Florida

We are in Pensacola, Florida, enjoyin daughter, Tammy, and family. As always, the pace is very fast with six children in the house. Tammy has a boot on the broken foot she got for Christmas in the early hours of that beautiful day. The biggest problem is the baby keeps getting on the boot causing a lot of pain. The children all enjoyed the Christmas gifts we brought but, we are glad to say, they seem to enjoy us even more. We will be here a few days then go to Melbourne to be with daughter, Debbie, and horses, then back to Pensacola for a couple days before returning home. We had a wonderful Christmas as home enjoying our church family, friends and neighbors.

In Melbourne, we look forward to visiting with our friend, Maurene, who will be 107 on Dec. 30. She said when she was little she asked the Lord to let her be here until He comes back. She just might do it.

Merry Christmas

We have been incredibly busy since our return from New England. We went to an RV rally a few days after returning home. We went to visit our son and his family who have returned from Germany. We went to make plans for an RV rally we are hosting in March. That was a hard trip because we had to go to a lot of restaurants and sample their wares so we'd know what to recommend. (A tough job but someone had to do it.) Then there are church commitments, Christmas to prepare for and normal every day activities. In the interest of putting more money where it is needed (charities) we have cut our snail mail Christmas Cards down considerable and will include it with our blog each year. Hope you enjoy it and have a wonderful celebration with friends and family of the coming of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Praise God! He is alive and still King.

Home and Running

We are home and running. Between unloading the rig, cleaning it out and preparing to leave on Tuesday for a rally, visiting with neighbors and church activities we find ourselves incredibly busy. Thanks to very good neighbors our gravel was not green, our car was not DOA and all in the house were fine. What a wonderful place to live.

Pensacola, Florida

We drove through rain all day, Thursday, and arrived in Pace (outside Pensacola) the same time the tornadoes passed through. Tonight (Friday) we go to the football game to watch our oldest grandson, Joshua. He was quite a shock to see as he is now taller than his grandmother. Makes me feel much older all of a sudden. We will travel on Monday and Tuesday for Livingston.

Shanadoah National Park and Skyline Drive

After two nights in parking lots we arrived on Skyline Drive in Virginia Friday afternoon. We were able to get one of the last campsites in Shenandoah National Park. No hook ups but lovely site. Saturday morning we headed for Big Meadow. We took the family here 30 years ago and said we would come back sometime. We didn’t say who the “we” included or when we would make it back. There have been changes in the last 30 years. We enjoyed walking in the big meadow, watching deer graze and a ranger talk on snakes.

After checking the length of the Blue Ridge Parkway, the speed limit and the amount of traffic we opted to exit onto the interstate system. We are due in Pensacola by Friday to watch the oldest grandson play in the marching band and also to celebrate a daughter’s birthday. We would not make it in time on the parkway. Several nights will be spent in various Wall-mart parking lots. We are now eating lunch in Tennessee at a Panera’s. Next update will be from Florida.

Mt. Washington in the fall

Since we had another free pass and it was a pretty day we took another van tour up to Mt Washington. The trees below the tree line were beautiful. Up on the mountain it was quite cold and windy and in the clouds. I did get a few photos between cloud movements. It is suppose to have 14 inches of snow on Tuesday. We still have a free gondola ride across from Mt Washington and will cash it in if there is snow to see. Below are a few more photos of fall time. Hope you enjoy them.

We were so surprised to see monarchs still in the area. That show how unseasonably warm it has been here. Hope they make their migration in time. We plan to make our migration in time.

More Waterfalls

Today was a beautiful day. We drove to Loon Mountain and rode their gondola to the top of the mountain to enjoy the view of the early fall leaves. They are at about 25%.

On the way "home" we discovered another water fall. Ginger can never get enough photos of waterfalls and took 74 of them today.

The waterfall is next to an old Indian trail. It was a pleasant hike, mostly next to the rapidly running river cascading over the rocks. For awhile we sat on a bench just listening to the music of the cascading water.

Tomorrow night (Thursday) we host a campfire circle party for the work campers and the senior staff at the park. We work Saturday through Monday. On Sunday night the church we've been attending is giving us a good-bye party. On Monday night we have a dinner at a near-by restaurant for the work campers and senior staff of the park. Tuesday we pack up things and head out on Wednesday.

We are very glad we came. The season was long but the perks were fantastic. We saw and did so many things we would have not spent the money to see and/or do. We've made many new friends and also had two new "daughters" from Slovakia. They were so sad to leave us but so ready to be back home.

Our next update will be dependant on connections on the road. Stay healthy and tuned in to Jesus.

Sunset on Mt Washington

We had a very exciting trip up and down Mt. Washington. It rained and the clouds went down to ground level. We really appreciated the professional drivers who got us up and down safely.

We were blessed with a concert by a singing group. The sang a-capella and sang old religious songs and some African songs. They, too, came to see the sunset.

Since we didn't get to see the sunset, Ginger created one from an earlier picture on top of Mt Washington, for the benefit of the group.

Glenn Allan Falls

Today we drove to Berlin, NH to see leaves and to go to Super Walmart. On the way we stopped at Glenn Allan Falls. The water comes down from Mt Washington and to drop in the picture is 64 feet.

The fall leaves are just beginning to turn even though today's high was over 90F. Ginger has been rained on (by fall leaves) on the Safari Ride for a couple weeks.

Tomorrow night we are being treated by the park to a sunset on the top of Mt. Washington. Rain is scheduled but not supposed to come until late in the evening. Hopefully we will be able to add some pretty sunset pictures to the blog.

