Green2GoRV - Our Travel Journal

Enjoying Intercourse (Pennsylvania, that is)

Friday, July 30, 2010

From Beacon Hill RV Park, Intercourse, Pa

We made the trip from Falling Waters, Va to Intercourse, Pa without incident.  Lots of construction on I-83, but didn't really slow us down too much.  We arrived about 12:30, got checked in, and headed to our site.

Now this park is really convenient to downtown, but its located on the side of a hill, is really tight, and is very difficult to maneuver a 'big rig'. 

Right across the road from the park is an Amish Farm raising corn, alfalfa, and tobacco.  They are harvesting the tobacco and one of the tobacco wagons and teams were waiting to be unloaded and placed in the drying barn.

First on the agenda was a trip to the Farmers Market in Bird In Hand, Pa.  Yes, that's the name of the town, just a few miles from Intercourse.

We then headed to 'Kitchen Village', a really nice retail development right in downtown Intercourse.

A view of part of the area.

We visited several stores and Donna bought some Jellies and Jam, and a couple of paintings in one of the art shops.

We then did a little driving around the countryside.  This area is really beautiful with all the crops growing and awaiting harvest.

 

 

 
 
A typical Amish homestead.

We stopped at one homestead where they had a little store selling all sorts of Amish goods.  I was able to inspect close up one of the Amish buggies.

 

I was a little surprised as to just how fancy the inside was with controls for the lights, a digital clock and thermometer, as well as a glove box and  a brake pedal.

The upholstery was especially fancy.  It could be that this buggy is actually the 'Sunday' buggy.

 

These folks obviously have a baby that travels with them on their errands.

I suppose we will do some more driving around tomorrow and maybe check out a few shops and markets.

Moving On

July 27, 28, & 29, 2010

Tuesday, Wednesday, & Thursday

From Falling Waters RV, Falling Rivers, WV

Tuesday was pretty much a do-nothing day.  We just hung around the coach, did a little cleaning bugs off the front of the motorhome, and just sitting around outside a good part of the day.

Wednesday was a travel day of about 325 miles.  Since we left a little before 8 am we were at our destination about 2pm or so.  With plenty time left in the day to do a little exploring, we drove about 20 minutes or so to the Antietam Battlefield.

Our first stop was the Visitor's Center.

The Battle of Antietam on September 17, 1862 was one of the biggest battles of the Civil War.  With over 100,000 soldiers on the battlefield, about 23,000 were killed, wounded or missing.

At various places throughout the park were the monument shown above, marking the location of where a general was killed.

Several farms were located in the middle of the battle, although none of the occupants were killed or injured.  One of the homes was destroyed by the Confederates to prevent Union sharpshooters from using the house.

The Otto farm house was spared.

 

The final phase of the battle was waged around the Burnside Bridge, named after the Union General Ambrose E. Burnside.

On Thursday, after breakfast at Cracker Barrel in Martinsburg we drove on down to visit theNational Historical Park at Harpers Ferry. 

One of the old building in Harper's Ferry.

Harper's Ferry was also the site of a Civil War Battle.

It is also one of the areas that the C & O Canal (Cumberland and Ohio) passed through on it way to Washington, DC.  Conceived by George Washington, the C & O was primarily used to ship coal from the mines of West Virginia.

We visited a Visitor's Center with some displays, depicting how the boats went through the locks.

Below is one of the viaducts that was built for the canal to cross above a creek flowing into the Potomac.

As can be seen one wall of the viaduct is missing.  In 1920 one of the captains hit the wall causing it to collapse into the creek and carrying the boat with it.  Before going over the side, he yelled at the mule driver pulling the barge to cut the line to prevent the mules and mule skinner from getting dragged over also.

The wall was rebuilt with wood and the viaduct was back in use.  However, the wall was washed away by the Flood of 1924, which also resulted in the demise of the canal.

Later, we made a quick trip to the Wal-Mart Super Center for a few items, then just sat around the campground.

 

 

 

Ohio Amish

Sunday, July 25, 2010

Monday, July 26, 2010

From Evergreen RV Resort, Mt. Eaton, OH

After the rain all night Saturday night, it was still drizzling Sunday morning.  But, not to be discouraged from getting out we loaded up and headed for the back roads of the various communities in this area.

We knew none of the businesses or shops would be open today, or even restaurants for that matter.  And the Amish would not be working their fields, tending their gardens, or doing any chores, other that feeding animals.

But, we also knew they would be out and about the communities, because they would be going to their church meetings at other families in their group, or just visiting other families if it was not their weekend for church.

