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We left Naples on May 7th and headed north to Tampa. We arrived at MacDill Air Force Base and where very happy to be here. This is a really nice campground with loads to do right here on base. The campground is quite large and during the winter it is impossible to get in due to the snowbirds spending the winter here. We are located within a stone throw from the beach, the marina and seascape club. The marina rents boats, has a ramp, sells small items and sells fuel for your boat. Really nice. The beach is just beautiful with nice sand and the best part was we could walk. The water was warm but once out to your waist the bottom is filled with sea grass. Not to comfortable on your piggies.
The campground has full hookup sites, a laundry, tenting area, dump, mail service, nice hall for special functions. During the winter they hold lessons, games, bingo etc so it is a pretty active campground. We met quite a few nice people while here - we have met nice people everywhere we go - campers are just friendly most of the time.
Our time here has been spent walking - two days we walked 5 miles each day. Other days we walked at least two - this past week it has poured all the time so I have exercised by using my wii fit.
We have also traveled the area to look at different areas. One day we toured the coastline and enjoyed looking at all the pretty beaches and homes along the water. We went by the condo we stayed in about 6 years ago - this was when Tim finally decided he enjoyed the beach. Thank goodness cuz I love it.
The beach has been another one of our favorite places while here. We bought two sand chairs in Target that we can carry on our back which makes it much nicer. They even have a place to put your book, drink and suntan lotion so off you go for a nice day at the beach.
Two days we had the truck serviced. First we go new shocks - the truck has 90,000 miles on it so it was time. Then one day we got new tires - expensive but necessary. The car dealer was unbelievable. They have a barber/beauty shop, nail salon, and a movie theater. The movie was Superman and it plays for two hours. What a great way to spend your time while waiting for your car. I had a manicure and pedicure while waiting. Just wonderful. Also they had a hotdog roast so we got free hotdogs and chips. So this trip to the car dealer was enjoyable for me. The rest of the time I read and was happy.
We also got to see my youngest sister and her husband while we were here. One day they came out and we went to the Seascapes for lunch - we sat outside and watched the water and boats. Really pretty. Then we sat outside in lawn chairs and talked and laughed. At night we went to Carraba's for dinner - they had never been there and really enjoyed it. Another day they came out and we just sat in the camper and talked - it was pouring out. At night we had ribs which Tim cooked in the crock pot. They were so darn good - he is really a great cook. All the years we were married he only cooked on the grill or while camping. Now he does the meat every night while I do the rest of the dinner. I love it. Then I wash dishes - he puts the stuff away and dries. Who has the better job?
We will leave Tampa tommorow morning and head to Orlando for two weeks. We are staying in a Marriott timeshare - the first week our daughter Susan, her hubby Jerry and our three granddaugters will join us and we will spend 5 days at Disney. Emily just turned 10 on Monday - Julia will be 5 this coming Monday and Makenzie is 2. We should have alot of fun watching them on all the rides and seeing the characters. The second week Tim and I will spend at Universal Studios. We have 7 day passes to attend and we have never been there before.
Disney and Universal Studios have given every active duty and retired military person a free pass to the parks. This was just to good of an offer to pass up. Thanks for appreciating all these people have done for our country. God Bless
We will be busy but I will finish our blog when we return home. Until later keep smiling and loving each other.
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On May 3rd we left Key West and headed north on Route 1. The traffic was very heavy thru the Keys plus lots of road construction closing lanes for quite a few miles. During part of the ride about 500 motorcycles were headed south. Policemen were stationed all along the roads stopping traffic from entering under the motorcycles were bye. It was pretty interesting - they were old guys, young guys, girls, nice looking and some really grubby. Guess it was a special ride for some cause but I never saw anything so not sure.
When we reached the mainland we took route 41 thru the Everglades. We stopped at the visitor center for Big Cypress National Preserve. We saw a movie about the area and also so displays of the different animals that live in the area. One of these animals in the Florida Panther. What a beautiful animal but fewer than 100 remain. The speed on Highway 41 drops by 15 miles per hour after dark as the panther moves during the night. There has never been a reported panther attack in Florida which is good news. At the park they had alot of alligators - you see them everywhere in this area. All in all it was a very interesting stop.
