"There is no such thing as a bad boy"

We are back.....that is our blog is back..... and we are currently in Council Bluffs, IA.   We spent the 6 months of winter in Foley, Alabama at the Bella Terra RV Resort.  This was our third winter there and we have made many life long friends.    After leaving AL we spent a few days in Normandy TN and had a nice spot on Normandy Lake.

Luckily, we chose not to accept the initial site they had assigned us.  Here's what it looked like after a couple of days of rain.   The site we were in stayed dry. Phew!!

While in that area we were able to visit friends, Tom and Sue who live about 60 miles northeast of our campground.   They came down one day and we toured the Jack Daniels Distillery.  None of us are whiskey drinkers, but still enjoyed our day.  Another day they hosted us at their home in Sparta TN.   We got the deluxe tour of beautiful vistas and waterfalls.

We then moved north to Lafayette IN to visit with our sister-in-law Terri.   We got to be there when she adopted her new companion - Brady- a 2 year old Yorkshire Terrier.   We also enjoyed lunch with our nephew Andrew along with Victoria & their new addition Finn, and a bbq with nephew Steve and Karen and Dahlia.   We had to scoot to get to South Dakota in time for  Ron to renew his drivers license.   A minor detail when you spend all of your time on the road.

  Our ultimate goal this summer is to visit Yellowstone National Park.   We had plans to arrive there June 15th, so to bide our time we spent time in Emporia, KS, Lincoln, NE and now Council Bluffs, IA.  How did we pick these places you may ask?

 We use an auxiliary braking system in our Jeep that is distributed by Hopkins Products located in Emporia, KS.  The system is bulky and cost prohibited to mail for service, so we thought since we had time we would just drive it to them.  Besides, it was south where we were hoping for warmer weather.   We have a few things on the coach in need of repair and the closest service center is located in Council Bluffs and the earliest they could take us was June 5, so we spent a week in Lincoln NE.

   While there we visited the Nebraska University campus and the State Capitol.  The capitol is a magnificent piece of architecture.  It took 10 years to erect with completion in 1933.  It is 14 stories with a 400 ft doom.  The interior features numerous marble columned chambers, vaulted mosaic tiled ceilings and floors.  The tour is about 45 minutes, after which we went up to the 14th floor observation deck, where you can see the Lincoln area for miles. Then a quick lunch at their cafe.

State Capitol interior

  On to Council Bluffs, IA...the one item they did not have time to look at is one of our jacks that will not retract, so we are waiting for another appointment at yet another service center.   We are currently staying at the Horseshoe Casino RV parking.  It is a parking lot with electrical hook ups and water.    Unfortunately, we will have to find someplace else Friday.   The College World Series takes place in Omaha and all parks and hotels are booked solid.  Oh the joys of rving.

One of the many homes built to house the current residents.
The occupants include a couple, called Family Teachers,
their family (maximum 2 children allowed) and 6-8 residents.
Girls were welcomed in the 1970's. 

We will not make our June 15th arrival in Yellowstone, so are just playing it by ear for now.

 So far the highlight of our sightseeing while here was the day we spent at Boys Town in Omaha, NE.   Ron's father was a resident at the age of 12 and was there for almost 2 years.  There is a Hall of History Museum which documents the progression  from its inception in 1917 when Father Flanagan's dream and $90 was the beginning of Boys Town.   At that time 100 boys were welcomed and today there are 12 locations and a hotline that has serviced over 8 million calls as well as a renowned hospital.   Displayed in the history hall is the Oscar awarded to Spencer Tracey for his portrayal of Fr. Flanagan  in the 1938 movie "Boys Town".

Infamous sculpture.  "He ain't heavy, he's my brother"

Plaque displayed in the Gardens of the Bible. 

The three-acre Garden of the Bible is maintained by Boys Town youth and includes rose bushes, lilies, the rose of Sharon, a burning bush, fountains, benches and olive, fig, pomegranate and cedar trees  over 150 species, all mentioned in the bible.

Dowd Memorial Chapel of the Immaculate Conception stands at the center of Boys Town.
15th Century Gothic architecture.
There is also a Protestant Church on premise, but is not open to visitors. 

Adjacent to the nave is the Fr. Flanagan Tomb. A bronze vault with six panels embossed that briefly tells his life story.

 They have a team of researchers who at Ron's request found a few archives confirming his fathers time there.   These included his arrival documentation and a newsletter featuring a couple of articles in which his father is featured.   One other building on campus is the Historical Flanagan House, where Fr. Flanagan lived from 1927-1941.   There is one room in the house which was Fathers office.  In this room a desk made for him by his boys – is the centerpiece of the study. It consists of more than 250,000 inlaid pieces of wood, twenty-five varieties in all.   Also in that room, hanging on the wall, is a framed document listing  alumni that had served in the military and listed there was Ron's father.  He was really excited to see that during our visit.  Until we received the archival documents, this was his only proof that his father really did live there.

