Where did Summer go?

I can't believe it has been 3 months or more since I have been on here. I really don't know where the time goes but it just goes!!

We have been busy with the family & friends most of the summer.

We visited the Kansas City Chief's Training Camp this year in August. They have moved it to St. Joseph, MO., which is only about 35 miles North of KC. So that makes it real handy to visit. It was fun to go there and see them work out and practice. So far this year the Chiefs are doing so much better than the last few years, so there is always hope for them!

Jack and I have gotten back into square dancing the last couple of years while we were in Florida, so when we came home for the summer, we decided to take some more lessons which has been fun. We have been to a few dances over the last couple months but most clubs do not dance much in the summer. We plan to attend a few dances this fall/winter before we leave for Arizona. We have already checked out the parks in AZ to see where the dances will be held. We need to get some of our friends to take lessons this year.

The last week of August we went to Branson with our friends, DeAnn an Bruce. Had a great time. While we were there, our friends we met in AZ three years ago, Don and LaVon, were there also. Had a good visit with them.

Over Labor Day weekend, we camped at a local lake - Smithville for four days. We took our 3 year old grandson, Bronson, with us for the first time. He did great. We only had him for a day and night, but he enjoyed it and wanted to know when would be the next time he could go. Hopefully we can get him out one more time this year.

On September 25, Jack and I attended my 45th high school reunion. We hadn't been to one for about 15 years so it was fun. Boy, how people change!! Of course, I haven't changed just them - LOL. I have about 6 girlfriends that I have kept in touch with over the years and most of them came to it so that was the best of times.

Zack, our 15 year old grandson, is playing JV football this year. So we have been busy attending his games. We went last night, he made a touchdown and had some really good plays. It is so much fun to attend these games. Both of our sons played football so it sure brings back the memories from their games.

The weather has been just beautiful here in the Midwest. Fall is definitely my favorite time of the year. The mornings have been cool but it warms up to the high 60s and low 70s by afternoon. Just perfect!! We have made our reservations for the winter in Arizona this year. We are going to be in Mesa at a RV park called Val Vista. We understand that there is going to be a number of people we know going to be there also so that will be fun. Looking forward to seeing them.

Winfield Country Music Roundup - July 2010

Dierks Bentley in Concert:

On July 13, Jack and I took a trip to Winfield, Kansas, to the Country Music Roundup. This was our second year to go to it and we had a great time. This roundup runs through the week.

We had three other couples go with us and we all camped at the fairgrounds at Winfield. The weather was a little on the hot side but we found ways to keep cool. Mary and Doug; Bruce and DeAnn; and Bill and Donna were the other couples. We made a U-shape with our RVs and had a courtyard in the middle of the RVs. This worked out great as Mary and Doug brought a canopy type tent so with the awnings and this we had a lot of shade. Had two big fans that ran most of the time!! We had good food, including homemade ice cream. Can't ask for more than this.....

The music concerts were at night so that helped out. They were in the arena with covered stands that faced the East so we were always in the shade. They had some great entertainers this year -- LoCash Cowboys; Bill Currington (People are Crazy guy); Hotel California (tribute to the Eagles); Randy Houser; Chris Cagle; Keith Anderson; and Dierks Bentley - this was just some of the bigger names. So we had a good variety of country music.

I will try to post some of our pictures.

Bill & Donna:

Mary & Doug:

Bruce & DeAnn:

The whole gang except Jack, who took the picture:

This was one great trip.

Summer-Time is Here

We are definitely in summer here in Missouri. It has been hot and humid for the last few weeks and we are still having the summer thunderstorms almost daily. There has been some flooding and if it doesn't stop soon it might become more severe (like we had in 1993) - hopefully not.


Let's see what have we been up to for the last six weeks. Busy as usual, with our normal activities.


We spend spend four days in Columbia, Missouri, helping our friends, Jeannene and Warren, celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary. We took the RV and camped in Columbia. We had a wonderful time. I helped Jeannene get ready for their party on Thursday and Friday. We got to visit with their two sons and two granddaughters. Then on Saturday the party was from 2 - 5 at one of their friends' clubhouse. Everything turned out just great and a good time was had by everyone. After the party, we all went out to eat at a country restaurant between Columbia and Jefferson City - by the Missouri River. It had wonderful home cooking! Here is the group standing on the steps outside the restaurant. Jeannene's two sisters; their sons & granddaughters; a friend; and Jack and I.




