and I could do it. I think it would take us much longer now. Note that Darby had to wait for us to catch up. Pant, pant.


The view from the top of Stone Mountain. The climb was worth it.


Darby throwing rocks into the creek at our cabin in Gatlinburg. This shot reminds me of a statue. We stayed at Carr's Cottages which have kitchenettes and creekside cabins. I love to sit outside and listen to the sound of the water rushing over the rocks here.

A Visit to the Museum of Appalachia

I think Denny and I have driven up and down Interstate 75 in the area of Norris, Tennessee about fifteen time or so. After sitting in the trailer for a couple of days while it poured rain (yay, it was needed) we finally had a nice day and so we decided to explore the Museum of Appalachia. What a good decision that was!

Located off exit 112 of I-75 in Norris, TN, the museum sits on 60 acres of land. The founder of the museum, John Irwin, has collected artifacts, tools, musical instruments and log cabins from throughout the state of Tennessee and parts of Kentucky, Virginia and North Carolina in an effort to keep alive the history of the people of these mountains.

It is an impressive collection of pottery, basketry, tools of every day life, guitars, folk art and so much more. It took us several hours to walk around and read about everything. On the second weekend of October they have a big festival and there are special events year round. The museum is open daily and if you are at all interested in the lifestyle of people who lived a "hard scrabble life", then this is the place to visit.



Click on the pictures to have them open in a new window for a larger view.

A Trip on an Aerial Tramway

Most of our weekend in Palm Springs was spent at the ball diamonds watching the Central Ohio Lawmen play softball. Only two of the team members were on the original team that Denny coached and played with, but that didn't lessen our interest in watching them play. Of course, Denny kept a running commentary going, critiquing plays and players but for the most part kept his thoughts to himself. There were a couple of suggestions that he made to Woolfie and Jimmie, knowing they would accept them in the spirit offered. While Denny hasn't played in years, the competitive spirit still lives on inside of him.

Saturday morning before the first game Jimmie called and suggested we take the tram ride. Denny and I talked about riding the tram the first time we were in the area, but we had a lot of other stuff going on so we didn't get around to it. Sometimes you just need a push to get going! So off we went.

Some quick statistics about the tram ride. The cars are the largest in the world and the only ones of their kind in the Western Hemisphere. The floors rotate as you are ascending and descending the tramway--a slow rotation that goes around twice going up and twice going down. That had a tendency to throw you off balance a little, especially when attempting to take pictures! The trip up to the top tram station is two and a half miles and takes ten minutes and boy is it a long way down! When we loaded onto the cars the temperature was in the high 80s and when we arrived at the other end the temperature was in the high 50s. On a clear day you can not only see the Salton Sea 40 miles away, but you can see Mt. Charleston, located near Las Vegas, NV. When you step off the tram at the top, you will be entering the Mt. San Jacinto State Park with 54 miles of hiking trails, a primitive campground and an activity center for winter activities. There is a snack bar, a lounge and a restaurant there, with outdoor platforms for dining and viewing the scenery. You can certainly spend a few hours here if you wanted to pack a picnic and hike around, or just lounge in the sun enjoying the view.


Note: Clicking on the slide show will open it in another window in a larger size.

A Little About the Police Softball Hall of Fame Induction

Wow! What a weekend! Denny and I arrived in Palm Springs, California on Thursday along with a former co-worker and softball team member Jimmy R. and his wife. After we settled in a bit, Denny and I drove over to the casino/hotel that was the tournament headquarters for most of the policemen coming in. While we waited for some of the other team members who were flying in to play softball as part of the World Series at the Big Dreams Field Denny and I won a little money on the slots, which is always fun. Several of the officers and their wives on the Central Ohio Lawmen softball team hit a local sports bar for a little TV, beer and dinner.

Firday evening was the opening ceremony of the World Series and the Hall of Fame induction. I was going to try to get the entire induction ceremony on video, but all the men lined up on the baselines with their backs to the audience so I just watched most of it instead of catching it on the camera.




A color guard marched onto the field, followed by a high school band who played the Star Spangled Banner.




Officer Shevy Wright threw out the first ball to start the tournament.


The 2007 Hall of Fame inductees.


