Happy Birthday!

Today is our granddaughter Aenea's first birthday. What a milestone for her! She was born at 28 weeks and she is a happy, healthy one year old today! She gave us all a scare when she was born, but her parents maintained a constant vigil at her side and she made it through those first months in the NICU in great form. She is perfect today and we love her dearly, as well as her brother and her parents!

We left New Orleans last week and continued our journey to Florida to see Brandon and Megan. We spent a night in Steinhatchee, Florida where we were able to watch a beautiful sunset. On our waythere, we passed through a couple areas where wildfires are burning. There were warnings posted so we were alert to the smoke and it didn't get really bad. We were always able to see. But we did pass through an area of a controlled burn and when we passed the burning trees by the road, we could feel the heat of the fires through the cab of the motorhome. That was really quite amazing. The next day we drove on to Silver Springs, Florida, where friends Bill and Helen live. They are in a very nice park and we have enjoyed visiting with them and running a few errands here.

One day while we were out, we decided to try and find the Jumbolair subdivision. This is the place where John Travolta has his Florida home. It is a "fly-in" community where the home are built around an airstrip and you can literally taxi out your driveway to the runway and take off. Maximum privacy. It's hard to read the "Jumbolair" sign on the brick gates, but it is there. The runway ends at the round concrete fence and you can see a little more of the runway in the picture. Travolta's house is midway down the runway on the right. You can google it and see it from the air. 

This morning while we were relaxing, we saw a Scottish Terrier out for a walk with her master. So cute. We waited for her to come back, but we didn't see her again. This afternoon I went out for a walk to see if I could find her and I did! Her name is Lady and she's very friendly. Her master raised them for awhile and has five left, but he only had Lady with him. He told me to take her back to the motorhome to meet Terry and I did. I couldn't believe he just let me take the dog I was fussing over back to my place. Hah. But I brought her back and coaxed her up the motorhome steps and she went in to see Terry. He was really surprised. She made herself at home and I took her picture. . . then I took her back home

We went down to say goodbye to Helen and Bill this evening. He had some oral surgery today, so we tried not to stay long. He's doing well, but starting to have some pain.

We leave here tomorrow and head to Camelot RV Park in Malabar, just south of Melbourne. Can't wait to see the kids!

Till next time. . .

Dale

Rally Time at Camp Pull-Tab!

This is the time of year when we normally put on a rally at the Elkhart Campground. It has been a great success and year after year we always had more rigs coming. We opted not to do it this year. We always billed it as the "first campout of the season" and once our grandson was born in April, it made it harder for us to keep it the same weekend. We would much rather spend as much time as we like with Ronan and his parents.

SO, after we left Virginina, we opted to pass through Ohio and celebrate the time with two of our favorite people, Tab and Deanna. They always have the welcome mat out and we can always count on two other things as well. . . food (this time prepared by Tab and Deanna) and ICE CREAM! They took us to Springfield to the Marble Slab Creamery. Boy was that good! Thanks to two very special people. A very special little "mini rally."

From there, it was back to Summit Lake Campground in our old stompin' grounds. Two of my colleagues retired, so I wanted to attend their celebration and wish them well. It was great fun and we shared a lot of laughs. I got to see many teachers I once saw every day. We also got another invite to join some former neighbors at Texas Roadhouse in Muncie. What fun that was. We haven't seen these friends just to sit and talk for years. When we left the Roadhouse, we went to Richard's Restaurant and enjoyed coffee and just talked till the restaurant closed.

On Sunday we visited with friends Dave, Mark and Joyce and had dinner. Dave fixed up a chicken pot pie (one of my favorites) along with a few other goodies including fresh cookies. Terrific! I once again got my "black Scottie" fix with their Baxter, now seven months old. He is such a cutie. But I also spent some time at the camp visiting with two demure Scottie lassies. I saw them soon after they arrived and had to go over to pet them. Imagine my surprise when the dogs' owner turned out to be a woman who used to work at my school. I knew she had Scotties and I often wondered about them when we were in the area.

We have now been in Goshen at the fairgrounds since last Monday. It has been a busy week because I had a dental appointment and we had several "landlord" items to take care of. We have a wedding in the family next weekend and I wanted a new dress for that. I was able to find what I wanted, plus the shoes as well. So I am all set.

Here at the fairgrounds, the Holiday Rambler Pusher rally has just ended and now the Monaco rally is starting. They have 13 rallies here at the fairgrounds, plus the big fair in July. At least there are a lot of people around. We are not at the Elkhart Campground just yet, because two bridges we could cross to get there are all torn up. Traffic is a bit of a bear so we came here instead. When we get back from Florida in July, we will be at the Elkhart Campground, however, because of the rally schedule here.

I just had to add a picture of Neal stylin' in his new coat.

Till next time. . .

Dale