Lil' Alfie's travels

Better Late than Never....

2010-10-10T15:26:00.001-04:00

I know.... I am TERRIBLY late in the next posting... just getting old.. and slow, I guess.....

We had such a great time in Goshen, sight seeing, mixed in with the rally. The time just flew by. We were very apprehensive about the large crowds, especially after going to the balloon festival in New Mexico, but this was a world of difference. Having full hook ups made so much difference.

One of our sight seeing trips took us to the RV/MH House of fame. For those of you who are not up on RV traveling, this was for RV and Mobile Home travelers. It was very interesting, and we were told that this was a new place for them. The building was beautiful, and spacious. We especially liked the "Little Prince". this was a prototype for the Bambi in 1958. Only one was made I loved it!! Isn't she sweet?

We were able to go up to a higher floor, and look down on the groups of RV's from above. That was interesting too. Looking at all the campers, and how they progressed through the years was quite a lesson. I would advise any traveler, when in the area to make a trip over there to enjoy this place

A few days later, we found time, between the seminars and doings at the Escapade to go and visit the Amish. There was a whole car trip, mapping out all the Amish homes and places of businesses. We never had realized that so many Amish and Mennonites were in this area. Due to their religious beliefs, which we were aware of and did not want to offend, we did not take as many pictures as I would have liked.
One of the Amish homes we were allowed to go in, and see and visit, we took some pictures.
The first one is of a Amish kitchen, and how it is set up, and used.

The second was how they keep their clothes.. they are hung on hooks, not in closets like most of us keep our wardrobes, It made me wonder, how do they keep them from getting all wrinkled?

In one of the surrounding towns, we went to a place called the Amish Acres. We both found this very informative. Sometimes, quite disturbing, but then, history is often quite disturbing. The Amish that were there answered our questions (which, I had many, I am afraid). The lady, who we took a distant picture of, is making apple butter. She informed us that this took ALL DAY to cook. It smelled so good!! sure wish I was not diabetic, I would have bought some right then and there!!!!

While driving around the area of Goshen, there was one place I just had to see!! They say it is one of the largest old time Dime Stores! It was like walking back into time. Hundreds and hundreds of jelly beans, and all the "old timey" candy, in glass bends. Soda pop in the old ice chests, packed in ice. I don't know if any of ya are old enough to remember these Coca Cola ice chests, but it sure brought back memories for us. And all that candy... wow... my sugar level went up, just being in there!! Old wood floors, that creaked when you walked across them... It was neat!!

Naturally, I had to make a stop at the local Wal Mart, to check it out... Around the back was the "parking" for the Amish... yes, not for cars... for their horses....

One of our last classes while at the Escapade was with our friends, Jim and Chris, the Computer Geeks. We just love going to their classes!! They are ALWAYS packed. But, no matter how many we go to, there is always something we come away with, saying "I did not know that"!!

Well, after the end of our "first" Escapade, we were all tired out!! Time to head off for home. (Which I have to admit, I was more than ready for). Ah... home.... I love it!! Guess I would never make a "full timer", but they all tell me, that is ok... not everyone is made for that life. I was already looking forward to that Looooong, nice hot shower, and my big kitchen, to cook in, again, Of course, not looking forward to all that washing that had to be done.. lol. Next few days, a rainbow hovered over our house, from all the washing being done... oh well....
Coming back home, meant that Thor had to be all winterized for the next few months, and his coat put on him (which is a MAJOR job... kind of like putting a coat and boots on a elephant)... but, thankfully, he is all ready for winter now....

So, friends, thanks for traveling along with us on our trip to Goshen. Hope you enjoyed it. We will be uncovering Thor and getting ready again in April... for our trip to Tennessee and seeing all our Dreamer friends again for the Rally..... Guess we will be all rested up by then.....
Till then... ya'all take care and as always.... Walk Softly......

As Always.....
The Thomas'
Jim, Pat and Thor.........

ESCAPADE at Goshen, IN

2010-09-13T20:41:00.000-04:00

We have been planning on attending a Escapees Escapade for years, and this was the year we finally made it!! It is being held in Goshen, Indiana, so beside attending the Escapade, we are looking forward to seeing lots of things we have read about. There is a large community of Amish who live in this area, and there are quite a few places to visit that they live, work, that explain their way of life.

Our choice of campgrounds usually run in the Mom and Pop variety, not the larger chains such as KOA and the larger camps. Our choice in Kentucky led us to a small, family owned camp, which we enjoyed so much. It had ponds, complete with five ducks, which seemed to run the place. We loved watching them, walk all over the campground, always in a line. One cat (#1 cat), who took care of unwanted rodents, and such, completed the group. At the end was a lovely farm, which I found to be so peaceful, we had to take a picture If you notice, that is tobacco drying in the barn.

(click on pictures to enlarge)

While traveling through Bowling Green Kentucky, we stopped and visited a train Museum. It was very interesting, and we found ourselves staying hours. When first going in, there was a HUGE train set, that took up the whole room. Hand made buildings, and numerous trains ran on tracks around the set. Short people, such as myself, had little stools that we could stand on to be high enough to look down upon the set, and see it all. After looking at this, we were taken by a tour guide out to the trains, that we were able to go through, and learn all about there functions, those many years ago. He was a very entertaining guide, which we learned later, about his being a actor. That boy sure did love to talk!!! After this, we walked through the rooms with all kinds of memorabilia of the time of the trains. One thing I found interesting was the china that was used in the dinner cars.. Real china, with white table cloths and silver wear ... all served by a waiter, wearing all white. Wow... it must have been something. I can see why it was a very special occasion to travel in this time. We saw how women all dressed in their best, and the children were dressed in the same fashion. This is a picture of the china sets that were used....

Of course, Pat had to try out the caboose. These have not been used since the 1980's... such a shame.... we all remember these little red cars, I am sure...

Finally, we arrived in Goshen....wouldn't you know it.... it was raining!! the roads going into the fair grounds where the Escapade was to be held were seas of mud!! But, we finally got into our place, all dirty and muddy, but we were here. Setting up is no fun in the rain, but when you do any camping at all, you find that it is something we all have to do now and then. Got something fixed to eat, and fell into bed, exhausted....
Still dark out side, sleeping soundly (even the trains did not bother us), and a knocking came at our door!! Geeze, who can that be? Ignore it... no... better not. A man at our door, telling us we had better move our truck. What? Why? We were told water was bubbling up under the truck!! Looking out, my gosh, we was right!! Yes, Murphy's Law.. what can happen, will. A water main break.. under our truck!! A thousand campers here, and ours were the one that had a break. Go figure. And this is a Sunday. But surprisingly, they were here in a hour or so, working. They worked all day, it was loud, dusty, but it had to be done. Of course, we had no water during this time, and it took all day to be fixed, trucks, back hoes and all kinds of trucks filled our street. One thing, it gave a lot of people a lot of entertainment. This is one of the pieces of equipment working on the break...

Our friends, Jim and Chris Guld, who we have seen and attended their computer classes and boot camps at other rallies were here too. There booth was set up at the market hall and had to be visited.. naturally....
We will be attending their seminars while here at the Escapade, so I am sure we will be seeing them quite a bit. No sign of Odie (the perfect poodle) today... guess he must have been kept back at their camper.

The fairgrounds a quite nicely kept up, with gardens and flowers all around. Across our street is a bush, and naturally, we had to stop and look at it.

To take a photo of all the rigs attending the Escapade would be a impossible task, but we thought we would try. Walking around, we found bleachers, so climbing to the top, we took this picture over the grounds. They say there is about a thousand rigs here, I would not doubt it. To find your friends in a crowd such as this is a task that is rather daunting. But, we have accomplished finding quite a few. Hugs and laughs are abundant...

