Campground Photos and Shopping And Eating In "Amish Country"

Winesburg, OH

71 deg. clear, SW wind @ 6 mph.

Forecast = A mix of clouds and sun. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High near 90F. Winds WSW at 5 to 10 mph.


The  other day, Jim took a few photos of the Amish Country Campsites CG here near Winesburg. It's not a large CG and some of the sites are pretty close to each other, but we really like it here.

As you pull into the entrance of the park the drive is lined with flowers, (most of which are not really blooming yet.

Behind the house there's a large parking area where you park to register. We're in site #1 right at the end of the parking area.

The office

Looking from the office out into the park.

The reason that Jim chose site#1 is that we've got a great view of the road where a lot of Amish buggies pass by pulled by their beautiful horses. Even if you're not looking, you can hear the clip-clop, clip clop of the horses as they pass by.:-)

Every day since we've arrived, (except Sunday, Everything is closes in "Amish Country" on Sundays), Jim and Linda have gone somewhere to shop, eat, or just enjoy the countryside. Linda's found a lot of neat items to give or make for Christmas presents, They've also found some great places to eat out and more places to buy food that is now filling Nora's cabinets, refrigerator and freezer. Many of the things you can buy in this area are hand made by the local people or home grown on the many farms in the area.

Some of the prices are kind of high, but the quality of the products are high too.  Of course you have to beware, as some of the merchandise is imported from, (you know where), and the quality is not as good, but a little careful shopping will pay off.

If you come to this area, be sure to pick up one of the "Visitor Information Guides" that are available almost anywhere in the area. There's a ton of info in the guides to help you find just what you're looking for.

Oh, and just a couple more things. Many of the Amish people do not want you to take their photos, (especially of their faces), so pleas honor their wishes. Also be careful of the Amish buggies that share the road. They're moving at a slow pace and you come up on them very fast.

Did you know that over 165,000 Old Order Amish live in the United States and another 1,500 live in Canada?

Woof!!!

Mike and Dillon Visit and A Lily For Linda

Moncure, NC.

66 deg. mostly cloudy, no wind.

Forecast = A mix of clouds and sun. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 92F. Winds WSW at 10 to 15 mph.

I was a little worried Sunday morning as the weather guessers were forecasting a 100% chance of rain for the day and I knew that Mike and some of his family were coming out here to the CG for the afternoon.

But, as I've said before, "Worrying works. 90% of what I worry about, never happens!!!", and the afternoon turned out to be beautiful with only a few small showers passing through.  ;-) And, being that Jim had the awning out and chairs set up under it, everyone managed to stay dry while enjoying the temperatures in the middle 70's with a little breeze blowing.

Gina, Brenna and Savanna didn't come, (they went to Gina's mom's house for Mother''s day), but Mike and Dillon came out here for about 3 hours during the afternoon.

Dillon is 7 years old now and he's at that age when boys seem to just grow like weeds. :-) I think he grows at least 6 inches in between each of our visits!!!

I think he's going to be tall, just like his dad and grandfather who are both around the 6'4" mark.

Mike and Dillon also brought Linda this beautiful potted plant for Mother's Day.

It's called a Calla Lily and Linda was thrilled that they gave it to her!!

Not a whole lot happened around here yesterday. It got up to 88 degrees here at the CG and the humidity was right up there too. Today, the weather guessers are forecasting the first 90 degree day for this year, but there's supposed to be a cold front coming through in the afternoon which will cool things down.

I sure hope that cold front doesn't bring any severe storms along with it.

Then, the plan is to go over to Mike and Gina's for dinner and to visit for awhile this evening. Jim and Linda won't stay too long though, because the "kids" start getting ready for bed at about 7:30 or so.

Did you know that May is "National Hamburger Month"?

Woof!!!

Christmas With Family and Presents

DeBary, FL.

64 deg. overcast, no wind.
Forecast = Partly cloudy. High 81F. Winds NE at 5 to 10 mph.

