Our Schedule










Tuesday, August 30, 2016

Continuing on......

Wappapello Lake,  Missouri

We take delight in our morning coffee under the awning watching critters.   Here are some at the COE campground in Kentucky.





Yesterday we packed up and moved 271 miles down the road to another outstanding COE park.  Our route put us on US60 leaving Kentucky over the Mississippi River via this narrow bridge.


This put us in Cairo, Illinois for a short time onto another narrow bridge again over the Mississippi


and into


We continued on Rt 60 to Route T approaching Poplar Bluff.   A few miles north on Route T we found our destination.


Another great COE campground.   Our site is mostly shade but with some sunny breaks enough to catch our DirecTV satellite.   We also have great cell and MIFI reception.  AND we have 50 amp full hook up (even sewer) again for $10.00 a night.  Got caught up on some laundry.   But this time we don't sit on the lake.  The dam and lake is about 1/2 mile up the road.  Can't have everything I guess.


But we do have a huge site.   Our side yard.


 And a delightful spot for our morning coffee and evening wine.  What could be better.


Until next time.....

Saturday, August 27, 2016

We love these parks....

Near Leitchfield, KY

On Wednesday August 24 we pulled out of Artillery Ridge CG in Gettysburg, PA and headed south on Rt 15.  We picked up I 68 west through some hilly parts of MD


and then entered


where we picked up I79.

After traveling 289 miles we found our destination at a Corps of Engineer (COE) park on Burnside Lake


View from our site


This is a great COE park.  A 50 amp full hook up site for $11. a night with the America the Beautiful Federal Senior Pass.   However, no cell or Internet service.  Should we return to this campground we would not park on the same site.  There was a pronounced sloop.  We had to extend the front landing jacks full out and had to place a step to get in.  It was still a huge step up.  Gotta love having automatic levelers and stabilizing bars.


As you enter the park you pass:



This battle took place on the Cunningham Farmstead


Several of the original structures are still there along with two log homes that were moved to this location.



Notice the chimney of the above cabin.  It is called Cat and Clay.  It is made of wooden slats held together with mud.

Yesterday we left WV headed to KY.   Continuing on I79 to Charleston, WV we picked up I64 into




Lexington, KY.   We  passed several horse farms but no horse in sight here


We did see this interesting building.... near Castle Hill Winery.  Don't know if this is part of the winery or the winery is named such because of the castle.


In Lexington we picked up Kentucky Blue Grass Parkway to Litchfield, KY then route 259 to our destination.   A long day with 389 miles behind us.

Another fabulous COE park.  This one is $10.50 a night with water and 50 amp electric.  No sewer.  But I am getting a great signals on our phones and my Verizon MIFI.    Our front yard view:


This is Nolin Lake.   It is a 5,795 lake 2 miles north of Mammoth Cave National Park.  Many years ago I toured the cave, when my girls were quite young.  If I remember right, there are several tours from which to choose.  We will check it out tomorrow.

Until next time.....

Tuesday, August 16, 2016

Clare and Tom

Gettysburg Farm TT
Dover, PA


A few years after my first marriage ended a friend, Linda, told me about an organization that held dances every Sunday night.   I looked into it and joined Parents Without Partners (PWP).  I so enjoyed meeting other people in my situation and having a new social life.

I met one man I really cared for.  We dated off and on for a few years.  During this time I also became friends with a few women.  One new friend, Marie, introduced me to her good friend Clare who was recently divorced.

On several occasions the three of us would meet for dinner, etc.  Around this time (1988) country dancing (mostly two-stepping) was all the rage.   Every night another club had a Country Band.  One club was in Almonesson, NJ.  I had been there years before.  Tuesday nights was known as singles night.   Marie and Clare had been going there for a few weeks.  They asked me to join them.  At first I refused.  They persisted.  Okay.  I told a man I had dated a few times I was going to that club the next Tuesday.   He said he would meet me there.

Clare and Marie along with another PWP member, Ann Marie found us a table and we settled in for the evening.   This man in a cowboy hat asked one of them to dance, then me, then another one of them, then me. etc.   They said they had danced with him the last couple of weeks and he was nice.  As it turned out he was there with another woman who had walked off to visit with some friends.  My "date" finally arrived and as I was talking to him, the band returned from break and this Cowboy walked across the floor and asked me to dance.  I left my date to dance with Cowboy and sit at his table.  His date returned, he introduced me to her and she went back to her friends.  The rest is a story for another time.

Oh, one year later Clare and Marie came to the Cowboys and my wedding.

Less than two months after our wedding, Clare was again at PWP.  A man saw her from the back and thought she was a woman he knew and asked her to dance.  By the end of the night, he asked for her phone number.  When he called her, he asked if she would like to go to Longwood Gardens with him.  Longwood is a beautiful complex originally owned by the DuPont family of Delaware.  She accepted and would later realize that Tom has a God given talent for growing flowers, trees, all sorts of plants and an eye for landscaping.  Their yard would be the envy of all who appreciated such beauty.

