What To Do When It Rains.....

Well, this is the second day of rain here at the campground. There was Hurricane Michael remnants, then a front that came through. So what can you do to keep from going stir crazy? Some people watch TV or a movie. Well, we don't watch that much TV, so we do other things. Here are some ideas for you.

Knit a sweater! This is for my BFF LH

 

Line your cabinet shelves! They were getting scratch marks from the pots, so why not?!

Make a gourmet meal! This is braised chicken with balsamic vinegar and mushrooms. Yum!!

 

 

on the other side is the label with the prescription name and info (Rx # and due date)

Organize/reduce bulky pill containers! I took all of my pills (prescriptions, too) and put them in these handy plastic bags (from Walmart, 100count for $2) and labeled them. I wrote the prescription number and date they were due on the front, so all I have to do is change the date due when they get refilled! No more bulky containers in the cabinet! All of my stuff fits neatly in one small basket!

So now that you have all of these great ideas to do on a rainy day, consider this reward when it all blows through:

Ya'll come back now!😉

Welcome Back to Mount Airy!

We picked up our home and made it back to Mount Airy. We are here for a week, including their Autumn Leaves festival this weekend. Should be fun, since the last time we were here was summer, 2016. When we left West Virginia this morning on the way to pick it up, the sky was on fire. We were blessed with this beautiful sunrise:

Then we picked up our house! We asked them to wash it and do some things on the inside. They gave her a good scrub, even shining the tires. She's a beaut! Here is the inside, too, in case you've never been inside!

And now we are in Mount Airy, NC, home of Andy Griffith.  We are sure to visit the wineries again and Snappy Lunch for the pork chop sandwich (a classic!). We are on the hill and have full hookups (water, sewer, cable, and electric) for $33.50/night. That is amazing! The average temperature is no higher than 80 degrees while we're here, and the low is expected to be between 40 and 50. Fall is here! And we've even seen a few leaves change. I am just glad to be settled somewhere for awhile. 

Ya'll come back!

New Statehood!

Hi all! We have established our statehood in South Dakota, and everyone couldn't be friendlier. Starting from our host at the DMV to our hotel concierge, named for our home state, Virginia (not really, she was named for her grandmother). But she calls us her favorite retirees, and she has been very accommodating, even helping us get to know our new city for today's excursion and what to eat at the restaurant attached to the hotel (even the "secret door"). The only thing we haven't found is a polo shirt with South Dakota on it; but maybe we have to order it. I have to work on my accent, though. I asked the lady at the park if they had collared shirts. She thought I said "colored."
Hmmm. 😏

These are the gas stations in this part of the "world." They are like 7Eleven and Circle K. The reason I took a picture is because this is a medium (it's really a large in our part of the "world".), but if you can read the side of the cup, this company also gives 10% of their profits back to their community. Nicely done! AND they have fancy coffee machines where you stick your cup underneath and push the screen to what coffee you want and it fills it up!

We crossed the border yesterday, and you see how fast they are allowed to drive. Gary didn't want to drive faster than 70. The lady at the DMV said they drive 85. Wow! That's just way too fast. I guess they don't want you to stay long, lol! I took a picture of the temperature. That was around noon. Today's temperature was 50. Yep! Fall is here!

My official license! Yes, I'm an organ donor AND I registered to vote!

Falls Park 

The county is Minnehaha, which is Lakota Sioux for "Laughing Water".

You can walk downtown Sioux Falls and on either side of the street are various sculptures, called the Sculpture Walk. So I took some pictures of the notable ones.

Gary found Sasquatch finally; they are now friends on Facebook

A grizzly bear; stick a fork in him, he's done (he is make of forks!)

 

A seahorse

A rattelsnake

A giant shiny mushroom

a beautiful eagle

Titled "Music Over the World"

 Laura Ingalls and her dog

His pitcher is the wrong way to collect water!

The restaurant that takes care of us!

Thanks for coming with us to our new hometown. I hope you like it as much as us. Ya'll come back now!

Our trip to Establish Statehood

So we are on our way to establish our new residency in South Dakota. We've dropped the trailer off to get some upgrades and get checked over (like a physical before it goes on its big road trip). And we are off. It's a long trip (over 1200 miles); and we've broken it up over 3 days. So I thought I'd share with you along the way.

