Texas Hiatus

Hubby and I are on a much needed two week ... or more ... vacation to the Texas Hill Country. Thought I'd warn ya so you won't think I fell off the face of the earth when I become suddenly ... silent. (Hey, stop applauding out there!)



The doggies are in a loving kennel, the house is in Lock Down mode, the trailer is loaded with food, two motorcycles and various accessories.

We are good to go.

I do plan to keep visiting y'alls blogs of the evenings after long motorcycle rides on those lovely Texas roads. All the hotels we plan to stay at have wireless internet access, except some hoity-toity joint we'll be at in Vanderpool. I'm like Jerry Clower with his TV access. Dang, people, even the Super 8 has internet but not the Vanderpool place that cost about 4 times more! Geez. Well, hubby wants to spend three nights there because the wild bird watching is suppose to be spectacular. It's located on 56 pristine acres with a seven bedroom lodge (we'll have it all to ourselves ... no peeking). It'd had better be worth it, though, to watch me go through withdrawls of the evening from not having my computer hooked up!

HA!

One place we are definately going to visit again is the Sister's Creek Winery in Sisterdale. This time I plan on bringing back two cases of Muscat Canelli that are all mine!! Mine, mine, MINE!! Hubby can bring back his own case or cases as the, um, case may be. Good thing we're taking the trailer, is all I can say. Bwwaahhaa!

We're meeting some motorcycling friends, old and new, in the Hill Country. And we're also hoping to get to meet Pappy and wife Bebe face-to-face for the first time.

So, we should have loads of fun and oodles of exploits to tell you about upon our return.


Well, catchya on the flip flop good buddies!!

2007 International Motorcycle Show

We are at the current International Motorcycle Show with friends in Greenville, South Carolina this weekend.

Below are photos of our 2007 trip (click for larger photo in new window). New ones from this years event will be posted as time permits:



Steve in our hotel room


Demo rides from various manufacturers are usually offered at these events


Buying our tickets to enter


HUH??!! What is it?


Steve LOVES Ducati's!
"Put the checkbook DOWN honey!!"


Engine Cutaway Diagram
There are interesting displays.


Show Room Floor


Some bikes are impractical but certainly creative!


One vender brought his cute little dog "Bear". He was a big hit!


Hey, guys, this is NOT a motorcycle ... !!


I like the vintage bikes personally.


There's always time for lunch ...

Well, that's it for that Motorcycle Show part of the vacation. On the way home we toured the Natchez Trace in Mississippi. Very pretty parkway but not as pretty as the Blue Ridge in North Carolina / Virginia. The speed limits are not being enforced on the Natchez Trace and there were too many speeders. My opinion is that distracted from the beauty of the area.


Start Of Natchez Trace


The actual trail still exists in many areas.

Thanks for stopping by! Hope you enjoyed the tour.

♥ ∞

Our Vacation To Western North Carolina

Greetings Bloggy Friends!

We have finally returned from the 'Great North'. We were having such a good time, that we decided to extend the one week vacation to almost two weeks. (Gee, it's great to be retired!) The fall colors in Maggie Valley, NC, and down into northern Georgia around Tallulah Gorge are absolutely stunning this year! So far, this must have been the best year for color for us. We must have hit the peak just right because the woods were spectacular. I had to be careful riding my motorcycle on the Blue Ridge Parkway because one can't sight-see and ride at the same time. I saved all my "Oh!'s" and "Awww!'s" for when we stopped at the overlooks. That's me and Sweetie below at one of our stops.


If one clicks on the photo above, it takes you to MyPhotoAlbum where all the pictures from the trip are stored. This photo was taken by our good friend, Tom Williams. We traveled with him and his lovely wife Rebecca this time. They're the ones we've been friends with Since The Beginning Of Time (or maybe it just feels that way?). [lol] It was chilly up on the Parkway but down in the valley, the temperatures reached into the low 80's. That's really warm for this time of year.

If you view the photos of Elk at MyPhotoAlbum, they were taken on the Cataloochee Trail near the old Caldwell house. North Carolina has reintroduced Elk in the same area that they once roamed in the southern Appalachain Mountains.

Please excuse me not being too wordy this time. I'm still weary from the journey.

God bless ya everyone! It's good to be back. Can't wait to view all your blogs too! ♥ ∞

Incommunicado

Greetings Bloggy Friends,

27 May 2005
Our former motorcycles on a Day Trip

Just passing through to let y'all know I will be incommunicado for about a week ... more or less. Sweetie and I are towing the new adventure bikes to western North Carolina to tour the lovely fall mountains.

I grew up in Titusville, Florida, but my adopted father and step-mother had moved to this part of the world before they died. After suffering from years of physical and mental abuse from Dad, and even though we were practically estranged, I still stayed in touch with where they were. I got kinda used to them being there. It still seems odd to visit the area and not have to stop by and at least say a polite hello. Maybe I won't get to feelin' sad this trip. Life is so much better now without this pain in my life. We're also meeting some very good friends who are also motorcyclists and traveling in their Class A RV. This other couple are loads of fun.

Be chatting with y'all upon our return! God bless ya. Keep Blogging! ♥ ∞

Trip To Fleming Island, Florida

We just had a delightful weekend in Fleming Island, Florida with our long time good friends the Williams', J.T. & Rebecca. J.T. just turned, well, we'll say he's getting well past 60 now. [tee hee] Sorry J.T. So, we scraffed down a huge supper at a nice local Mexican restaurant in Orange Park. The next day we enjoyed relaxing in their back yard with a view of the river. We saw lots of water birds.

It was hard to come home after enjoying all those lovely surroundings.

More Photos Here:
http://redbirdacres.myphotoalbum.com/view_album.php?set_albumName=album03&page=16

We also took some time for pre-planning our Fall trip to the western North Carolina mountains too. The trip should be great fun. Rebecca is going to take a motorcycle safety course very soon. [YAY]!! You Go Girl! Hopefully, she will be riding proficiently by the time we take our trip to the Blue Ridge Parkway. We did go motorcycle shopping, one of my favorite things to do. Chosing the right set of wheels to learn on is going to be a tough choice for her to make, I can tell.

Thanks y'all! We had a GREAT time! Can't wait for our trip North this fall.

Enjoy!
Sparky ♥ ∞

A Visit To St. Augustine, Florida

Greetings y'all,

We were invited to stay with our long-time friends, the Williams', at their condo in St. Augustine Beach, FL, over the 4th of July weekend. We enjoyed our two days respite in the sun and surf. This is my wonderful husband Steve by the pool.

There is a great restaurant in downtown St. Augustine called Columbia that we had supper at on Monday evening. They serve traditional Spanish and Cuban food. The food was delectable and the service supreme. We highly recommend it.

I hope everyone is having a happy summer! :o)