Throw Back Thursday: Our Love Was Once In Tents

Hubby and Sparky

In 1979, we were newly wed, full of the moxie of youth, bright eyed with great hopes for the future. Gainful employment was easy back then. Jobs where plentiful. The future was bright. We weren't rich but we weren't broke either. Whatever life was to throw at us, it didn't matter, we where ready. And, ultimately, loves conquers all.

Our first trip together was on a shoe string budget, so, we planned for a location close to home in western North Carolina. This trip we spent a lot of time camping and hiking the Blue Ridge Parkway near Asheville and all parts in between.

Hubby brought a vivid blue two man pup tent into the marriage. This was the start of a long love affair for me with camping. Soon after this trip, we 'moved up' to a 6 man Hillary canvas cabin tent sold by Sears. It gave us many years of faithful service and happy memories. Many years later, tired of sleeping on the ground, we bought a towable Recreational Vehicle. Now that we live in the woods, an RV was no longer exciting. I really miss being outdoors on our trips, though, but Hubby grew weary of all the work. Can't say that I blame him.

Above is the dear man during his salad days sitting by a stream on the Blue Ridge. I fell in love with that charming smile the first time we met. I am happy to report that he is still that wonderful guy and more.

Thank you LORD Jesus for all our wonderful years together.

 "For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh." Ephesians 5:31

My Tail Is Dragon

Hallelujah, we both have our laptop computers back and they seem in tiptop order. It was so unusual to have both our computers crash at the same time. Thankfully, I didn't miss the internet too much until it was time to pay the bills. Then it became a bit of a bother. It seems our Computer Guy did a bang up job, as always.

I have finally returned from the four day excursion to that foreign land known as western North Carolina. Not being a mountain person I get homesick real quick. My preference is to enjoy them from a distance. That said, though, the enjoyment level was high this time. We stayed at the San Ran Motel in Robbinsville, NC. The photos make it look cleaner than it is. [cough] It must have been built in the 1950s. Upon closer inspection it's obvious the owners never spent a dime on renovations or extensive cleaning. The town has bupkis by way of entertainment or eating establishments and Graham county is "dry". Next time we'll stay in Franklin or perhaps Cherokee where all the grownups are. Much more to do there.

My husband is a member of an on-line forum for CB-1100 owners. One day, these fine specimens of human kind all decided it would be grand to meet at The Dragon and hang out together for a few days. That's what brought us to the area.

More Photos Are At Shutterfly

Yep, that's me in the forefront! On May 28th I rode the Tail Of The Dragon At Deals Gap and lived to talk about it. My 2012 Suzuki V-Strom DL650 carried me many treacherous, nail-biting, butt puckerin' miles last week. Steve, of course, was on his red 2013 Honda CB-1100. The photo on the left shows Steve (yellow helmet) keeping an eye on my performance. After the grueling 11 miles which turned into 30 minutes or so traversing repeated switchbacks, blind curves and slow Harley's, our group stopped at a now forgotten rest area to compare notes. Steve stated that I rode like a champ. Thankfully, he didn't see the hard save I did about 10 minutes into the journey where I came perilously close to going over the edge with a sheer drop. The Dragon almost claimed another victim! I'm just thankful I wear clean underwear after that little "moment".

The link to all the vacation photos above have just been uploaded. It may take me several days to label them all. But for now, enjoy! I'll be around to visit everyone's blogs soon.

I hope you have a fantastic week.

Falling Into October

Greetings everyone! I'm still alive and kicking, much to some people's chagrin, I'm sure.

Early September we vacationed for the first time in Manasota Key, Florida. We stayed for almost a week in an old, but nice, Condo on the Gulf of Mexico, the stay graciously donated by my husband's father. Hubby's family all live in that area, so, I anticipated it would be fun to hang out at the beach together, going shopping, share meals, etc., like we usually do. I thought not staying in their incredibility small home would be less stressful for my dear sister-in-law. This trip, however, SIL was a Royal Pain In The Patoody. By the time we left for home (two days early, by the way), I was suffering from a colon spasm from holding in anger and swore I'd never speak to her as a friend or sister again. I know, perhaps I'm over-reacting. I hope that's the case. I was still grieving from the loss of my little dogs and she was having unusually bad back pain but right now I'm still in broil mode.

But sometimes time does heal all wounds. We'll see.

On to something happier. I decorated for Fall today. The photos are below.

Enjoy. And thank you for listening.

Front Door

Front Porch

Scarecrows by the gate.