Denny with some of his fellow HOF inductees.


Some of the members of the Central Ohio Lawmen softball team and their wives awaiting the start of the festivities.


The official Policesoftball.com Hall of Fame medallion.

The First Pitch

The opening ceremonies of the 2007 Police Softball World Series started with a police color guard, a marching band, and a somber ceremony honoring a fellow police officer who died in the line of duty. And then came the most touching moment of all, when little Shevy Wright, an officer with the Chandler Police Department in Chandler, Arizona, threw out the first pitch.

Shevy was diagnosed with a brain tumor late last year. His desire to grow up to be a police officer led the Chandler PD to create an honorary police officer position for Shevy, complete with uniform and badge. Police officers around the country donated money so that Shevy and his family could attend the Police Softball World Series, paying for their flight, room and board for the weekend. The Chandler Police worked to arrange a donation of a used car for the family to use in transporting Shevy to his medical appointments.

I couldn't get a clear shot of little Shevy throwing out the first ball because everyone in the stadium was on their feet cheering when Shevy took the field and threw that pitch. You see, Shevy probably won't make it until Christmas. But a whole bunch of people made it a special weekend for Officer Shevy Wright here in Palm Springs at the Big League Dreams Ball Park on Wrigley Field.

It's Too Early

A friend suggested buying something called "Airborne" for our plane trip to California. It's supposed to prevent cold symptoms and is comprised of various herbal ingredients. I'm all for herbs and one we were on the second leg of the trip I was so happy we had it because every third person on the airplane was sneezing/coughing/nose blowing/eww. I guess by next week I'll know if it works.

Today we'll head to the softball diamonds and watch the Police Softball Tournament games. There are only a couple of guys left on the Dayton team that Denny used to play with and manage, but it will be fun watching and we're sure to recognize players from other cities that the team used to compete with. Tonight is the Hall of Fame induction and probably some serious partying. How long Denny and I will last is unknown, since the difference in the time zones had us awake at 3AM Pacific time this morning. Ugh. However, there will be lots of stories and tall tales and laughter going on which is not to be missed.

If all goes well and the ball diamonds are well-lighted, there will be pictures tomorrow.

California Here We Come

Why is it that a sky that hasn't produced a drop of rain in five weeks will let go with a downpour on the one day you have to cut grass? But we got the garden pulled and the lawn mowed at Denny's dad's place.

Today we're packing up and closing up. Patches will be taken to my mother's house to be cat-sat for the duration. Claw trimming will happen first, as my mom has very thin skin and Patches can get snippy. All of which reminds us of why we chose to be pet-free for so many years. Moot point.

If all goes as planned, pictures will be posted of all the goings-on over the next three days or so. Stay tuned.

Hitting the Road Again

Denny and I are heading back to the Dayton area today. We've got to pull the last of the garden at his father's house, mow and handle whatever maintenance needs to be done before we fly out to California for a few days. There's also lawn mowing to be done at my mother's house, covering up the glider and water fountains in the back yard and settling Patches in since my mom will be cat-sitting for us.

All that means is that we won't be at the trailer much, so I don't think we'll be putting up the Internet satellite this week. Which means I won't be posting much, if anything at all. I am taking the computer to California and hope to get pictures of the Hall of Fame ceremonies put up before we leave there. If not, it'll happen sometime next week as we start our travels southward.

Have a good one.

Another Lazy Sunday After a Lazy Week

Fall weather arrived with a vengeance this week, turning cold and threatening rain for several days. It was a good time to snuggle down with a book while enjoying the peaceful quiet of a totally isolated camp site, at least until the weekend campers arrived. Gunfire from the nearby shooting range mixed with the happy shouts of children and barking dogs made it even easier to stay inside with a cup of hot chocolate and a warm cat on my lap.


Last week while having breakfast in Donegal, PA we were given a glimpse of what the fall color would be in a couple of weeks. There was also a pond with ducks and an old buckboard wagon filled with brightly colored mums to see out the big picture windows. All that and a great breakfast.


This is our little peace of private forest here near Salt Fork State Park at the Grand Haven Resort. From Monday through Friday, we were the only ones in this section of the park, which meant Patches was in her glory. She could wander freely without worrying about kids or dogs or golf carts and cars and there were deer and ground hogs and chipmunks to stalk.


