In Full Bloom

We did arrive home April 11th and found everything in fine shape.

The Redbud & Whitebud trees have put on a show. They are surely at their peak of flower.

Since getting home, I have been through many medical tests. Probably won't be posting to the blog for awhile. I'm scheduled for exploratory surgery on April 30th to study a mass in my abdomen. Won't actually know anymore than that until after surgery.

Murfreesboro Storm damage

The photos can be enlarged by clicking on the photo. Sort of fuzzy because of the rain. We were so glad to be undamaged and moving away from the storm. For many miles we saw emergency vehicles heading to the area.

Coming Home

We left Pine Mountain this morning. Weather forecast for storms any route we chose, so we decided to go the familiar route through Chattanooga, Nashville, Paducah, Etc.

After we got through the mountains north of Chattanooga, we stopped at a rest stop and walked the dog. Listening to the weather radio, we knew there were many storms forecast for Tennessee and hoped that most of them were further east.

Many of you know my weird ability to find a four-leaf clover. At the rest stop, I stooped over and picked the first one that I spotted. I pressed it into our travel log book when we returned to the truck.

Just south of Murfreesboro, Tennessee we began to get tornado warnings. Then 'tornado on the ground at Murfreesboro'. Walt thought we may have just missed it but then spotted it to our left at the upcoming intersection. He pulled the rig to the shoulder and we ran through scenarios of what to do. The tornado was wide and moved west to east. We figure that we were just about 1/4 mile south. When we rolled the windows down, there was NO noise, NO wind -- just an eerie silence as we watched debris fly in the tornado's path.

It was only a few minutes after the tornado passed that we could see northbound traffic was still moving. We decided to get on the road and out of the way of damage & clean-up. At the intersection we saw a semi pushed into the guardrail, another semi flipped over in the southbound lane. In our northbound lane, several cars has been scooted into each other and one car flipped into the ditch. Many trees snapped, buildings damaged, signs & light poles down.

We pulled off at the Smyrna exit. Got fuel and watched the storm reports on the television in the gas station. There were five funnel clouds that had passed over that area and Nashville was still under alert. We waited until the 'all clear' about 30 minutes later then travelled in light to heavy rain most of the way from Nashville to Paducah. In that stretch, we saw the tremendous damage done to trees in the February ice storm.

We are camped at Whittington Woods. It is a nice campground off I-57 in Whittington, Illinois. Sounds like weather will be better tomorrow and we plan to be home late afternoon.

FDR's Little White House

We woke up to 33 degrees this morning. It was cold but the sky was clear and sunny. It didn't take long for the temperature to start climbing. It was 68 by noon.

Today we went to Warm Springs, GA to visit the Little White House. Franklin Delano Roosevelt built the Little White House in 1932 while governor of New York, prior to being inaugurated as president in 1933. He first came to Warm Springs in 1924 hoping to find a cure for the infantile paralysis (polio) that had struck him in 1921. Swimming in the warm, spring waters brought him no miracle cure, but it did bring improvement.

Roosevelt visited Warm Springs 16 times during his 4 terms as President. He died here on April 12, 1945.

The springs are a constant 88 degrees. There is a trough where you can feel the spring water. The pools are only filled once a year in hopes of preserving their structure. It takes 170,000 gallons of water to fill the pools.

Callaway Gardens

Woke up to 35 degrees this morning!! Being hardy, camping souls most of the 44 people in our group bundled up and carpooled to Callaway Gardens. We were bundled in as many layers of clothing as we could find. Most of us brought quilts for additional warmth.

The original plans were for a 2 1/2 hour open-air tram ride in the morning, an outdoor picnic and a 2 1/2 hour tram ride in the afternoon.

After a short discussion, we agreed to take a 3 hour tram tour and return to the RV park for picnic inside the activities center. That was a wise decision. Most of the morning we had sleet or snow flurries. Never evident on the ground but it was sure cold in our faces as the tram zipped along at 10 mph.

The gardens were beautiful and we have already decided to return here for another look when in transit from or to Florida.

We had a good tour guide and stopped at three buildings -- all heated. The chapel was in a beautiful wooded setting. The tropical gardens were complete with a waterfall. The Butterfly House was my favorite.

Because it was overcast, there were not many butterflies moving. But they were so close we could really examine their beauty. I loved the 'nursery' where the chrysalis were in various stages of hatching.

I have included photos of Native Orange Azalea, orchids and shrimp plant. Outdoors the Dogwood and Azalea (orange, gold, red & pink) were in full bloom. Rhododendrons are ready to pop open soon. Tulips, pansies and daffodils were also beautiful.

Pine Mountain, GA

We left Bonita Springs on Friday morning. Arrived at the Pine Mountain RV Resort yesterday afternoon. We will be here for a week with the SE Teton Rally. The Rally actually starts this afternoon but many Tetons have arrived already.

They have had lots of rain here but our two travel days were dry. It is raining lightly this morning. The ground is already saturated so hope we don't get a large amount of rain.