We have 2 more weekends to work. The last weekend will extend through Monday, Columbus Day. We will head out that Wednesday, going down the Blue Ridge Parkway and then into Pensacola to watch grandson, Josh, march with the band at a football game.

Stay well, healthy and in touch with God.

Maritime Provinces

We left Story Land Monday morning in the rain and arrived at New Brunswick’s St. John that evening. Due to the rain and the cold we opted for a motel. While there, we saw “Reversing Falls.” It was between the river and the Bay of Fundy. The tide comes in and out there and the falls actually reverse their direction. Never seen that before. The next day, Tuesday, we went to see Hopewell Rocks. There is a 48-foot difference between high and low tide. Unfortunately, we could not be there at low tide but it was most interesting and picturesque anyway, even in the rain.

We crossed the extremely long bridge to Prince Edward Island, in the rain, and opted for yet another night in a motel. We checked out Charlottetown, their quaint homes and beautiful gardens. Wednesday morning, Ginger peaked through the blinds of the motel and was delighted to fine no rain. We finished our drive through Prince Edward Island and caught a ferry to Nova Scotia.

Waiting for the ferry were several horse trailers (with their precious cargo) and their harness carriages tied on the backs of the trailers. They were going to NS for a race.

The ferry ride was a long 6 hours, even with jet engins running at 55 MPH. The wind was strong and the motion was great, giving Ginger a difficult time.

During the ferry ride we noticed a Canada version of a Coast Guard Cutter chasing the ferry along with two rafts. It seems the Canadian police were doing a security rehearsal. The rafts took turns coming up to the ferry, tossing up a ladder and each of 8 men climbing up the ladder to board the ferry. Then the raft would leave and come back for the men to climb back down. They repeated this rehearsal for at least 10 times per raft. While Ginger was videotaping, the raft separated from the ferry while one of the men was climbing down. He went swing wildly, hanging on tightly, while those below him grabbed for the ladder and the pilot of the raft tried to bring the raft back in line. All turned out well. It showed they did need the practice.

We got to a Nova Scotia KOA campground (in the sun) and decided to upgrade to a cabin. Then off, before dark, to see Peggy’s Cove. Definitely a highlight of the trip. That night, we decided to change our itinerary and take the CAT home. Richard was tired of driving and we didn’t want to retrace our steps. With a 14% sales tax on everything and .20 per liter gas tax we decided we’d come out ahead to pay the ferry price, save time and gas and have a day at home to rest before returning to work. The ferry ride was quite rough due to the high winds and also long, 6 hours. We really enjoyed our trip but are glad to be “home.”

Cinderella

We had a lot of rain and thunderstorms on our two days of so we caught up on errands. We did go into the park on Friday to video "Farm Follies," a very cute and funny show for the grandchildren to see. We have transferred it to DVD. While in the park, we visited Cinderella in her castle and took a picture of "Grandpa" with Cinderella. We also saw her glass slipper. Labor Day will be our last day for full time. After that it is weekends only and only until 5 PM.

Enjoy the photos. The next update will be after we get back fromour trip to Nova Scotia. That will be in about 2 weeks. Stay healthy and happy. God is so gracious to us.

Clark's Trading Post

This week's trip was to Clark's Trading Post. It began as a roadside attraction in 1928 as an Eskimo Sled Dog Ranch. In 1930 they introduced the black bear and have performed bear shows ever since. The bear show was entertaining as bear shows go.

The had several museums. One was antique fire wagons, another, antique games (we sure felt old in that one), antique machines including typewriters (we've sure come a long way on that line) and a few others.

The highlight was a steam engine train along one of New Hampshire's scenic rivers. The entertainment portion of that for the children was encounters with "wolf man." That trip is recorded on DVD and we haven't had time to clip out a still photo.

We checked out Lost River Gorge and decided against the climb up and down 1000 steps.

We have 8 more days of full time work and then go to part time.

Flume Gorge and Canyon Mountain

Once again God blessed us with a beautiful day off for sight-seeing. The weather couldn't be better. We went to Flume Gorge and hiked up and down hills and a multiple of stairs. It was so worth the climb. We were first greeted with "Table Rock" and soon view the long stream of falling water running over the granite rocks. At the top we were well rewarded for our climb with several big and full water falls. We met someone on the climb that came in May but the Flume was closed due to too much water.

Many steps, bridges and bends following up to the bigger falls.

On the way down, Richard opted for the van ride while Ginger walked up and down for the photo opts. This covered bridge is the most photographed one in N.H., built in 1886.

She also met up with a big granite boulder.

After enjoying the Flume Gorge we proceeded to Canyon Mountain. The gondola can hold 80 people in the summer time but only 60 in the winter. We only had around 40 so there was a lot of room for everyone to enjoy the views.

We have 2 more weeks of full time work the go to weekends only. The week after Labor Day we plan to car camp in Nova Scotia.

Stay tuned for next week's adventures.

Five Hour Scenic Train Trip

What a beautiful day. The weather couldn't be better for sight-seeing. We went to North Conway and cashed in our passes for a free five hour scenic train trip through the mountains.

We passed curves, sometimes thinking we'd pass ourselves.

We viewed mountain vistas,

waterfalls,

flowing rivers,

dry riverbeds and so much more.

Some had a little trouble not seeing the inside of eyelids due to the rhythm of the train.

We even caught a little wildlife. The train noise scared off bigger forms.

Five Hour Train Ride