Our next stop was Collier-Seminole State Park in Naples Florida. The campground has 120 sites with water and electric. They also have a dump station, laundry, restrooms and showers, campfire rings, tables, shuffleboard and a playground. They have a big area for group campfires and also offer guided nature walks during the winter months. The park has fishing, boating, canoes, nature study, interpretive center, hiking, mountain bike trails and a walking dredge. This machine was used in the 1920's to build the Tamiami Trail across the vast wilderness of the Everglades. We took a nice walk around visiting the Collier Monument, took the nature trail which was loaded with bugs, saw the lake and just enjoyed the park.
While in the area we went to Marco Island and toured the new Marriott Timeshare property right on the beach. What a beautiful job they have done but we are not in the market for more timeshares. We enjoyed the city of Marco Island - such beautiful homes - I think over half the city has homes that cost over a million dollars. It is just a beautiful area. We went to the beach at Marco Island twice and enjoyed the water greatly. The only part I did not like is lots of broken shells on the beach near the water line - hurt your feet. The water temp was 82 - just lovely.
One day driving to the island Tim was stopped for speeding. The speed limit on the whole island is 35 or lower - right where the limit dropped a policeman got him. He took his papers and when he came back he said just a warning - slow down. Thank goodness as we thought it would be a very expensive day. Thanks Mr Policeman.
On the 4th of May was our oldest daughter's birthday. We were not able to spend the day with her but were able to talk to her and wish her a wonderful day. Hope you had a great birthday Sue. We love you.
One day we also visited Naples walking along their pier watching the manatee's swimming around. They are quite interesting to watch. We toured Naples and we both really like this town. So pretty and so many nice homes.
On Thursday morning we left the park around 9 after dumping our tanks. We headed east on Route 41, then north on Route 951 until he hit I-75. The ride was very pretty and we enjoyed it greatly. We arrived at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa Florida around 12. We checked into the base and will spend 2 weeks here - stayed tuned for our stay in Tampa.
See ya soon
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We left Weston, Florida around 8 and headed south. The ride was quite easy and because it was Sunday not to much traffic. Once we got to the Keys the area was all new for me - Tim had been as far as Marathon about 37 years ago while on temp duty during active military service, but of course most things look different. We enjoyed the ride looking at the water and different sites. We arrived in Key West around 2 and checked into the Rv Park called Sigsbee which is part of Key West Naval Air Station. We were very lucky to get a spot right on the water with full hookups. The campground has 93 sites plus overflow parking, and a nice laundry. It is also very handy to walk to different places - we walked to the commissary, exchange, MWR office, marina and the Sunset Lounge. The Sunset Lounge is a Tiki Bar that sells food and drinks. The bar is open to outside and you can watch the wonderful sunset while eating or drinking. We had alot of fun while here and met alot of nice people.
Key West is an island and the most southernmost point in the continental United States. It is a real party town with many bars with music to really enjoy yourselves while in the area. The island was finally connected to the mainland by railroad in 1912 and finally by Route 1 in 1938. The keys are linked by 42 bridges and 126 miles long. Their is a 7 mile bridge which is pretty cool - it amazes me how they could build a bridge over water - mind boggling. The keys have loads of living coral reefs to enjoy by glass bottom boats but much to windy while we were in the area.
We did ride around checking out every thing we could. We took the conch tour train which takes you around the island for 90 minutes and explains different things about the city. They told us how important the military was to this area as they are the ones whom brought fresh water to the island and also many jobs. The Navy arrived here in 1823 - the army in 1845. There are 4 different locations of the Navy today. One of the most interesting areas was Truman Annex which was the old Navy base closed in 1974. While President Truman was president he used to come to Key West and stay in one of the homes on base which is now called Truman's Little White House. Today it belongs to the state of Florida and you are allowed to tour the home. All around the area is old housing that has been fixed up and sold to private citizens. The homes are just beautiful and well kept. I was drooling looking at them - bet they have a pretty hefty cost to buy.