To end the day, we were treated to a musical program by a young man, named Johnny Counterfit, and his group. It was a extremely entertaining program. The hall was packed, and everyone seemed to enjoy the show with great gusto. We are looking forward to the rest of the week, with its seminars and meetings and being with our camping friends.

Thanks for stopping by and enjoying our travels with us....
Take care now... and as always...... walk softly.......

The Thomas'
Jim, Pat and Thor

Greetings from Jim, Pat and Thor

2010-06-15T23:22:00.001-04:00

We are back on the road again…. on our second leg of our vacation. This year it is kind of taken in increments. The first few nights out, we met up with our good friends, Char and Denny. We just love being able to see them again, and catching up with all our news and travels. They are full timers now.. and enjoying it to the fullest. Always look forward to meeting up with this wonderful couple…

While in Galena, Illinois, we drove over to see President Grants home. While we were not able to see the inside, it was nice to see the home.

Our travels took us on up North, and into Wisconsin. As you know, this is cheese country…. and you know what that means, right? Yes…. mice… Everyone out there knows how Jim loves them. So, when we were passing by this fella, we naturally had to stop and take a picture with Jim and his friend…Igor.

We drove on up the route along the Mississippi. It was quite a pretty drive, and we enjoyed it.

While driving through Wisconsin, we saw quite a bit of Amish farms. The horses that they have are awesome, and beautiful. We came upon this mother and baby, which we thought was precious. The Mother was not interested in us at all, but the little one was somewhat curious about us, and why we were taking pictures..

While in the area of Sparta, Wisconsin, we found these tunnels fascinating. They are very interesting, in their history. Trains ran through the tunnels. They are now used for many of the bike trails here. The rails have been removed in the early 1990’s. If you notice the big gates, there was another set on the other side. They were opened up for the trains passing through by a railroad man, and closed again when the train passed through. He had a guard house on one end, and his job was to open and close the gates upon the arrival and passing of each train. We walked into the tunnel, and the temperature was at least 20 degrees cooler than the outside. Soot from the trains covered the roof of the tunnel. I can only imagine the noise when the train was passing through.

From the inside of the tunnel, looking out, this was the view. The fog gave it a somewhat eerie appearance…

Sparta is not flat land, like other parts of Wisconsin, and even somewhat mountainous, as you

see, from the lookout of Wildcat Mt. State park. Even with the rain, it was a beautiful view.

Our campsite, while visiting Sparta, was at Fort McCoy. It was a very pleasant place to stay, and

we enjoyed it. Each campsite was very wooded, and back away from the next camp. I enjoyed

it very much… even with the reveille and retreat being played out on loud speakers over the whole

base. It was too much memories of the Army for poor Jim. I think he had fears that they were

going to keep him. All and all, it was a very interesting experience.

Sparta is the bike riding capital, and there are bike paths all over the town. We had to take a

picture of this guy… “ Ben Biking”.. isn’t he cute? Everyone in town seems to know who he is,

and knows he is the biking mascot. The paths run for miles, and every one who bikes seems to

come here. For such a small town, I found it quite impressive how they have make such a nice

and beautiful place for all the biking community.

The biking paths run over beautiful bridges such as this one.

We will be on our way again tomorrow, to South Dakota, so we will be back, telling you all the news.

It has been so nice and cool up this way , and with all the news we have been hearing about the

heat Georgia has been having, we are most thankful, and enjoying it.

Till we see you again… take care…. and… as always…. WALK SOFTLY….

Jim, Pat and Thor

Jim, Pat and Thor on the move again….

2010-04-14T13:48:00.002-04:00

We are so sorry that it has taken so long to get our blog out… but we have had two very sick little computers…. :-(
Our trip to South Carolina was very nice… even with all the pollen that covered our newly washed and waxed truck and camper.

We arrived, got all hooked up, while greeting and talking to our wonderful friends. The campground is very nice, spaced nicely, and wooded. Of course, Thor was SO excited, being near his old friend, Myrddin. They just had SO much to talk about!!!
Behind us, was our friends, Char and Denny.   It was wonderful being with them again, we had so much to catch up on, and of course, the fellas had to go shopping together to the auto stores. This gave Char and Pat lots of time to catch up on all the goings on of the last year.
First, we attended a computer class, held by the Geeks on Tour couple, Chris and Jim Guld. We attended their computer boot camp last rally, and it was great. Seems like each time we go, we learn more!! This is such a great couple, and we are looking forward to seeing them again in Goshen at the Escapees Rally in September. Jim and Linda Smith were at the next table… learning lots too~

Pat’s computer buddy, Denise, was at the rally too, did not get to see her as much as we would have liked, but we did get in some good times together… (Pat even got her to get a poodle skirt for the 50-60’s night..!!

*******PARTY TIME*********
At last.. it was “50-60’s night!!! What a blast it was!!! All of us “old folks” remembering our youth…   Of course, most of us forgot our bodies were not 20 any longer, and most of us could not walk the next morning, but.. what the heck… we had a romping good evening.. dancing to the old tunes, singing along with them, and generally getting lost in the 60’s….   Some wore what we had wore at that time, and got lots of laughs out of that too.   Pat was so lucky, her wonderful friend, Pat McConnel made her poodle skirt… and she received compliment after compliment on it during the evening.   Of course, it had to be combined with Jim’s ring on a chain, and a letter sweater (borrowed from her friend, Sarah Peck). It was finished off with white shoes, bobby socks, and red shoe laces.   Wow.. what a hoot.. even got a compliment after the party, walking home, from another camper, walking by us… Thanks again, Pat McConnell…   you made the day…

This picture was taken by Chris Guld, and was in her blog..
Leaving, and saying goodbye to all our RV Dreamer friends is always difficult… but the rally came to a end. all too quickly, and we had to say… “See you Again”…
We look forward to seeing ya’all again next year.. if not before…
Our next stop was Plaines Georgia… to see Jimmy Carter’s home town. So strange, living in Georgia all these years, and not seeing it. But we thought it was high time to do so. It was very educational, and we learned a lot about our 39th president.   We visited his high school, where he attended, saw the class room where he learned his ABC’s, and viewed lots of documents and pictures of him and his wife during their early years in Plains and where he campaigned for President. It is just a wide spot in the road, even now, but we were told they still get thousands of visitors monthly, even after all this time The train station was his headquarters.

Yesterday we drove a few miles over to see Fort Sumter, also known as Andersonville Prison Camp. What a sad place that was. We have wanted to go and see it for years, especially after my genealogy work I have done on my Father’s line. We were able to get a tape that played while we drove through the park. It was very well kept up, and it left you with a deep feeling of thankfulness to all the young people that lost their lives here. Over 2,000 young lives lost … and this was all in a period of only 14 months!!
We viewed where the stockade and the line of the prison, which was marked in posts, where thousands of men were imprisoned. The small tents were what they made for themselves, to try to protect from the elements. In front of one of the walls, you will see manacles, where they were held by their ankles.. The cages around the trees were where they   tied to tunnel out, but were almost always caught… It was a difficult thing to view, but something everyone should try to go and see. As always, we have a lot more pictures, but due to space, we have just chosen these few …
The last picture is a small portion of the gravesites that were here.

Tomorrow, we head back home. It has been a wonderful time, seeing our friends again, and seeing things and places we have not seen before. As always, the time simply flew by. We will be home for abut 4 weeks, and we will be heading out on our next trip to Illinois, Wisconsin and South Dakota. Gives Thor and us time to catch our breaths, and pack up again.. We are having a great time, and want to thank you for joining us on our journeys… Till we head out again, will say Good-by….. take care now… as always… Walk Softly……..
Jim, Pat and Thor…

Newspaper article at the Balloon Festival...and more..

