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

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..

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..

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...

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

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...

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

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......