One day we went to the Key West Naval Air Station and watched the jets taking off and landing. We also visited the beach and marina on base. Very nice area.
We took a ride up the keys stopping at 3 different state parks. Our first was Long Key State Park which is located in Long Key. This park has hiking trails, canoe trails, picnicking, swimming, fishing and camping. They offer 60 sites with access to the beach from your campsite. It was a beautiful park and we hope to return here someday and camp on the ocean again.
Our next stop was Curry Hammock State Park located in Marathon. It became a state park in 1991 and sits on the ocean with over 1000 acres. They have a beautiful beach with swimming and 28 campsites. Another place we would not mind staying.
Our next stop was Bahia Honda State Park. This became a state park in 1961 and has the most things here. They have boating, marina, snack bar, gift shop, snorkeling tours, dive shop, beach, swimming, picnic shelters, nature center, fishing, and camping. This is another cool park - Florida has very nice state parks with water and electric at all campgrounds.
Our stay in Key West came to an end on May 3rd when we headed north and then west to Naples, Florida. Stayed tuned for our next stop.
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We left Charleston on April 8th around 9 am and headed south on I-95. Our final destination was Jacksonville Naval Air Station. We checked in and got set up with water and electric site. The campground has 45 sites some with full hookups plus they have overflow parking. A beautiful bath house and laundry. The base is the 3rd largest Naval installation the the states and covers over 3400 acres. They also have a huge exchange and really nice commisary. The weather was just beautiful so we sat outside and talked and then read our books. The campground was very nice and we enjoyed our stay.
Friday, April 10th, we headed south to Patrick Air Force Base where we spent two nights. This is a nice campground and we were able to get our laundry done plus I had my hair cut. We also were able to walk along the beach and enjoy the beautful weather. The beach is part of the base but open to everyone - really nice beach - the water was alittle cool for us though. The Air Force Police do patrol the beach in jeeps so a nice family environment. We enjoyed watching the birds and also saw a shark out quite aways. Patrick Air Force Base supports Kennedy Space Center. Seems to funny to see a huge airfield and only one plane in sight. Very nice base though.
On Easter Sunday we headed south to Weston Florida to stay in a timeshare for two weeks. The condo was pretty nice with a nice living room, dining room, full kitchen, bath, bedroom with king bed and a lovely porch. The pool was right outside our building and very nice. We enjoyed that a couple of days while there. The city of Weston was established in 1996 as a fully planned community. The trees, flowers, shopping malls and housing all look so pretty. They spend no money for snow removal so really use the money to have beautiful flowers - wow so pretty. In 2008 Money Magazine voted it as one of the best places to live in the United States and first in Florida. I can understand why. We were located about 25 miles from Fort Lauderdale which has the nickname Venice of America. They have lots of pretty homes and loads of marinas. You wonder where all the money comes from - what do these people do as jobs to live in $5 million dollar homes????? One days we went to Fort Lauderdale Beach where the movie "Where the Boys Are" was filmed. Really nice beach with beautiful sand - we spent a wonderful day enjoying this. They have over 23 miles of sand and surf and all opened to the public.
One day we went to the Festival Flea Market Mall which is America's largest flea market mall with over 500 shops. It is located in Pompano Beach. We had fun walking around - bought an eyeglass case and Tim got a back scratcher. Big spenders we are - spent $8 in total. We toured the area taking in Maimi and Boca Raton. We rode along the shore line and marveled at the homes and the huge boats tied up behind them. Yikes alot of money in this country.