We are dressed in jeans today - the first time in months! It feels a little strange.

Cardinal Circle Redneck Party

As the season comes to a close, there are parties and get-togethers every day.


Our park has several major street parties in January, February & March. The Bonita Beach Boys band provides the entertainment. The featured street provides the main dish. Everyone else brings a covered dish & a lawn chair.

We had a high temperature of 87 today and it only cooled to 75 by 10 pm. We were glad for shade & a breeze early in the party.

Everyone enjoyed the conversation, food and dancing.

It was an evening of great fun and some good-byes exchanged.

We will be leaving the end of this week and will miss all the 'fun in the sun.'

BBTP Men vs. Women Horseshoe Tournament

We have never stayed long enough to be a part of this fun event. What a great time we had this morning. I did not play horseshoes this year but Walt did. It was fun being a spectator.

The women have a cheerleader and are very vocal about every point they make. In the last photo they are giving a "Hip, hip, hooray" for the men's efforts. Then the "Real Women" cheer.

The men won 12 games and the women won 4 but by the spirit of the women it appeared that it was a total win for the women!!! Psyche! Attitude is everything.

Afterward was a dinner and awards were given.

Miniature Golf

It was a cooler, overcast morning so we all played miniature golf. It was lots of fun and each one of us made at least one hole-in-one.

Everglades Airboat

We have been enjoying Tim, Breann & Caden visiting.

They arrived Sunday afternoon and have been enjoying the nice warm weather -- even though they are missing some unusually warm days back home.

Today we went to the Everglades to see Everglades City & Chokoloskee. We took an airboat ride from Everglades City through the mangrove swamp. It was a nice trip because there were just the five of us with our driver Javier and Pete the Pelican.















We saw birds, racoon and only one alligator. Javier fed the alligator marshmallows.



Back at the dock, Caden got to pet a baby alligator. Breann also held the little gator.

Another Beautiful Day

We have been having such nice, sunny weather. It gets into the mid 80's during the day but cools to around 60 at night. Since Daylight Savings Time started we are really getting to enjoy the nice evenings outside. The Bonita Beach Boys (our park band) put on some good entertainment Sunday evening.

We only have a few weeks left to enjoy this winter before we start heading home in early April.

Tim, Breann and Caden are coming on Sunday and will stay until Friday. We're really looking forward to showing them what we love about the area.

As our time winds down there are more reasons for impromptu parties and cook-outs. Walt has been using the grill and made wonderful BBQ ribs and smoked turkey breasts. There have been some excellent fish fry dinners with the tasty Florida sheepshead and whiting.

I've had time for some sewing but the weather is too nice to stay inside. I did take a machine applique class and completed a Great Blue Heron wallhanging. I will quilt it when I get back home. Also made a table runner and a Beach Kids blanket. That is all packed away and I'm slowly getting the RV ready to travel.

People began leaving last week and some 'short-timers' or overnighters have been in the park since. Most of us will be leaving by early April. I find it hard to believe that the winter is almost over.

Walt is on Work Party duty today, as every Thursday. Tonight he plays poker and some of us wives will go to a movie. We have seen a good variety of movies this year -- Doubt, New in Town, Slumdog Millionaire, The Reader, Marley & Me, Gran Torino.

BBTP Fashion Show 2009

This year it was decided that the Fashion Show would be a Thrift Shop Fashion Show.


There were several categories -- swimwear, evening wear, cruise wear, costume and cross-dresser!


The first photo is our neighbor Oscar (age 83). He modeled his father's two piece wool knit swimsuit.


It was amazing what people could find and most ensembles were under $5.


In the last photo, Alan is modeling the Tommy Gofigger boxer. In this uncertain economy, this outfit may be even more affordable than the thrift shop.


Last year's Fashion Show was sponsored by Anthony's Ladies Apparel. This year was more fun and nice to see the men take part in the event.

Saturday at Fort Myers Beach

It's been a long time since I posted anything. Seems like it's been 'business as usual' in our lives this past month.

Today was great weather so some of us took the trolley to Fort Myers Beach. We ate at Bonita Bill's then walked the beach & shops. Had drinks at the top of the Lani Kai.

As you can see, Saturday is a busy day at the beach but it was a great day.

Sunset

A beautiful sunset tonight. The most unique feature was that the sunset was reflected in the clouds to the east and gave them a rosy, pink glow.

Sunsets are getting later and later. It's nice to have the extra time and warmer weather to enjoy the patio outside.

Enjoying Rachel's Visit

Today we had lunch at Doc's overlooking Bonita Beach. It was still a chilly day so not many on the beach.

We went to the Ding Darling Preserve on Sanibel. The main area of the preserve is closed to traffic on Friday so we were disappointed that we couldn't drive through. However, the Bowman Tract is open for short hikes so we went over there. Not much activity in the cold. We didn't see one alligator. Did see some herons & Ibis.

Too bad it has been so cold while Rachel is visiting -- guess she'll just have to come again!