I hope all of you had a very Merry Christmas!!! Nothing much happened during the day here, but in the evening, Laura, Lindsey, Ashley, Chris, (Ashley's friend), and Anna came over to open presents and spend time with us. They had a large meal earlier in the day over at Marv and Inez's house so Linda just put together a table full of finger food to nosh on. ;-)

Laura and Lindsey brought lots of presents. Some of them were from Joe, Nancy and family that had been shipped to their house. Jim and Linda received lots of good stuff and I think everyone enjoyed their gifts.

I know Jim and Linda did and they really enjoyed having everyone over here for the evening. :-)

I won't even try to remember what everyone received,  I'd just forget half of them anyway. ;-)

A few days before Christmas a package arrived at our doorstep. In it were the gifts that Jim and Linda were exchanging, so they went ahead and opened it cause they knew what was in it.

Linda had asked for a nice accurate scale, so Jim ordered this one from Amazon. It has good reviews and most importantly, is reported to be very accurate. It has an extra large surface so it's easy to stand on and still see the weight. Jim stood on it just before he snapped this photo, so you can see the large read-out better.

It's also very thin so it's easy to step up onto it.

So, what did Jim ask for? Well, his knees aren't what they used to be, so he asked for this tailgate ladder that he had read about. (As you can see, he has installed it already). ;-)

It fastens to the tailgate with screws. and then when you install the ladder with the 2 clips it folds down so it's easier to get up into the bed of the truck. For storage, you can either remove the 2 clips and store the ladder in the bed or,

fold it against the tailgate and fasten it with the included strap.

Jim has used the ladder a couple times already and says that it's a lot easier to get up into the bed of the truck than trying to crawl up on the tailgate.

Of course Linda has been using her scale every day. She lost a lot of weight while she was getting the chemo and radiation treatments and wants to be sure to keep if off and lose more if possible.

Yesterday, Big RED took Jim and Linda over to Walgreen's where they purchased some 50% off Christmas decorations and present wrapping supplies. They weren't about to go over to the mall or one of the big box stores where all the people were shopping for after Christmas deals and returning gifts, but Walgreen's wasn't bad at all.

Not much planned for the next few days and nothing planned for New Years Eve. Jim says that there's too many "crazies" out there so they usually just stay home and watch the ball drop on RV :-)

Did you know that in ancient Rome the new year began on March 1?

Woof!!!

Another Doctor Appointment, Decorations Up and Presents On Their Way.

DeBary, FL.

41 deg. clear, NW wind @ 4 mph.
Forecast = Sunny. High 68F. Winds NNW at 5 to 10 mph.

Yesterday, Linda had an appointment with the Surgeon who preformed the cancer surgery on her back in 2013. It was just a follow-up visit, but it was still nice to hear that, after an examination, everything appears to be fine. ;-)  The appointment was at 10:00, and by the time Linda had filled out another bunch of papers and the doctor had done his thing, it was after 11:00 by the time she and Jim  got out of there.

Since it was lunchtime by the time Big RED got them back to this area, they stopped at Bob Evans and had breakfast for lunch.

Nothing much else happened yesterday.  Linda was finally able to get back to working on her "Family Tree Maker" program. Between being sick and not being able to see well, because of the cataracts, she hadn't worked on it for over a year. It took her a little while to figure the program out again, but is now doing a lot of on-line research and getting more information to enter.

Oh, I don't think I told you. The other day, Laura stopped by and helped Jim and Linda decorate the Christmas tree. It sure looks pretty and if I can get Jim to take a photo of it, I'll post it here. Then, on  Thursday, Jim and Linda packaged up all the presents that needed to be sent to other states, took the boxes to the Post Office and got them sent off!!! That's always a big relief to get them on their way and not have to worry about family getting their presents on time. :-)

Today, Linda wants to head over to LabCorp and get a blood test. The results will be sent to Linda's doctor, back in Illinois. Then, if they still feel like it, she and Jim want to go to Winn Dixie to buy some groceries.

Sounds like a busy day to me.

Did you know that  US scientists have calculated that Santa would have to visit 822 homes a second to deliver all the world's presents on Christmas Eve, travelling at 650 miles a second?