Everglades National Park was our destination on two different occasions. This park was established in 1947 to protect the largest subtropical wilderness in the United States. It covers over 2500 square miles and offers alot of hiking on boardwalks to really enjoy the wildlife and surrounding swamps. This park is home to over 366 species of birds and we saw so many different kinds. The park itself was a true education as nothing else like this here in the states. Our second visit was in the Shark Valley Park where we took a wildlife viewing tram tour through sawgrass prairies. We stopped at a 65 foot tower with great viewing areas. The tour was over a 15 mile loop viewing loads of alligators and birds. Here you really get to appreciate the great wetlands. We hiked this day also - highly recommend this park to anyone whom comes to Flordia.
Biscayne National Park was another stop. This park has aquamarine waters, emerald islands and loads of coral reefs. We took a 3 hour boat tour out to the island of Boca Chita Key. We went up into the lighthouse and did the 1/2 mile hiking trail while on the island. Mark Honeywell (the one whom developed a hot water heating systems) owned this island and built the lighthouse back in 1930's. It was a beautiful day with the sun beaming and very windy. You had to hold onto your hat or it would of landed in the water. This area became a National Monument in 1968. Only national park with mostly water.
Our stay came to an end on the 26th and we headed south. Stay tuned for our next stop.
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Our time in Charleston is always enjoyable - we just love that area plus have our daughter, her hubby and our 3 beautiful granddaughters plus friends in the area.
One night we went to Lucille and Vinny's home for a party for their granddaughter. She is in the Air Force and was leaving for Italy for a 2 year tour. We had a wonderful time and met some really nice people. We spent the night - did breakfast the next morning - a little shopping and then back home. Thanks Lucille and Vinny for a wonderful time.
While in the area Tim had the skin cancer removed from his face - it was very close to his eye and the next day he woke up with a black eye. We had our taxes done - attended the church we love - babysat and just enjoyed our stay. We had our 4 year old granddaughter spend the night with us and had such fun. She is so talkative and so funny - we enjoyed that greatly. Our time came to an end so we went out to dinner on the 7th with Sue, Jerry and girls. Good dinner and wonderful company.
We will leave in the morning and head south to Florida - stayed tuned.
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The last two days have been just beautiful. The sun in out - shining brightly - and the beams are just so warm. We sat outside for a good three hours yesterday after doing laundry. So nice to sit and read and just enjoy the day.
Today our daughter Susan went with our oldest granddaughter on a school field trip. So Tim and I went and picked up the two young ones from nursery school - gave them lunch - played with them and just enjoyed the day. While I am taking care of children it makes me feel young again. They are so full of energy and just so lovable.
Tonight when we got back to the base there was alot of comotion in front of the mini mart. Come to find out they were filming again for Army Wives. Two weeks ago they also filmed inside the commissary. So if you watch the program you will see Charleston Air Force Base, kind of cool.
We just returned from dinner at the galley. We got two meals for the expensive cost of $5.75 tonight. As I tell Tim we can not cook for that price and it is not to bad. The thing I like about it is I can eat a huge salad while Tim can eat a meal. Makes it nice. Tommorow we will have our big meal at noon - better for you also.
Last week we were tempted to look at homes and condos. We were thinking of settling down - then decided we like the freedom of being on the road and seeing all the different places and meeting all the people. In June it will be 3 years and we have not seen half of this beautiful country. Our plans right now are to leave Charleston, South Carolina at te end of the month and head to Florida. We are going to a timeshare on Easter Sunday for two weeks and then will travel around the state. On May 22nd we are meeting our daughter Susan and family at Disney to celebrate our granddaughters birthdays. Emily will be 10 and Julia will be 5 so we should have a wonderful time. We took our grandson to Disney when he turned 5 many years ago and had a wonderful time. Nothing like seeing Disney thru the eyes of little ones.
I am reading a really good book "Celebration" by Fern Michaels. I love to read and always looking for good books. We have started going to thrift shops looking at books as they are so much cheapier.
Tommorow will be another beautiful day here in Charleston and then it will get cool again. Low 60's during the day by the weekend - nice walking weather.
Keep a smile on your face and enjoy life to the fullest.
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Time has flown by again and really no reason for not doing our blog. We keep fairly busy and time goes past us to fast. Guess this is what my mother meant when she said how fast time goes as we get older.