2009-11-01T15:30:00.023-05:00

A week or so ago we promised to put in the newspaper article that was done while we were attending the balloon festival. Has taken awhile to get it to you, but here it is...
(to enlarge the pictures click on them)

On the way back home, we visited a few places that were of historical importance, and we found very interesting. The Texas Ranger Museum was of special interest to Jim. Men seem to be very interested in law enforcement of years ago. The guns that they had on display was very well put together. Jim even got to handle one, and was astounded how much they weigh! The art work through out was beautiful. I found especially interesting the display they had on Bonnie and Clyde. It included the guns that were used at the time of arrest and pictures, that were somewhat gruesome, I felt. Outside of the building was a awesome statute of a Texas Ranger on his horse. The whole showing of the Rangers was done is such good taste, and very interesting, that I would highly recommend anyone passing by that way to stop in and see it.

In case you would like to look into visiting, it can be found in Waco, Texas

Our last stop, while heading back home, was Vicksburg Military Park in Mississippi. Even though we had visited the park before, we still found it interesting enough to want to go back again. The park is a drive through, and a cassette can be obtained, telling one about each stop along the way.

After its surrender, Vicksburg became an occupied city for the rest of the war. In Feb. 1864, Maj. Wm. Sherman marched across the state from Vicksburg to Meridian in the first manifestation of his concept of total war that would later "make Georgia howl' during the March to the Sea.

The drive though the park is 16 miles long. For history buffs, this is a absolutely must to see.

At the end of the drive, is the Union ironclad gunboat, U.S.S. Cairo.

On December 12, 1862, while steaming up the Kazoo River, it was destroyed by two explosions, tearing gaping holes in the boats bottom. Within minutes, it sunk. It was the first vessel in history to be sunk by an electrically detonated torpedo, which is today called a mine.

In the 1960's, it was brought up and preserved, where it can now be seen by the public. It is now on display at the a U.S.S. Cairo Museum adjacent to the Vicksburg National Cemetery.

So.. it was finally time for us to head on back home. Even Thor said he was tired!!! The last day was not the best of days.. It rained all night and kept up raining the whole trip back to Conyers.

Those who travel in RV's know what a nasty job it is, breaking down and traveling in storms.. But we made it home.. for which we were very thankful. It is always so great, coming home too..

Hope you enjoyed our vacation with us... it was nice having you along...

Till we get itchy feet (and tires) again... everyone take care... God bless...

Smile... enjoy life... and as always... Walk Softly.....

The Thomas'

Jim, Pat and Thor

RV Dreamers rally...

2009-10-13T11:24:00.017-04:00

wow...... what a wonderful time we had!! It was four days packed with good food, wonderful fellowship and meeting lots and lots of new folks.

We arrived a day early, so we were able to see all the rigs come in and meet the new kids on the block early. It was neat!

Howard and Linda really outdid themselves this year. I don't know how they will top this one.

The campground the rally was held at is Buckhorn Lake RV resort. It is such a nice camp. The pads we parked our rigs on were cement, and level!! wow. It was so easy Full hookups, which meant I could have WiFi for my Face Book!! double wow, with sugar on it.. cable TV too. We even had a small place behind our camper so folks could putt for their golf practice. It was well kept and clean.

Such a nice place to stay for the week. As we drove in the camp, we were greeted with this huge

windmill. It was beautiful. Of course, at night it was all lit up, which was right outside of our rig!

This is a picture of the entrance with the windmill.. isn't it pretty?

During the rally, we had two catered dinners, which were delicious! These folks in Texas sure can cook!! One night was a chili cookout. I brought my "Plain Jane Chili". It was not as fancy and spicy as a lot.. but people seemed to like it too. I know the judges had a difficult time choosing the winner. There were 15 entrances to be judged. People could not seem to find just one they liked, so they were all walking around with plates with 6 or so little bowls all on their plates!! Maalox, here we come!!!!

During the rally, there were many seminars given. We did not attend all of them, due to the reason, mainly, that they were geared toward people wanting information about going "full-time". We are just "part-timers", and not selling our home and everything, like these folks are doing. But, we were very grateful that we were able to give some of the new timers some of

our advise that we had learned over the years. They were all such a great bunch of "newbies".

Our "next door neighbors", Jim and Linda, were folks that we met at one of the campgrounds on the way to the rally. They have the sweetest little dog that I have ever seen. His name is "Boo".

This is short for something that I cannot remember tho. I absolutely fell in love with him.

I am determined to find a way to find a way to own one just like him. As you can tell by the

picture, he is my buddy...

Our last day here was a barn burner!!! In the afternoon, a lot of the folks had a "open house" with their rigs. It is a favorite with the RV Dreamers rally attendees We had a few couples here that have not be able to decide what kind of rig they wanted to full time, so this helped them a lot, Of course it was a wonderful excuse to just sit and "jaw". It was enjoyed by all..

The evening was a hoot. It was a "Western Ho Down", with a catered dinner (with the most tender, HUGE pork chops any of us had ever seen!) After the dinner, it was time to work off all that huge dinner.... so it was time to line dance. There were a lot that danced, but a lot of us that just got a kick watching them all!

Our sponsors for the rally, Howard and Linda Payne got right out there on the floor and really hoofed it up. They stayed on the floor all night, even after the others dropped off and out..

This is a picture of them line dancing... and showing them all how to do it!!

The caller told everyone that it was just starting.. and that the Cotton Eye Joe was next. Groans...

But, they all got a cool drink and went to it. Even Speedy and his lovely wife, Sherrie got on the floor for this one... We all loved watching them.. but after one dance, he declared he was "too old for this". But, he gave it a good try..

Most everyone was in western garb, and I was even a able to get Jim in a western shirt!!!

I grabbed by cowgirl hat on the way out, and we were ready for the night...

Our good friends, which we met at last rally sat at our table, and we had such a good time! They are full timers now, but are from Iowa, right across the river from us when we lived in Illinois.

Jim and Denny spent hours comparing floods, work, and talk about music. Char, his wife, is such a wonderful gal.. and we both just love her to death..

She LOVES to line dance too.. even when it wears her absolutely out. She got off the floor, but we caught her dancing to the music on the side ground.

Denny is a absolutely wonderful singer, and he brought along his guitar, and sang to us between sets. Both Jim and I and everyone would have loved to have him sing the whole evening!! Lots of

pictures were taken of him while he was singing, so thought we would add ours too so you could see him. (Can you guess... he loves Johnny Cash songs?) We are looking forward to seeing him and Char next rally, if not before..

The next morning everyone met at the big red barn for a breakfast, good by. It was a teary, sad time for lots... everyone asked, how can we get so close to a group in just a week? Easy.. we all are "family". Speaches and lots of tears later, with lots of hugs, we were all on our way to our next destinations, with promises to meet again next year.

Our next stop was at a COE park in Texas. Only traveled about a hundred miles, but it is a great park. Time to just relax and unwind after a week of excitement and fun. We are sitting on a lake, with lots of trees around and lots and lots of deers around our rig!! The man across the way is feeding the deers, so when they hear him they all come running!!! Such a beautiful site to see!! Here is a picture of one that was taken out our back window..

Guess that is about all for now. We are on our way now to see a Army buddy of Jim's and visit with them a bit, and see their new house. We have been out on the road for a month now, but it sure does not seem possible. We have had a ball....

Take care now, all. and we will be back in a few days.

Don't forget... enjoy life.. and as always... Walk Softly.....