Gate

Close up of gate decoration.

Down by the road and gate.

There was a Scarecrow here too but

Jack and Sam, the Jack Russell Terrorists,

lived up to their names and proceeded to shred it

to itsy bitsy pieces. Good thing they're cute. [lol]

Carport Door.

Ride Safe,

Taking A Break

I'm taking a break for a couple of weeks ... or so.

Just need some down time, let the 'ol wrists and hands relax. 

Let my mind wander, ponder, ruminate.

Maybe my soul will heal from losing Lucy and Maxie. It's been nearly a year, you know, since I lost my little angel puppy. My little buddy. I'm beginning to think the pain will never abate. *sigh*

I will continue to post the Sunday devotional. God's work should never cease, even when we don't feel like going on.

So y'all have a great time.

I'll be dropping in occasionally to leave a comment, or two.

Have a blessed day my friends.

Ride Safe,

Blog Break

One Can Only Hope ...
I know I currently have over 80 followers but, after some investigation, it seems that only have about one or two actual active readers. Looks like a lot of people have "retired" from blogging. If anyone is listening, I am taking a short break from the blog unless something really interesting happens.

Later alligator ... maybe ...

Texas Hill Country Vacation

In late May, early June of this year we journeyed to the Texas Hill Country again. There in the quaint town of Boerne we met with good friends Kirk & Linda [flew in from Maine], Dave & Kathy [who live in the area] and Pappy & Bebe from south Texas. Even though it was hot for so early in the year and unseasonably dry, I think a great time was had by all. We're all motorcyclists, so of course, we had to spend at least one day riding through the lovely countryside. What a neat place! There's always something to do in the Hill Country.

The photos are bit out-of-order since the original site I stored them at (dotphoto.com) was too confusing to use. Therefore I had to upload the whole enchilda to the hard-drive, then upload them to shutterfly. That jumbled the photos! *sigh* *shaking head* Everything is bass-ackwards now.

Kirk's on-line birding journal is here. He did a splendid job of cataloging the trip! I didn't even attempt such an undertaking.

Enjoy!

Click here to view these pictures larger

If it doesn't load, try this LINK

Bird Watching Trip To South Texas

It's been really nice taking 3 weeks or so from blogging. I needed a break. Thank you all for your patience. I pray these words find everyone well and enjoying life? I miss my blogging buddies. :)

During this hiatus Hubby and I traveled to south Texas, Harlingen specifically, to visit with new friends who have become very dear to us: Pappy & Bebe, Carey & Donna. These folks are just down to earth nice. If you're not following their blogs, I highly recommend them. After visiting with such warmhearted people it makes me feel really sad to think how my family is. It punctuated how disfunctional ... well, anyway, I won't go there. Do ya think they'll adopt me? [giggle] Nah. I'd rather be friends. I've had enough 'family' in name only to last a lifetime. Our blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ makes us all Brothers and Sisters anyway. I'm just thankful they like us and prefer our company. I felt like we were visiting Royalty during the brief visit, their generosity was so overwhelming.

While with our friends, one of the members had a birthday party. Pappy sang (he has a gorgeous voice y'all!) and played his guitar. Not only is Pappy an accomplished poet, but he's a scholar, a Patriot but also a musician. A multi-talented individual. And so is his wife, Bebe. She cooked her marvelous meals in their lovely home and helped show us around Harlingen. She was the perfect Hostess. We had such a wonderful time that leaving for home left us feeling a bit sad. I wish we all lived closer to one another. [sigh]

Enroute to south Texas it was necessary for us to travel the coast. I have to tell you, I'm not enamoured by coastal Texas. It's not near as pretty as Florida coasts, but one town in particular stood out head and shoulders above all the rest: Rockport. It was mostly retirees and very clean. The people were friendly and the homes well kept. We had a nice stay there before heading further south. Rockport was like a beautiful Oasis in a dry, dusty mexican sea.

We also traveled to Harlingen to enjoy migratory bird watching. Hubby added something like more than 21 new bird species to his life list. One of which is a pair of nesting Whooping Cranes! This was in Port Aransas. Even though the pair were too far to get a clear photo, I could tell they are very pretty. The Welcome Center had a stuffed pair on display.

Whooping Cranes
I witnessed more deer on this trip at Port Aransas than I've seen at home in one hunting season and we live in the country.

South Padre Island (near Harlingen) was enjoyable. They built as really nice walkway out over the marshes for birdwatching.