This young buck wandered up into the campground early in the week, but only made one appearance. There are miles of woods around, so I was surprised to see him here.


Why does the turkey cross the road? To get out of the way of folks on their way to play golf at the Salt Fork State Park golf course! There were actually about four turkeys running hither and yon, trying to get away from the truck, but I only managed to get a quick shot of the one.


Salt Fork Lake as seen from one of the tee boxes of the golf course. Salt Fork State Park is the largest state park in Ohio. I think we drove about four miles into the park before we finally arrived at the golf course.


Doesn't think look like something a wicked witch would feed you? I'm assuming these mushrooms aren't edible, because they certainly aren't appealing.


There's not much fall color here due to the drought that Ohio has suffered this year, but I found this tiny red leaf with the bit of lichen on a broken branch appealing.

Non-golfers Disregard

I think there's at least one person who follows this blog who is also a golfer, so this is for them. Plus it helps me remember the good courses in our travels. I'm playing catch up on the last three rounds we've played, so all the non-golfers will have to go elsewhere for entertainment today.

The Oak Harbor Golf Club


Located at 10433 County Road 17 (Oak Harbor Rd), Oak Harbor, OH (800)252-1729. The cost for two of us at the senior rate was $40 total to play 18 holes using a riding cart.

Eons ago glaciers flattened most of the state of Ohio, so many of the golf courses in the state have little in the way of hills. Oak Harbor is no different, so they make use of trees and some links-style landscaping to make things interesting. The course is well maintained, has occasional views of the Portage River and is a nice course to play. Distance from the blue tees--6588 yards and red tees is 5287 yards.


Ohio's golf courses can be pretty flat.

Donegal Highlands Golf Course

There's no street address for this golf course, other than Rt. 31 in Donegal, Pennsylvania (724)423-7888. If you get off the Turnpike at the Donegal exit (exit 91) and turn right, going east, you'll see the signs for the course about 2 miles down the road.

This is a golf course to hit in peak "leaf peeper" season. We were a bit too early for that as we were still having wonderful summer temperatures in October. The terrain is much more interesting here, as the area is surrounded by mountains. As seniors, we were able to play 18 holes using a riding cart for $20 each. Love that! This is a very scenic course with enough sand traps, trees and water to make it challenging for any level of golfer. Distance from the back tees is 6370 yards and from the red tees is 4545 yards.


Can you imagine this backdrop in yellow, orange, red and maroon?

Salt Lake State Park Golf Course


This is a kick-a$$ golf course. There's nary a flat spot on the entire course. I couldn't believe it when the gal behind the counter at the pro shop asked us if we were walking or riding when we paid to play 18 holes. Yeah, I want to die young of a heart attack on the golf course!

Located deep within the boundaries of the huge Salt Fork State Park in Cambridge, Ohio, this is a golf course you will remember for a long time. Denny played this course well over thirty years ago with his then-father-in-law and remembered the incredibly steep 17th hole as if it were yesterday. The distance from the back tees is a relatively short 6056 yards and the red tees are at 5241 yards, but with all the uphill and downhill lies you'll feel like the course was twice that long.



Standing at the eighteenth tee you'll be glad to see the clubhouse at the top of the hill because you will be exhausted! The course is so challenging and has such terrific views that you'll be glad you went out of your way to find this one.

Worrisome

We made it to our spot at our campground here in the hills of eastern Ohio, but at a severe strain to the new transmission. The interior roads within the resort are incredibly steep, narrow and bumpy, meaning we had to use very slow speeds going up them which was not good on the engine. Denny was freaking out, to say the least.

Crossing the borders from Pennsylvania to West Virginia to Ohio you could see the difference in the amount of rain each state has received this summer. The trees and vegetation in Pennsylvania is lush and they will soon have a gorgeous, colorful fall (once the record-breaking temperatures start to drop) while in West Virginia and Ohio the drought has caused the leaves to die without going through a color change--the leaves are either green, yellow, brown or gone. Otherwise, this area would be a picture taking paradise.

