Saturday 14 April 2007

A Day With Family

Today was a cold, nasty rainy day. It was 43F (6C) when I got up this morning and I think that was the high for today.

The plan for today was to meet at Gordon’s sister, Carol’s house. She and her husband, Rick live near Cincinnati. Gordon’s son and his wife and their kids were meeting us there around 1:00 p.m. Unfortunately Gordon’s daughter and her husband and kids couldn’t make the trip from Columbus.

We picked up some food for ourselves at Taco Bell and McDonalds on the way to Carol’s and had a good time chatting with Carol and Rick. When Ian, Tracy, Caden and Lilly arrived, we ate. Carol had gotten pizza for them and she was so sweet to reimburse us for our food that we had purchased.

Rick and Carol just returned from Heidelberg, Germany where Rick had some medical treatments as they aren’t covered here in the U.S. by his medical insurance. Suffice it to say that for all he’s gone through he looks very well but is still a ways from a full recovery. We complain about our Canadian medical insurance but I have to say that what we have is much better than what they have here in the U.S. even though it really costs us!

We had a great afternoon. Gordon had a good time playing Grandpa and everyone is tired out. We got home shortly after 7:00 p.m. I also called to make our arrangements for an RV park in Columbus for a week starting Monday.

Lilly, our granddaughter - isn't she cute? Her Mom loves to dress her in orange

Grandpa teaching Lilly to play the piano

Lilly (got into a scrape with a green marker) and Caden , our grandson (not prepared for a photo)

Three Generations of boys

Aunt Carol and Lilly with (part of ) Ian

The Family L to R Front Row - Gordon, Ian, Caden, Rick, Carol; Back Row - Tracy, Lilly, Sandra

Friday 13 April 2007

We Leave 'Our Old Kentucky Home'

Brrr! It was only 38F (3C) and cloudy this morning when I got up. We weren’t in a hurry to get on the road as we only had a two hour drive. Before we tow, we always warm up the truck so by this time the sun had come out. We drove around the Kentucky Horse Park Farm and took some photos, then hitched up and dumped our tanks on the way out.

Photos of the Kentucky Horse Park


We left the Kentucky Horse Park Campground at 11:00 a.m. under sunny skies and 48F (9C) and drove the 127.7 miles in the two hours expected arriving at Cedarbrook Campground in Lebanon, OH shortly after 1:00 p.m. It took a while to get set up as the new weather station has some parts that Gordon needed to figure out where to put them and how to anchor them. Since we are between Dayton and Cincinnati we didn’t set up the TV satellite as we get quite a few channels just with the aerial.

Our Site at Cedarbrook Campground


With the sun today we reached a high of 54F (12C) but we won’t be seeing that again this weekend as the forecast is for lots of rain and some possible snow. Not nice!

I went into town to pick up some groceries but all they have in downtown Lebanon is a Save A Lot and their produce section leaves much to be desired. I know they have a Walmart Superstore here too but I wasn’t sure how to get to it so I didn’t bother.

Now we’ll have to hunker down and wait for the nasty weather to pass!

Thursday 12 April 2007

Definitely in Horsey Country


Part of the Bluegrass Scenic Byway

We stayed here an extra day hoping that the weather would co-operate but no such luck. When I woke up today it was 46F and that was our high for the day. It remained cloudy and windy with a very odd sunny break. The good news is that we didn’t have a tornado last night but we did have hail and a thunderstorm but it passed very quickly.

Gordon went out briefly this morning to take some photos. The rest of the morning and early afternoon we didn’t do much. I read some and watched some TV. I haven’t watched Regis and Kelly for most of the winter so watched that as well as Cityline and the Price is Right. Mid afternoon I went for another walk (as I had walked this morning) and then we went to get fueled up. Our thermometer had quit so we stopped at Walmart and Gordon found his weather station that he’s been wanting that shows wind speed. We drove across the street to Lowe’s to see if they had anything similar but they didn’t so back to Walmart and purchased it. We then drove around the area and took some photos even though it wasn’t sunny. Lots of horses and money in this area! It’s a place we’ll want to return to, probably on our way south some year. It should be very pretty with the leaves changing and the green fields and hopefully, sunshine!

Nothing on the agenda for tonight. Gordon needs to figure out how to work the weather station.

A typical horse farm building

Another horse farm

Yet another, this time with horses

The stone wall reminds me of the back roads in England

Wednesday 11 April 2007

Weather!


Lots of robins here!


Our row- we're the first RV

The weather wasn’t very nice today. We had rain and wind off and on however when I got up it was 46F (8C) and although it had rained overnight, it wasn’t raining then so was able to go for a walk around the park. The sun even came out ever so briefly.