And, we were right.  They were out and about in all sorts of manner.

This group may have been to church or may have just been on the road together.

A lot of my pictures will be a little hazy since many were take through the windshield with a long lens in order not to offend the folks.

Some were driving enclosed buggies and some were in open buggies.

After church is the time for the teens (or the unmarried) to spend their time 'messing around', as it is referred to by the faithful.  This young couple are not married as evidenced by the lack of a beard on the young man.

Most all of the young families will have several young children with them.

Their church services are held at the various members homes.  The above photo shows such a place where the families have gathered, unhooked their buggies, place the horses in stalls, had church services, then lunch, then visiting.

A typical Amish Farm Scene.  This is absolutely beautiful country side.

More Amish countryside.

The Amish farmers grow a lot of different crops.  We think this was winter wheat.

Sickles, pulled by horses, are used to cut the wheat close to the ground, then it is bundled and stacked in the field in stacks where it is left to dry before thrashing.

They also grow a lot of corn and alfalfa for feeding the livestock.

As Monday arrived the men were back in the fields working.

This fellow was cutting the alfalfa for drying and later baling.

We also visited the famous Lehman's Hardware store in Kidron, about 8 or 10 miles from the RV Park.

The original entrance to the Lehman's store.

The store is huge, and this is but a small part.

We also stopped at few of the Amish fruit and vegetable stands on Monday and bought some fresh peaches (from S. Carolina) and some fresh sweet corn (local).

Donna is getting real good at shucking the sweet corn.

We really like this park, although it is on the expensive side.  The facilities are first class.  With all the amenities it does attract a lot of young families with kids, but so far they have all been well-behaved.

We are near the back of the park with a little extra room on one side.

The very nice covered pool area.

Some of their beautiful landscaping.

 

Travel Day and Changed Minds

Saturday, July 24, 2010

From: Evergreen RV Resort, Mt. Eaton

We left Cave City this morning headed northeast toward West Virginia, expecting to just overnight somewhere, before going on to Hagerstown, Md on Sunday.  Just like so many RVers our plans seem to be set in Jello.

After arriving at the West Virginia Welcome Center, picking up a bit of information about West Virginia, we continued on down the interstate.  A few miles before we got to Charleston, WV, we realized we weren't that far from our favorite Amish area in Berlin, OH.

We also remembered that Mark & Dortha, with their grandkids, had stayed in a really nice park in the area.

So, on the spur of the moment, we hooked a left on I-77, were in Ohio shortly, then only about 80 miles or so to Mt. Eaton.  We arrived a little after 5pm, got checked in and settled in our spot.  Being Satuday, the park was almost 100% occupied, but we lucked into a great site for the 4 days we will be here, plus we can stay an extra day if we want.

As I checked in I saw a notice of an annual Texas Holdem Tournament for tonight, and decided I just might as well play.  I expected most of the players would be from the park, but as it turned out, I was the only park resident there.  The others were all locals from the area, and a great bunch  of folks.

There were 16 signed up to play, two tables of 8, pure tournament style.  The $20 buy-in got everyone about $7,000 in chips, with the blinds starting at $25/50 and increasing every 20 minutes.  There were actually 3 ladies in the tournament, all three of which were still in the game, when I was knocked out in 7th place.

Everybody kidded me for being the only Texan with 15 Amish playing, Texas Holdem.  Of course, none of the others actually were Amish, but there was a lot of kidding.

Right at about dark a huge thunderstorm moved through, even knocked out the lights in the shop where we were playing for a minute or so.  Donna was in the coach, and she told me later, although she never lost power, things did get a little dicey for a few minutes.  But, no damage, and I guess she was not too scared.

 

 

Paducah and Mammoth

Wednesday, July 21, 2010

Our last day in the area of the Land Between Lakes, so we drove over to Paducah, about a 35 mile drive.  Our main interest was the downtown area and the 'river wall'.  Paducah downtown is right on the Ohio river and has been subject to several floods during the last century, prior to the building of the dams on the Tennessee and Cumberland rivers, which flow into the Ohio just upstream from Paducah.

A retaining wall has been constructed along the river front, with openings than can be sealed when a flood threatens.

 

A park area lies between the wall and the river

On the opposite side the wall section each have murals depicting a time in the history of Paducah.

The steamboat era.

 

The Indian era.

The flood of 1937

From the 1940's

And, downtown on the day we were there.

Although we did not count the murals, we thing there were at least 50 to 75.

