...so much to be grateful for

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone! It's good to have a "thankful" time of year, even though we should be giving thanks every single day!

Thanksgiving has always been just about my favorite holiday... we always went to Momma's for the big Feast, with the girls and grandgirls, and families. Mom cooked for days on end and had everybody's favorites....she made the best stuffing ever (doesn't everyone's mum make the best stuffing? :))! In her later years, when she was too weak to do such cooking, she would still cook for days....but she let us bring something and help cook, too. Those were such fun times with good, fond memories! But just like life, things change and those grand, old family Thanksgiving's evolve into new traditions.

"Grannie's Girls"

Last year I truly learned to be grateful for my family and what it means to me. And I do mean that I REALLY LEARNED it, and I will never forget it. God uses people and circumstances to teach us things....He used Kristy to touch my heart in a way that nothing ever has.

Now, I am one of the original Steel Magnolia's.....you know...."Just put on your big girl panties and deal with it"...and I hate to cry. It makes my makeup run and my eyes get all red and swollen....and it really upsets Bob. But being with Kristy last year opened up the faucet in my eyeballs, and it's still tough to think of her, and all she went through, and keep my eyes dry. I never knew that tears could come so easily.

All of this to say that Thanksgiving will forever be changed for me. Not just losing her on Thanksgiving Day, but because of her, I am so grateful for my family...for Bob and Tiff & Scott, and Paul & Katie, and my sisters and their families. I've always known that they were wonderful, and what a blessing they were, but I guess it's too easy to take it for granted. And sometimes God will use a special someone to teach us something that we need to learn. He used Kristy to teach me so many things...she was such a brave girl in the face of her illness, and she loved her kids and her family so very much. I will forever be grateful for all that she taught me in the twilight days of her too-short life, and I am especially grateful for my family and friends that share both "holidays" and "every days" with me, and mean so much to me...there is truly, so much to be grateful for!

Hugs to each and everyone of you and I hope you have a grateful and blessed Thanksgiving.

A Bear...Oh My!

October is almost a memory now....not sure where all the days have flown, but they certainly have a way of doing so.

The route from Celina to Virginia was a beautiful one...we traveled East across West Virginia, through Clarksburg, took Route 33 East, thru Seneca Rocks, and crossed the Appalachians to Harrisonburg, VA. The leaves were lovely in the higher elevations, and the views were amazing. Much of Route 33 is designated a National Scenic By-way, and it's easy to see why.

The climbs were rather steep at times...I think we climbed three mountains, the last and tallest being Shenandoah. Just as we rounded a hairpin curve, we both yelled, "Ahhhh, Bear!", and sure enough, a big bear, Oh my! was bounding across the road in front of us. He scampered over the rail and raced off into the woods...I grabbed the camera and snapped away, but got only trees and road! Just around the next curve was a tiny fawn, grazing beside the road....sure hope it didn't end up as dinner for the bear!!

We truly enjoyed this drive thru the mountains and would take this route again...anything to avoid I77 Southbound thru West Virginia...the Turnpike there is one of the worst roads we've been on....well, not quite...now that Virginia has cut its Transportation budget so drastically, our roads are getting even worse!! Oh well....

Norah and Howie followed our route a few days later and we met them in Richmond spending a few days there at the Elks Lodge...great "Campground" there, right off I 295, for any of you that are Elks!

We then headed to the River, and spent a few days there, sowing fertilizer and grass seed on the lot....whew! that was a lot of work!! We shared a little Oyster Roast on the Island before we left, eating lots of roasted oysters and fresh fish for a few days!!!

Then it was on to the Farm, to help Paul do a few farm chores before it gets cold. So, we have settled into our little routine here in Montpelier....the boys dream up all the projects to get started on, and I fix supper most nights. It's always good to be here with the kids and spend some time with them.

Last weekend we headed North to Lancaster, PA and the Amish country, to spend some time with Tiff and Scott...gosh, it's sweet to see them!

And we've seen Kristy's kids...they are doing pretty well, all things considered. I'm proud of all of them, and their Mom would be too. Last year at this time, I was busy heading to the hospital each day to care for Kristy....bittersweet days.

We'll head West this weekend to Roanoke and an old timey Farm Auction at my Aunt Jenny's. We'll see my sisters, then head on South and West thru Tennessee and North and South Carolina, where we'll end up at the condo in Myrtle Beach. Busy days ahead! Hugs to everyone!

