Bill and Nancy: 2013

Christmas Fun!!! - Thursday - December 26, 2013

Our Christmas Celebration began on Saturday, December 21st with a party at Mark and Rhonda’s house. They are our DIL’s parents and live here at the beach also!!! They have this party every year and it is absolutely wonderful. Their home is beautifully decorated and the food is the BEST!!!

My mother joined us and I love this photo of our son, Brian and Mom!!!

On Sunday, the 22nd,

we had brunch with Mom and got our car packed for an early departure.

On Monday, the 23rd,

we headed to Raleigh to continue our Christmas Celebration!!

When we arrived at Julie’s, everything was ready…

the stockings were hung and the presents were wrapped:o))

Of course, there was the pre-dinner game of Dancing Fan Tan;o))

Yep, if you can’t play a card…

You have to DANCE!!!

Next came our Holiday Dinner and it was wonderful!!

After dinner,

we managed to get the Annual Family Photo.

The grandchildren are all getting so big…

This photo is a bit misleading…

Andrew is now TALLER than Grandpop

and

Daniel is TALLER than Great Grandmom ;o))

Next, the kids were each allowed to open one present.

Andrew got a crazy roller coaster kit.

Andrew showed Uncle Brian how to assemble it;o))

One more game of cards before bedtime….

Tuesday, December 24th was going to be our Christmas Day!!

The grandchildren were up bright and early.

They were a bit excited!!

While they waited for the rest of the adults to arrive,

they got to open their stocking stuff:o))

Finally… it was time to open presents!!!!!

There were lots of HAPPY kiddos!!!

It was a wonderful Christmas…

we always have so much fun when we all get together:o))

The grandchildren are always saying,

“You don’t have to be weird to be in our family…but it helps!”

I just can’t imagine what they mean????

But....,

we ALL hope you had a Merry Christmas

and

your New Year is a Happy & Healthy one!!!!

It's COLD!! -- Friday - December 13, 2013

OK, I am hoping that our 30 degree morning here at Huntington Beach is just a

"Friday the 13th phenomenon!!!"

We are halfway through our month long stay and still waiting for it to warm up;o((

We have walked the beach

and

it is still beautiful

even though we are dressed like we were getting ready to go skiing;o(

Most of the birds have headed to warmer places,

but we did see

Black Skimmers

and

Our Pelicans;o))

We spent four days in Raleigh, NC visiting our daughters crew!!

They are sure in the holiday spirit!!

They were quite busy decorating and preparing for Christmas:o))

We will be heading back that way with my mother on the 23rd!!

Most of our time here has been spent helping Mom with some errands and appointments.

We also needed to do a bit of Christmas Shopping ourselves:o)

Bill is getting a bit antsy...

It's been too cold to be washing and polishing Baby;o))

He even took my camera and snapped the following photo of a very gaudy motorhome!!

Yep, it is maroon and gold with a purple door and window awnings!!!

It's time to move on before....

Baby gets a new look :o(((

Summer Travels - The Month of August 2013 - Updated 12/3/2013

Below you will find a list of the posts from our travels from Maine to Murrells Inlet, SC.

We spent the month of July near Acadia National Park in Maine.

During the month of August we traveled in New York, Ohio and Virginia.

As I get a post finished I will list it below.

Click on the title to go to the post.

Travel Day to Salisbury, MA – Thursday – August 1, 2013

Crossing Massachusetts to Glenville, NY – Friday – August 2, 2013

Mohawk-Hudson (Erie Canal) Bike Trail – Saturday – August 3, 2013

Travel Day to Sampson SP, Romulus, NY – Sunday – August 4, 2013

A Hike Through Watkins Glen – Monday – August 5, 2013

Hiking at Taughannock Falls State Park – Tuesday – August 6, 2013

Corning Museum of Glass – Wednesday – August 7, 2013

Bike Ride at Sampson State Park – Thursday – August 8, 2013

Travels to South Carolina – Saturday, November 23 to Tuesday, November 26, 2013

Well, our time in the Keys had to come to end;o( We had the best time… 2 weeks with good friends at Curry Hammock SP followed by 2 weeks at Bahia Honda SP, site 24 on the water!!