Fr. Flanagan's desk.   

Did you know the The "Worlds Largest Ball of Stamps" is located in the Boys Town Visitors Center?

The Leon Myers Stamp Center is a museum and office located in the Boys Town Visitors Center. The Stamp Center promotes stamp collecting among youth and adults, and supports Boys Town programs by selling donated stamps.

Now its just wait for our appointment date and hope it is a simple repair and we will not have to wait longer for parts.   So far we have resisted visiting the casino.....but we are getting weak!!

Hope all is well.

THIS KIND OF EXCITEMENT WE DON'T NEED!!

(written yesterday, Jan 28, 2014)

We'll we have had some exciting times lately.  First off Ron spent the weekend in the hospital.  He hadn't been feeling well since last Monday so we went to an urgent care center mid-week. They gave him fluids and took blood test and sent him home.  But Friday morning he starting feeling worse so we went to the ER of the local medical center.  After 11 1/2 hours and 4 tests they admitted him to be seen by a gastroenterologist.  Saturday they performed an endoscopy to remove gallstones that had lodged in his bile duct and to insert a temporary stent. Then Sunday laposcopic surgery was performed to remove his gallbladder.  It wasn't necessarily an emergency but this 112 bed facility is the only one within 25 miles and they are so busy that they run all tests, procedures and surgeries 7 days a week.   He came home yesterday feeling tired, and a little sore but all abdominal pain/discomfort is gone.   Because he has a follow up appointment with the surgeon in two weeks and will have to have the stent removed in 6 weeks, we have extended our stay in the Gulf Shores area.  All of the rooms at this medical  facility are private with sleeper sofas, so I was able to stay with Ron the entire time.  I was glad, but hospitals are the worse place to get sleep!  We luckily have a couple parked next to us at the campground who have been awesome!  They are ironically from Missouri, and have called or texted me a couple of  times everyday to see how we were doing and to offer help for anything we may have needed. They also brought Ron brownies and a card when we got home. Two other couples we have met here also stayed in touch as did the campground personnel.  Which is nice when family is not close.

The other exciting news is the weather.  A wintery mix warning is in effect for the gulf coast from Mississippi to Florida.  They are predicting 1/4" of ice followed by 1-4 " snow.  Closer to the gulf where we are, is only expecting 1" of snow but freezing rain is occurring as I write this.  Now this is not too exciting for anyone living in north, but the locals are panicking!  They have no snow plows or salt.  Since they have unlimited sand this is how they prepare the roads, however, I hate to tell them with ice then snow the sand will be pretty much useless.   The communities near I-10 and I 65 had salt trucked in from northern AL.  The meteorologist missed how far north the storm would track so the Montgomery area did not close schools today.  So when it got bad they couldn't get the buses on the road and parents had to scrabble to pick up their children.  They are leaving the schools open tonight and making arrangements for the children to spend the night if parents can not reach them.

Our poor little coach has never been in this type of weather!!!  Our goal when we started travelling was to "follow the sun".....what happened to that?!

The bushes don't like this and the palm trees REALLY don't like it!










The above pictures were taken around the campground.  The following picture was posted on line of snow at the Alabama Gulf State Park in Gulf Shores, AL.

 The good news is even the worse weather does not last long down here.  Predictions are for mid 60's - low 70's this weekend.  I'm ready!  The weather since we got here in October has been unseasonably cold so maybe by extending our stay we will be able to enjoy the warm weather that brings us to the gulf!

That's all the news from "arctic Alabama".    Hope all is well!

OH NO...now what has she gotten me into?

We have about 3 weeks left in Foley Alabama.   And although the weather hasn't consistently been warm and wonderful we are enjoying our time here. 

We spent 2 weeks in St. Louis over  Christmas, surprising some family who did not know we were coming in.   This is our 5th holiday season on the road and the first time since leaving that we went back to celebrate Christmas and New Years.   We enjoyed spending Christmas eve with Ron’s family….just like ole times!   We stayed with my sister and as an added bonus my 2 nephews and their families came in….it was a full house but great to all be together again.

Once back to the coach we have been catching up on the daily, mundane tasks of unpacking, re-stocking the fridge, laundry etc.

As most of you know, one of the most interesting events we have enjoyed in our travels is attending different Catholic Churches for Sunday mass.   Here in the Gulf Shores area we have mostly frequented Our Lady of the Gulf.   They recently introduced a new pastor from Montgomery who seems to have a good sense of humor...even adding some to his sermon, but is very conservative.  They don’t have ushers, a choir and just recently substituted plastic flowers around the altar for live plants.    They do have an organist and God bless him, he tries…..

