MAY SOUND CRAZY BUT I AM GOING BACKWARDS IN TIME

 

I think this is part of the information center.  As you can see we got there early because not a whole lot of people around.  Maybe it's just too cold for them.

 

This is a 17 foot statue of "David".  Only one of two made.  It is outside of the Ripley Believe it or Not Museum.  We weren't interested. 

 

This was outside it too, So different, but art.

 

 

Just a pretty house, a B&B, they had lots of B&B's here.  Another thing they have lots of are the trams, or little open trolly's.  There must be at least 4 or 5 different lines.

 

Well the next thing we did was go in to Old St Augustine.  We were walking what we thought was a short distance towards Ponce de Leon's Fountain of Youth (which by the way was a walled nothing)  when we came upon a french bakery.  We tried to walk by but the smell of coffee lured us in and Jim got apple strudel and I got a round tiny apple thing on a croissant dough.  Anyway we made it worth their while.  We spent $10 there.  Coffee was good.  We decided to do the city first because someone was walking by and told us it was another 1/2 mile and we had already walked 1/2 a mile.  We ended up walking at least 3 hours so we got our share of walking in and off we are again.

IT IS WEDNESDAY A WEEK LATER

Well what to say - I have been busy and the computer has not been my friend.  Enough about that.  I think what I am going to do is work backwards until I am sick of it.
We sure have a cool day today, wore lightweight short sleeve sweater so it couldn't have been too bad.  It was around 65 degrees and cloudy, didn't rain today.  We have had rain this week. 
We went in to Old St. Augustine today.  I must say  since it was founded in 1513 or, so it's old.  Thank you Ponce de Leon.  We took the dogs with us, how can we not.  If you could just see their faces when we get ready to go on an adventure, it is almost impossible to leave them.  We have only left them twice.  Jim didn't want to go to the fountain of youth, his words, "none of us are going to get out of this alive."  Now does he really think the rest of us think differently.  Silly man.  We walked some of the grounds but didn't pay to go in and drink their sulfur water.  At least that's what people told us when they came out.  Jim took a wonderful picture of Ponce on his IPhone but now we have to figure out how to get it here.  If you think being old and technology is one yet, think again.  We try, oh how we try but I can't even get my IPad to work.  I can use it for reading but I can't get online.  Mac oh Mac where are you.  I will have to remember to bring it when we go to Ft Myers to visit them on their vacation the middle of April.  Oh how I am looking forward to that. 

 

Inside and yes there was a moat around the place.  The Spanish occupied it, the British, the confederate and the Union armies.  Indians were even held there as captives.  Construction began in 1672 making it one of the oldest standing structures in the United States.  Built by the Spanish.  Spain claimed Florida in 1513.  Renamed Ft Marion in 1825.  Original name in restored in 1942.  The National Park Services took over in 1935.

 

Jim would have been a big big soldier.

You can really see the cloudy day well in this one.  It didn't rain until about 4 in the afternoon and then we got a real down pour.

 

 

 

A picture of a picture behind glass.

This is the first place we visited, the Fort in Old Augustine. It is huge and was built way back in 16 something. This is inside. It is part of the National Park Service system so we got in free because we have our card. Aren't we special.

 

I suppose you are wondering how Jim got this spectacular shot, well let me tell you it wasn't easy, OK he took a picture of a picture.

 

A nice couple strolled by and offer to take a picture of us together.  Yes we have both the dogs with us, aren't we the lucky ones.

 

I know, enough with the pictures, but you have to admit we make a pretty cute couple, he is thinner than me but we don't sweat the small stuff.

 

OK we are off to other things.  Old town is fascinating.  Lots to see and do.  I want to go back to an art museum without the dogs.

 

 

HILTON HEAD ISLAND

I wish I had a picture of Alexis in her neck brace.  She had surgery on Monday and I felt so bad for not being there but wonderful Skye was for three nights.  Alexis had a new disc put in between C4&5.  They had to remove some tissue from one side of her neck and put it on the other side.  I wonder what that was all about.  Little Buddy their dog got snipped on Monday too.  Skye also took care of that.  She is a wonder woman.  I have so much respect for her.  Now Jeff, Autumn and River are taking care of her and I got to talk to her last night.  Mashed potatoes go down real well and who makes better mashed potatoes than KFC.  At least we always thought so. 
We have been at the Hilton Head Harbor RV Resort & Marina and it is beautiful.  The walking is great and the kids (Otto & Makons) love it. Makons wants to be outside all day.  She doesn't care if it 40 degrees.  It's heaven to her.  So we let her lay under the camper.  She doesn't bark and she just watches.  She watches and watches.  Otto eats and eats.  What is really funny right now is we did a good job of cleaning the camper yesterday and reorganizing but do you think I can find their dog food, and this morning they are out.  I need to find it soon.  I wonder what special place I put it.  I found the puff popcorn I had put under the sink.  I probably put it there to hide it from myself.  I am trying to only have a handful or two at a time.
I don't think I have lost any weight but we are eating much more responsibly.  So far all the salads we have ordered have been killer salads, and we had wonderful Bourbon Salmon on the grill last night.