Our time at Barksdale was very enjoyable. We took a ride thru Shreveport and saw many nice homes and buildings. We wanted to tour the area around downtown but the pouring rain prevented that. One day we did get to go to the Eighth Air Force Museum on base. They had a good assortment of aircraft, dioramas, and a gift shop. It was nicely done and we enjoyed the nice walk also.
We left Shreveport and headed to Vicksburg Mississippi. The area is famous for the Siege of Vicksburg in which the union gained control of the entire Mississippi River during the Civil War. The siege lasted 47 days and they surrendered on July 4th. I could not believe that because of this the town did not celebrate the 4th of July until after World War II.
Vicksburg has a beautful National Military Park with over 1,330 monuments, a restored union gunboat and a huge national cemetery. The cemetery has over 18000 people buried with over 17,077 being Civil War soldiers. The monuments are all over the town which makes it quite interesting.
While in town we stayed at the Ameristar Rv Park which had full hookups, pads, cable tv, wi-fi, showers, laundry, propane, pool and a free shuttle to the casino. We did visit the casino but it snagged our money really fast so we left after an hour. All in all we enjoyed our stay in Vicksburg.
Our next stop was Gunter Hill Corps of Engineers Park in Montgomery, Alabama. We love these parks because we get them for half price with our golden age card. For $9 a night we had water, electric, pull thru, showers, river, boat ramp, dump, playground and beautiful hiking trails.
While in town we toured Montgomery, the capital of Alabama since 1846. In 1861 it was selected as the first capital of the Confederate States of America. The state has beautfiul state buildings - think it is one of the nicest state capitals we have visited. This city also is the primary site of the Civil Rights Movement. Dr Martin Luther King was pastor of the Baptist Church from 1954 to 1960 in the city. This is also the place where Rosa Parks would not give up her bus seat to a white man in 1955. We really enjoyed the area and will return someday to tour more of the town.
We did visit Maxwell Air Force Base which is the country's center for airpower education since 1930. Very interesting stop. Claudia and Devin came to visit for a few hours on Saturday night which we enjoyed.
Our next stop was Fort Benning Army Base in Georgia. The base was established in 1918 and covers over 182,000 acres. On an average day the base has over 100,000 people on base. Huge. The campground is Uchee Creek Campground and Marina and one of the nicest military campgrounds we have stayed at. They have 85 sites with mostly full hookups, pull thrus, campfires, cabins,. laundry, rally area, grills, meeting room, basketball, volleyball, softball fields, propane, store, archery range, river, marina, boat rental, fishing, pool and activitiy center. On Sunday Lamar, Tim's oldest brother came to visit with us. We had a nice visit with him. On Tuesday we met Scott and Betsy (Tim's Cousin) for lunch at Cheddars Restaurant. We ate lunch and talked and stayed at the same restaurant and ate dinner. That was a first. We had a really nice visit with them and enjoyed it greatly.
Charleston Air Force Base was our next stop. We love the Charleston area plus our oldest daughter and family live in Mount Pleasant. We have been visiting with them often and babysat for them also. Julia, the 4 year old, and I went and had our nails done
together. All the girls are such a pleasure to be with. We will be in this area until the end of March.
Last Thursday Lucille and Vinny came to Charleston to visit and do lunch with us. At the same time friends from Ct, Ray and Louise, stopped by on their way home from Florida. We all did lunch and enjoyed the company greatly.
On Friday we took Louise and Ray to the Charleston Museum and then had a nice lunch The museum was very imformative - enjoyed it greatly. Thanks guys for stopping by and visiting.
On Monday we were going to babysit - got up and got all ready and our truck would not start. Around 1 we finally got a boost and Tim took it to the dealer. They informed him it was the battery - we have two so it cost over $300. Yikes. Now it is all fixed and running very well.