Here is a picture of them at the party:





We have been busy with our neighborhood board as we are members of it. We are in the process of changing some things so that has been taking up a lot of our time the last few months.

Our granddaughter, Emma, was in her school district's math bee. She represented the fourth grade from her school. She competed with a large number of candidates (don't know how many but I would estimate over 25 in the fourth grade level) and she came out in 4th place. She received a medal and trophy. We were so proud of her!

Jack and I celebrated our 45th wedding anniversary on June 12. Can't believe that it has been that long but time flies when having fun!! We had a wonderful dinner on June 11 at Bonefish Grill. Then on June 12 we were actually with our friends, Marlin and Dora; Frank and Linda celebrating Marlin's 60th birthday.

On June 13, we left for Branson, Missouri. We took Emma with us and camped there until Friday, June 18. We had a great time. Our youngest son, Chad and his family, were also staying in a cabin on Table Rock Lake, which is close to Branson. So we all went to Silver Dollar City one day and then another day we went to see the play, Noah the Musical. The children just loved the play. Well, the adults did too but they were so fascinated with all the animals and the special effects of the show. We forgot the camera on some of the trips but here are a few of the pictures.

Jack went fishing with Chad three mornings we were in Branson. Chad was staying at a resort on Table Rock Lake so they had a great place to fish. Two mornings they rented a fishing boat. Bronson, our three year old grandson, loves to fish too. He caught a 4 lb bass. He was the envy of his Dad and Grandpa!!

April Showers (Storms) Bring May Flowers

Can't believe we have been home for over a month. Where does all the time go.....just keeping busy with one thing or the other.

It is good to be home and catch up with our family and friends. We met our friends, Donna and Bill, for dinner the last part of April. It is always good to see them and catch up with their lives. They spend the winter in Arizona so we compared our winters, etc., and that is always fun.

My niece, Tara, had a baby girl on April 13. We are all excited about this baby girl as she already has three boys!!! So it was time for this girl. Jack, my sister and I went down to Lake of the Ozarks and stayed at the condo for four days the fourth week of April. As my niece lives in Lebanon, we got to see the new baby and Mommy. Her name is Amelya Kay and she is a doll. There is a picture on Jack's facebook page of her.

We have been catching up with our routine doctor's and dentist's appointments. So far we are healthy and cavity free ...LOL.

We started some Spring cleaning and decided to have a garage sale since the neighborhood was having one on May 1. We had a really good sale -- got rid of a bunch of stuff and made a little money to boot. Luckily, we had good weather which hasn't been easy here in the Midwest. We have had all kinds of rain and storms the last three weeks. So far we haven't had any tornadoes here in KC this year. Sorry to hear about the ones in Oklahoma as we have friends with relatives there - hopefully all is well with them.

I had a wonderful Mother's Day weekend. We started on Friday night having dinner with our youngest son, Chad and his family; and then on Sunday morning we had brunch with our oldest son, Craig and his family. Then we went to church (our granddaughter Emma) spend the day with us so I couldn't have had a better Mother's Day. Thanks to my family.

The sun is finally out today but it is cool - 59 degrees. Where has the nice warm May days gone?? I'm ready to be able to sit out and enjoy the weather. Hopefully it will be here soon!!

Traveling Home - Part 3

Here is some of the beautiful old houses in Charleston. (above)

Here is one of the residents of Charleston making Sweet Grass baskets. (below)


This was our view when we camped at Asheville, NC. It was beautiful through this area.


This was our view when we camped in St. Louis. We were across the Mississippi River from the Arch. Beautiful view.

Home Sweet Home - Part 2

(Above) The trees were all blooming at Savannah.


This house was featured in one of the famous movies filmed in Savannah.


This is inside of Paula Deen's restaurant. We were there on a Sunday and they have buffet that day. All the food was delicious!!

This is outside of the restaurant - you have to stand in line to get a time for a reservation. We lucked out that it wasn't near as busy on Sunday so we only had to wait about 30 minutes to get our lunch time.




Here is Jack on the stairs that were built back about 275 year ago. (Savannah)

Home Sweet Home - Part 1

We left Florida on Friday, March 26, and headed home via the Carolinas/Tennessee. We got back to our home on Sunday, April 4.