Traveling back home, we ventured briefly into the Texas Hill Country. Winter is not it's best side, so, we didn't stay long. I didn't get to buy my favorite wine this trip. The best part on the return was stopping in Boerne for one night, and then on to Waco to visit with more friends. We couldn't stay but just a few hours as a terrible winter storm was working it's way West to East across Texas. The wind howled like Gang Busters the whole time! The winter storm followed us home through Lousyanna, Mississippi, and Alabama. Thankfully, it didn't hit here until we were home for a few hours. That was quite a drive that last day. We drove from Monroe, LA to home in one day (500+ miles), dragged in at 10:30 PM. We were so exhausted. But it was worth the marathon drive as I was able to pick up the dogs from the kennel before the storm hit the next day. This 'global warming' is a killer ain't it folks?! [lol]

By the way, I haven't labeled all the photos yet. Hubby (the bird expert) is out-of-state visiting his father this week. The Old Man's not sick, just elderly and needed something-or-other done to the house. I think it's just an excuse to have his son visit and that's OK. I won't squawk I did give up a day trip to Daytona tomorrow to take in some motorcycle Demo rides (one of which is the Triumph Bonneville I'm yearning for) so Hubby could visit with his father. I'm not a martyr or anything. I just believe that family comes first. I can ride anytime.

PS: The motorcycle photos at the link below were taken at a friends of Pappy's. The gentleman inherited these old bikes, I think, from an Uncle who collected them. Do you know how much I wanted to bring the Triumph Bonneville home with me as a project bike ..... ???!! Oh yeah baby!! :)

Photos

We Had A Long Way To Go And A Short Time To Get There

"Did anyone order a Biker Gang?"
This is outside the Wagon Wheel Restaurant in Dahlonega before The Big Ride that day. The restaurant has been in business since at least the 1970s.

This was nice mini-vacation in the mountains. The air is cool and crisp, the landscape beautiful, the rides exhilarating and the natives are friendly. Some of those hairpin turns in the mountains with 15 mph speed limits posted are heart pumping (they're not kidding either, better slow down with those decreasing radius' - yahoo!!!).

The only 'bad' part was the ride up and back. It was nasty, stinky, yuck, pooey *HOT*! I think for the remainder of our vacations this year we will stick with riding in 'cages' (car/truck) or wait until Fall for anymore 2 wheel excursions. It was great though and I'm glad we went.

I'm going to invent a T-shirt that says "I survived riding 2 wheels in Georgia in June" or something like that. [lol]

Steve, me, Rebecca and her husband Tom,
Barbara "Bebe" and husband Dennis "Pappy"
We met Barbara for the first time this trip. She is as sweet as Georgia ice tea and sharp as a tack. I really like her.

One thing I've learned as I age, is to enjoy and treasure all my friends more. You never know when you may never get to see them again. And all my friends are such fun to be around. :o)

Well, enjoy the photos y'all! Thanks for stopping by.


Click on each photo to enlarge and/or
make the scrolling stop
or click here to go to MyPhotoAlbum.

Sunday Musings And Trip Preparations

I will be away from bloggyland for a short while this week. We're taking another motorcycle vacation (getting monotonous, isn't it?! Ahhh, being retired is so nice. tee hee). But we can't actually leave until we hear from our good friends that we will be meeting at our destination. So, we're scurrying about like little squirrels, putting this here, putting that there.

Once the phone call comes in, it's pack and leave time.

I'm glad we're still here today, though, because we did get to see our Pastor again. The sermon was the biblical meat, as always. That's one of the many things I like about Byron, he treats listeners like grown ups with the lessons. I appreciate that. He's looking quite well after the heart attack, by the way, if that's the proper terminology. A little fatigued maybe. I do know how that is being a bit of an overachiever myself. Gotta keep moving 'cause I'd rather die while I'm living, than live while I'm dead.

Speaking of that ...

Our neighbor called this afternoon to let us know her husband had passed away today. I know we've lost a good friend and neighbor in Dr. Richard Camberg. Everybody affectionately called him "Doc" for short. He was quite elderly (mid-80's, I think) and had been languishing in a Nursing Home up in Baxley for almost a year now. He had Parkinson's disease. Doc professed to being an atheist which I hope is not true. Many have tried talking to him about salvation but I don't know if he was ever persuaded. But I don't know his heart, only God does. Here's a link to his memorial at findagrave.