After a brief stop at Wal-Mart for a couple of essentials, we were back at the coach and started getting prepared for our departure on Thursday.

 

Thursday, July 22, 2010

We left the RV park about 8:00 or so with only about 160 miles to go.  Our destination was Cave City, just outside the Mammoth Cave National Park.  Arriving just before noon, getting un-hooked and set up, we decided to drive out to the park.

We had no plans to do a tour today, but just to check availability and drive around the park.

I got my Passport stamped, and then checked on a short tour for Friday.  The one we wanted we could only buy tickets on the day of the tour.   So, with plans to go back Friday, we left the Visitor's Center and took a drive through part of the park.

The first area we drove was the Green River Ferry Road.  Not really expecting a ferry, this is what we came upon.

The Green River Ferry. 

As is obvious the ferry can only take 3 normal size vehicles at a time.  Connected by cables it is powered by a propane engine turning a single paddle wheel.  The lone operator handles everything from the wheelhouse.

While driving through one of the remote campgrounds, we spotted 5 turkey hens just wandering along.  It was difficult to get a good focus in all the trees, but here is the best one I got.

Back in Cave City we did a little exploring and came upon a really unique 'tourist court'.  At least that is what they were called when this place was probably built.

The 'tourist court' office. 

There were 15 of these "Wig-Wams' in a semi-circle around a playground.  Actually a few were occupied.  This is the kind of spot you expect to see on Route 66 in New Mexico or Arizona.  But in Kentucky??  We were real surprised.

Friday, July 23, 2010

After a great breakfast at Cracker Barrel, we drove over to a town named Glasgow, a fairly large town, but not much of interest.  After exploring a while, we stopped at the Wal-Mart Super Center for a few things, and came back to the coach for naps.

We decided we would drive back out to the Park and see if we could get tickets for the 5:30 tour that we were hoping to take.  But, the tickets were sold out, so we just decided to drive a different part of the park before returning to the coach.  So, I guess any cave exploration will just have to wait for the next time we are in the area.

We spent a while doing a few housekeeping chores such as getting the bugs off the front and hooking up the little white truck for an early departure.

No real plans for tomorrow, just head on up toward the northeast.  We don't have a place to stay, so will probably just take pot luck in W. Virginia tomorrow night.

Public Good or Land Grab

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

From Outback RV Park, Eddyville, KY

Today was our day to explore the 'Land Between Lakes".  But, our first stop was the Huddle House at the north end of 'The Trace'.  The Trace is a 40 - 50 mile road the travels north to south through the area. 

The land, over 170,000 acres, was confiscated by the government during the era when the Tennessee Valley Authority was planning and constructing the two dams on the two rivers that parallel each other.

The dams were very much needed for both flood control and electricity generation, but the land between was bascially just taken.  Prior to the construction, there were no bridges crossing the rivers, and only a few 'back roads' through the LBL.

Occupied by farmers and moonshiners, all the ferries were guarded and the moonshiners were warned when the 'revenuers' showed.  Some think that is why the government took the land.. to rid the area of the moonshiners.

Although several local groups tried to convince the government to allow the locals to keep a few areas for commercial development, the government refused, stating the area would be reserved as a natural habitat, and that no commercial development would ever be allowed.  The area would be used for education purposes only forever.

In that regard the government has failed miserably.  The Nature Center, with its very small building with a few displays, and the adjacent display of native animals was a pitiful excuse for an educational center.

The outside area was less than 1 acre, poorly maintained, with usually only one animal displayed in each exhibit.

This little poorly maintained pond is a good example of the lack of maintenance.

We then visited the Elk and Buffalo preserve.  I am not sure that Buffalo are native to the area, but many years ago there may have been Elk in the region.  We did spot the buffalo in the drive thru area, but only one cow elk.

 

The Visitor Center, located about halfway from north to south, was just barely adequate, considering the government mandate to itself.  There were a few nice displays of the local history,  The most impressive part was a planetarium, although I am not sure just how that fits in the history of the area.

The one exhibit that did seem to meet educational aspect of the area was the 1830 Farmstead.  With good examples of structures from the area, the display was quite interesting.

After exiting the park, we drove a few miles to the Fort Donelson Civil War Battleground.  As with most national parks, this one, although small, was very impressive in its presentation of the battle where a large number of confederate soldiers surrendered.

We also visited the Union Cemetery located nearby.

We had quite a drive back to the park, since we decided to take a little longer route back in order to see different scenery.