We have a feral cat that's watching our trailer (we're the only ones in this section of the campground although there are cabins that are occupied) and Patches and I discovered a chipmunk nearby. Strangely enough I saw no birds yesterday, although we were busy trying to find a satellite signal for the TV through all the tall trees. We managed with the Internet satellite, but can only get one of two satellite beams on the DISH system. That means I got my Dancing With the Stars, but there's no ESPN for Denny. Obviously, THAT'S not going to work.

It's supposed to rain today, so it will be a good day to grocery shop and locate the golf course where we made tee times for tomorrow. I think it's also time to go through the trailer and start winnowing out extra "stuff" to leave at my mother's house to be sold at the next garage sale. Methinks we've slowly accumulated some extra unnecessary weight (yeah, yeah, it's diet time too) which is placing an additional burden on the truck's engine. And we just don't have $50,000+ for a new F450.

An Assignment

We're moving on today, heading west into Ohio. The hills of Pennsylvania will be a good test of the newly installed rebuilt transmission, but the trip will be short enough at around 160 miles that there shouldn't be any chance of the transmission fluid overheating, since our gauge isn't working to watch the temperature of the transmission fluid.

In the meantime, if you have an hour and a half to spare, take the time to watch a truly inspirational speech by Randy Pausch, who is dying of cancer. It's a lesson in grace, humor, joy and one man's love of life.

Something Different This Sunday

Tired of waiting for the service department to call about out truck, Denny and I decided to take a relatively short driving tour of the area. Striking out on the Laurel Highlands Scenic Byway, we made our way south on Rt. 381 with the thought of possibly catching a glimpse of Fallingwater. That wasn't going to happen, as there is a guard shack placed near the entrance to collect a tour fee before you get anywhere close to the house. Not knowing how much the transmission repairs were going to cost, we decided to pass this time around. Continuing south and west, we drove by the Ohiopyle State Park which has a miles of biking, hiking and riding trails, plus several overlooks for great views of the Youghiogheny River (called the "Yawk" and pronounced yaw-ki-GAY-nee).

Intrigued by the name, I had Denny stop at the Fort Necessity National Battlefield, which is located on US 40 just west of Farmington, PA. Entering the modern, new visitor center we were greeting by two very friendly staff members who explained a little about the park and visitor center and who directed us to the video which explained the history of Fort Necessity. Once again, Denny and I learned more about the history of our country simply by making an unplanned stop on a beautiful sunny afternoon.

Briefly, the area of what is now western New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio and all land south to Louisiana was controlled by the French although the British claimed rights to the area, also. The British had built a fort where the Monongahela and Allegheny Rivers combined to become the Ohio River, but the French drove them out, building a much larger fortification which they called Fort Duquesne. George Washington, then a lieutenant colonel, was assigned the task of building a road to Redstone Creek and assist in defending the British fort. When he heard the French had taken it over, Washington decided to continue to Redstone Creek and await further orders.

Washington and his troops settled in an area called the Great Meadows, which he believed to be "a charming field for an encounter". He and his men set up camp and a few day later had a skirmish with a small group of French soldiers in what some historians think might have been an ambush on Washington's part. Whatever the facts, the French were furious when they heard the news and 600 French soldiers and 100 Native Americans were sent from Fort Duquesne to battle the British troops. Washington and his men, certain that such an encounter was coming, had built up the earthworks around the small, round stockade which held their supplies and mounted the small swivel guns on the entrenchments.

Unfortunately, young and inexperience George had built the stockade only about 60 yards from the woods, expecting any fighting troops to march out in a row, shooting in an orderly fashion. What the French and Indians did, however, was hide and shoot from behind the trees, while Washington and his men were stuck in trenches that soon filled with water from the pouring rain that fell that day. After several hours, the commander of the French forces offered to allow Washington to surrender, which he did.

That initial skirmish, where Washington and his troops caught the small troop of French soldiers off-guard and killed them, was the beginning of what was to be the French and Indian War. Eventually, the war ended with Britain having control of North America and India.


Imagine laying in mud, 700 rifles blazing away at you while the rain pours down upon you, ruining your gunpowder and your chance to protect yourself.


The Mount Washington Tavern is also on the grounds of Fort Necessity and is open for tours. Once part of the National Road, the stagecoach tavern fed and housed travelers on what is now US 40.