Pat, Jim and Thor.

Little green people and balloons

2009-10-03T19:15:00.026-04:00

Wow.. it has been a busy last few days for Jim, Pat and Thor...

We started out visiting Roswell, New Mexico. If you have never visited Roswell, it is kind of a shock to your senses. The complete town is little green men crazy. Everything, stores, buildings, and all are painted with their ideas of how the "incident" came about.. To prove my comment, here is a picture of the local Wal-Mart...

We stayed at a cute little RV park in Roswell. It was very small, but it was super clean, and the owner was the sweetest young lady, who just wanted to talk, and talk about.. yes... those little green men. She told us about all the spots to visit.. and learn!

After visiting the UFO museum, which was very interesting, we HAD to visit the gift shop. Of course... how could I leave Roswell without key chains, coffee cups, pens, etc, all this little green men on them? then too.. we wanted to pick up little green men car antenna tops, for friends that we had promised.

A real kick was the street lights.. they were little people that covered the lights on the streets.

In case you would like to see them.. a picture follows. It was taken in front of the UFO museum, so guess it is appropriate.

Next was a trip out to the Bottomless Lakes State Park. We had been told that this was a rather interesting place to see, which it was. The Bottomless Lakes are a chain of eight lakes that are actually sinkholes that range from 17 to 90 feet deep. They were formed when circulating water dissolved salt and gypsum deposits to form subterranean caverns. Eventually, the roofs of the caverns collapsed from their own weight. Sinkholes resulted and soon filled with water and formed existing lakes. The park has a lovely RV camping area, along with swimming and places to picnic. One drives though the park, and are able to view the lakes and camping area along the way. The drive consists of a time period of close to 45 minutes. We were able to get out and take pictures, as well as just stay in our truck and enjoy.

One of the high points to our vacation was to be able to attend a event we had been wanting to see for years. It was the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta. To say it was a awesome event would be putting it mildly. We were able to camp right on the field that the balloons were launched. No walking long distance, or having to have a shuttle take us to the field for us. Of course, we were packed in like little fish, but hey, who cares. We were in the second row! able to see the balloons from our camper, if we so wished... but that was not for us!! We were awakened at 5:30 in the morning!!! can you picture that? with sounds like you can not imagine.. what is that? Sounds like planes... no, it was the balloons being lighted up with these HUGE flames! Good gosh, it is still dark!! We had to forgo our coffee, grabbed our heavy jackets (it was COLD out there), and headed over to the field. Jim wanted to get pictures of daylight taking off. The pictures are a photographers dream. Over 600 balloons, from 16 countries are entered in the event. The launch field, where you are able to walk among the balloons all being inflated, and taking off, is over 80 acres. ( a lot of walking!!). Jim took pictures and pictures and pictures before the day was over. We, along with lots of other folks were so excited about seeing this awesome event. We will put in some of the pictures we took during the day.. hope you can enjoy them as much as we did.

They informed us that there were over 70,000 here today. I can believe it... What we can't believe is ... we were picked out by a reporter, Charles D. Brunt a Staff writer for the Albuquerque Journal newspaper and his photographer!!

He asked us all about our being at the festival, where we were from, and all. He says it will be in the paper tomorrow.. we will see.. :-) In case you don't believe me, here is a picture of me and the reporter...

The next day we picked up the paper, and lo and behold, there we were! The photographer did a fine job, and the article that was written was very nice too. When we get back home Jim will scan the picture and article and we will put it out so that you can read it too.

Tonight is the fire works. That will probably be a blast too. Guess Jim will have to get out the tripod for his camera for that.

our next adventure will be the RV Rally in Kerrville, Texas. Wow... I can't wait for that too...

Guess we will have to go home to get rested up from all our vacation.. :-) but we are really enjoying ourselves, and feel so thankful the good Lord has given us all this joy ...

Till our next post.. take care, all.... and not to forget.......Walk Softly.....

Pat, Jim and Thor

Indian Nation and tornado alley

2009-09-27T18:12:00.006-04:00

Wow... if you like wind, the place for you to visit is Oklahoma!

I have seen windy conditions before, but Oklahoma has everyone beat... hands down. That, and the worse roads you can not imagine Our poor little Thor has been shaken, tossed, and generally just abused from one end of this state to the other. Mr. Jim is going to have to tighten down every bolt in Thor. To make things worse, we took our new bikes along for this trip, and they took a terrible beating too. The other day we had to stop at a bike store, to purchase a new bike rack that would be stronger, and hold the bikes more secure. That emptied our pockets about $300.00!! But, thankfully, the owner liked our "old" one, an bought it from us for $100.00. I say "old", when it was only used a couple of times, which was a difficult pill to swallow. But.. it had to be. The new one holds two bikes individually, not bundled together like the original one. It does not seem to shake and shudder as much as the original one did. Oh well, all in the things you just deal with while on the road.

We stayed at a nice park in Oklahoma, called Terra Star RV Park. When driving in, we noticed a bunker.. yes... a bunker. I told you it was not called "tornado alley" for nothing. But, bless their hearts, they wanted it to look pretty if it HAD to be there. So, it is painted with such pretty pictures. We walked over there, just to look it over, and a couple of men were on the grounds working, and told us "go on in.. it's open. So, me being a curious soul, I drug poor Jim in with me.

Hard to describe, kind of like a long, dark cave. But it had fans, and a long table, where they all played cards while havoc is being played out side. Odd, huh? I asked one of the men, when the last time it was used. He just laughed and said "the other night". Oh dear. I knew the storms were bad down the way, where we were, but guess it must have been worse here. Even the entrance door is painted.. isn't it cute?

With all the rain we have had, we were both starting to feel rather wrinkled. We were just wanting to see SUNSHINE again!! One night it rained and rained... so hard, with winds whipping everything around, and suddenly.. it just stopped! Jim looked out the window, and when I turned around, he was out the door.... with his camera. When looking out, I saw what he was wanting to capture. It was the Largest rainbow!!! we called it a "sherbert rainbow". The colors

were brilliant... and "sherbert" colored!! We wish we could have gotten a better picture.. this just does not capture the size and blinding brilliant color, fully, but it does somewhat. We both

agreed that our Lord really outdid himself with this beautiful display..

Finally... we made it through Oklahoma, and it was on to Texas. It is windy here too!! an HOT.

I am asking myself, why, oh why, did I bring along all these fall clothes? We have been over to the mall a few times, just to get short sleeve shirts, and shorts already. I just can't win!

Today we went to see a "must see" here in Amarillo. It is the famous Cadillac Ranch. It has even been on television. I had to admit.. it is truly "odd". The Cadillacs average 1500 visitors a day. Inspired by Stanley Marsh, a Amarillo legend, famous for his fanciful creations. The Ranch consists of 10 Eldorado Cadillacs, buried nose first in a farm field. It is one of those things you just have to see to believe.

We will be here, in a place called the Oasis RV Park for a few days, and it will be on the road again for Thor, Pat and Jim again. Our next stop will be in Roswell, NM. Have to pick up a few little aliens for car antennas for a family we promised. It is kind of a kinky, weird place... but it has wonderful photo opportunities. Just so odd, you find yourself kind of wondering... do you kind of question.. was there something to this place? Stayed tuned, and we will be writing about it, and sending along some pictures... to make you "kind of wonder" too... ::-)

Till then.. take care .... and as always.... Walk Softly

Jim, Pat and Thor

Rain, rain... go away....

2009-09-22T21:57:00.004-04:00

All right,already... enough is enough... I am just about ready to start building our ark!!