One week we attended the Mission - Our Lady of Bon Secour.   Bon Secour is a settlement located on the Bon Secour River, 7 miles southwest of Foley.   The church served its congregation for many years until it was damaged by a storm in 1917.   After that it was dismantled and carried across the river, piece by piece, and reassembled at its present location.

Our Lady of Bon Secour.

The church is so small only one side at a time could go up for communion.

Cute, little altar.

Yesterday we attended Worship @ the Water.   The service takes place every Sunday at 11:00 am at the Flora –Bama Lounge.    If you look past the flip flops and beer banners you may find the officiating Reverend Jeremy Mount  dressed in t-shirt, jeans and sandals, complete with a full arm of tattooed bible verses.  The Flora Bama is a popular honky tonk bar on the border of Florida and Alabama.  They host several events such as the Mullet Toss and the Frank Brown Songwriters Festival  along with nightly music venues, average food and lots and lots of bar drinks. Since 2011, a local United Methodist church has organized the Worship @ the Water service.   The weekly attendance is over 500 with as many as 2,400 attending on Easter.   Last month Rev. Jeremy Mount, an award winning pastor and U.S. Army chaplain announced he would be leaving the United Methodist Church to be ordained with Christian Church, a  non-denominational  organization based in Las Vegas.   His church wanted to move him, so he chose to leave the organization to continue his service at Flora-Bama. 

The members/congregation.  

 I would guess there are many churches who would love to get this many to show up every week!

 T-Shirt worn by many...."My Church is the Flora Bama"  They are sold in the gift shop with all proceeds going to the ministry.

Hymnal.    I like the subtle hint at the bottom .

If it weren't for the temporary cross on the stage and the podium you
wouldn't know you stumbled into a religious ceremony.

The "choir"   

The band/choir praying before they start.



This weeks service was not the norm.  The preaching was by two ministers from Central Christian in attendance to ordain Jeremy.   I would have liked to heard him.  The entire ceremony lasted about 1 1/2 hours.

Jeremy is third from left.  

 The ordination took all of 10 minutes....we sang I'll Fly Away, everyone picked up their chair to put away and that was the end.   

Ron is so good natured...he will do anything I want to do.   But many times I'm sure he thinks
"now what has she gotten us into?"

Take care....hope all is well!

We have graduated....

We are still enjoying our time in the Gulf Shores area, although the weather has been cooler like everywhere else.   Some days are chilly and dreary but we are still getting our fair share of 70 degrees and sunshine, just not everyday like we want.

Events are starting to pick up at the campground and will continue even more once all of the snowbirds arrive after the first of the year.

We have been attending a few pot luck dinners, movie night, poker night, craft workshops and the annual
Christmas tree decorating party.

We have met a couple from Wisconsin who like to play hand & foot, so we meet at the clubhouse for competition...husbands vs wives.

We have also met another nice couple and she is into crafts so we are exchanging our ideas on making earrings, zentangling, card making and kumihimo.  

Speaking of Christmas trees, we have graduated to a larger tree this year...wooohooo!!!

We put our one foot tree to rest and now have a "huge" 3 foot tree.    Room in the coach is not as much as a problem as storage after the fact.

Other than going out to eat a few times, the mundane chores of everyday life and Christmas shopping we are pretty much just relaxing and enjoying life!


Hope all is well!
Merry Christmas to all.

You know you are in the South when...

* you see a  field of  cotton....

*or you see this "A"....

when Ron sees someone with this emblem on a hat, he always asks if they are Atlanta Braves fans...he knows good and well that  this is the logo for Alabama University's football team...Crimson Tide, but does it just to get a rise out of  these college football enthusiasts.

* you attend Oyster cook-offs instead of Chili cook offs....

* one syllable words become three syllable words....  it takes a few minutes to understand what they are saying, even though you are pretty sure you are both speaking English.

* anyone who doesn't know you  addresses you as "ma'am"   (this really makes me feel old especially if they are close to my age)

   or when those who do  know you call you "Miz Joan".

* life is a bit calmer and slower...

* the farmers markets sell an abundance of mustard greens, turnip greens and black eye peas....but never heard of bok-choy.

* a cashier says “have a blessed day” and you can only think  “peace be with you" because that is the only religious phrase that has stuck with you after  years of attending Catholic school/church.

* you  still  see Confederate flags flying

* they don't think their tea is sweet enough as your gagging on a sugar drink with a little tea added.