We were suppose to leave Bahia Honda on Sunday, the 24th. However, there was some nasty weather coming in so we decided to head out on Saturday and take an extra day to travel to South Carolina.

Saturday, we left Bahia Honda SP and headed north on Rt. 1 through the Keys.

01 - Leaving Bahia Honda SP heading north on Route 1

Occasionally, we drove through some rain.

By the time we reached Homestead, the sun was out.

That was perfect for our side trip to our favorite Produce Stand!!

Robert Is Here

We loaded up with lots of great citrus, tomatoes, corn, kale, avocados

and

even got our photo taken with Robert;o))

03b - Homestead sidetrip to Robert Is Here Farmstand

We continued north on Route 27 toward the Southern end of Lake Okeechobee.

We had made a reservation at a country park called South Bay RV Park in Belle Glade, FL.

We got a nice site, but more importantly, they had a laundry!!

We managed to get our two weeks worth of laundry done…Yea:o))

On Sunday, we only had a short drive… just over an hour.

We were headed back to St. Lucie South COE Park in Stuart, Florida.

We arrived before lunchtime and were on site 7 right next to Gail and Rick.

03b - Our Site is along the Okeechobee Canal

After grabbing a quick lunch, we headed out to the grocery store. We wanted to stock up so we didn’t have to shop later in the week near Thanksgiving. Well…we weren’t the only ones with that idea…the stores were jammed;o((

When we finally got back and unloaded the groceries, the skies opened up. There would be no sitting outside today, so Gail and Rick came over and we enjoy a couple hours of talk and laughs. Wish it could have been longer, but we will be catching up again this winter.

Monday would be our longest travel day. We had 300 miles from St. Lucie South to Walkabout Campground in Woodbine, Georgia. It was all I-95, not our favorite, but that’s the easiest route. When we left St. Lucie South, the temperature was 73 degrees at 7am.

01 - Temperature when we left St. Lucie South

All that changed by the time we reached Georgia.

03 - 58 degrees when we reached Walkabout at noon

When we arrived at Walkabout in the early afternoon the temperature was down to 58 degrees!!

We’re missing the Florida Keys a whole lot already;o((

I decided to make a big pot of Potato Chowder for dinner. Just before dinnertime, Sherry and David arrived for a 5 night stay at Walkabout. We invited them for dinner and spent a few hours catching up. I totally forgot to take a photo, but we’ll see them again this winter also.

This morning, Tuesday, we expected to get up to heavy rain and were prepared to drive our final leg of the trip to Buck Hall in the rain. However, when I got up (really early) it wasn’t raining. I checked the weather map and saw we might have a window of opportunity to avoid driving in the rain if we got on the road NOW!! So Bill got up and we hit the road by 6:45am. Turned out to be a great idea. No rain until we backed into Site 12 at Buck Hall Rec Area in McClellanville, SC.

It is suppose to rain through the night and most of tomorrow. Don’t think we’ll be down by the Intercoastal Waterway watching the Yachts go by tomorrow;o(( Oh well, we have no where to go until Thursday’s Thanksgiving Dinner with Mom!!

Bill and I wish everyone...

A Very Happy Thanksgiving!!

A Couple ‘MORE’ Weeks In Paradise ;o) – Sunday – November 24, 2013

After spending a great 2 weeks with friends at Curry Hammock State Park near Marathon in the Florida Keys, Bill and I were lucky to get another 2 week reservation a little further south at Bahia Honda State Park near Big Pine Key!!! Getting a reservation at any of the State Parks in the Keys is almost impossible, but to get one – on the water – at Bahia Honda is just sheer luck!!!