There are so many places to go, and so much to see.. but all the rain is making it difficult. Last night the storms were so bad, and fierce, we pulled in our slide out. Rocking and rolling gave a whole different meaning..

In between the rain storms we were able to get a little sight seeing done though.

We found a lovely park to stay in while at West Memphis , Arkansas. It was called Tom Sawyers RV park. Located right on a bluff overlooking the Mississippi river. It was so unusual.... the barges passed right by our camper, only feet away!! They were huge. Watching them navigate the turns in the river was awesome. I kept waking up during the night by these powerful lights they use to navigate, lighting up the camper. Even if one did not notice the lights, you could not ignore the powerful sound of the engines of the barges. They had this low, powerful rumble. I noticed that even the other campers would come out of their rigs and take pictures of these massive machines. The campsite had benches all along the coast line that you could just sit and watch the barges come down the river. It was all and all a site to behold. We really enjoyed our time at this camp site.

Our next stop was Conway, Arkansas. This was a town that gave Harold Lloyd Jenkins his stage name.. Do you know who he was? (Conway Twitty)..

We did not take any pictures to put on the blog from this stop due to the fact we have ones that were taken the last time we were here in our blog. Always such a nice COE park to stay at, we always enjoy it.. even if it does have such a odd name ... Toad Suck Ferry...

It was time to move on... so we traveled all the great distance of 170 miles to another COE park.. Spring Hill COE park. This is right out side of Fort Smith, Arkansas. It is another wonderful park.. and I do use the description of park correctly. It is like camping in the middle of a city park.. lots of space.. it even has a lake behind our camper!! Being in Arkansas is rather uncomfortable for Georgia residents right now though. ( Georgia beat Arkansas the other day). When some folks see our Georgia plates, we have received some not so pleasant looks. Being informed at a gas station that these Arkansas folks take their football very serious, and are right down rabid about it at times.. (sorry about that folks, but we did not have any thing to do about it). Hope they will all get over it pretty soon.. that or we will be in Oklahoma soon!! We are only about 7 miles from the border now..

We are adding a few pictures of our place here in Ft. Smith for you to see..

While here at Ft. Smith, we went over to visit the Fort. It was quite interesting. Inside it was too dark to take pictures though. It had the court rooms and what the stockade was like in the 1800's. It had a hospital and a commissary. Small fort, but very important in its day. Trials were held, and hangings were commissioned here too. I was very interested with how the American Indian was treated and handled by the judge who presided (Judge Isaac Parker).

The gallows were the prisoners were taken to be hung is right outside of the courthouse, and one can go and see just how it looked during that time, if so desired.

The burial grounds for Fort Smith is adjacent to the fort, it was quite impressive, a picture follows..

Tomorrow we will be on our way again. Hopefully, we will be running out of the rain. It will be on to Oklahoma... a new place for us.. we will be happy to be able to put the sticker on our map.. this vacant place has been staring at us for years... hope we will be able to find lots of new places to see so we can share them with you all next time... till then.. take care now..

as always.. don't forget... Walk Softly.....

Jim, Pat and Thor on the move again..

2009-09-15T20:53:00.018-04:00

Hi everyone...
Thor wants you to know that we are finally traveling again. and he is EVER so happy.

We pulled out of our driveway the 13th of September. That is a Sunday, and I know that some of our readers are wondering why we would leave on that day.. Well, this is the way we figured...
We have to travel though Atlanta to get anywhere, it seems. If any of you have traveled through the great city, you will remember what horrors await you, especially during work week. There seems to be no "good" time to pass though during the week. Through trial and error, we found Sundays to be the easiest. Hence, the reason for leaving on Sunday. Thankfully, we were through, and on the other side in one hour... wow, unheard of... and we were on our way.. wippee....

Our first night was spent in Talladega. Nothing great to speak of.. but it was a place to rest our frazzled nerves.

Next day, it was on to Mississippi. We found the cutest little RV park, right along the Natchez Trail. This has been one place on our "bucket list" for years. We had passed by again and again on our way to other destinations, always saying "we need to stop by and visit sometime". You know how that is, always meaning to, but never seeming to find the time. So, we decided to make time to stop and at least see part of the trail this trip. It is a lovely place, not too exciting, but a nice, peaceful drive. Rather like driving through a long, long park. Not too much to stop and see though. We have had rain the whole two days we have been here, so that limited our being able to get out and walk the trails. Humidity here in Mississippi is not to be believed! I thought Georgia was bad...All and all, we are glad we were able to stop and see the famous Natchez Trace.

Here is a picture of the cute little RV park we stayed at while here.. I would recommend anyone to stay here while visiting the area. It is reasonable, clean, and run by the nicest people. The lots are not real close to each other, like some, and has full hook ups.

Of course, while being this close to Tupelo, and being a long, die-hard fan of Elvis, you know where I just HAD to drag poor ol' Jim off to see... yep.. the birth place and home of Elvis Presley!
It was so great!!! It had the original house, where he was born, the church that he attended had even been moved here, to the original place, and the very pretty chapel that he had wanted built, for his fans meditation. All was in wonderful condition and taste. It was all in a park like setting, and places to sit, and just take it all in. We both agreed that we enjoyed stopping to see the site. Graceland is wonderful, but we felt that this was more of a "down-home" feeling, that Elvis and his family would have portrayed.
We are adding on some pictures that were taken there, and hope you enjoy seeing the early home of Elvis and his family. The house was built by Vernon Presley for $180.00. of course, this was a long time ago.

It is time to be moving along tomorrow. Our plans are to be right outside of Memphis, and staying at a RV park that overlooks the mighty Mississippi river. I like the name ... Tom Sawyer park... isn't that the neatest thing? Has to be great..

We will be writing again soon, and hope you will be joining us on our journey....

Pat, Jim and Thor...

Our Long-Delayed Journal..

2009-06-22T21:21:00.003-04:00

This is a kind of After The Fact Journal. But... as I always say.... better late than never, right?

We spent a few weeks in our favorite place in the world.. The Blue Ridge Mountains recently. Unfortunately, it was kind of cut short my some illness of both Jim and I. Nothing serious, but it put a bug in our plans. We still had a good time, and enjoyed seeing God's great creation, and visiting with good friends.

Fifty percent of the time we were in the mountains, we had to endure rain... and more rain. Have you ever wondered why it is so green in the mountains? Here is a clue... it rains.... a awfully lot!
But... fifty percent was sunshine too! We just kind of learned to run between the raindrops!
With all the rain, you can imagine how the flowers loved it. My favorites this year was the Mountain Laurel. Such a delicate flower! Jim even loved them, and was constantly taking pictures of them. For your enjoyment, we are putting just a few of the pictures we took of them...

Our good and dear friends, Jim and Beth came up to the top of the mountain to spend some time with us. We always look forward to seeing them, and catching up with all our news. Beth's birthday falls on the same month as Jim's... so we celebrated two birthdays during their visit.
Being the good cook that Beth is.. she surprised Jim with a birthday cake. He loved it... his favorite, chocolate. But it had a surprise!!! Trick candles!!! But, Jim being Jim... was not going to let it get the best of him... those poor little candles did not have a chance!

To celebrate, we all went over to the restaurant at Pisgah Inn, and had a wonderful meal. The setting is beautiful. Windows surround the restaurant and there is no a table to be found that does not have a wonderful view of the mountains. Of course, after eating, we all had to go out to the deck and take some pictures to commemorate the occasion...

Springtime and early summer is such a beautiful time to visit the Parkway. Everything is new, and green. The flowers are all blooming along the Parkway like no other time of the year. The new little baby animals are all just making their first appearance, and it is not unusual to see a proud Mother Deer, showing off her new little fawn. Turkey abound like nothing you have seen... we never cease to be amazed by the beauty and wonder of this beautiful place.