If you are in Charleston area stop in and say hi. Until later
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When I left you last time we were planning to head to the strip at Las Vegas for the evening. That is exactly what we did. Wow was that ever exciting. This was the first time for us both and we were like little kids in a candy shop. Everyone should experience this at least once even if you do not gamble. We parked the car and started walking. Our first stop was at MGM to visit with the lions. It is a habitat with 35 foot glass walls which gives you wonderful viewing capabilities. Tim took a few pictures of them - they are such beautiful animals. I found out from the movie about them that they are bathed each day before being shown. I enjoyed this greatly.
We then walked the strip stopping in at the New York, New York; Paris Las Vegas; Caesars; and Bellagio. We had dinner at Mon Ami Gabi - sat outside and enjoyed the view and the dinner. It sits across the street from the Bellagio where they have dancing water which soar 240 feet. It was just beautiful to watch - plus the dinner was just fantastic. After dinner we went into the Bellagio and I put $5 into the slot machine. When I cashed out I had over $100 - paid for our dinner.
The fun of Vegas is seeing all the lights, the shows and watching the people. Remember this is a place where anything goes and I mean anything. It was a fun night and so different.
Saturday morning we left the base and headed to Kingman Arizona. We got all set up and called our friends Dan and Pam whom we had not seen since 1976. We enjoyed talking and then all went to an early dinner. On Sunday Tim and I rode along old Route 66 in KIngman and saw alot of the old buildings. In parts of this town it looks like 1950 again. Sunday afternoon we went over to Dan and Pam's to play pinocle and have dinner. Very enjoyable day.
Monday morning they picked us up and we headed to Oatman, Az along Route 66. This is a living ghost town, it used to be a mining town and is located in the Black Mountains. In 1915 two prospectors struck a 10 million dollar gold field in this town. The mines were worked until 1941 when they were shut down. Colonies of wild burros, direct descendants of the pack animals used by gold miners, roam the hills and town. You can feed them carrots and film them as they stop next to your cars. It was a definite different experience. We walked around the town and went into a few stores.
We left town and headed to Bullhead City, Az for lunch. We had a nice lunch and then headed to Laughlin, NV to the casino. We stayed about 30 minutes and I put in $20 and cashed out with $20. All in all it was a wonderful day. Thanks Dan and Pam for the wonderful hospitality. We enjoyed every minute and hope to see you again sooner.
Tuesday morning Tim went to UPS to pick up the part for the camper while I did my WII. We traveled from Kingman to Tucson and stopped at Beaudry RV Resort. A very nice park but kind of expensive for us. We had full hookups, a nice pool, and a really nice restaurant. Great food at a resonable price. On Wednesday am we brought the camper to Beaudry RV to have the slide fixed. While that was being done we toured the Air Force Base and then looked at motor homes. We saw one that we really loved but it cost $450,000 - that is more than our home cost. Yikes. We will stick with the home we have now - serves us well and it is paid for. We did have fun looking though.
Thursday morning we left Tucson Az and headed to Van Horn Texas. We stopped at a nice campground for the evening and had a nice dinner to end a long day.
Friday morning we headed to Abilene Texas thru really strong winds and boring landscapes. Tim and I really do not enjoy the dessert - we like the green grass and trees not the brown sandy soil. Abilene is doing lots of construction and the campground we headed to was alful. Tim got alittle annoyed so we headed further east. We stopped for the night at a really nice campground called Cactus Rose - super people also.
Saturday morning we hit the road again and arrived in Bossier City at Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana. We will stay here until at least Wednesday to get laundry done - clean the camper - and just relax. This base is huge with a very nice campground with full hookups. They allow you to wash the camper so Tim is delighted - has not been done since Petaluma, California back in August.
Today is Sunday and our youngest daughter's birthday. We talked to her this am and hope she has a wonderful birthday. Happy Birthday Amanda and hope you have many more.
Until next time
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Here it is almost a full month since writing again - would you believe it is because we are so busy. I stil do not understand how I ever worked 8 to 12 hours a day and still had time to clean, do laundry, shop, and visit with family and friends. My time now just disappears and before I know it it is time to make dinner or go to bed. Yikes.