 

THIS IS BUDDY, HE WAS FIXED THE SAME DAY THAT ALEXIS HAD HER SURGERY.

 

To cap our week up, we got here on Monday and I had to do laundry.  Let's see, 5 loads seems like a lot but Jim wanted me to take the kids for a walk as soon as we got here, it was a long drive from Nashville, we left there at 6 and didn't arrive here till sometime between 4 & 5.  My temperament doesn't go with long drives.  Jim seems to manage well and he had to do all the driving.  There is one story I could tell you but we are saving it for just us I think.  Anyway when I was walking the dogs, he set the camper up and all the faucets were open because of storage for the winter.  There was stuff in the bathroom sink and it started overflowing like crazy and by the time he caught it, it took a lot of towels and rugs to save the day.  Ask me again how much he loves camping. 

We went to Coligny Beach Park that afternoon, here everyone can take their dog to the beach, the kids loved it.  It was sweater weather but lovely.  I picked shells and Jim took pictures and we walked and walked.

On Tuesday it rained but we didn't care, the rain was more of a mist than a rain.  We left for Savanna to visit Warren (Knut) and his wife Ann.  We drove to their house and they took us on a driving tour of Savanna and down to the waterfront.  We had lunch at the Crab Sack and it was wonderful.  We went back to their place for cake.  Ann's daughter and her son live with them and the cake was his 15th birthday cake.  We had a very nice time and headed back late afternoon.  It is about a 40 minute drive at least from Hilton Head to Savanna.  On Wednesday back to Savanna again but not until later in the day.  We have a date with Warren and Ann for dinner and the theater.  In the morning we went to Harbor Town where their famous red and white stripe light house is and had lunch at the Salty Dog, another wonderful salad.  I also had wonderful pita chips with cheese and pimentos.  Yummy.  We were able to find South Beach but it took some doing.  What a ride, we kept going in circles but finally got there. 
We saw dead or half dead Jelly Fish on the beach.  They are huge.  At least as big as the cover of a 5 gallon pail.

The Jellty Fish just laying on the beach.

Jim and Makons on the way to the beach, I wanted a picture of this tree because you just wouldn't believe the size of the trees here.  So many are huge around.  I know there is an old old one around I have yet to find.

 

 

Otto at the beach in his sweater.

The Lighthouse

 

Now this is a boat.

 

 

How Otto likes to travel.

 

More in my price range.

I will have to finish later.  I need to find their dog food.  Poor things.

BELMONT MANSION

  

Well here we are at one of my favorite places to tour in Nashville.  The history of this place in incredible.  Adelicia Acklen was quite a woman, born in 1817, graduated from the Nashville Female Academy at 16 with honors, engaged at 17 but he died before they could be married of typhoid fever.  She waited 5 years to marry at age 22 a man 28 years her senior and had 4 children.  He died 8 years later leaving her the richest woman in Tennessee.  He didn't leave her everything but she broke the will he left and she was able to gain control of his entire estate.  He owned over 8700 acres in Tennessee but 50,000 acres in Texas and owned 600 slaves.   Her first four children died of  croup and typhoid.  Adelicia married for a second time at age 32 and had her husband sign a marriage contract leaving control of the estate in her hands and this is in 1849.  They had 6 children.  They build Belle Monte (meaning beautiful mountain) in 1853, the highest point around Nashville.  Her second husband died in 1863 so she is a widow again, he was at their holding in Louisiana because she thought she would be safer in Nashville alone.  She went through the war and somehow with the help of both the North and South got her cotton to England and had them put the profits of one million dollars in a bank in England until the war was over.  She became a very rich woman even after the war.  Did the grand tour of Europe and purchase all the stuff for Belmont over 15 months in Europe. In 1867 she married Dr. Cheatham, she is now 50 and of course he had to sign a marriage contract.  They separated after 18 years of marriage but she later was planning a move to NY and caught pneumonia and died in 1887while shopping for furnishings.  She had a fascinating life.  Belmont is now part of Belmont University.  Too Fun!

 

 

IT IS FRIDAY AND OUR LAST DAY IN NASHVILLE

I have been here before and enjoyed Nashville.  There is so much to see.  I have been to The Hermitage, Andrew Jackson's home, and it was really a fun experience.  I remember it was with classmates, we flew here, I knew Jim at the time, Jim remembers it as when he picked me up at the airport, I wore red, he wore brown and we were not that big around.  What a poet.
He is right.  We were much smaller people.  We were in love, we still are but the longer you are in love the bigger you get.  Something to do with age.  It was probably in 1982.  Audrey was still alive, Nancy and Neva, I can't remember if Lynn was with us but I think she was.  We did have fun, I can still remember some of the pictures in my head and laff.  I think we had one of Neva with underwear on with the huge initials BVD on the back and we all had quite a laff.
Back to reality.  Today we are going on an adventure to the Belle Meade Mansion and Winery.  Yipee Skipee.
Have to shower and get ready.
Later!