On to Land Between the Lakes

Sunday, July 19, 2010

From Outback RV Park, Eddyville, KY

We left Tom Sawyer RV Park about 7:30 this morning, going up I-55 on the Arkansas side of the Mississippi into the boot-heel of Missouri, cutting across the Mississippi on I-155, then north on the Purchase Parkway to the Land Between the Lakes. 

We are right off I-24 at exit 45, just a few miles from the two dams that created the two lakes with the land between the two referred to as the Land Between the Lakes.  When the lakes were built in the 60's all the land between the two was confiscated by the Federal Government and made into a 175,000 acre Corps of Engineer Park.  We will explore this area in a day or two.

After arriving at the park about 11:30, getting set up, and having a bite of lunch, we drove down to the Old Eddyville, that was flooded by Lake Barkley, but is also the site of the Castle, a old penitentiary built a long time ago.

 

The picture shows why it is referred to as the Castle.

Across the street from the Castle is a old home owned by the Eddyville Historical Society.  It was high enough that the lake did not claim the house, but is only about 15 feet above the water line now.

The home contained many interesting artifacts about the area before the lake was built.  The lady and her husband that conducted the tour were personally effected by the confiscation of property.  Her husband's family lost a large and very productive farm in the process.

A very rich lawyer from Louisville, but originally from Eddyville, offered all the businesses in Eddyville free property to re-locate inland about 8 miles or so.  Since the town was virtually inundated, most everyone accepted his offer.

We also drove through a little town call Kuttawa, that experienced much the same fate as Old Eddyville.  The city fathers however rejected the offer, lost much of the downtown, but the remainder of town built up the side of a hill is intact and thriving.  The lake created a nice little harbor.  There are now several new sub-division surrounding the original town.

Donna and I speculated just which of the two towns made the best decision...

Later we drove over to Patti's Settlement in Grand River.  This place is quite famous, and is a collection of buildings housing stores and restaurants.  Actually two restaurants...  Patti's and Bill's.  They were a couple that created this little settlement and it is now run by their children.

Since we had had lunch and weren't ready for a big meal, we just went into Bill's for dessert.  Donna had chocolate pie and I had lemon pie.

 

Notice just how tall the meringue on the pie is.  They claim it is 8 inches tall, and I believe it. 

Monday, July 19, 2010

Today we were out and about fairly early, headed to Marion, Ky for a visit to an Amish area.  The Amish first came to this area in the 70's and are slowly growing in population.  There are now about 800 living in the area.

While this does not compare to the larger Amish area we have been too, we did find a lot of Amish farms and businesses.  And, the buggy's were pretty prevelent also.

One of the farms we drove by raised mums for sale in season.

After stopping at a couple of stands and get a few things, we headed on a little further north to the Ohio river where a small free ferry takes you into Illinois to a state park call Cave in Rock.

 
The cave is down near water level and quite a walk to get to it, so we passed.  We were told however the a couple of scenes from 'How the West was Won' was filmed in the cave.

Headed back across the ferry we talked to three bikers on a cross country trip on their bikes. 

They left San Franscisco about 30 days ago, riding cross-country to Norfolk, Va.  Their plan called for 47 days of riding anywhere from 80 to 100 miles per day.  They also planned for a few days of no riding, in order to rest or avoid bad weather.

When headed back to the campground, we stopped at Broadbent's to check out their famous meats.

 

Of course we had to buy some bacon, sausage, and country ham.

Tomorrow we plan to drive south on the Trace to explore 'Land Between the Lakes".

Not Much Planned For Today

Saturday, July 17, 2010

From Tom Sawyer RV Park, West Memphis, AR

We kinda figured last night that today would be a kinda laid-back, don't do much, kinda day.  Just sit around the park and maybe catch up on a few housekeeping chores and watch the Tow Boats and Barges coming by.

So fairly early Donna was out on the river bank and spotted these Canadian geese.

 

Continuing to watch the river it was not long before this tow showed up.

 

Donna watching the tow pass close to the bank.

In keeping with our slow day attitude, about 10am we headed over to the Cracker Barrel for a little light breakfast.  Ok, so it didn't turn out to be so light for me.  -:)  We figured we would have to wait a hour or so with it being Saturday, but we got right in with no waiting.

So, anyway, after breakfast, we decided to visit the Pink Palace in Memphis.  

 

Clarence Saunders, Founder of Piggly Wiggly, the first self-serve grocery, began building the 36,500 square foot mansion in 1922.  A year later, he was bankrupt, a local real estate investor bought the property, and donated it to the city for use as a museum.