More Rally fun....now good memories!

A few more good memories of Celina and Nick's Rally....

Since there are always too many meals and too much food, some of the gals found it necessary to "peddle" the leftovers.......


...Kathy and Donna are seen above enticing an arriving motorhome to partake of the breakfast leftovers.....they were pretty successful!! :)

And it was suggested recently in a comment in Nick's Blog, by a Non RV'er, that we RV'ers are "holdover flower children with gray hair and tie-dye clothes" .......so here you go...........

Donna models her version of the "tie-dyed shirt"..... and most of us do a pretty good job of hiding the grey hair....not too sure about the flower child part...but we sure are having fun! Some people JUST DON"T GET IT!!! Thanks Donna for making that tie-dyed stuff look good!!!

Now it wasn't all fun and games and eating....well, it was A LOT of that, but the seminar schedule was full and interesting!! Chris and Jim Guld, of Geeks on Tour, presented their usual informative sessions on computer usage for the traveler! I always learn something new and enjoy their presentations. There were also cooking classes, seminars on volunteering in State and Federal Parks, and lots more. There was even one on "The First 48 hours After Death".....I didn't attend this one...not sure where they're getting their info from!! :)

A few photos of some of the folks who were there.......

Chuck and Kathy....

Rich and Mary

Terry and Rick

Donna and Kieth

Deb and Russ

Linda and Ron
There is always lots to look forward to when it's time for a Rally....and always a little sad when we depart...but we know it won't be long until we're meeting again; there's always a Gathering or a Rally or a Reunion in the works. Thanks for the memories guys!!

Neither Wind nor Rain....can stop a Dutch Oven dinner

Now that the Rally is history, there is a little time to reflect on it and to remember the fun things that we enjoyed!!!



A highlight was the Dutch Oven Dinner that Bob and Barb planned for our group. They first introduced us to this fun way of cooking two years ago at Darlington, but we've never really done it the correct way...so they got the pots all stacked up with the appropriate amount of coals on each pot.....

.....there was a Pineapple Upside Down Cake in one pot....a pot with Baked Potato Wedgies....one with a delectible Chocolate Molten Cake.........

.....and one with a big pot of Donna's Texas Chilli........

...and, there were many other mouth watering dishes to go along with these treats!

The Dutch Ovens are ready to be opened and served!

There had been rain on and off all day, but that did not deter our cooks...or our eaters!!! A couple of the guys decided that they "needed" some of those pop-up canopies...so after a trip to Wal-Mart, we had a couple of those and a screen tent to cook in..... we marched on despite the weather!! Mother Nature actually co-operated with us and the rain cleared off and the breeze died down for about two hours while everyone devoured the feast out of the Dutch Ovens!

Cooking in the Dutch Ovens, with the coals carefully placed under and on top of the kettles is an interesting and delicious science!! Barb and Bob tutored us as they cooked, then served up a mouth watering main course of Chilli, Potatoes, Spoon Bread and more....and topped it off with that hot molten chocolate cake with ice cream AND a hot Pineapple Upside Down cake that Dee and Paul created. That old cliche, "It doesn't get any better than this" is very appropriate here....because it just doesn't!!!

Thanks to Barb and Bob for the Dutch Oven cooking night!!!

The things we do at a Rally....

What do we do at a Rally?

Well, we ladle up things like Hobo or Wondering Stew (in case you're wondering what we put in it).........

the gals sit on the "mat" and discuss very important things (absolutely NO gossip allowed here !:)).....

...we electrocute unsuspecting flies with high voltage flyswatters.....

......men hold the power cord whilst the MH gets repositioned........

....just how many men does it take to hold that cord?..........

...."c'mon back"...is an often heard term at Rally parking lots.........

.....lots of things get "fixed" at Rallies....just open the cover to any engine and at least three men will magically appear........

......we sit ANYWHERE while we work on the Fresh Water Brigade...filling everyone's water tanks..........

.....we tell a few "tall tales' each evening...... How big was it, Bob?

...some of us wear unusual hair styles........

Have you seen this woman? If so, call 1-800-LOCK-U-UP!!!!


.....and even more interesting hats and wigs!!!......




......and that's just a few of the things we do!!!

Just good old-fashioned fun...with the wagons gathered 'round and the campfires blazing!!!
HUGS!