I'll always remember how kind he was to us when we first moved here. We were so broke, having just built the house. He let us borrow his Gravely mower for a long time until we could afford our first riding mower. Doc really helped us get settled in. He was always very kind hearted to people and had an amazing sense of humor. He'll certainly be missed.

Oh, and good news ... our 5 year niece, Amberlee, is much improved! The MRI tests came back negative. There's no cancer or tumor or anything abnormal. Guess what caused the symptoms?? She has severe allergies! Her mom has now gotten rid of all the heavily perfumed laundry detergent and anything heavily scented. Little Cuddle Bug (my nickname for her) is almost complete healed!! Yay! Thanks y'all for your prayers and concerns. God answers prayer. :o)

Anyway ...

Gotta go do some more work in preparation for the trip.

I hope y'all have a super week! God bless.

Now I Know Why It's Called Sweet Home Alabama

Now I understand that song! I've been to southern Alabama many, many times and was not really enamoured. This trip we journeyed to northern Alabama. The Birmingham - Tuscaloosa countrysides, in my never-to-be-humble opinion, are absolutely breathtaking!

This journey to far off lands was to visit the greatly acclaimed Barber Vintage Motorsports Museum in Leeds near Birmingham. Well, everything good said about it is true. The BVMM is one of the best motorcycle museums I've visited to date.


First, though, we went a little further into Alabama to visit my new good bloggy friend, Gator Mom and her delightful family. This is the first of what I hope are many visits with Gator Mom and family. They sure are nice folks and we had a splendid time. 'The boy' is an intellegent, well-rounded young man. We plan to do something special for him, but don't tell. [shhh] Hubby has something he wants to give the boy that I think he will really treasure.


The museum has multiple over sized statuary scattered about the 720 acres. I wish I had made a note of the name of this one. These out front were about 12 feet high and quite impressive. The driveway up to this place took a while to get there from the highway turn off.


The museum is five floors of vintage motorcycles and a few automobiles, bicycles, and outboard motors. These are all real working machines.


Even the elevator was impressive! It was completely transparent. I have a fear of heights but rode the elevator anyway and I'm glad I did. At least I can say "I did it once".


One of the Easy Rider custom choppers was located for the museum. This was the one that the film crew used in the wreck at the end movie. So, it had to be refurbished and reassembled for display. There are strict rules about DO NOT TOUCH and DO NOT SIT ON BIKES. I can't tell ya how tempting it was to hop on some of these beauties and ride off into that lovely Alabama sunset!

"No officer, I didn't touch the bike!"
Yeah, it's a mannequin. First time I saw this I had to do a double take.


Here we are in front of one of the vintage Triumph displays. I had to drag him away from the Triumph's. :o) "Silly boy, PUT THE CREDIT CARD DOWN!" [lol]

Oh, and a special note, there is a superb Bass Pro Shops practically 'next door' (as next door as over 800 acres will allow). The driveway up to this place alone is worth the stop. It's so overdone with the 'outdoorsy look' that it reminds me of DisneyWorld. The inside was wall-to-wall outdoor clothing, fishing equipment, guns, pet products, etc. There was even a simulator for children to play Nascar. Back to outside: the landscaping was to die for! I now have some really good ideas for future yard projects, on a smaller scale, of course ... (my husband just sighed and rolled his eyes ... ha ha)


Sadly, it was time to leave. We hugged Gator Mom and family goodbye with promises of writing, calling and visiting. It was raining when we left. The roadsides were all green and lush with profusions of lovely nameless wildflowers.

We left Birmingham heading southeast and drove over a small mountain. We're hoping to go back again as much as possible. I just want to live at the museum! Do you think they'd notice if I built a house right on the grounds? [lol]

There are many more photos. The whole enchilada has been uploaded to MyPhotoAlbum. Enjoy!

Texas Rocks!

Gruene, Texas
The above photo was taken in Gruene (pronounced "Greene") a German town near San Antonio.

We are home from the two week Texas Hill Country vacation. We dragged in about 2:00 pm today with our motorcycles in tow. Whew. What a long drive! Especially when towing over 2,000 pounds across uneven pavement for countless miles. The trip was happily uneventful though. So no complaints (at least, no loud complaints ... ha ha).

Anyway, here's a link to all the photos from the trip: MyPhotoAlbum . I may still be labeling some of them, so, if in doubt as to where we were, feel free to ask.

Now we can't wait to go back again!