The museum opened in 1930, and basically  changed the house from what would have been a opulent resident, to a commercial venue.  In my opinion, the city and museum boards over the years have done a great dis-service to the home.

In 1967, a new museum was built adjacent to and connected to the mansion.  Containing over 170,00 square feet, including a planetarium, an IMAX theatre, and the Bodine Exhibit Hall.  Although, a small portion of the original mansion still contains some exhibits, it is mostly just closed off, used for storage, and to some degree in dis-repair.  The grounds were very un-kept.

There were several interesting exhibits, particularly the full scale replica of one of the first self serve Piggy Wiggly stores.  Customers basically entered on one side of the store and were funneled through the aisles with the only exit being by the check out station.

 

A few of the items on display are pictured below:

 

Campbell's Ox Tail Soup for 8 cents per can.

 

Towle's Log Cabin Syrup for 37 cents per can.
 

Various sizes of Quaker Oats and Mothers Crushed Oats for various prices.

The 'new' Post Toasties Corn Flakes for 8 cents for a large box.

After weaving through the several aisles, the customer arrived back at the check out counter, where she proceeded around the counter, paid for the merchandise, and exited the turnstile to  the left.

 

Donna is seen here checking out the scales and the cash register.

There was a lot of other exhibits which were very interesting, but I will only include the Piggly Wiggly ones here since this was the original mansion being built by Piggly Wiggly success.

Since we have both been to other planetariums and IMAX theatres, we passed on those.

Still early in the afternoon, so we decided to check out the Shelby Farm Park, a conservatory park of about 4500 acres east of Memphis.

Back to the coach, we spent the rest of the day just chilling out, while Donna did a little laundry in the FREE laundry facility.

About Tom Sawyer RV Park:

We have stayed here several times in the past, and this park has always been one of our favorites, mostly because of its uniqueness.  Right on the banks of the Mississippi with front row spaces no more that 75 feet or so from the water.

The park has free WiFi, although not always dependable, but usually ok.  There is a FREE Laundry.  The concrete spaces have 50amp service, with water and sewer.

Our prior experience has been to find the park almost full, if not totally full.  However, while we have been here this trip, no more the 20% of the spaces have been occupied.  They did experience a flood in April of this year, but the park is fully recovered with no sign of lasting affect.

 

Around Memphis

Friday, July 16, 2010

From Tom Sawyer RV Park, West Memphis, AR

After a nice little breakfast of 'almost home-made biscuits', bacon, and jelly, we set out to do a little more exploring today.  We decided to visit a little town about 20 miles east of Memphis by the name of Colliersville.  A very old town with a railroad influence from years gone by.

As we gathered up to leave we spotted this small barge tow right in front of us.

The Colliersville area is a huge bedroom community for Memphis, with numerous country club housing developments, and one of the largest fitness centers we have ever seen.  Of course there was also the many retail centers that you expect to find in such an area.  

As most of you know, Memphis is the hub of FedEx, and a large part of their office operation is located in Colliersville.

But our purpose was not to visit another Wal-Mart or Best Buy, but to see their quaint little downtown and its various shops.

 

 

The 'town square' was a very nice park with ample parking, a nice gazebo, and....
  

an old Log Cabin.

 

This quaint little building housed the BankTennessee.  Apparently there was only one employee, because the sign on the the door indicated they would re-open at 1:30.

The railroad ran right along the square, and there was a display of some old railroad cars and an old engine.

 

We stopped in a little soda fountain cafe for a snack.  I had some great apple pie and coffee while donna had pecan pie with a fountain coke, which she said she could definitely tell it was a fountain drink.

 

Back at the coach about mid-afternoon, we both took short naps, then watched a few barge tows going up and down the river.

 

This tow was pushing 15 huge barges downriver.

We then decided to travel over to Tunica, to try our hand at a little gaming.  Donna was real lucky on her last outing, but not so much this time.  I did manage to make a very small donation to the Mississippi economy.

But the real reason for visiting Harrah's was to experience the Paul Deen Buffet at the casino.  Now talk about huge, but there were at least 8 or 9 'stations' where various type of food were available.  Bubba's Oyster Bar had all sorts of seafood, including crab legs, oysters, and shrimp.  Michael's area was a big selection of BBQ, and the desserts were all in 'Jack's Corner'.  If you are not a fan of Paula Deen, Jack is her young grandson.

Since picture are prohibited in the casino, we didn't take the camera, so unfortunately, I don't have any pictures of the buffet.