As I said, our visit this time was kind of short, but it was a wonderful time.
Our time at home is awfully busy... we are getting ready to set out again on our next adventure . Thor says he is barely being given time to catch his breath. But, he too, is looking forward to our next excursion. We will be heading out to New Mexico!!! Wow, we are looking forward to this SO much! We will be attending the balloon festival in Albuquerque. Both Jim and I have dreamt for years about being able to attend this wonderful event. On the way, we will be going to Roswell, NM.... Do you know about this place? They say aliens landed here!!!! Do you think we might be able to see any of those little green people? You know me... I sure will be looking for them!
After the festival, we will be going to Kerrville, Texas to attend a RV Rally. This will be with the same group of folks that we spent time with last year in Branson, MO. We are looking forward to seeing them all again
This coming trip will have more pictures and writings on our blog than our trip to the Blue Ridge.
This is due to the fact that in the mountains, it is very difficult to have any kind of communications on my computer, and not many places one can find to make contact.
We are hoping you will be tuning in and following us on our next venture... we would love to have you along....

Till then... we leave you with good thoughts and best wishes. And as always... WALK SOFTLY...

BE IT SO EVER HUMBLE...

2008-10-24T22:10:00.002-04:00

Home... ah, it is so great...
It is so great, being out, but coming home is wonderful too. Poor lil' Thor.. he is plumb wore out. I think he is glad to be home again too.
We all had a good time.. seeing folks we had not seen for a while, and visiting all our old haunts.
The class reunion was one of the high points, and we have memories that will last us for a long, long time. As usual, we wish we had taken more pictures, seems like one never takes enough of them.
So... now all of us are all looking forward to just resting up.
Now, begins the Big, Big job of breaking down, and getting Thor all ready for winter. This is a MAJOR job. It consists of getting Thor winterized, his coat put on, and wheels all covered. Have you ever tried putting a cover on a big, 13 foot tall object? It is a job that takes hours!! Jim has to crawl on top, and while pulling the cover over Thor, I guide the cover to each side equally. It is really kind of funny to watch, I suppose. I am too busy to see the humor, I'm afraid. But, we want Thor to be all warm and cozy for the winter, until next spring, when we can uncover him for the next trip.
My little washing machine has been going flat out for six hours. At this point, I am sure there is a rainbow over our house. Stacks of ironing await me when this is all done... Times I wonder if I am getting too old for all this... But then, give me six months or so... and I will be all ready to do it all over again... and Thor will be out there, complaining of "itchy tires"... Jim will be saying " the mountains are calling".... and we will all be off and running again...
So... till then, have a wonderful winter, and watch for Lil' Alfie's next adventure....
God bless, all....
Jim, Pat and Thor

Back home in Illinois

2008-10-15T16:58:00.003-04:00

Wow.. it seems strange, being back home in Illinois. Things are the same, but different too. Jim had a list all made up.... places to see, folks to see, and our favorite places to eat. Where were we going to find the time for it all? But... we did. It was a week filled with laughs, tears, and fun.
We started it all out with seeing our little ginkgo tree's mommy. For those of you that have followed our travels in the past, this is about the little ginkgo tree that we brought back home from Illinois a few years ago. It has it's own registration and number. He was born in Hampton, Illinois, and his mommy was HUGE. She was cut down a few years ago, moved to the history center in Hampton, which was at this time, carved with the most wonderful scenes. We all feel so proud that our little ginkgo tree comes from this wonderful experiment. So, we felt we just had to go over to the history center to see the history of our little fella. It was most impressive... Here is a picture of the mother tree at the center, and the carvings...

The next day was the "memory walk", which we all had planned for so long. There is kind of a story to this. A group of us all lived in the same area, and attended the same school (Longfellow School). We all, each day, walked through the park, to the bottom of the hill to attend school. Close a fast friendships were developed during these walks through the years, and we have kept in touch throughout the years. We all thought that it would be the perfect time, while we were at the class reunion, to do a "memory walk" while here. There were a few that had passed on, some that were too far away to make it, and a few that were, physically unable to do the walk. So, we gathered together the ones that could, and walked. Boy... we had forgotten how steep the hills here, how far it was.... funny, when we were little ones, we just scampered up and down the hills!

But, we made it... a little winded, but we did... How strange, looking at the school... "didn't it seem bigger?" we all said. They are in the process of tearing and remodeling it, so it won't be the same next year... so it was good timing for us. We all sure enjoyed being together again.... even if we were all older, grayer, heavier...

The reunion was wonderful. There were more there than they had even planned on. It was two days just packed with things and places to go. Really kept us busy. Pat talking (lost my voice), Jim taking pictures. Friday night was pizza night, over 200 were there! Met lots of my classmates husbands and wives. Sat. morning we went over to the high school for a tour. Wow, have things changed!! But, there were still places that it was like I was just there last week. Really a strange feeling, knowing the last time I was there was 50 years ago! Sat. night was the reunion. I would not even know where to start to tell you about that! Just suffice to say, a good time was had by all.

After leaving the quad cities, we headed on out toward Missouri. Had to stop and take a picture of the "World's largest rocking chair". We were following along Route 66 when we came upon it.
It was one of our "unusual pictures" that we run upon every now and then... strange, huh?

The corn fields are all being cut now, and the farmers are really working hard to get it all done.
Since Jim is a John Deere man, we had to, of course take a picture of one in the fields...

Well, we will be off again tomorrow morning, and have to admit, we are looking forward to being home again... Thor says he is even kind of tired....
That's all for now...so, will being saying
see ya.....

KENTUCKY...

2008-10-04T12:21:00.015-04:00

Here we are... in Kentucky.... Fast horses and beautiful women...
Jim thinks he is in Heaven...
It is so beautiful... the leaves are all turning, and it is cool at night. What more could you ask for, right?
One of our stops was in Berea. It is a college town. Not just a normal college, but it is what they call a "working college". The campus is beautiful, and spreads out all over the town. We found it to be quite unusual and unique. Their word seems to be.. "To lend a helping hand". Thus, all over town you see these big hands. All painted and decorated. Some are quite striking. We took pictures of lots, but this was my favorite..

Our main purpose of visiting this part of the country was for Pat to visit places of her roots. The line descends from the Hanks line, Nancy Hanks Lincoln, Abraham's Mother, and family. To say that it was quite a leaning experience would be a understatement. The following pictures are self explanatory, so there is not a notation on each one. We hope that you enjoy them...

This is believed to be the original cabin in which Abraham Lincoln was born. It is housed in a beautiful structure, which protects it from elements of nature.

Tomorrow we will be off again, to Indiana. Seems rather strange to being headed North in October. but it just worked out that way.
We are looking forward to seeing lots more neat places... stay tuned....

As always..... Walk Softly.....

Our "home" away from home

2008-09-29T15:38:00.010-04:00

Our vacation is starting out in our most favorite place... The Blue Ridge Parkway. It has been very cool but that is ok--- lots of sleeping bags take care of that..
We had a very special visit this week end.... Beth and Jim came up to the mountain to spend a day with us.. We all had a wonderful time, and we all lost our voices, from so much talking and laughing all day. But it was a great time, seeing them again!

The leaves are all starting to change and turn..... and such lovely colors, you have never seen! It will be even more pretty in a very short time. But, thankfully, we were able to be here to enjoy the preview of the great show..

It is near impossible to choose just a few pictures to show you of this beautiful place.. but we have narrowed it down to a few. Hope you enjoy them..

