Wild Hog Cookout and 30

DeBary, FL.

62 deg. partly cloudy, no wind.

Forecast = Foggy this morning, then partly cloudy this afternoon. High 82F. Winds E at 10 to 15 mph.


Last Thursday evening, Jim and Linda decided that they wanted to go out to eat someplace. Neither of them wanted a big meal, so they headed for Arby's cause they had a bunch of coupons from there.  On the way, they stopped at a gas station and bought Big RED a nice big drink of that good old #2 diesel fuel.

Nothing much happened Friday or Saturday, but Sunday, Jim and Linda took Big RED and headed for Frostproof, FL. where Roland and Louise spend the winters in their double-wide home. I don't know if you remember or not, but a couple weeks ago, Roland called and invited them to come down there for a "wild hog cookout", and Sunday was the day they were having it.

Roland said that they'd be eating about 2:30, but for Jim and Linda to come early if they could, so about 11;30, they loaded their lawn chairs and a desert that Linda had made into Big RED and headed down there. It's about 95 miles from here to Frostproof, and about the only way to go is to follow I-4 down through Orlando and past the "Attraction" to US 27, and then take 27, with all it's stop lights, down to Frostproof.

The trip took Big RED about an hour and 45 minutes. He said that at times they were traveling close to 70 mph and at other times just crawling along while on I-4. One on US 27 he said that he had to stop frequently at the many stop lights along that route.

The "wild hog cookout turned out to be a huge success!! All the food was placed on tables inside of a Florida Room in the house next to Roland and Louise's.

Oh! Oh!  I'd better stop and explain here that Roland and 3 other friends from the park, (one of them who lives in the home next to them), went hog hunting awhile back. The got 3 hogs and so after butchering, they had lots of meat. So, they all cooked some of their meat in their own homes and brought it to Roland's neighbor's home where it was set out on the tables in the Florida Room along with all the dishes that other people brought. (this was a potluck type meal).

So, with the food all placed on the tables, and other tables set up in the car ports of that house and the house across the street, people started arriving and soon there were people everywhere sitting talking and waiting for the time when they could sample the wild hog cooked in 3 or 4 different ways.

The photo above is the home where all the food was placed in the Florida Room. If you look close, you can see the tables set up inside. (click on the photo ot enlarge it if you want). You can also see the tables set up in the car port where about 1/2 of the 110 people that were friends or from the park would eat their meals after they filled their plates.

This photo is of the car port across the street from the above home. It is where Jim, Linda, Roland and Louise and the other 1/2 of the 110 people enjoyed their meals. ;-)

While they were eating a group of 5 folks from the park entertained everyone with harmonica music.

After everyone was finished eating, Jim took this photo of (from left to right), Linda, Roland and Louise.

Both Jim and Linda really enjoyed the day, visiting with Roland and Louise, meeting many people from the Southern Pines Park and enjoying a great meal.

Thank You, Roland and Louise!!!!!

It was fairly late by the time Big RED brought Jim and Linda back here to DeBary. Both of them were tired, but they had a great day!!

OH!!! and it was also a great way for Jim and Linda to celebrate their 30th wedding anniversary!!!!

Yep!!! 30 years!!! And you know what? They're still in love!!!! :-)


Did  you know that the 30th wedding anniversary is considered the "Pearl" anniversary?

Woof!!!

A Little More "Entertainment" and Lunch With Joe And His Family

Rantoul, IL.

68 deg. cloudy, NW wind @ 6 mph.
Forecast =  Mostly cloudy with scattered showers. Highs around 79°F. North northwest wind 1 to 6 MPH. Chance of precipitation near 55%.

All of the campers that were here for the weekend left yesterday morning providing a little more "Campground Entertainment". It's always fun to watch them try to get everything packed up and put away in their RVs and other vehicles. Most seem to bring way too much "stuff" and spend a good part of their weekend getting the "stuff" set up and then put away again. ;-) Then, of course, there's the hook-up process which in many cases is very entertaining.

By noon, almost all were on their way back to their homes and the CG was nice and quiet again. :-)

About 12:30 the phone rang and it was Joe, saying that they were just about to leave Momence and head to Gilman, IL to meet up for lunch. So, in just a few minutes, Jim and Linda took Big RED and headed up there to meet them.

