Going North via West

May 11-14

Saturday morning we packed up the motorhome for our next adventure.

We left early driving both the motorhome and the Ford Explorer.  We are taking the Explorer to Dad for Anthony to use to take Dad around.  His 1984 Buick is about shot and it's a lot easier for him to get in and out of the Explorer, so we are leaving it with him.

We spent Saturday night with Dad and Anthony was able to take some time off for a fun weekend.

Sunday night, Anthony returned and we took the motorhome out to Walmart to spend the night so we can get an early start Monday morning heading to the mountain house.  We had spent Saturday night at Dad's in one of the most uncomfortable beds ever made and we are determined to not have a repeat performance.

We head out early Monday morning headed West.  We have some scheduled maintenance on the motorhome at Tom Johnson RV Service in Marion (it seems we always have some maintenance on the motorhome).  We have found that their service is reliable and we have an issue we water infiltration in a corner, so we need to get it fixed.

They loaned us a car so we did not have to drive the motorhome up the mountain to pick up the CRV (which we had left at the mountain house).  After some car shuttling, we have settled in on the mountain for a few days.

Tuesday is a work day.  The yard is in some need of some TLC, so this week we'll spend a few hours working on it.  We have scheduled delivery of some much-needed mulch for the planting beds around the house.

Wednesday is a play day.  We drive over to Asheville to visit Bill and Jan.  Jan had a partial knee replacement last week on both knees and we are checking up on her - and she's doing great.  Up and walking around, maybe a bit slow, but she is moving well.

Thursday is a big workday.  Horha and Roberto arrive around 9 am to start spreading mulch.  It is something Clara and I use to do, but too many weak backs have made our brains a little stronger - we get help.

It doesn't take long to realize that we don't have enough mulch.  We had 10 yards delivered and we need at least that much more.  I quickly find a local place that will deliver today and sure enough, about the time we used all the first load, the second load shows up.

After we (mostly Horha and Roberto) finish that, they start to work taking some pine trees down.  The pines grow fast and tend to overshadow all the hardwoods, so I'm slowly getting rid of all of them in the view and around the house.

Thank goodness we won't have to do this again for a year or two.  This calls for a sundowner!!

The yard looks really good now.  I just regret that we won't be here in June when the laurel and rhododendron bloom.  But some of the flowers are already coming out.

After a hard day of work yesterday, on Friday we slow down on to relax and enjoy the house.  This evening we had dinner at the Grassy Creek Country Club and go to a play, "Spirited Recollections, A Personal History of Burnsville",  at the Parkway Playhouse in Burnsville.

Saturday we awake to rain, the first this week.  It's really kind of nice sitting up on the mountain in the clouds.

The fog settles in for the day

This afternoon, we go to our favorite place in the mountains, the Orchard at Altapass and spend a great afternoon listening to live music and watching dancing.  There is no place in all our travels quite like The Orchard, where we always see old friends and meet new ones.

Sunday the rain let up for long enough this morning to get some grass seed put out in the bear spots in the lawn and to get some lime and phosphate spread.  The grass is looking great, but we can't seem to get some of the bear spots to fill in, plus the moles keep messing up some areas.  Hopefully I've got the moles taken care of and maybe this grass seed will fill in.

Keith and Diane Howell came over from Asheville for lunch and catching up on their family.

Tonight the clouds dropped into the valley and we were treated to one of those rare sunsets with the clouds below and the sun reflecting on the clouds above.

Monday we are finishing up a few chores around the house getting ready to head to Ohio/Canada/Niagara Falls on the first leg of our summer motorhome travels.

Tonight we went to Will and Bonnie's for dinner, meeting some new friends and renewing acquaintances with old ones.  Bonnie always puts on a special dinner.  The last time we visited them, I had mentioned that the best dessert I had ever had was a fried apple burrito at Wisdom's in Tubac, Az.  Bonnie had called Wisdom's and gotten the recipe, bought a deep fat fryer, and fixed fried apple burritos that challenge (and probably beat) Wisdom's.  Wow!  What a treat.

