Costa Rica

I cannot believe it has been more than a year since I posted. Shame on me! But, in my defense, we really didn't do much exploring since we bought the farm. Not much with the exception of  the trip of a life time. So why didn't I post? OMG, it really was the trip of a life time--at least our life time. My daughter decided it was time for me and Clark to go on a luxury vacation. I was skeptical at first. Not that I didn't think I would like "luxury." Who doesn't want luxury? She and her husband were going to take me and Clark to Costa Rica for one week. Then my son and his girl friend decided to join us. Next it was my other daughter and her husband.

To keep this story short and sweet. We went to Santa Teresa on the West Coast of Costa Rica and had the best time ever. My daughter rented a house right on the beach. We took surfing lessons, went out on a boat fishing and drove 4 wheelers all over the place.

What a trip!

Fishing Trip

So here we are, in the middle of nowhere. I say that and yet we got one of the last camping spots. Not a very good spot, just one of the last. What the hell are these people doing here in the middle of nowhere? It is cold and raining and there is no phone service and no internet. The cold and rain does not bother John.  Needless to say having no phone service and no internet service is no concern for John either. Off he goes to catch some trout while I sit in the truck. I like to fish but I don't like to be cold and I don't like to get wet and dirty. When it is hot and dry the stream is actually inviting, so I don't mind fishing then. I hope John does well and catches something quickly. I am also hungry!

There was a time when I would have enjoyed the peace and quiet. Listening to the rain pitter patter on the roof of the truck. Today I wonder what to do. Seriously, with no connection to the outside world, the worldwide web, what do I do? I have joined the Generation Y with the need for instant gratification. I worry that someone may need to get a hold of me. What will my family do if they need me? What will my business partners and/or clients do without me? I can't check my email, Facebook, Twitter, linked in. I can't search the web. I can't even relax.

Having thought that out I have decided to learn to relax and stop feeling I need to be connected at all times. It starts now, on this trip.

I sat in the truck for nearly 3 hours while John fished! I got out a couple times to take pictures. John caught 4 trout and he had so much fun. We got back to the camper and I made some hot dogs corn and chips. It was already 8:30 and still raining. I did not see any reason to start the grill and cook steaks. The forecast for tomorrow is rain in the morning but clear skies after 1:00. We can cook on the grill tomorrow. John cleaned the fish while I whipped up dinner. During dinner the battery to the camper died. We discussed turning on the generator but decided it was not necessary. It was cool enough outside to keep the refrigerator cool and we had plenty of blankets and a new sleeping bag to keep us warm. John cleaned up and we were in bed by 9:45.

This morning it was very difficult to get out of bed. Let me rephrase that, it was difficult for me to get out of bed. John took Coco out and made coffee while I continued to snuggle up under the covers. I finally had a hot flash that brought me out from under. I got up and ate pancakes and sausage that John made, and coffee that John made. Mmmmm good! It is still drizzling out so I told John to go ahead and go fishing while I make the bed, do the dishes and hang with Coco. So here I am, waiting.

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Skyline Drive and Blue Ridge Parkway

In September, Clark and I traveled to PA for our granddaughter's first birthday. We had a wonderful time with family and friends but headed home a little early. Over the years we traveled back and forth making the 13 hour trip in one day. We took the same route and often talked about stopping here and/or there to see some of the sights along the way. We were always in a hurry and always so tired when we arrived home. Of course we did not have our "Scotty" camper before, so this trip was different. First we discovered it seemed to take a little longer pulling a camper. Mainly because we had to stop for gas more often. So we left a little early with the idea that we would just stop when we got tired and enjoy the trip. As we neared the PA border we were trying to decide where we might stop and Clark came up with the Blue Ridge Parkway. Unlike Lewis and Clark, I whipped out the iPad and checked out the start and finish. We decided to start at the very top in VA on the Skyline Drive.