But us Yankees are really enjoying our stay here in L.A. (lower Alabama)

Hope all is well!!

Sunrise...sunset with oysters and songwriters in between

Last weekend started with a beautiful sunrise:

We spent the afternoon at the 6th annual Oyster cook-off.  It is held on the white sands of the Alabama coastline and this year was hosted by The Hangout restaurant.   There is no charge to get in and then you can purchase a book of 20 tickets for $30.00.   Beer, wine, Bloody Mary's and champagne cost 3 tickets and one oyster for one ticket. .      My favorite are the ones cooked (especially if fried...of course) with lots of extras on top...cheese, spinach, ham or bacon bits, sauces etc.   But you have to like oysters because unless you go inside to eat all you can buy are oysters and if you were lucky you found a couple of tents that offered saltine crackers!     Over 46 celebrity chefs competed for combined total prizes of $10,000.

Looks crowded, but it was well laid out  and organized.   

                                   Shucking or "sukin" oysters is an interesting process but a bit messy.


Saturday evening we had happy hour at the site of one of the owners and got to know them better,  and gave us an opportunity to ask questions about the resort from an owners prospective.

• After Mass on Sunday morning we drove to the border of Alabama and Florida to Flora-Bama, the host of the 29th Frank Brown International Songwriters Festival.   We attended when we were here last year and had it on our travel schedule to come back.    The event takes place for 10 days and is host to Grammy Award winning songwriters and up and coming stars of tomorrow.  Venues of all kinds spread along the Florida and Alabama coastline and  welcome over 200 participants.  

                                  Oops...I think we picked the day the bikers were in attendance.

                           
                               They are an interesting group to watch with their very colorful attire.

                                         they come from all over to attend...From Norway...

                                   
                                           To the Czech Republic.

                                We listened to 3 ladies who write, sing and play gospel music.

                                                 And enjoyed a trio of mail gospel musicians.

                                           
                                                    And a Rhythm and Blues group who were very good.



The Flora-bama is an interesting place in itself.   Opening in 1964 and going through several mix-matched renovations due to fires and hurricanes,  it favors unusual decor...

such as these signs:

And a ceiling full of clothing lines draped with hundreds of bras.

Here's the link to our last years post if your interested in more information about this event.

2012 Frank Brown International Songwriters Festival



And our weekend ended with this awesome sunset taken from the Gulf  State Park Pier.

Hope all is well!

We inherited a table!!

The resort we are in is a membership complex.   They are in the process of selling their last 60 sites and the site we are in is an owned spot that we rent.   There are 3 levels of rentals, gold, silver and bronze.   The owners who have chosen to enhance their site with outdoor entertainment areas, pergolas, sheds, furniture, fire pits etc. place theirs in the gold program.  The silver have a few amenities and the bronze is basic.   The level also depends on where the site is located, such as facing the lake and fountains, middle rows which are pull throughs or back in spots.    We try to choose a silver, lake front but this year the one we picked out got sold so we had to re-choose and the only lakefront available that we liked is a bronze.   The good news is it costs $50-$100.00 a month less, the bad news is we have nothing, nada, zip, zilch on the lot.   Although I prefer not to have a site with all of the elaborate upgrades I do like having a table.   At one of the evening functions I mentioned we were going to start hitting estate/garage sales for an outdoor table.   Well, the next thing I know one of the workcampers delivered one of their table for us to use while we are here.   There really are nice people in the world (sometimes you have to seek) but we have found that people in this life style are exceptionally friendly and helpful.

The table is nothing extravagant, but very functional and works perfect for us.    Now we have someplace to eat outside and set our drinks.  

The resort is just now starting to gear up for the return of the snowbirds.   We did attend a gathering  for the Monday night World Series game shown at the clubhouse big screen theatre.  Not many showed up...this is college football territory...but we brought 2 St. Louis traditions for everyone to enjoy...toasted ravioli and a cooler of Bud.    Toasted ravioli was developed in St. Louis and is a popular appetizer served at all of the great Italian restaurants.   In St. Louis you can buy them already breaded and frozen, however, apparently  not in LA (Lower Alabama).   So I had to buy ravioli and bread them myself and fry them.  For my first attempt they turned out pretty good.  Everyone tried them, liked them but never heard or had them before.

We also attended a Halloween party.    We went as "cereal killers" donned with our favorite cereal boxes hung around our neck, with switch blades coming out at all angles and "blood" running down the box..   A little hard to see in the picture, but here we are:

We are not happy about our Cardinals....but there is always next year!!

The weather, although, warmer than up North has gotten a little chilly at night, settling in the high 40's/low 50's.  But we are still enjoying it.  Even spent one afternoon walking and reading at the beach!

Hope all is well!