When we are out traveling, I always seem to be on the lookout for houses that have been left behind, so to speak. They some how seem to all have their stories to tell, that they seem to be begging to be told. I find myself wondering who lived there, and loved this little "home". Even tho the house is nothing but brick and motor, they seem to die when no one is there to love them any more. This little house that we came upon in the hills looked so sad, even the tree some how seems to have its arms around it, comforting it--- The paint is peeling, the little porch is falling down.. but don't you wonder who loved it at one time?

Bridges, of all kinds have interested both of us for years.. we take pictures of bridges, when others around us are taking pictures of the flowers and people... but during our travels we have come upon quite strange ones... the ones along the Parkway, we found deserving of our attention and photography. They are quite striking... we found quite a few of them along the drive...

While sightseeing we found this beautiful waterfall. It was so beautiful and peaceful... almost makes you want to pull off your shoes and go wading. but, it was too cold for that, so we just had to enjoy it from a distance..

While leaving the Parkway this morning we just had to stop and take a few last pictures .. The fog was starting to lift up from the mountains, and it was breath taking.. We always find it so difficult to say good by to our favorite place..

We are now on the next leg of our trip. Our next entry will tell you about our stay at Raccoon Valley... isn't that some name? Then, we will be off to Jim's ol' stomping grounds...Kentucky.
We will be checking in again in a few days with more news and pictures... Till then... take care.. and as always.... Walk Softly......

Thor has itchy wheels... and spiderwebs!

2008-09-19T21:28:00.003-04:00

Thor is telling us it is time to get moving again! To prove the fact, he told us to look up.. over his roof. There, we saw the prettiest spider web... so delicately woven. It had rained that morning, and the mist and fog showed so pretty behind it. Now, I am no fan of spiders, mind you, but I DO have to admire their work. Thought you might like to see a picture of his work... it does not show up as well as with the eye, but you can see it a little.

We are very much looking forward to our next trip out. If all goes well, we will be pulling out the morning of September the 24th. Jim has been hard at work, getting Thor all cleaned up, and sparkling and shiny. Thor likes to put his best wheel forth when leaving the driveway. It has been a few days of hard work for the fellas, but Thor is really looking nice. Pat's job is to get the inside all cleaned and ready. Here is a picture of the fellas....

We finally have our trip all planned out. With diesel being so high, we have to plan the miles carefully. Our first stop will be in the Blue Ridge mountains... this is Jim's very favorite place to camp... The communications in the mountains is not the best, so the first part of our vacations will be kind of sparse with news.. but we hope to catch up and tell you all about what is happening, and what we are seeing after leaving the mountains...

Well, that is all for now... keep watching for us... and we will be posting after the 24th...

We're Home!!!

2008-06-22T15:43:00.002-04:00

Ah... home looks good!!!
Always so nice to be able to go and see new places and meet new folks.. but time comes when a little internal clock says "time to go home". Guess they call that the "nester" in me. I start to long for my flowers and yard... and, oh yes, a nice long, long shower. Living in a rig, such as ours, is kind of like living in a doll house. Everything is small, small, small. Cute as a bugs ear, but it starts to wear on one after a few weeks. Jim has a difficult time at the gas pumps... $100.00 for a fill up kind of puts his nerves on edge. But.... it is all worth it. We are looking forward to saving our nickles and dimes for our next "mini vacation" in a few months. We will be spending it in the Blue Ridge mountains. Jim and Thor think it is almost next to Heaven. We are all looking forward to that. In October we will be writing about our trip to Illinois, for Pat's class reunion. No... won't be telling you which one!! So... that is about all for now. Check in again, and join us all on our next excursion..... Till then... everyone take care... and God bless...

Jim, Pat and Thor

HILLBILLIES IN BRANSON

2008-06-17T13:26:00.008-04:00

Our last night in Branson with the rally was a barn burner!!! Wow.. what a time we had. Never knew there were so many crazy folks. First off, we were treated to a great dinner... Jim loved that part!! After everyone had eaten about all they could hold, the hillbillies took over. A wonderful group, which had everyone laughing till they were crying treated us to great Ozark music. Everyone was stomping and clapping within a few minutes. The only female in the group tried (was a losing battle), to keep things under control. Surprising talent in this group. Jim especially loved the concluding religious selection. "On my Father's side".
The next thing on the agenda was a hillbilly contest. Wow... there were so seriously strange people walking across that stage... It was a hard decision for us all to make... came down to three contestants... Here is a picture of the group... see? I told you they were strange!! Then they all had to play for us... (spoons, washboard, and jug)... thankfully, the "band" played behind them... but they did pretty well!!

One couple that was one of the group favorites sat behind our table, and we got kind of a kick out of their antics...

Naturally, I have to add a picture of yours truly in my hillbilly outfit. I was not brave enough to join the rest... but I still enjoyed myself.. Could not get Jim to join in... but I at least got him to wear a rope to hold up his trousers, and he had a corn pipe pipe in his shirt pocket (he would not let me take a picture of him)... :-(

Do you remember my telling you about Thor's new found friend, the class A next door?
They became great pals during the week we were in Branson. Who knows what they talked about? Thor begged me to take a picture of his new friend before we pulled out... so I could not say no... (It is his Daddy standing in front)... I convinced them, after much begging (he is shy) to play the song "On the road again" why they were pulling out. I saw a little tear in Thor's eye when he heard them playing the goodbye song on the way out of the park...

In one of the rare spare moments, between seminars, dinners and such, a group of the ladies got together to learn a way of trimming a tee shirt, which is really neat. Linda, the rally coordinator, taught the class. Some of us a quicker learners, I tend to drag behind the group. That is why Jim came along, to encourage me. I did not do one of the shirts... but I know how, once I get home, it will be one of the first things I do. We all enjoyed talking and laughing while working on the shirts...

Well... our time here at Branson has come to a close. What a great time we have had!! We have met so many great folks, and have promised to all keep in touch... till next year, when we all want to join up again.. ( I don't know it I can stand another time like this or not!!) but.. it sure was hard saying bye to all our new friends. Everyone was breaking down their rigs, hugging ... and yes.. a few tears slipped out.... kind of sad, seeing all the rigs lined up leaving... everyone waving... but, hopefully, we will all see each other next year....

It is back on the road for Lil' Alfie's Travels..... hope you have been enjoying our trip....

Pat, Jim and Thor

Crazy town of Branson

2008-06-14T17:52:00.009-04:00

We decided to take a few free hours and drive through the town of Branson. My, what a strange town. Kind of like a little Las Vegas. Lots of shops if you are so inclined to want to buy. Lots of places to eat too. The traffic tries your patience to the limit, I must say. Kind of bumper to bumper driving. Folks are not the most courteous. All in a rush, I guess to spend that money. One of the reasons we went was to take a picture of the craziest place we have ever seen. When visiting Branson a few years ago, we drove by this building, but were unable to take a picture. Jim has never forgotten it, so it was top priority this year to capture it on tape.. here it is... what do you think of it? Something else, don't you think? Leave it to Ripley..

We don't really know what this was.. but it caught Jim's eye..

Friday evening we had a wonderful catered dinner and afterward, some of our more brave rv'ers put on a "fashion show", which brought down the house! We all laughed till our sides ached. Such good fun was had by all.

Linda Payne, one of the rally coordinators, really set everyone back on their heels with a "wild and wooly" rendition of a song she dearly loves. It brought everyone up of their feet, stomping and clapping. It really got loud. I know they must have heard us all over the campground. Sure was hard, to end the evening. The rally days are going by so quickly.. we will all hate to say goodbye...

RV Dreams Rally

2008-06-11T23:43:00.008-04:00

Our rally is getting in full swing...
The computer instructor, Chris, is having a great time with us... as is the "perfect poodle", Odie.
Everyone here seems to love our little computer geek poodle. He keeps everyone laughing.