Two weeks after they met Tom asked Clare to marry him.  We were all shocked when they married a few months later.   It was a perfect match.   Tom adored his Clare as she adored Tom.

Through the years Leonard and I kept in touch with Tom and Clare.  They always came to our annual summer gatherings at our house.   We would meet for dinner on occasion.  They would invite us to their house for dinner.  We helped when they moved to another house. This was a friendship we all cherished.

After we sold our house and started full timing I would call Clare every few months to catch up.  When we were back in the area, we would meet for dinner or just to visit.

A couple of years ago, Tom called me with tears in his voice.  Clare was in the hospital.  Cancer.  Once she was discharged I called her.  She was on chemo.  Losing weight, losing hair.  But every time I called, she said she was having a good day.  She NEVER complained.  That was Clare.  Clare never complained.  She never had a negative thing to say about anybody.  Only positive.

She would tell me that with the chemo she would end up back in the hospital for a few days.  Then sometime later when I called she said she was done chemo.  Weight was coming back.  Hair growth too.  But then the cancer would attack somewhere else and further treatment needed.

Last summer we were in NJ and I called.  She was doing great.  No chemo, no cancer.  We decided to go to lunch.  When we got to their house, she had made lunch for us.  She looked great.  At a perfect weight and lots of energy.   So good seeing her looking healthy.

When we got back on the road, I continued to call every few months.  Several months ago when I called she told me the cancer had attacked again.  But again, no complaining.  She was starting another round of chemo.

Two weeks ago Tom called me.  He told me Clare was on Hospice care.  He was shaken by this as one would expect.  I asked that he keep me informed.   Last Friday around 5:30 pm I called Tom.  He apologized for being groggy.  He said he was meds for his emotional state.  He told me it would be a matter of hours.

Clare breathed her last in very early morning hours of Saturday, August 13 with Tom holding her hand.  Twenty-seven years to the day that Tom and Clare found each other.

Thank you Clare for insisting I go out with you that night back in 1988.  Thank for you being my friend.  Thank you for your caring ways, never complaining, always only seeing the positive and being an example of loving grace to all who knew you.

And to Tom.  In our thoughts. In our prayers.   You know you are blessed.  You had the very best.  Clare.




Wednesday, August 10, 2016

Having fun and learning History

Gettysburg Farm TT Campground
Dover, PA

This past weekend it was "Tractor Time" at



Lots of stuff going on.   Games, food and The Tractor Parade around the campground.



From big tractors


To not so big



I especially liked this set-up


On Monday we took the girls to Gettysburg Battlefield.   Charlotte, going into 5th grade, knew what it was all about and was so happy to go.   Abby, going into 2nd, was semi-interested but did enjoy the trip.

First we stopped at


Disappointed.     Years past I remember touring the museum for free.  It is now $12.50 a person.  When did that change or do I remember wrong?

Getting acquainted with Mr. L.


A few years ago we bought the Auto Tour CD.  We used it again on Monday.   The auto tour takes over 2 hours.  At no time were the girls bored.   Mid way though we stopped for lunch.


Both girls wanted to climb the towers.  Wish we could have gone up with them but with Len's knee replacement and my lack of stamina we just couldn't do the 100 steps on this one.  We would not permit them to climb up alone.  The 3 of them did climb a couple of flights.



There are 1,320 monuments or markers, 410 cannons, 148 historic buildings and 41 miles of road in the battlefields.    A favorite monument:  Robert E Lee and his house Traveler.


My personal favorite building.  A barn with evidence of a cannon attack.


One morning at the campground it was goat feeding time.


If they even suspect you might have food on you:


On this particular morning we all had on clean clothes.  The goats must have been in the same pen as the pigs. EEW!  We all were attacked.   So back to the rig to change clothes and loving the on-board washer/dryer combo.

Until next time.....

Friday, August 5, 2016

Love this place

Gettysburg Farm Thousand Trails Park
Dover, PA

WE LOVE THIS PLACE.    What is not to love.  We managed to snag a Full Hook Up site sitting on a corner.  So I was able to catch up on the wash using my new Splendide washer/dryer.  Before this we did not have sewer for 6 weeks.  And only $3.00 a night with our TT membership.


And it's right across from the playground and pool.  The granddaughters will love it.



The entire park is beautifully landscaped and maintained.

These are some permanent residents:







We had to look this fellow over carefully.  He looks identical to Streak, our favorite buddy that we sold when we started fulltime RVing.  He even has a white "boot" on the same rear leg.  We looked for a scar on his chest but there was none.  So, no he is not Streak.  Too bad.  We loved that horse.



Then there are these.   They are the welcome committee and have the run of the park.




This is our favorite campground ever!   Starting today is Tractor Weekend.  Lots going on through Sunday.  Will post again soon!