A Wilmington Weekend

May 4-5

Slade called earlier this week and said he and the kids were going to Wilmington to see the Battleship North Carolina this weekend and wondered if we wanted to meet them there.  We immediately suggested that perhaps we would drive the motorhome down and we could all stay in it.  We hatched a plan and we made reservations at Carolina Beach State Park.

As we discussed it, we decided that we would surprise Anna and Evan and not tell them anything about us being there.  It worked perfectly.

We left early Saturday morning, arrived at the campground and set up camp.  Slade had as a pretense for going to the campground that they were going to get a cabin.  He drove into the campground and were passing our site when Anna commented that the motorhome looked like Mimi and Papa's.  Slade quickly drove up to the motorhome and out we came. What a fun surprise!

Saturday afternoon we went to the North Carolina Aquarium at Fort Fisher for a great afternoon visiting the fish.

Evan loses a finger to the alligator

and eaten by a shark

After the visit to the aquarium, we went out on the windy beach.  The winds were gusting to 42 mph.

Saturday night we enjoyed the campsite and great hamburgers over a campfire.

Mimi and Anna compare shoe sizes.  I think Anna is going to  be a very tall girl if she fills out her height to match her shoe size.

Sunday morning after breakfast, we broke camp and headed over to the U.S.S. North Carolina Battleship Memorial.

There was a dog show on the grounds which we enjoyed for while before boarding the ship.

The dogs were competing in a jumping contest into a pool.  

All the kids try out the bunks

This anchor would sink Eureka

After a nice lunch downtown, we all went our separate ways with new memories.

Eureka is hauled

May 30 - June 3

It has been nearly 2 1/2 years since we've pulled Eureka out of the water and painted the bottom.  This is usually a once-a-year task, but the paint job we had done in Marathon, Florida held up real well.  But it is time!

On Tuesday, we motored from Morehead-Beaufort Yacht Club to Bock Marine a few miles North.  Over the next three days, we have waxed the hull, painted the bottom with two coats of very expensive ($250/gallon) paint that keeps things from growing on the bottom.  We also had Bock Marine put new bearings and packing for the drive shaft to the propeller.

We do manage to get most of the black bottom paint on the boat where it should be

All parts of the bottom have to be painted, which sometimes requires some back-breaking work.

Eureka is back in the water Friday morning.  We take her back home and spend a couple hours cleaning her up and changing the oil - another task we've put off too long.

A fun week with Evan

April 4 - 12

On Thursday, April 4 Slade, Anna and Evan came down to Beaufort for a long weekend of relaxing and catching up on what's happening.

Saturday, we spent a fun few hours at Fort Macon enjoying the nice Spring weather and watching a reenactment/story telling session.

The Tourism visitors center has added a nice opportunity for everyone to enjoy 

Slade and Anna take the kayak out on a chilly Taylors Creek

Evan helps put a bird house in place above the swing.  Sure hope the birds don't spend much time there while people are sitting in the swing.

Sunday, Slade and Anna left for home and Evan is spending the week with us.  We also have my father for the next couple of weeks, so we've stayed busy.

On Wednesday, Evan and I go out to the airport for Evan's first flight in a small aircraft.  This is something I've wanted to do with him for a while.  I put Evan in the copilots seat and I sat in the back.

The pilot flew out to Cape Lookout and then along Shackleford Banks.  He let
Evan take the controls for a few minutes.  Evan did real well in spite of not being able to see over the instrument panel.  "This isn't like a video game" was Evan's comment.

Fort Macon from a different perspective

Cape Lookout and Shackleford Banks

Madelyn, our neighbor and her dogs spent a lot of time with us this week.

Evan truly loves any dog that he sees.  I've never seen a kid who enjoys them more than he does.

Evan and Annie

Friday afternoon, I met Slade in Goldsboro and Evan went back home.  We are now looking forward to summer when we'll have a chance to spend some quality time with both he and Anna.