Now keep in mind this buffet is NOT cheap. Our tab for two was a bit over $50, not including tip.  Was it worth $50... yes, for the experience.  Would we do it again...  no, not likely, at least not any time soon.

As we left the casino, it was raining, although not real hard.  We drove in light rain all the way back to the park, with lots of lightning off in the distance. 

Well, that's it for today.  We will see what tomorrow brings.

Memphis, Tennessee

Thursday, July 15, 2010

From Tom Sawyer RV Park, W. Memphis, Ar

We left home this morning right about 7am.  The trip up US 59 and 79 to the Flying J at I-20 was uneventful, and we fueled up at the Flying J.  A quick trip around the north side of Shreveport to US 71 north, then on around Texarkana on the future I-49 took us to I-30 headed for Little Rock.  A quick stop at a rest area to make sandwiches, we switched drivers and boogied right on.

Bypassing Little Rock on I-440 we were soon on I-40 and about 2 hours from our destination.  Arriving at Tom Sawyer, we quickly got checked in, unhooked, set up, and hooked up and headed for the benches to watch 'Old Man River' just roll on by.  Very few barges were on the river, so we loaded in the little white truck and headed for downtown Memphis. 

As everyone knows, you just can't go to Memphis without going to Beale Street.  Lots of restaurants, bars, clubs, and music venue.  At the Pepsi Cola Stage a local radio station was presenting a young lady from Nashville and her band.

 

We then walked over to the Rum Boogie Cafe where we shared a big order of Nachos and listened to a couple of pretty good groups.

 

There were lots of young 'uns on the street, guess that's just natural.  It seems that the common attire was a dress (or skirt) and cowboy boots. 

 

After a little more walking around and having gotten an earlier picture of the famous B. B. King Club..

 

we headed on back to the coach.

Will see what is in store for tomorrow in our Grand Adventure.

 

Getting Ready to Leave

Wednesday, July 14, 2010

From Lufkin, Texas

We are spending today getting things wrapped up at the office, getting the house in order, and loading the motorhome for travel.  All necessary service work on everything is complete, and we hope for no glitches once we get out the driveway.

Our first planned stop will be the Tom Sawyer RV Park on the banks of the Mississippi in West Memphis, Arkansas.  We plan to stay 3 nights there before heading on up toward Tennessee and Kentucky.

I hope to regularly keep this blog updated, but some will depend on our access to WiFi in the parks and AT&T air card access.  If I miss a day now and then, well, you will know the reason.

Will be back soon!!

 

 

A Great Visit

Monday, July 5, 2010

From Lufkin, Texas

A week ago Bob and Molly arrived at our new home, as our first guests to use our new RV hook-up. 

It is always a great time when the four of us get together.  After they got settled in the space, we gathered up in Kpoppa's Cave for a little game of Hand & Foot. 

 

Oh, don't worry, I will reveal the score a little later in this post.

After more visiting, we took off for Cafe Del Rio for Bob and Molly to get their fix on 'the best Tex-Mex food ever' (their words).  Their favorite part (and ours, too) is the flour tortillas with melted butter and honey.  Just to die for.

After an early dinner, we drove them over to see the place where they first came to visit..  Our home that burned about a year ago.  I think it was about as sad for them as us to see the house totally gone, having been demolished just a few weeks earlier.

They made the comment that of the three times they have visited us in Lufkin, we have lived at a different house.  First the home destroyed by fire, then the temporary quarters in the Bed and Breakfast, and now at our new home.  I guess it seems we are just a couple of vagabond gypsies.

After returning from dinner, the temps had cooled somewhat, so we gathered up on the porch by the pool for a little re-match of Hand and Foot.

 

First off, you must understand the Bob and I have lost very few games over the several months that we have had the opportunity to be partners.  Of course, a match against Donna and Molly was probably a little bit unfair, and we probably should have spotted them a few hundred points. (Not that a few hundred would have helped, however).

I promised I would reveal the scores from both games so in keeping with my promise I will just show the scorecard for your viewing.

 

(Click on the picture for a larger image.) 

Bob quite enjoyed displaying the score cards.

 

The next morning, after a tour of our new shop under improvement, all too soon it was time for them to continue on down to Livingston, where they will be for the month of July.  We hope to drop in on them soon, before we leave for our next trip, about the 15th of July.

In other activities in our lives, thing have been rather routine, Donna working at the office, and me dealing with contractors getting the final touches done to the shop/storage building.

The tree removal folks will be here tomorrow, to remove some more trees for better access to the shop and a future access from a separate street.