A Unique Way To Display Your Boots

Ready To Head Home

The bikes and other non-essential items are loaded on the trailer. We're ready to head out in the morning. What a great place this is! The Texas Hill Country is our kinda place. The Hampton Inn has become a second home to us this week. It's been lovely and comfortable.

We did a big loop today. From Kerrville to Camp Verde. Then over to Leakey (pronounced "Lakey"), down through Utopia to Medina, then back to Kerrville. So, I thought I'd share a few photos of our trip today. See y'all in a few days!

FM 337 to Leakey, TX
We where privileged to ride the wonderful Texas roads. Some turns are off camber with steep grades making them a bit dicey, but they're still quite a bit of fun ... as long as there are no slow pokey cruisers in front, slowing the approaches ... jingle, jingle. [giggle] Sorry, personal joke. For those of you who don't ride, our local friend, Pappy, very kindly lead us around the Hill Country one day and he rides a cruiser style motorcycle. He told us later that the bells under his floor boards kept 'jingling' on some of those tight turns which means he was dangerously close to dragging. This is NOT a good thing on a motorcycle.

Anyway, we had such a good time while he was here. Pappy was very missed after leaving. Thanks for showing us Greenhorns around pal!

Camp Verde Creek
There is some breathe taking scenery, especially around the creek beds.

Dam Store
We even stopped at that dam store. [lol]

"Where the deer and the antelope play ..."

Nanny Goats (but not in panties)
Margaret, are you missing any goats? The one up front kept 'talking' to us "baaa, baaa, baaa". Then when we didn't feed her, she started spitting. It was so comical.


Time to replace this user. I'm tired. Goodnight until the next post! God bless.

Southeast Georgia Flood Warnings

Here in the Texas Hill Country, it's cool and sunny with heavy winds. Back home it appears our roads are all but washed out!

Gee whiz, we're only gone for 5 days and the 'world' falls apart. [lol]

I hope that the Pierce County Road Department will have our dirt road repaired by the time we have to traverse it with a motorcycle trailer. Our road is one of those on the list of closings.

List of road closures and washouts at The Blackshear Times.

Texas Hill Country Trip

I am fatigued from too much fun this evening. But very briefly, I wanted to share how we are having a wonderful time in the Texas Hill Country. Unfortunately, the Texas Bluebonnets haven't bloomed here yet. Darn, I'm so disappointed. Aw well, that'll just give me another excuse to return next year!

Pappy met us here in Kerrville and very graciously showed us all the sights. He has made our stay here even more enjoyable. His Mother was in surgery today and we all said special prayers for her speedy recovery. (We just heard she came thru fine and is even hungry ... always a good sign!)

First though, I must share how we drove through some of the worst weather we've been in for many years. The storms that plowed through the southern United States Saturday March 28th was as scary as any hurricane. There were tornadoes all around us and flooded ditches everywhere. We rarely travel Interstate, preferring instead backroads. US Highway 84 was closed in Alabama because of the flooding, so, we had to backtrack 100 miles from outside of Dothan back to Bainbridge, Georgia. Then travel south to Quincey, FL and get on the Interstate 10. (Yuck) We stayed in the local DeFuniak Springs fleabag because we where so dead tired and couldn't travel another inch. But the next day we drove a butt crunching 534 miles to the quaint little town of Jasper, Texas.

Lesson Learned: Best Western's are so much better than Travel Lodge [aka Fleabag] and Hampton Inns are even better.

Anyway, here's a few 'teaser' photos of the trip so far. The weather has been nice except for the strong winds. My neck is a bit sore this evening from the 130 mile loop ride but there is a *big smile* on my sunburnt face.

Wahoo!!

Yeah, ok, some of the smile is from the wine tonight, but most is because of the trip. [grin]

I wish all my bloggy buddies could be here with us. The folks are friendly, the weather pleasant, and the food devine. I'm sure y'all would enjoy it too.

Hope you enjoy the photos. Here's some more if you want to view the trip to date: LINK. The other couple in the photos are long time friends of ours that met us out here too. They are also motorcyclists ... of course!

Our faithful steeds awaiting their masters.


Pappy and Sparky hamming it up!


Then Wiregrass Steve had to get into the act ... big ham. :o)


Sanibal River in Lost Maples State Park (near Vanderpool)


Texas Mountain Laurel is in bloom right now.


Rivers Edge Tuscan Grill Restaurant, Kerrville, TX


And I'm missing the dogs somethin' fierce, especially Maxie. [sigh] I've already called the kennel twice to check on them.

Have a great evening y'all and thanks for stopping by!