We lazed around this morning and I got a stew made. It’s the first one we’ve had since sometime in Texas. After the stew finished cooking, Gordon dropped me at Walmart to pick up some things and he went to scout out the area for photos. Unfortunately it started to rain quite hard so after he picked me up again, we headed home.

We’ve signed up for another day here since today was pretty much written off as far as seeing anything is concerned so Friday we leave for Cedarbrook Campground in Lebanon, OH for three days.

Our high today was 62F (17C) so it wasn’t bad if it hadn’t rained so hard.

Oh, and, we must be back in colder weather. My throat is scratchy and I feel like a cold is coming on and my eyes are all fuzzy. It’s allergy season!

Oh, and we’re on a tornado watch until 11:00 p.m.

Tuesday 10 April 2007

From Georgia to Kentucky

Driving through the Appalachians

Part of the Kentucky Horse Farm - horses in the distance

Our site at Kentucky Horse Farm Campground

View from our back window

We left Cartersville KOA at 8:45 a.m. under sunny skies and 36F (2C). This was the first morning in a long while that I could see my breath when I went outside. There was still quite a bit of traffic on I-75 this morning and a couple of times the road narrowed to one lane but we still arrived at the Kentucky Horse Park Campground at around 3:00 p.m. and were set up complete with both satellite dishes shortly after 5:00 p.m. This time includes check in which wasn’t all that speedy. They did tell us which sites were available and let us go and pick our own so we could get satellite access. Today’s trip was 338.5 miles with part of it going through the Appalachian Mountains

The sites here are large and paved and we even have a nice view out our back window which is something we haven’t had since we were parked on Aransas Bay in Goose Island State Park. It’s a different view, more green grass and trees rather than water but it’s pretty just the same. It was 59F (15C) here when we arrived and with the sun shining it was actually quite pleasant. We’re here for two days. Tomorrow is supposed to be rainy and not very nice but the weather changes so often that who knows what it will actually be like.

Once we got set up we went for a walk. There are a lot of people here from Ontario including our two neighbors who are from St. Mary's.

Gordon wanted to photograph horse farms so I picked this campground as the it is actually part of the Kentucky Horse Park so we’re surrounded by black and white fences so out he went for sunset (which was a bust)!

Now we're only about 2 hours from Lebanon, Ohio so we'll have a short trip on Thursday.

Monday 9 April 2007

Our Georgia Adventure


We left Lake City, FL this morning at 8:00 a.m. under cloudy skies and 48F (9C). The first part of our trip went well. We were breezing along the Atlanta bypass when all of a sudden about five miles from the I-75 interchange, traffic slowed down and stopped in some places. The two left lanes appeared to be moving but these continued to go east on the bypass. Since the lane that was to take us onto I-75 wasn’t moving, we decided to continue on 285 and try to find another route north. We got on 19 going north and then had to find a road to take us back to I-75. At this time we were very low on fuel We wound up going west on 20 and found a station that our RV would fit into. The road took us to Cartersville where we had planned to stay at the local KOA as it had wifi. All in all with the traffic backup and then our rather long detour we were two hours late getting to the KOA but still arrived by about 4:00 p.m. and since we weren’t setting up any satellite dishes were set up by 4:30 p.m. It was 54F (12C) when we arrived and mostly cloudy with some breaks of sun.

The wifi however appears to not work all that well. Gordon went up to the office as his computer didn’t see it at the wireless network at all at the RV. Mine will see it and sometimes will connect and sometimes not.

Anyway with any luck this will upload with the photo of our site at Cartersville, GA KOA.

Sunday 8 April 2007

Our Easter Sunday

On checking the weather for our next stop, Cartersville, GA we found it was going to be only 21F (-6C) tonight. Since the forecast is 29F (-2C) for Lake City, FL tonight we decided to stay here another night. Monday night is supposed to be warmer and we have time to make it to Cincinnati by the weekend. I paid for another night and found out they do have showers up at the office building so checked them out – not great. You get really spoiled in snowbird areas. They tend to have quite nice, clean showers. Some are better than others but as long as they’re clean I don’t mind – these aren’t clean. The bottom of the shower curtain is grungy.

The day was cloudy with some sunny breaks and we had some rain spatters and a high of 63F (17C). I went to the local Walmart and picked up some items then back to the RV to read for most of the afternoon. I also had a brief nap as my eyes are really tired today.

Betty called from Toronto to wish us a Happy Easter. I also got to talk to Garth who is mastering his new digital camera. They were having a light dusting of snow in Toronto and 28F (-2C). They are not happy after leaving 80F (27C) weather in Fort Myers just last weekend. I then called Margie to wish her a Happy Easter and had a chat with John and Danica as well. Nick had been over Saturday night for Easter dinner but Becky was working.

So, it’s on the road again tomorrow whether it’s raining or not!