We really enjoyed our trip home this year as we took our time and only drove about 300 miles a day at the most. We visited Daytona Beach; Savannah; Charleston; Asheville; Nashville and St. Louis.

I will probably blog in phases - so I can post some pictures.

It is so nice to get home and see all the family and friends. The weather was good for us on the way home. There was some severe weather around but we were very lucky that we didn't see any of it. The weather here has been pretty nice - had some severe weather a couple late afternoons but didn't have at our house. Our kids' houses did get some hail and wind but no damage.

Our first stop was a night at Daytona Beach. We camped at a KOA right down the street from the Speedway. It was a nice location - close to everything but the actual park was not all that good. Went to the beach and had a nice dinner. Then we got up the next morning and drove to Savannah.

At Savannah, we camped at Savannah Oaks which was a pretty nice park. It was about 10 miles from Downtown but the route to the Downtown area was all expressway so it was easy traveling. Savannah is a beautiful old town. We spent two nights and got to see a lot of the area.

Here are a few pictures:

This is the restaurant we had dinner the first night - it is down on River Street next to the Savannah River. Good and reasonable.



This is the famous "Savannah Waiving Girl" statue. The story is she waived at all the ships that came into the harbor looking for her lost lover.

Packing up and Hitting the Road

It is hard to believe that three months have already passed and we are packing up and heading back North. Oh what a winter - it has been quite different than anticipated as the weather goes but we survived and had a wonderful three months!

The last three weeks we have been busy doing all sorts of activities and going places. We visited the Ft. Meyers Flea Market; attended Florida's Strawberry Festival (which has the most wonderful strawberry shortcakes!!); another day in Ft. Meyers at the Miramar Outlets shopping. We have been very involved in square dancing this year. Some weeks we have danced up to 4 times a week. It is great exercise and it has a fellowship of great people. We have met some wonderful people thru it. Our caller, who lives here year round, had most of the new class and us "angels" (that is experienced dancers) over to their house for a picnic dinner. They live on a lake and canal and have a wonderful place to entertain.

The park had its annual fish fry - they cooked 3,000 pieces of crappie fish for the park's family. This was great.

On March 15, we met some ole friends from Arizona, Buddy and Shelley, for lunch. It was great to see them and catch up with each other.

Tomorrow, March 26, we are heading out of this park. We are heading to Daytona Beach for a night or two; then on to Savannah, GA; then to Charleston, SC; on to Asheville, NC; next to Nashville, TN and then on to Missouri. Anyway that is our list of stops so hopefully things will work out. I hope the weather cooperates at our stops and that we don't run into any severe weather at this time of year. Hope to be in KC by April 5 or 6.

For all of you that will be hitting the road soon, may you have safe traveling!

Friends, Festivals, and Fun

Jack took this picture of these birds over by Lake Okeechobee. We are told they are Florida storks. My niece is having a baby in April so I'm going to tell her I saw the bird that is delivering her baby - LOL.





We have been busy with all different things here in Florida. We have attended two different Arts and Crafts Festivals. One of them was right here in Lake Placid. It really surprises you when you attend this one. The town is small but they have a really pretty large festival with some really neat vendors. Then there was another one in the town North of here, Sebring. Both days for these festivals, the weather was pretty nice (for a change). The weather this year here in Florida has really been crazy - cool most of the time.

We had some friends from KC come over and spend the day with us. Mary and Doug came over on the 17th and we had a great time. We started off with breakfast here and then we took them to the Myakka State Park. This park is a nice park with some big alligators. Drove around and look at the different sites, etc. Saw some wild boars too. It was a nice day. After finishing the park, we stopped at a little restaurant in Myakka City - Suzy Q's. It was great to see Mary and Doug. They are heading back to KC area, on March 18.


Here are Mary & Doug:

Our friends, Don and Linda, came up from LaBelle, on February 18, had a good visit. We went out to eat at a new restaurant in Sebring - Cowboys. It was good. Then we came back to the trailer and played "Wizard" card game. Had a great time with them. Then last Saturday, we went down to LaBelle, and visited with them. Their park was having a hamburger cook-out. Then we played cards after that. Don and Linda were leaving the next day to head back to Alabama. Don got a call to return to work for 4 - 6 weeks.

We have been square dancing at least twice a week. We have met some great people through our square dancing and got good exercise doing it. This year the square dancing is at another park about 2 miles from here. We have assisted with lessons this year plus going to regular dances too. It's fun....