The place they met was the K & H Truck Plaza at the intersection of US 24 and US 45, about 1/2 mile East of I-57. The K & H Truck Plaza has been in business since 1967 and is known for it's very good restaurant that serves home cooked meals, (not your usual truck stop food).  I don't think Joe or his family had ever been there before, but Jim and Linda had, and in fact Jim used to stop there when he was driving truck, many years ago.

The timing was good and Joe, Nancy, Sami and Amber got there just as Jim and Linda arrived. The timing was also good in another respect as the Sunday lunch crowd was just starting to leave and a table for 6 had just been cleared. :-)

The food at the restaurant did not disappoint.  Everyone had something different and everyone enjoyed their meal. Joe, had the fried chicken special, and said that it was excellent!! The service was also excellent, and the waitress was very friendly and efficient.

Being that the restaurant had pretty much emptied out by the time everyone was done eating, there was no reason to hurry so they all sat and talked for awhile. But, all too soon, it was time for Joe and his family to head back to Momence again. :-(   Out in the parking lot, after hugs all around, Jim and Linda headed back here to the CG and Joe and his family headed back to Momence.

It was a very good visit and a good meal. We'll be seeing them again in late Oct. or early Nov.

It was around 3:30 by the time Big RED brought Jim and Linda back here to the CG.

Did you know that on this date in 1860 - The first successful silver mill in America began operations? The mill was in Virginia City, NV. 

Woof!!!

Campground Entertainment and Dinner With Mike and Terri

Rantoul, IL.

66 deg. mostly cloudy, East wind @ 7 mph.
Forecast = Mostly cloudy with scattered showers. Highs around 75°F. East wind to 13 MPH. Chance of precipitation near 45%.

They were forecasting rain for all day yesterday and I don't think we got a drop! It was quite cloudy most of the day, but no rain.

Quite a few RVs came into Prairie Pines yesterday, which provided some "Campground Entertainment". :-) I was looking out of the window

and across the street from us and down the road just a little, a group of trailers came in. Most of them are of the same brand, so I'm guessing that it's some kind of club gathering. Anyway, Paul led this one trailer to a site, got it positioned so that the utilities were lined up with the trailer hook-ups and then left. After Paul left, the owner of the trailer got out and evidently didn't like how the trailer was positioned on the site.

So,  ,  ,  ,  ,  he started backing up, pulling forward, backing up, pulling forward, back and forth, back and forth, all the while, cranking the truck's steering wheel one way and then the other. His wife was to the rear of the trailer, waiving her arms around in an effort to direct him, but either he didn't know the signals or he didn't want to follow her instructions. This went on for quite awhile and finally the man got out of the truck, waived his arms around and evidently, just gave up, leaving the trailer parked very close to where Paul and positioned him in the first place!! ;-)

Now, while this was going on, Paul brought in another trailer belonging to the group and guided it into the site along side of the first trailer. So, when the guy in the first trailer got out of his truck, he went over to help the 2nd trailer get positioned on it's site. Well, that didn't go well either and soon both of them gave up and just left the 2ne trailer where it was, after a whole bunch of jockeying around!! ;-)

Luckily neither of them ran over anything or hit anything.

Good old fashioned "Campground Entertainment"!! :-)

Being that Jim had been up since Joe called at 4:30 in the morning, he took a good long nap in the afternoon.

A couple days ago, Mike and Terri had called and asked if Jim and Linda would like to go out to eat and plans were made to go yesterday evening.  So about 5:00 Jim, Linda, Mike and Terri took Big RED and headed over to the Family Table Restaurant over on the East side of Rantoul.

Linda, Mike and Terri had the Pork Tenderloin sandwich and Jim  had  French Dip sandwich. Everyone said that their sandwiches were very good and decided that they'd like to go back to the Family Table again someday.

Of course one of the best things about the whole meal was getting to enjoy it with Mike and Terri. Jim and Linda really enjoy their company and always seem to find many things to talk about. :-)

This morning, Jim and Linda have an appointment with their financial adviser. His office is in Wilmington, IL which is about a 2 hour drive from here. After the appointment, they'll grab a bite to eat someplace and then head to Manteno, IL to see Jim's cousin, Adeline. Adeline lives alone now since her husband passed away awhile back and really likes it when Jim and Linda stop by to visit.

It'll be a long day, but Jim and Linda are looking forward to seeing Adeline.

A Point to Ponder:  Money can't buy happiness, but it makes your misery enjoyable.

Woof!!!