New Year's Eve was spent with Amanda, Tim and Josh. We had a nice dinner and played pinochle, I love that game - so much fun. We stayed up until 1:30am - drank and ate alot but had a really nice time. We spent the night - got up around 10 and headed home. We figured they needed time to themselves with only one day off from work. Thanks Tim and Amanda for having us.
We attended the movie "The Day Time Stood Still" at IMAX. It was a good movie considering it was Science Fiction and I really do not usually watch them. We do not attend the movies to often so it was fun.
Another eye doctor appointment - trying very hard to get off the eye drops, down to one drop every other day so we are making progress. The bottle is about 1 inch tall and cost $95 which my insurance will not pick up. I have been on these drops up to 6 times a day since about the 26th of April. Too long and too expensive. Time will tell if my eye finally will adjust to no drops.
We visited the Jelly Belly Factory in Fairfield, Ca. This place became well known to the rest of the world when President Regan had them on his desk. The tour was very imforative and completly free. You get a good birds-eye view of every step of the candy making process. It takes up to 20 days to create each jelly bean. At the end you get to sample a few plus a free bag of jelly belly beans. They have a wonderful cafe with great food - we were very pleased. The store has over 150 different types of candy so we bought some. We were able to get Christmas candy for a steal - candy is candy. I am trying to lose weight but I could not resist trying some. Now I eat one candy each day. We highly recommend this place for a visit if you are ever in the area.
We visited Napa Valley for a wonderful tour of the Sterling Vineyards. They take you up a 300 foot hill by aerial tram to visit the winery. The tour is self guided with loads of photographs and displays explaining the wine making process. The view was just beautiful and then we got to taste the wine. Tim passed but Agnes, Steve and myself sampled them. None of us were to impressed with the wine - I am just a cheap wine drinker but we did enjoy ourselves. We then stopped at a wonderful deli located in the town of Calistoga. We ordered sandwiches and then sat outside and enjoyed the beautiful sunshine. After lunch we headed to California's Old Faithful in Calistoga. Back in 1975 Tim and I visited here for free. Today they charge you to see this and we were not very impressed for the price. The geyser shoots water 60 feet into the air for 3 to 4 minutes. It happens every 40 minutes or so. It is very different. We then headed to another winery for a tour of the caves. Because we did not want to sample wine they gave us a free tour of the caves and explained how the Chinese dug these in the 1880's. It was very interesting. We had a really nice day - napa valley is just so pretty plus the weather was perfect.
One Friday we went into San Francisco and visited the California Academy of Science. This wonderful museum is located in Golden Gate Park and just reopened. They have a beautiful aquarium, planetarium, rainforest, african hall, swamp, and an island of evolution. This was truly a very interesting place to visit.
Joshua , our grandson, celebrated his 14th birthday on January 12th and we got to celebrate with them. We had a wonderful dinner and a great ice cream cake from Coldstone Creamery. We also were able to attend a few of his basketball games while in California. Josh you play an awesome game.
Our time to leave California and head south and then east was coming to an end. We will miss Amanda, Tim and Joshua a great deal but hope to catch a military hop and return soon. Thanks for all the wonderful memories we shared during the last 8 months. We enjoyed being together and spending so much time with Josh. Josh keep up the good work in school - you have the brains to accomplish anything you want. We love ya.
On the 21st of January we left Travis Air Force Base and headed to Camping World. They had a recall on our refrigerator so we had to have that fixed. We arrived early and were very lucky as they took us right away. This gave us an early start as we traveled to Lemoore Naval Air Station in Lemoore, California. We decided to spend 2 nights at the base and just relax. The campground was pretty nice but kind of expensive for military campgrounds. We had a full hookup site for $23 a night.
Friday, the 23rd we traveled to Wilderness Lakes Preserve which is a thousand trails campground. It was a hard trip as it rained and was very foggy climbing those huge hills on I-5. Our truck really does a wonderful job pulling our 5th wheeler up those hills. We arrived at the campground and met up with Jeff, Tim's youngest brother. We got 4 days - three nights for free from camping world. We had to attend a 90 minute selling speel which we said no to. We were not impressed with the grounds - too close together for us and about 4000 cows as our neighbors. Yikes what a smell.