We have decided that we will leave this park on March 26 and start heading back towards KC. We are going to take our time going home this year. We are going to make some stops at Daytona Beach; Savannah, GA; Charleston, SC; and a few other ones. So we should probably be back to KC the first part of April. Have to be there on April 8 to have the taxes figured.

Next week, we are going to the Florida Strawberry Festival. This festival is at Plant City which is about 70 miles North of here. It is like a big state fair. It runs from today through March 14. But the best thing is they have the biggest, best strawberry shortcake ever!! We missed it last year so we wanted to make sure we got there this year. Will let you know how it is.

We have had a good time this year in Florida but it has been different than we had last year so we haven't decided where we are going next year.

Hot-Hot-Hot in the Cayman Islands

This is the cruise ship we were on - Celebrity Century.




The beautiful waters at Cayman Islands.


Key West Lighthouse.



Key West's beautiful flowers.





Cayman's Seven Mile Beach.


Cayman's Seven Mile Beach.

Jack and I left on Monday, February 1, for Miami to get on our cruise ship. We drove down to Miami in a monsoon rain storm. It rained so hard we could hardly see to drive on the Interstate. But once we got on the ship and left Miami, we had great weather.

The first stop was at Key West. The weather forecast was rain, but thank goodness we had a sunny warm day. We took the sightseeing train that took us all around the city with a couple stops. This is a good way to see all the highlights and save you a little walking. Last year when we were there, we walked most of it and it is much longer than you think. Did some shopping and looking around Duvall Street.

The next day we were at sea - to lay around the pool and do the activities on board the ship. At dinner, we had three couples at our table. It is a small world, as one of the couples at our table was from Popular Bluff, Missouri. But all the couples were very nice and we enjoyed eating and visiting with them each night.

Then on Thursday, we were at the Cayman Islands. This is a beautiful place. It has a Seven-Mile Beach that is luscious. We have been here before a few times so we didn't sign up for any excursions. We went to shore and walked around shopping and looking - then we hired a taxi to take us to Seven-Mile Beach to enjoy the sunshine and water. The water here is a beautiful turquoise color.

On Friday, we were at sea again. We decided we would play a little Bingo to pass the time. Well, would you believe that Jack won two pots!!! Yippee..... That was fun and help pay for our shopping. We have played a number of times but this is the first time we have won.

Then on Saturday we were back to Miami. As you know, the Super Bowl was played in Miami this year. Well, to say the least, there was traffic on the roads that day. We got caught up in traffic from an accident and it took us about 1- 1/2 hours to go about 3 miles. We were glad to get out of there after that. But overall we had a great time on the cruise!!

Last night we went to the park's soup supper. Had some wonderful soup and then stayed and played bingo - but we didn't win this time but our next-door neighbor (who was sitting at our table) won the big jackpot.

Manatee Park - Ft. Myers

This is a picture of a manatee. You have to look hard to see the shadow of it - it is about 8 feet long. The day we were there we saw ones from 4 foot (baby) to 15 foot long. They sure are interesting animals to watch.



This looks like Jack has a bird setting on his head!! It really is part of the mural behind us.





Linda and I with our new friend.....This was a great park to visit. We recommend it to everyone to see.

Lipizzan Stallions

Here are some of the pictures that Jack took while we were at Hermann's Royal Lipizzan Stallions. They are beautiful horses!

Fun in Florida

Since the weather has improved here we have really been enjoying the outdoors. Jack has been cleaning on the fifth wheel. He usually just works on it a little each day so it not too much of a chore at once. He got the roof all cleaned and then started on the sides. It is looking real nice. The neighbors are giving a hard time about making them feel guilty about cleaning theirs.

A week ago Thursday, we went to LaBelle to visit our friends, Don and Linda. We had lunch at a good bar-a-que place and then drove over towards Ft. Myers to see the manatees. There is a power plant next to a river - so the power plant discharges warm water and the manatees come to the warm water. The day we were there - there were about 25 - 30 manatees in this small area. It was very interesting to see them - there were babies as well as very large ones. Hoping to post some pictures.

We got back into our square dancing last week. It was fun to get back to this and see the people we danced with last year. They are having it at another RV park just down the road. We have also been walking and riding our bikes.