Talk about "Speedy Delivery"!!!!!!!

Woof!!!

Another Fine Meal and Christmas Shopping?

Rantoul, IL

58 deg. clear, NE wind @ 3 mph.
Forecast =  Mostly sunny. Highs around 82°F. Light wind.

Friday evening, Jim and Linda were again invited to a meal over at Paul and Louise's site. Louise was having steak sandwiches and some of their friends here in the park were bringing other dishes. So, Linda put together a fruit salad and about 5:30, they headed over there. ;-)

The first thing on the agenda was to light the campfire,

so that everyone could gather around to talk and enjoy the beverage of their choice. ;-)

While Louise was getting the table with all the food that people had brought set up,

Paul was relaxing and enjoying a drink while talking to the folks who had already arrived.

Larry, cooked the steaks and then he and Louise put them on "French" style bread. The rest of the meal consisted of a potato dish, corn, deviled eggs, and Linda's fruit salad. Oh, and I almost forgot, Chocolate Pie!!! :-)

Both Jim and Linda said that everything was delicious and it was great visiting with everyone.

Thanks again, Paul and Louise!!!!

Yesterday, Big RED took Jim and Linda down to Champaign to go Christmas shopping!!! Yep, you read that right!!! Christmas shopping!!!

Linda had been wanting to go and get a head start on shopping for the holiday, but it just hadn't worked out before now. So, yesterday they bought a whole bunch of stuff, and in fact, probably about 75% of the gifts that they'll buy this year have been purchased.

Now, that's a good head start!!!! ;-)

Awhile back, Louise had given Jim and Linda a 1/2 rack of ribs that had been cooked and frozen. Well, yesterday evening, (after thawing them), Linda wrapped them in foil and put them in the oven for about an hour. Wow!!! Did they ever smell good!!! And, by what Jim and Linda said, as they were eating them for dinner, they were just as good as they smelled!! :-)

Those ribs along with a vegetable and some of Linda's fruit salad, made a very tasty meal indeed!!!

Another big Thanks, Louise!! :-)

No big plans for today. Jim has already started checking things on Nora in anticipation for our upcoming departure on the 6th. Linda has a list of things to buy at Walgreen's, so they may do that today.

I guess I'll just have to wait and see what happens. ;-)

Did you know that  approximately 37.2% of Americans begin holiday shopping by Halloween?

Woof!!!

Dr. Visits and An Anniversary

DeBary. Fl.

54 deg. clear, no wind.
Forecast = Mostly sunny. High 79F. Winds ENE at 5 to 10 mph.

Been awhile since I've posted so I thought I'd catch you up on what's been happening around here.

Linda is doing fine. The radiation therapy seems to be going well. She's still having dizzy spells and fatigue from the chemo though, and even after a visit to the chemo doctor on Thursday, it seems like she'll just have to wait for the symptoms to go away. Of course in about 10 weeks or so, she'll be having more chemo treatments, so one has to wonder if they'll be gone for very long, if at all, until she's completely done with all of the treatments. :-(

The radiation treatments only last about 20 minutes or so, and being that they are great over there at getting you in right on your appointment time, it only takes about an hour out of the day to go over there, get the treatment and return back here to the house. :-)

So, one week is behind her, only 7 more to go!!!

Yesterday was Jim and Linda's wedding anniversary. It's hard to believe that they've been married 29 years already. Both were saying that it sure didn't seem that long. When Linda got up yesterday, she found this vase sitting on the table. ;-)

Jim had purchased it on Thursday when he went shopping. He had seen it for sale at the Lotus Garden  Chinese Restaurant that he went to when they ordered Chinese for dinner earlier in the week.

Linda seemed to really like it and now it's sitting on the china cabinet where she has her blue dishes.

The plan was to go out for diner yesterday, but Jim wasn't feeling real well, so they stayed home instead.

Maybe they'll go out today. :-)

Don't think that there are any big plans for the next few days. Just normal living, with time out each day for those radiation treatments.

A Point to Ponder : People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.

Woof!!!