OUR TRIP OUR TRIP WILL WE BE ABLE TO GO ON OUR TRIP

Monday we had to go to Brainerd for shots in our eyes, both Jim and I get shots in our left eye.  We do things together.
It started snowing Monday and didn't let up through Tuesday.  We got at least 10 inches of snow.  We had already disconnected the plow.  Yes we have our own snow plow for the pickup. 
I think of it as a toy for Jim.   A frustrating toy when he is trying to line it up to hook up but I think he has fun with it.  He does the church and our place. 
We went over to our neighbor Gordy and June's for coffee Tuesday but we did get packed up and on Wednesday Jim drove in to town to see how the roads were and came home and said we were leaving.  Let's go.  We left Remer at 7am.  Wonderful Dick Martin came over Tuesday afternoon and plowed us out.  Been quite a winter for snow this year.  Bet the snowmobilers were happy this year.
DAY ONE: We drove 738 miles and camped in Effingham IL on Wednesday night.  We went to bed early and left by 7am, I had to say the owner was super helpful for arriving after dark.  Really nice guy and even gave me a baggie of ice from his own house.  There was just a dusting of snow on the ground, so good to get out of the snow.
DAY TWO: We only had to drive 301 miles to get to Nashville.  We are staying at a KOA, there are 3 campgrounds all in the same area.  This one has the largest campsites, and for The Castle (the nickname for our camper) we need a lot of room because it's 42 feet long and one ton pickup has an 8 foot box with a cab with double doors.  Heck I almost need a ladder to get in the sucker.  We are checking it out for Jim's army reunion in May.  The hotel some are staying at is just down the road.  We will be taking a river cruise when we come back in May.  We ate at the Santa Fe Cattle Company yesterday because it's one they suggested for a meeting room.  Did it stink.  Had the speciality of the house, Ribs, they were tender and falling off the bone but the sauce was watered down tomato paste, no flavor.  Baked potatoe was from the day before I swear and margaritas were also watered down.  For $47 you want to at least  be able to say you enjoyed eating out.  You got to pick two sides with your entr'ee but I wanted a salad and it wasn't until after I ordered I found out it has been cut off of the menu.  Hate to be a pain but on a scale of 1-10, it gets a 2, the waitress was back and forth a lot but never stayed around to answer questions.  she had to cover two stations and just didn't have time.  The good thing about it is it was close to our campsite.

TIME WITH THE KIDS

I was so lucky that on Friday before we left for our trip I got to the Doctor's for my blood workup checkup, sounds like a riddle doesn't it.  Anyway Dr. O. (Ottosen) said my numbers looked great.  We always like good news.  I however hated the fact that I have gained 20# extra.  I don't know how it happened only that if it wasn't alive I ate it.  How sorry I am because now I have to loose it.
Packed up all day Friday and went down to see Mac & family, Alexis & family, Skye & family, I have to include Skyes dog Nico.  Believe me that is family.  Mac and Laura have Hope and Hudson and of course Kissa the Kat, and Alexis has River and Autumn and Buddy the Chihuahua.  I had such a nice time Sat. & Sun.
I arrived at Skye's Salon and had the hair done.  I just let her do what she wants to, to my hair.  It always looks wonderful.  Alexis and River and Autumn showed up, my friend from ChartHouse Holly came for a cut and color.  I picked up McDonald's for the family and then off to Mac's, it was funny because Heidi needed her ring fixed so she met me at the Holiday gas station by Mac's house and as soon as she left my classmate Nancy met me here and picked up some product from Skye.  Powder for your hair,  to give you lift, weird huh. 
Got to Mac's about the same time Alexis and kids and we had a wonderful afternoon, played 31 and Mac upgraded my Ipad and computer.  It is such an old computer he can only do so much but it's my computer and I love it.  Mac and Laura made us a wonderful dinner, all I furnished was a salad.  Skye and I left around 8ish, tired after dinner and a full day and we went back to her place. 
I got up early and ran an error to the grocery store, was getting out of my car and found out I forgot my purse at Skye's, what a twit.  I got lost on on the way home so a good start to my day.  By then I had to leave for Mac's as we were going to church.
Got there in plenty of time and we not only enjoyed the wonderful church service and super music but there was a hot dog feed downstairs along with the silent auction, and yes Mac and Laura bid on a bunch of stuff.  There was a cake walk for the kids.  That was fun too.  So much fun to watch Hope and Hudson walk around in a circle until the music stopped.  Hope was a little dissapointed they didn't choose her number. 
We picked up pizza on the way home and all of us had pizza and Alexis and I left when Hope and Hudson went down for a nap.  It was a wonderful weekend.