US 40, also known at the National Road, now sits about 12 feet lower than the original road as it passes in front of Mount Washington Tavern. The National Road was the first federally funded roadway built in America.


Heading west on US 40 towards Uniontown, PA, the mountain roads are very steep. Note the speed limit of 10MPH for trucks and buses. This is one road where I wouldn't want to be driving in front of a fully loaded semi, believe me.


Driving through Uniontown we saw this "graveyard" or storage area for military tanks in an array of camouflage paint and styles. I have no idea of what the story is behind it, but I did find this so what we saw must have been a storage area for BAE systems.

Good News/Bad News

The bad news is that we'll miss the fall color in Pennsylvania next week. The good news is that we'll miss the fall color in Pennsylvania next week.

The good news is that Davies Ford installed a new rebuilt transmission and oil cooler under warranty at no charge to us and we have the truck back. The bad news is that they practically pushed us out the door without explaining any of the repairs (stating that they would mail us all the paperwork detailing the repairs) and on the way to returning the rental car Denny noticed our transmission temperature gauge was still not working (it stopped working when the transmission fluid starting spewing out).

The continued bad news is, that when Denny called the service department to tell them the temperature gauge wasn't working and asked if perhaps it had not been checked or re-attached, the service tech said he wasn't aware that there was a problem with it and left it at that--no request to bring the truck back so they could look at it.

Therefore, while we are thrilled to have the truck back, mostly repaired and at no cost to us, we really would have like for it to have been totally fixed. I'm not quite sure how to rate Davies Ford. They were friendly, helpful-seeming and finally after three days, expedited the repair. Perhaps Denny calling to check the status of the repair every day bugged them too much and they just wanted us gone at that point because I'm sure they put our repair ahead of others who were already there. I left feeling that they were glad to wash their hands of us. That's not a good feeling at all.

Comfort Food

The Ford dealership has yet to pull the transmission from our truck. What they are waiting for, I don't know, but it means we'll be here a long longer than we wanted to be. Which means changes in reservations, extending the car rental, dealing with our forwarded mail, etc.

When I get upset, I bake. When I bake, believe me, it ain't healthy stuff either. We have a ton of apples in the refrigerator from our apple-picking jaunt in New York, so first I considered Vicki's scrumptious sounding recipe, but that involved deep frying. Here's what I found at the About.com website under the Southern U.S. Cuisine section.

Apple Pan Dowdy

* 1/4 cup biscuit mix
* 1 cup packed brown sugar
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 1 teaspoon vinegar
* 1 cup water
* 1 teaspoon vanilla
* 1 tablespoon butter
* 5 cups apple slices - 6 to 7 cooking apples, golden delicious, jonathan, etc., peeled, cored, sliced
* cinnamon and nutmeg
* granulated sugar
* 1 1/2 cups biscuit mix
* 3/4 cup light cream or whipping cream

PREPARATION:
In a saucepan, combine 1/4 cup biscuit mix, brown sugar, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and vinegar and water. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until thickened and clear. Remove from heat and add vanilla and butter.

Set aside to cool.

Place apples in a greased 8-inch square baking pan. Sprinkle apples evenly with cinnamon and nutmeg.
Mix 1 1/2 cups biscuit mix with the cream to make a soft dough. Drop over the sliced apples.
Sprinkle with the granulated sugar and more cinnamon. Pour the cooled sauce over the top.
Bake in a preheated 375° oven for about 35 to 45 minutes. Serve hot with cream or ice cream.

I wish I had taken a picture of the dessert. Not only is this delicious, but it looks mouth-watering coming out of the oven. Too late now! We topped it with Eddy's Slow Churned French Vanilla ice cream (because we're all about cutting calories--snort!) while the Apple Pan Dowdy was still hot from the oven. Sigh--alllll better.