Last Saturday night, we went to the famous Spaghetti Dinner here in the park. It was delicious. There is a small group here in the park that cook everything - homemade sauce, etc. We had around 300 people attend it and each person got 4 meatballs so this is not a small project but they pulled it off wonderfully.

Last Saturday, we went over to Myakka City to see the Herrmann's Lipizzan Stallions. This is their winter training area. These are beautiful horses and they perform really great. The show was about hour and half long. They had a good crowd. This group comes into Kansas City but we had never been able to go to them so were glad that we made it over to see them. Hope to get some pictures posted later.

Next week Jack and I are going on a cruise out of Miami. We leave on Monday and get back next Saturday. We are going to the Caribbean with stops at Key West and Cayman Islands. Since we are so close to Miami it is crazy not to take advantage of driving to get on a ship. Brandy will be taking her vacation at the "Dog Haus" which is a pet resort here in Lake Placid.

Friday is my birthday and we are going to celebrate it by going to the outlets in Bradenton. As most people know me - that is my way of celebrating "shopping"!! DeAnn sure knows this!! Wish you were here to go with me. Next year, maybe we will be together to celebrate.

Sunshine and Warm in Florida

The warm and sunshine is back in Florida!! Yes, thank goodness it is back in the 70s and sunny again. Since Tuesday we have had wonderful Florida weather like it should be here. Hopefully, the cold weather is gone for good.

We have been out and about checking the area over. We have gone into Sebring a couple times to Walmart and to the computer store. Did some shopping there too.

On Friday, Jack and I went into Tampa to the Florida RV Show (Wendy thought about you guys). Last year Wendy and Rick went with us to this. This show is very large - over 1200 models and lots of vendors, etc. We walked our legs off and saw a lot of new things. One of the models we went through was the new Montana model for 2010 and it had five slides with a loft living area. This was a different layout than most fifth wheels but looked like it would be nice. Jack and I was surprised about how many of the models had SOLD signs on them. So I guess people are still buying their RVs.

Friday night the park had some entertainment. It was a Elvis impersonator and a comedian. They were both very good. We remembered them from last year. They have been performing for a number of years in Nashville and Pigeon Forge.

We have been watching the football playoff games this weekend. Looks like Minnesota is going to be playing the Saints next weekend. I was rooting for Brett (the old man) to make it.

Brrrrr......in Florida

Florida had snow in the panhandle yesterday. Thank goodness where we are located which is in the southern part it didn't do anything like that but it has been cooler than normal by 15 - 20 degrees. The poor farmers (strawberries mainly) have had a terrible week trying to keep their berries warm. We have had a couple of nice days with high 60s/low 70s with sunshine but it has been cloudy and cool most of the week. The forecast for next week is showing a big improvement so hopefully once we get through this week it will turn around.

We have been talking with our kids and KC is really getting hit with the winter weather. They have already had 20 inches of snow and the temps have been very low (-5) and the side roads are terrible. Our grandchildren have been out of school since December 22. If they don't get back before long, they will be going to school through June which they won't like. But the forecast for next week is better - suppose to warm above freezing for a few days which will be nice. It hasn't been above since before Christmas. So Florida weather is great!!

We haven't had the best start to our stay in Florida. I had an attack of diverticulitis (colon infection) and ended up in the ER for 8 hours on the night of New Year's Day. What a way to start the year!! Don't recommend that for anyone. But I got all checked out and got medicine and am feeling better by now. So I haven't done much this week. Hoping to get back to our activities, etc., next week.

Our friends that we met here last year, Don and Linda, called us on Wednesday and said they were coming by to visit. It was great to see them. We went out to eat with them and our other friends, Dave and Becky. It was great to catch up with them.

Arrived in Florida!

We left KC on Monday, December 28, with 11 inches of snow and drifts up to our mailbox, and got to Florida, on Wednesday, December 30. We had good weather all the way down - it was three hard days of driving but we made it without any problems. Glad to be here. It was 77 degrees and sunny when we arrived; yesterday it was 78 degrees and sunny. Today it is partly cloudy with some rain but the temp is around 62 so that is good compared to back home which is about 10 degrees today.

Yesterday Jack got the trailer all set up with everything and I worked inside to get things organized. By the time we finished, we were pooped out. So we didn't celebrate too much last night. Just enjoyed the weather and met new people.

I'll blog later when I get caught up with other things.