It was hard to leave this beautiful view from James and Carolyn's porch, but we needed to move on. We had such a good time at their home. One day I was telling Carolyn I needed to get Mark and Alexa a wedding present. Carolyn said she had some quilt tops her aunt had pieced together. She suggested that I could buy one of them and her cousins, Joyce and Judy, could quilt it on their quilting machine. Well it sounded like a great idea so Jan, Carolyn, and I prepared the quilt top for quilting, bought some filling and a king size sheet. And in three days the quilt was done.
I think they're going to love it.

We also went to a big flea market I bought a necklace with 4 grains of rice in it. I watched the lady write on each grain my kids names  and painted a rose on the forth one. Amazing! We all went to Ryans in Corinth, MS one night and then to Harrah's Casino in Tunica, MS another day. We ended our visit with a friend-and-family gathering for a potluck dinner. It was a hot afternoon, but George, Willard, Lloyd, and I managed to play some music. It was really fun playing that afternoon.

After we left James and Carolyn's we went to Loretta Lynn's Ranch and Campground
http://www.lorettalynn.com/images/ranch/2010/LL_RANCH_2010.pdf  We visited The Plantation House, The Coal Mine replica, The Butcher Holler House she used to live in, and The Museum. It was all very interesting. We were not crazy about the RV park though. I worried our entire stay about how were were going to drive our motorhome around the trees and down the narrow road to get out of the park. We did take some day trips around the countryside and to WalMart in Wagner, TN. And we took a deep breath of relief as we wound our way out of the park and on to a major highway.  

We were glad to get to Goodlettsville just north of Nashville. We stayed at the Nashville Country RV Park http://www.nashvillecountryrvpark.com/Photo_Gallery/ . It was a good stay. There was a jam session in the park one night and I joined in with my Bass guitar. I got a little carried away and ended up with two blood blisters on my pickin' fingers. But I sure had fun. The swimming pool was bath water warm, so we got in (I hate cold water pools). I washed clothes in the laundrymat in the park one afternoon. Rocky got a bath and trim at PetSmart and we did some shopping, But most of the time we visited with my cousins, Elaine and Jimmy and their family. Two of Elaine's children were not there. We had a wonderful visit though and a wonderful dinner at Elaine's oldest daughter, Tonya and her husband Randy's home on the last night in Goodlettsville. They asked us to play some music, so we did. It was difficult because it got dark and we aren't used to playing when we can't see our fret boards. It was good to get to know Elaine and her family better. We decided it had been too long between visits.
Photo by Tonya (Will, Jean, Elaine, Jimmy)

The next morning we drove to Batesville, Indiana. It is a beautiful area, rural charm. We've taken country drives each afternoon and even visited a beautiful casino on the Ohio River. Last night we had a thunder and lightening storm. Thank goodness there were no tornadoes spinning out of it. Saturday we went to Osgood to a Tractor Show and Fair. It was a lot of fun: flea market, food, and tractor collection. We didn't stay for any events. Three hours was enough for us. Could it be that we are getting too.......no I can't bring myself to say the dreaded word.

Bass Fishing in Tennessee

Willard caught this beautiful 6.7 lb. bass yesterday evening just before dark. It was full of eggs so he released it, after taking a picture of course.

We are visiting with James and Carolyn and having a wonderful time. George and Jan are coming tomorrow, so we will have a few days of fishing, jamming with our guitars, and catching up on our life adventures. I think we are planning a cookout on Saturday along with some of James and Carolyn's friends and relatives. We'll be playing music, of course.

Guntersville Lake for Bass Fishing

"Wish I had my boat."

While we were at Guntersville, Alabama, they were having Bass Tournaments. There were at least 21 tournaments going on at the same time. The park was full of families with bass boats and fishing rods. If you are interested in fishing for bass, this is where it's at. http://www.guntersvillebass.com/ 

Memories of May 2010

I sometimes wonder why I even keep this Blog going. Not sure anyone even looks at it. But, I figure I'll enjoy it when I can't get out and about anymore. It will be like browsing through a scrapbook, I suppose. And perhaps one of our grand children or great grand children will discover it and realize we did have a life when we were old...a very good one, I must add.

With that being said and off my chest, I'll try to recap our experiences during the past three weeks.

We left Gene and Penny's in Liviingston, TX  after we came back from the visit to Santa Fe, TX to see my siblings. We made it to Abita Springs, LA by early afternoon. The RV park was nice, but I couldn't get cell phone or internet service (had to buy my internet service), we couldn't get satellite, and we only had 30 amps. And it was hot and humid, raining nearly every afternoon. We did enjoy the hot tub several times though and Willard caught one fish. Rocky enjoyed his walks, but didn't like walking in the wet grass. Guess he's an Arizona dog for sure.

This scrapbook customized with Smilebox

One day we went to New Orleans and visited the French Quarter http://www.neworleansonline.com/neworleans/fq/?gclid=CPaNzYDJ_6ECFRuenAodJmlwCw . We rented a horse and buggy for a tour of the area. It was really interesting. One of the most interesting stories our guide told was about the New Orleans cemeteries. You can read about them at this site: http://www.neworleansonline.com/neworleans/tours/cemeterytours.html  We shared a shrimp Po-Boy sandwich and some Beignets (French doughnuts), while being entertained by some sidewalk Blues musicians. We also saw the Mississippi River once again, and visited some of the shops on Decator Street. I especially liked the Voodo Do Store. It was awfully hot and humid, so we didn't stay all day. We were really impressed with the 25 mile bridge across Lake Pontchartrain http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Pontchartrain_Causeway . We had to travel it to get to and from our RV park and New Orleans.

Another day we went to Bay St. Lewis, Mississippi to Silver Slipper Casino http://www.golfcoast.com/casinos/silver-slipper-casino/ . Didn't have much luck, but enjoyed the trip. The casino is right on the bay about 500 feet from the beach. The RV park there was about $30 a day.  We didn't stay there, but it would be fun parking there if you wanted to be a beach bum for awhile.

Abita Springs had a Crawfish Festival, so we just had to go. I finally got to go to a crawfish boil http://mrcrowder.files.wordpress.com/2008/05/crawfish-boil.jpg . We ordered 5 pounds of crawfish, new potatoes,and corn on the cob all cooked together. They dumped it all in a paper sack and off we went to one of the tables under a big tent. There was a band playing music on the bandstand and a couple was dancing. People were milling about as we watched to see how to eat our lunch. Like all the others, we tore open the paper sack and begin eating with our fingers. Thank goodness there were plenty of napkins on the table. Wish my camera battery hadn't died. The woman sitting next to me took a picture and said she would email it to me, but no picture, as yet.

We left Abita Springs and went to Dick Albritton's in Couderant, LA to install some upgrades on our coach. It was a beautiful part of the country. Earl and Samie were there. It was good to see them again. The last night there we had a great jam session. Early the next morning we hitched up and drove to Meridian, Mississippi.

We've been in Meridian 5 days. It's been a good stop over. We visited the Jimmy Rodgers Museum again http://www.jimmierodgers.com/. We were here 8 years ago, but rushed through. This time we took our time. And the museum guide was very informative. We also visited the Dentzel Carousel http://www.meridianms.org/culture_attraction.htm. I had my first experience riding on a carousel. I'm sure it would have been more fun if I were a child, but I survived getting on and off my horse as gracefully as possible for a 70 year old youngster.