We started in Colfax, NC and passed Mt. Pilot (hi to all you Andy Griffith fans) and made it to Lexington, KY the first night, where we stayed at a Holiday Inn Express. It was pretty fancy, with glass shower doors and two queen beds with pillow top mattresses (his and hers). We also got a free hot breakfast, so we saved some money on that issue, too. G wanted me to start taking pictures of the states as we crossed them, but LOLA (our gps) had us winding all through the mountain passes, so I could only snap this one

 Mt. Pilot 

  Kentucky Road

Then today we took off and the temperature was 75 degrees. We stopped at a rest area around 2:30 and this is what we saw:

We traveled through three other states so far, and we've bedded down tonight in Iowa, near West Des Moines. The weather has been cooler, so there is fall foliage here. Who'd thought I would see it here instead of the mountains first? Aww well, it will be there soon. We've seen A LOT of corn and soybeans here and a cool wind farm, as well as a Hog farm (a Harley Davidson store/factory set like a barn!--It's really called Big Barn Harley Davidson in Des Moines). Don't forget a dog boarding service in Indiana called Hoosier Doggy. Gotta love it!! Anyway, enjoy the photos, and I'll keep you posted about my new citizenship, including my library card and voting. Woo hoo! Ya'll come back!

 

taken from the rest area

Lucas Oil stadium---?Colts fans?

Corn AND soybeans all over the place

Wind farm in Illinois

Mississippi River; had to cross it on the way to this place

 Trees changing color

 "Hog" Farm

From Trailer Park to Lake Resort

Today we embark on our next season, and I don't mean fall.

Today is The King's last day of work, so he is done! Tomorrow he will wake up a free man; no longer chained to a desk, working to pay for health care (lol!) So we will embark on our next season beginning Monday, when we start our adventure. We will begin by changing our statehood to South Dakota (the weather up there is nice this time of year) while the trailer gets a check-up. Then we do the mountains and the changing of the leaves. OOOHH Baby! I'll share it with ya'll, too! 😊

So we moved from the gated community to a lake resort:  we are now living at Davis Lakes Camp Resort in Suffolk. I am only 20 minutes from where I used to work for 10 years (shout out to my peeps at The Creek!!)

Anyway, this place is very nice and close to downtown Suffolk. It is very clean and well-run and maintained. The owners are on their golf carts all the time, there is no trash on the ground, and the laundry is very clean too. It's $2 to wash AND $2 to dry, but I can't complain. It's 25 min to wash and 30 min to dry, so I will pay $10 to have my laundry done in under 1 hour! There are trails to walk around the lakes (there are 4 of them), and a little swimming area, too. My bff LH is coming tomorrow and we are going to check it out.

So thanks for checking in; hope to see you around soon. ya'll come back now!

Trailer Park Digs

So we are officially four-square homeless, which means we now live in a trailer park. Wherever we park the trailer, that's where we'll live! Right now, we live in a gated community in southern Chesapeake. It's wooded and very shaded. You need a pass to park as well. Only two cars allowed at each site. not even alcohol is allowed (I guess they want you to party with the nature only). No problem. Our nearest neighbor is several sites away. However, it is coming close to Labor Day weekend, so it may be filling up soon.

The entrance/exit gate to this posh residence

Our new site

We even put out the welcome mat for ya'!

Ya'll come back now, ya' hear?!

Asta La Vista, Baby!

Hi all:

We are in our final days here in the Smokies. Today we are hanging out at Nick and Nate's in Bryson City (only 20 minutes from our campsite). It has fabulous beer and delicious pizza (everyone knows those 2 go well together). They have been closed for a couple of days for repairs; but thank goodness they are open today!

Not much has happened since my last post. We are quietly hanging out, enjoying our circumstances. We get up around 7ish, have breakfast, drive around for a while, and get lunch. Then we hang back out at the camper (sometimes taking a nap because, hey, we can!).  We leave Friday morning and head back to Ol' Virginny.

Some things that have delighted us while we were here include the following:

A family camped for a week using only this; I guess they put their tents in it as well. Redneck?

The traveling tunesman; there was a guy walking around the campsites last night playing on his banjo. There was no singing, but hey, it was nice~

Our firefly show. Every night, beginning around 8:30PM, the fireflies come out and entertain us with their blinking light show. It really is amazing to see them up near the trees. Truly wonderful!

Along with the fireflies, right around 9PM, these guys can be heard. They can be loud at times, but with the windows open and the fan on, it's not much of a problem.

Thanks for coming with us on this trip. We'll see you all back at the homestead shortly! Until then, keep your feet on the ground, and keep reaching for the stars (said Kacey Kacem). Bye~