Comfort

When you're weary
Feeling small
When tears are in your eyes
I will dry them all

I'm on your side

When times get rough
And friends just can't be found
Like a bridge over troubled water
I will lay me down
Like a bridge over troubled water
I will lay me down

When you're down and out
When you're on the street
When evening falls so hard
I will comfort you

I'll take your part
When darkness comes
And pain is all around
Like a bridge over troubled water
I will lay me down
Like a bridge over troubled water
I will lay me down

Sail on Silver Girl,
Sail on by
Your time has come to shine
All your dreams are on their way

See how they shine
If you need a friend
I'm sailing right behind
Like a bridge over troubled water
I will ease your mind
Like a bridge over troubled water
I will ease your mind
---Bridge Over Troubled Water by Simon and Garfunkle

If you're a blogger, you understand the concept of "e-friends"--those folks you have met through commenting on each other's blogs. Perhaps you've exchanged e-mails in addition to making comments or even met them in person (Hi Kim!) E-friends can make you smile or even chuckle at the remarks they leave on your site, or lead you into an off-blog conversation to expand upon an idea. As friends they are as real as that high school buddy or next door neighbor of yours and no less valuable.

So when you're going through a bit of a rough patch and blog about it, you can be assured of that comforting pat on the back that reaches across hundreds of miles and says "I care". You know that folks will be awaiting the outcome and ready to offer "e-support" whether the end result is good or bad.

What a great thing this innernets can be! (((y'all)))

The Waiting Game

There has been no word from the Ford dealership yet on the status of the truck. Denny and I drove down there once Enterprise finally delivered our rental car and we finished all the paperwork and got through all the chatty-cathi-ness of the rental agent. The service manager needed our paperwork from the installation of the rebuilt transmission that was done in Oregon in 2005 to see if we squeaked through on the mileage for the warranty. Unfortunately, all that was back in the trailer. The service manager did say that the computer check showed we had no forward or reverse gear. Which is strange because we managed to pull into the campground and back up to level the trailer on boards, but who are we to argue. We're stuck.

So when the going gets tough, the tough go golfing. That's our plan for the day. I'm sure there will be a message on the phone when we are finished so we'll know where we stand and how long we'll be here in the hills of Pennsylvania. It's really not such a bad place to be.

Pah! to Pennsylvania

I had to tone down the title of this blog. It's been one miserable mother of a day.

Denny and I decided to try one of the affiliated member campgrounds in our system that is located south east of Pittsburgh. We had never been to the area and it allowed us to see something new, and yet not wander too far from Ohio since we have to be back there in a couple of weeks to be able to fly out to Palm Springs. The trip was longish one for us, about 286 miles, per Map Quest. We made okay time in spite of toll roads (don't even get me started on the Pennsylvania Turnpike) and construction. Upon our arrival at the campground, we were assigned a site and given a map to find it. No problem, except as we drove further into the campground we saw nothing but trees. Trees and satellite dishes don't mix at all. We located our site, having to put the truck into low gear due to the severe grade of the driveway leading to the site. The interior roads are narrow and the tree limbs on the site hadn't been trimmed so that we were concerned about them damaging the rubber roof of the trailer. Since the lady at the entrance gate had told us we could pick any open site if we didn't like the one assigned to us, we drove down the hill and up a different lane. All of a sudden I'm smelling something burning and look to see that the temperature gauge for the transmission isn't showing a temperature. Uh-oh. We're partly up a hill, with no open sites around to back into. So Denny eased back down the hill to the main driveway (not an easy turn to make with a fifth wheel going backwards) and we left the campground, telling the lady at the gate that we were leaving and asking if there were any other campgrounds close by that didn't have hills. She was not at all helpful, so we just left. Remembering a campground near the turnpike, we crossed our fingers as the truck struggled up two more lengthy hills on the main roads to get to the campground. We finally located the other campground, paid an exorbitant price for a week, got the trailer set up and the truck unhitched and set up the Internet satellite so I could find a Ford dealer. I did locate one, arranged for a tow, tried to arrange a rental car but it was too late in the day. So the tow driver took the truck to the dealer for us, where the service department will look at it first thing tomorrow morning. Denny tried to check the transmission fluid but it didn't even show up on the dipstick, so I think we're in big trouble here.

So here we are, in an area that's close to nothing, stuck without a car until someone returns one to the closest Enterprise office, at the mercy of a strange Ford service department. This does not bode well.

Note; I left out the yelling, the lack of meals for eleven hours, drinks downed quickly on an empty stomach between desperate phone calls and a few other minor details. Other than that, that's my story and I'm sticking to it.