Howard and Linda Payne, the rally coordinators, have done a great job, bringing it all together. The idea of a big tent was a inspiration. Everyone gathers under it and have a wonderful time socializing. Keeps us out of the sun too!! It is getting kind of crowded when we all get there together.. over 120 of us!! But everyone has a great time.

We are all meeting fellow rv'ers, who we have been talking to for over a year, so it is like we are meeting "old friends". My picture is with my fellow chat mates, Ellie and Karon. So good to finally meet them. Have so many I want to meet in these four days!! We all wear name tags that were all made up for us.. wasn't that a great idea? Jim and I already have raspy voices.. have not talked this much in I don't know how long. By the time we leave, we will probably have no voices.., ah... what quiet it will be, huh?

This evening we all gathered together for pizza and ice cream. Can you imagine getting in enough pizza for over 120 people? We all had a great time.. but the noise was something else.. all those folks talking... We were entertained with Linda and Howard.. our coordinators... you had to be there .

Well, tomorrow is another full day. So much planned for us... never a dull moment. I will hate to see it all end. Meeting so many great folks. Even Thor... he has made a fast friend with the class A next door. Wonder what they talk about when we are gone?

School Days...

2008-06-11T18:19:00.009-04:00

It is back to school for Pat and Jim (Thor was not invited). We took a two day "Re-Boot" class. It was given two days before the rally begins. The instructors are a man and wife team, Jim and Chris Guild. The have a business called "Geeks On Tour". Rather unusual.. they speak at rallies, such as ours, and do a business with Computer services and mobile Internet. Jim and I learned so much, it was unbelievable.. what we did not know. Going into the class, we thought it was mostly for Pat.. being almost completely computer illiterate.. or, as some would say."dumb as dirt". Surprising, Jim found himself saying over and over "I never knew that!!". Wow...
The two days just flew by.. of course my little ol' brain just about could not take it all in, but now I cannot wait to be able to get back and try out all my new found knowledge. We really enjoyed our "training".. and to top it all off, we got to meet and make friends with Odie. Who is Odie, you ask? It is Jim and Chris' little "perfect poodle". He was so lovable... a little "geek" poodle. How about that? I am putting in the blog a couple pictures of our class and our instructors..

TIME FOR THE RALLY

Elvis Where Are You?

2008-06-07T13:04:00.026-04:00

Memphis.. Wow... Elvis would never know his hometown now. Graceland was out in the country--now it is smack dab in the middle of town. and here we are in Thor.. lost!! well.. not exactly lost.. more like displaced for a bit. But, thankfully, "Breslin" (that's our GPS), led us out. Boy.. that was a experience for Lil' Alfie. So... it was onward to Branson.
Our next stop.... Toad Suck Ferry... yes, honestly, that's the name!!! In case you don't believe me, I'll send you a picture.

It is a COE Park, which we dearly love. Park like sites, in the woods, along the water way, over looking the lock and dam. Don't get any better than this.. Yes.. that is yours truly sitting on a bench, enjoying the view

Loved watching the family fishing for their supper. While walking around the park in the "cool" of the evening (I use the term cool loosely), since it was almost 90 degrees, we came upon another couple that is heading the the rally in Branson, just like us. It was so great to meet the lady that I have been conversing with on the rally chat room for almost a year. There will be close to one hundred rigs at the rally.. so we will be meeting lots of nice folks.
Well, that is about all for now folks.. it will be on to Branson tomorrow for us and Thor...

MiSSiSSIPPI.........

2008-06-03T12:38:00.006-04:00

Well... on to Mississippi.. wow, I love the name of that place.. guess it was because it was one of the first long words that I learned to spell in school.. boy, I felt so proud!! But golly, it sure is HOT here!! And here I thought that Georgia was hot. Folks are so nice here, they have been so helpful every place we have gone. We are here at the library today.. using their WIFI. neat, huh? For such a small little town (Fulton), they have the nicest library.. with the nicest people you could ask for... But.. as Forest Gump said.. that is all I have to say about that..
We are staying at a COE campground.. For you non-campers, that is Corps of Engineers. Almost all their sites are on the water.. (cause it is a lock and dam) It is like sitting on a lot in a park. We are surrounded by lots of trees (rabbits and squirrel too). Can hardly see the folks next to you. Behind our camp is all wooded, with a path down to a private pier.. can you believe that? Here is a look at it..

Since we have been here two days, it will be time to move on tomorrow. Thor is getting itchy feet again, says he wants to see some new places... So.. till next time, Lil' Alfie's Travels says bye...

Rainy night in Alabama...

2008-06-03T12:22:00.002-04:00

First night out... yep-you guessed it.... rain.. and more rain. Clouds followed us all the way to our "Safe Harbor" in Alabama. Just as soon as we found our "spot" for the night.. it let loose!! Wouldn't you know it? How am I supposed to take pictures in this? Guess my picture taking will have to wait till tomorrow heck, I am too tired to worry about it anyway. Setting up in a cloud burst really wears one out!! Had enough energy to hit the local Wal-Mart tho!! Seems like no matter how much I work on my "Don't forget" list, I always forget somethin. But then maybe I just want a excuse to see Wally World.. :-) Well... that is it for day one for Lil' Alfies Travels...

Thor

2008-04-30T22:14:00.012-04:00

For everyone who would like to see our little home on wheels... we are sending along some pictures of Thor. Jim has done some work with him in the four years that he has been in our family, which have made living while on the road more comfortable. As you can see, we have removed the couch, which was not very comfortable, and replaced it with two Flex Steel recliners... one for Jim, and one for Pat. At this time, Jim built a cabinet, which is super for all Pat's "junk". As time goes on, we find things that we would like to change..

We, and Thor hope you have enjoyed your tour of our little home......

Getting ready for our Branson trip

2008-04-20T16:12:00.000-04:00

April 2008
We are getting all ready for our vacation... Have been sooooo busy....
Tore the bedroom carpet out... (it was super tacky, according to Pat) Jim put down new tile squares. Looks so pretty, nice and clean. While on to new jobs for Jim to do... we found that the
bed had been put together with staples!! Can you believe that? Cheap wood, to boot.. so.. it was all tore down and apart, rebuilt (to Jim's specificiations), and a little higher (for Pat). Now we have more storage space underneath... isn't that neat? More room for "our stuff", which I keep accumulating. Now, to be done next, is getting Thor all pretty, clean and waxed for his "showing" at the rally. (Well, we Do have to do this so the little fella can hold his head up all high and proud, right?
That is about all for now...... we all (Jim, Pat and Thor), are looking forward to getting on the road and taking care of our itchy feet. Been too long, according to Thor..

Lil' Alfie's travels

Better Late than Never....

ESCAPADE at Goshen, IN

Greetings from Jim, Pat and Thor

Jim, Pat and Thor on the move again….

Newspaper article at the Balloon Festival...and more..

RV Dreamers rally...

Little green people and balloons

Indian Nation and tornado alley

Rain, rain... go away....

Jim, Pat and Thor on the move again..

Our Long-Delayed Journal..

BE IT SO EVER HUMBLE...

Back home in Illinois

KENTUCKY...

Our "home" away from home

Thor has itchy wheels... and spiderwebs!

We're Home!!!

HILLBILLIES IN BRANSON

Crazy town of Branson

RV Dreams Rally

School Days...

Elvis Where Are You?

M*i*S*S*i*S*S*I*P*P*I.........

Rainy night in Alabama...

Thor

Getting ready for our Branson trip

MiSSiSSIPPI.........