We entered the Skyline Drive at about 4:30. We thought it would be good to get to the 50 mile post where there was a good campsite. We thought that would give us plenty of time to arrive, set up camp, cook dinner, relax . . . In the first hour we managed to travel 10 miles. We were stopping at every overlook. The views were magnificent but we were not going to make it to the campsite before they closed at 8:00 if we did not keep moving. We stopped about every 3rd or 4th overlook and managed to make it to the 50 mile post at ten minutes to 8:00. Needless to say we did not "set" up camp and cook dinner. We ordered from the lodge and picked up dinner to take back to camp. We were disappointed in the food but not to worry. We were on an adventure.

We woke up early, hitched the wagon and headed out. Our plan was to get to Boone, NC by about 3:00. Again, we thought we would get to Boone, set up camp, cook dinner, relax . . . We barely made it into NC by 9:00. We did stop to hike some, stopped at the overlooks  . . . We were definitely enjoying ourselves but this was a slow trip. 

The next day we had no choice but to finish this trip that day because I had to work in the morning. We did finish and arrived home about 10:30 that night.

FYI, if you want to take the Blue Ridge Parkway--either do it in sections or plan at least a week or so to really enjoy it. We are glad we did it but we now want to do it in sections to enjoy some of the areas we had to pass through. It is beautiful, breathtaking and brilliant! Definitely worth the time.

#BlueRidgeParkway#travel#Camping 

Another Birthday

Another grandchild grew older! Hunter turned 5 this year and we were not about to miss this special day. We have been so busy this year between our travels, work, and new property there has not been enough time to post. I haven't had a chance to tell you about all our adventures before a new one comes up. I know the real Lewis and Clark did not have this problem but then they did not have to go to the office on a regular basis. Their travels happened to be their job. How cool was that? Of course they did not have the luxury of staying in hotels and/or campers, visiting relatives and traveling in a civilized world. I think I do it the Lois and Clark way. I will do my best to post more regularly--I have lots to tell you.

Birthday Party!!

Nothing more fun than a first birthday! Don't you wish we could have our own birthday cake every year? Why do they get their own and we have to share. They don't even know what they are eating and they never eat it all. They just make a mess of it. Fun, fun, fun!

Big brother celebrated his birthday too! I think it is lucky the two have birthdays so close. I shared my birthday with my brother and there is 3 years difference between us. We always had a special bond just because we shared our birthday. It was great!

Great Adventures!

We just returned from a great adventure to visit our grandchildren. Our youngest granddaughter turned 1 over Labor Day weekend. I will have her pictures to show off soon. Clark and I drove to PA with our Scotty Camper. When I looked on line for a campsite I was a bit surprised to find every place was booked. Clark's daughter was able to find us a spot at a private camp ground only 4 miles from her home. That's a story in itself. Hunter and Caroline were camping at Bald Eagle State Park--where we originally wanted to stay. Little did I know we could have booked a site at Bald Eagle State Park in the "Primitive" section. This park is beautiful and the sites are beautiful. Unfortunately I was looking for the hookups. Next time I know better. I just did not know you could bring a camper into the "primitive" section. Now I know and will be better prepared for the next trip.
We visited Hunter and Caroline and of course their parents. We went on a geocaching expedition that had been set up by Ranger Rick. These kids are experienced campers, hikers and geocachers. We had a great time until someone stepped into a bees nest. All hell broke loose with screaming and running. I was lucky to not have gotten stung at all. Clark was stung 5 times, Caroline and her dad were each stung one time but poor Hunter got the most stings with 8-10. Luckily their mom was prepared and passed out Benadryl to all the wounded soldiers. It was a horrible way to end such a great adventure but, the kids and adults are all doing fine and ready for our next adventure. We will not be finishing that geocache-sorry to say.
I have so much to tell you about but I need to start with the family trip first. I will post birthday pictures soon.

Storm A Brewing

Just came back from sunny South Florida. This photo was taken from my hotel room. What a view! I did not have to get out of bed for sunrise pictures. Seriously, the view was absolutely gorgeous without every getting up. I literally grabbed my cell phone and started taking pictures as soon as I woke up. I was too lazy to get up and grab my camera and the iPhone did just fine.

Fourth of July in NC

 

Clark and I took a last minute trip to Sneads Ferry, NC to visit a daughter. We camped right in her front yard--which was perfect. We were able to visit, camp and relax. There will be more pix soon but for now I thought I would throw up at least a firework and sunset for the 4th.