On Monday morning as we got ready - I tried to bring in the dining room slide. Would not come in all the way or go back out. Tim and Jeff pushed it closed while I pushed the button to get it in. Something is wrong but we wanted to leave and head to Las Vegas to the Desert Eagle RV Park at Nellis Air Force Base. We arrived about 3 and got set up - slide would not work. We are still here with the slide not open - thank goodness we have another slide in the living room. It is a little crowded but we are manging okay. We have it set to have it fixed next Tuesday in Tuscon, Az and it is covered by warranty. Yeah!!!!!
I still am doing my WII exercises each day. I have lost a few pounds and really enjoy doing this. This is how I start my day - no more coffee or wine - plus I watch what I eat. My goal is to lose 20 pounds slowly so I will keep the weight off. I have never been a big eater but I got lazy when I started to work and never exercised very much. That and age finally catch up with you. While at Travis Tim and I walked each day around the base also which was great.
Today we took a ride to the Hoover Dam. What an impressive wonder and the new bridge they are building is unbelievable. Wow it is hard to believe what they can do and make it work. We also rode thru Lake Mead National Recreation Area. Our golden age pass got us in for free. The scenery is just specatular and so different from the east coast. The water level is quite low though - seems most of the west needs loads of rain or snow. We have had about 3 days of rain in the last 8 months.
We stopped at the Hacienda Hotel and Casino in Boulder City for lunch. After eating we played the five cent slots - big spenders we are. Tim lost $4 - I came out with $1.70 more. It is fun to try them but I cannot believe how some people lose all their money in those places. This casino had smoking so we did not stay long. The smoke burns your eyes with such stale air.
I would like to hit a few of the big casinos here in Las Vegas tommorow to see what they look like inside. We drove down the strip and checked them out from the outside. Some of them are just beautiful. The MGM is home to several African lions and cubs which sounds really cool. The Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino transports visitors to an undersea ocean of sights, sounds and encounters with over 2,000 animals represting 100 different species. The Silverton Hotel and Casino has a 117,000 gallon saltwater aquarium where you watch them feed the fish. These sound very interesting to me - will have to try and talk Tim into visiting as he is not a gambler and would be happy to not step inside a casino.
On Saturday we will leave here and head to Kingman, Arizonia to visit friends we have not seen in over 33 years. Looking forward to that.
We have met so many nice people everywhere we go - this is such a wonderful life. God Bless until next time.
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Wow another year gone - how time flies when you are having fun.
Seven years ago today my mom passed away. Gosh do I ever miss her, she was such a beautiful kind woman and always so upbeat. I can honestly say I only remember one person she did not care for and that was a caregiver that came into our home to take care of her while I was at work. She refused to call her by name, she called her that girl. Mom I miss you so much.
We had a beautiful Christmas with Amanda, Tim and Joshua this year. We went to their home on Christmas Eve and attended church in the city. It was a nice service and very friendly people. Christmas morning we were up around 8 and opened presents - we received loads of nice stuff and yes I did get my purse. Santa is so good. We had a nice dinner and a very enjoyable day. We did miss our other daughter, son-in-law and granddaughters in South Carolina but got to talk to them on the phone. Next year we will feel the same way about Amanda and family.
This week has been pretty laid back - we have walked, shopped and been doing our WII Fit. On some of the exercises I have improved greatly - others I am just not able to get doing more than one thing at once. Yikes - feel like a little child again.
Today is New Years Eve and I wanted to wish everyone a Happy New Year - hope next year will find you healthy and happy. We will spend the New Year with Amanda, Tim, and Josh with a nice dinner and a few drinks. Tommorow we will change our eating habits and start loosing weight. I told Tim I wanted to wear a bikini next summer - he just laughs at me - I wouldn't wear one when I weighed 95 pounds soaking wet.
God Bless you all and have a wonderful New Year.
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