Another Great Camping Trip

This trip we headed North to Boone, North Carolina to meet with about 30 other  "Scotty" owners. Who would have thought? Well, Clark finally finished the camper and I checked out the NSSO (National Serro Scotty Organization) website and discovered they were meeting at Flintlock Campgrounds for the Memorial Day Weekend. We had a great time visiting Blowing Rock, Grandfather's Mountain and we did a little antique-ing. The best part was meeting all the members of NSSO. It was great looking at how everyone renovated their Scotty. Some great people! We had a fabulous time and look forward to meeting up with some or all of these people again.

Mississippi

I have fallen for this sepia toned processing of my photos. Almost everything I do I turn into an aged sepia toned photo. I think it gives it somewhat of a nostalgic feeling. A great look for memories.

      Leaving for our camping trip.

          The Beau Rivage in Biloxi

The shore line along the Mississippi

National Seashore

Just a pretty flower in Mississippi

Clark and I took a camping trip along the Gulf Coast of Mississippi. The weather was beautiful and the campgrounds were great. Our little Scotty provided a great place to sleep--in fact we slept in every day. There was ample room for me and Clark and Coco--our dog. This trip was so much better than the last because it has been renovated--well not totally done but enough to where we could go out without worry. We still have a couple of cabinets to install and trim work but it will be done before the next trip.

Busy Year

 I cannot believe we are already into March and I have not posted since New Years. Since then we have gone to Florida twice, South Carolina, had our grandchildren for a week and I took a quick trip to NYC. Whew!! What a busy start.

New Year's Day

Every new year's day Clark and I hop in the car and look for an adventure. Looking back we seem to have a lot of cold wet new year's days. It was just that this year too. We had no real plan other than for me to take a picture. We headed West with the thoughts of finding an old barn or something. Instead we turned into the West Georgia Regional Airport. The gate was opened so we drove in and took a few shots of the small planes parked there. Although it wasn't much of an adventure, we enjoyed our little jaunt.

Ready to Roll!

Although the interior was not complete, we were ready to roll! We took a trip to St. Mary's so we could go to Cumberland Island. Scotty had a fresh new look on the inside and outside. At the time of this trip we only had the bed and dinette. All our cooking had to be done outside or we had to go out to eat. We stayed at Crooked River State Park which was pretty awesome. Our adventure to Cumberland Island exceeded all our expectations and we look forward to another trip to see more of the island.

Since we came home from this trip the sink and stove have been installed and we are in the process of selecting a refrigerator.

Restoration

While this has taken a while to restore, we are really moving along rather nicely. I use the word we loosely. I have not had nearly as much participation as John--oops, Clark! He is such a hard worker. I haven't had an opportunity to take more pictures but we are really much further along than this. Clark has already completed the trim, installed all the wiring and lights, installed the ceiling and sealed all the seams. He is about to paint the interior. I can hardly wait. Although we will not be entirely done, we plan to take another trip in Scotty sometime in November. We'll at least have the potty and bed in there. Since we'll be camping we do not need the store and sink nor the dinette complete as we can use all our  "outdoor" equipment for cooking, eating, and even cleaning up.

Our first trip with Scotty!

We bought our first camper less than a month ago (2 weeks to be exact) and we are really excited. We had been looking for a “Scotty” for more than a year. Although our Scotty is more than 40 years old he is in pretty good shape. Not really good enough to take on a trip, but certainly weekend worthy. We chose a state park not too far from home, Cloudland Canyon. There were many more parks close by but we had visited all of them and this was a special trip.

Worn out, tired and not really ready for a camping trip, Scotty trudged on behind us. We were so excited and so unprepared. Not that anything really went wrong. Scotty was good to us—even in the rain. No leaks that we are aware.

Scotty needs so much work and looks his age, but he was a true camper. We loaded everything up in Scotty. We arrived to discover that isn’t such a good idea. We didn’t put things where they belonged, nor did we tie things down for the bumpy ride. No, we pretty much threw things in thinking we would take care of things once we arrived. It took us about 5 ½ hours to make the 2 ½ hour trip. We stopped at 3 Wal-Marts, a Marvins, Freds, and Wendy’s. We kept remembering things we had forgotten. No problem—we are planning to have a standard check list for future ventures. By the way we still managed to forget some things. Oh well.

We arrived much later than planned only to discover we had a ton of rearranging to do just so we could get into the camper. We spent about an hour or so trying to get things more organized so we could at least find things and make the bed. We wanted to do some hiking before dinner and relaxation.

Our first night, though uneventful, was not as restful as we had hoped. This was not because of Scotty. We do not have an air-conditioner for Scotty, but we had a small fan. Not bad, but a little hot at first. Luckily we were high in the mountains and it cooled off quickly. Of course I didn’t think to bring sheets because we had sleeping bags. John got up several times during the night, which woke me. We ended up sleeping in until 8:51. OMG! In camper land, that is sinful.

Today we cleaned things up and organized things better. I think I am going to like Scotty once we clean him up and learn to organize things better. Tomorrow we head home and Scotty will most likely go back into the garage until he is ready for a “real” trip. I can’t wait.

Our Little Scotty Camper

Clark and I just bought our first camper--a vintage Serro Scotty. We are very excited about about restoring this camper and then heading out for some adventures. I will keep you all posted about our little excursions.

Naples, FL

We finally made it to Naples and this is what was waiting for us! Beautiful white beaches, calm blue water, sunny skies, more than I could have asked. It was just beautiful! Of course my family was there and that just made things so much better. We had a great time. John got to fish from the pier and he went out on a boat Sunday to go fishing. Of course the seas were too rough so he did not get to fish but he had a great time out at sea. I spent a couple of days with my family. Got to take some great pictures and off we went back home. Every time I go to Florida I want to move back. I know it will never happen, but I sure would love it!

Alabama, Take it or Leave it!

I do not mean to be so harsh on the state of Alabama, but OMG I thought I would die of boredom. We drove from the Northwesterly tip to the Southeasterly tip of Alabama and there was nothing worth stopping to see accept this. This is at the Pioneer Village in Troy Alabama. We did not stop to go in although it only cost $6.00 per adult (if I remember correctly). We had already been in the car for about 5 or  6 hours and knew we had another 5 or 6 to go so we really didn't want to spend too much time. It looked interesting. There were a lot of buildings inside the gated area. Aside from this, I did not take any pictures. Nothing. There really is nothing from corner to corner. I must say I was a bit disappointed. I didn't even see a barn worth stopping to shoot. I can assure you this trip will not be made again.

Don't write Alabama off your list because of this. I can assure you there are some pretty sights to see, they just aren't from the Northwest to the Southeast. Remember Alabama has Talladega. That in itself is worth seeing. Cheaha State Park is a nice place to visit as is Talladega National Forest. And down South Alabama is Fairhope along the Gulf Coast--definite place to visit.

Alabama is my neighbor so I will continue to visit and find treasures, just not that one route.

Memphis

We just visited Memphis, TN for the first time. What can I say. For starters let me assure you pictures will follow. Can you believe I forgot my card reader so I could not download my pictures.
The trip there was quite uneventful, more like boring. From our house to Birmingham there is very little. From Birmingham to Tupelo, MS there is nothing. Really there is nothing. An occasional gas station, no food, no stores, no nothing. For two hours after passing through Birmingham we just hoped and prayed for  something interesting. All we got was construction.
What can I say about Memphis? Hmm, not much. I only took about 40 pictures. Of course we went there for a concert and I could not bring my camera in so we had to pack it away in the car most of the time. We could not find any clear advantage points to take a night shot.
Memphis is a cool city. It has lots of neat architecture and I would imagine a lot to do if you are staying awhile. We walked the entire length of Beale Street which is a bunch of shops and bars and restaurants. There is a lot of history in town. Lots of history about the Blues. I think I would like to visit again some day, but I surely do not want to go through Alabama. Of course that is the most direct so I will probably have to go that way if I go back.

Silly me, John got some pictures so you are going to get one.

Raleigh, NC

Clark and I stopped at my brother's for Thanksgiving this year. We had a great time and he took us into Raleigh to get some night shots. I was pretty happy with results.