The Snake & Backbone Rock

Before we get to Nova Scotia, we have a few nice stops. We arrived in Tennessee today,

the forest covered hills are gorgeous. We are staying at the Baileyton RV Park for two nights.  It is a nice park with long
pull-thru sites, they have a swimming pool and a driving range for us golfers.

We are getting together with John's brother tomorrow. This afternoon we explored: we found 'The Snake' and backbone rock, two of Johnson County landmarks.  The Snake is a 33 mile road that is said to have 489 curves on 3 mountains. It is a favorite with motorcyclist, we loved driving it in the Jeep! 

       

Big Nova Scotia trip starts today!

Today we pulled out of Patrick AFB (Cocoa Beach, FL). Being on the open road again feels good, so good. You other RVers know what I'm talking about - being excited about a journey as it begins to unfold, maybe it is just knowing that new and exciting places are out there awaiting our arrival.

This will be our big Nova Scotia trip!  We've never been there.  We know of some other people that are headed is the same direction, if we are lucky we will see them on the road.  I have some 'Essery' family on Prince Edward Island; back in the day (around 1950) they ran a potato farm on the island.  It would be interesting to meet family there.

Tonight we fueled up at a FlyingJ in the town of St George, SC.  We pulled our rig in between the truckers at the FlyingJ for a good nights sleep.  Not very new and exciting, but that will come later.

Cocoa Beach Area for 2 Weeks

On April 1st, we moved the coach to Patrick AFB FamCamp. I grew up in the Cocoa Beach area and Patrick is close to where my father lives.  Patrick's FamCamp is very nice, directly on the Banana River, we will be back here. So for the last two weeks we've been on the spacecoast spending most days with good ol' Dad, it was time well spent. Actually, we planned to leave a few days earlier but we were enjoying the visit

so much we delayed the start of the trip a couple of days. We finished a couple of jobs around the house and he rewarded us with a few cookouts featuring his killer bar-b-q cheeseburgers and hotdogs, complete with toasted rolls and all. Good stuff! Dad knows his way around a backyard grill. 

5 Yummy Months in Orlando

The winter season in Florida flew by. It was nice to be back in the area to reconnect with our loved ones. We enjoyed wonderful dinners with friends and family at Winter Park and Disney Springs. I loved getting together with friends at 4Rivers Smokehouse Bar-b-que (good brisket). Enjoyed spending a lot of time with my two sons, we always share good times and many laughs together. 

John and I enjoyed lunches with his son and his wife at our favorite German restaurant in Sanford. If you are driving through Sanford, FL stop at Hollerback's Willow Tree for some good German food and try a desert before you leave. My favorite is the black forest cake and John loves the apple strudel.

We visited my cousin and her husband, Patty & Tony, at their splendid new vacation home in The Villages. It was my first time seeing The Villages, what an amazing place!  Patty and Tony generously set us up with a golf cart - which we learned is the preferred method of Village transportation.  We all played a round of golf and toured the town on carts. Patty and Tony are fun people and we had a wonderful time with them.

This winter, we enjoyed three ocean cruises and loved them all. The last one was on the worlds largest cruise ship, the Harmony of the Seas. We enjoyed it so much that we scheduled our next cruise on the same ship for November for our anniversary. 

Our friends Marie and Jerry invited us to their gorgeous condo on the beach for an incredible dinner. Their place has amazing ocean and river views. They have a big gourmet kitchen and she really knows how to use it. She prepared both salmon and meatloaf with all the trimming, I love salmon and John is a meatloaf fanatic. Every dish was delicious and we had a splendid time with them.

John's daughter and her family were here for a fun-filled week. The three grandsons are getting so big, I relished in watching them beat their grandfather at golf and run circles around us playing Star Wars trivia.  We loved seeing them all! 

Staying in the Orlando, we were able to get our fill of all the mouse has to offer. We love the Disney parks and resorts. We picked up annual tickets and could be found many mornings on a safari ride at Animal Kingdom and later having dinner in EPCOT.

Our friends Bonnie and Alan have been busy with transitioning to full time RVing. When they were able to take a break, we joined them for a cook-out where Alan grilled up delicious thick steaks. I love a good steak and these were in a league of their own - so very good. As you can see we spent most of the winter visiting with wonderful people and eating some really good food. 

We kicked off RV rallies this year with the Entegra Owner's gathering at the big Tampa RV Show and we had the pleasure of dining with a wonderful group of people at the Enterga Tampa dinner. It was a great night and we all had fun at the rally.  We were back to Tampa in February for another good time at Entegra's Sweetheart Rally. We love seeing old friends and meeting new ones at the rallies.

Tomorrow we move the RV from Orlando to the Cocoa Beach area! I love the ocean!

Circle of Life

Lois Essery  1937 - 2016

           

    Mom dancing with my brother Bob                                            

Mom (1958)

Mom & Dad (1985)

Sad news: We lost my mother two weeks before Christmas at the age of 79, she had been sick for a while.  I am fortunate to have had the love and guidance of such a wonderful woman, she is greatly missed.  Her life was all about family and family gatherings, especially during the holidays.  My brother, George, and his love, Kathleen, have picked up the family-baton with hosting Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners that are worthy of admiration. They are both great cooks and generous hosts.

The best  news: We have been blessed with the birth of a new baby niece and a brand new nephew is due very soon. The circle of life - as the family loses a wonderful woman, we welcome two beautiful bouncing babies.

6th Anniversary

Friday, John and I got together for dinner with our good friends Bonnie and Alan at 4 Rivers Bar-B-Q. The last time we saw them was six moths ago in Indiana. We sat at an outside table for hours catching up. Good food and wonderful company. 

Yesterday John and I got together with my son, Brandon. He moved to Altamonte Springs, FL while we were away on the big RV trip. After he gave us a tour of his new place, we enjoyed a lovely lunch at Bahama Breeze and someone mentioned how we all used to go to Cheesecake Factory at least once a week. Pumpkin cheesecake sounded so good, we decided to go to Cheesecake Factory in Winter Park for desert.

Today, is our 6th wedding anniversary!  John and I enjoyed a fabulousness dinner at Ruth Chris Steak House in Winter Park. When John made the reservation he mentioned our anniversary, when we arrived our table was beautifully decorated with red rose peddles and at the end of the delicious meal they delivered a tray of small deserts decorated for our special occasion. A terrific restaurant to celebrate an anniversary.

Tomorrow, we continue to celebrate our anniversary with a cruise to the Bahamas.

First Few Days Home

It is wonderful being back in Central Florida and seeing family. Tuesday we visited my parents in Rockledge, FL and later enjoyed Ashley's cheeseburgers and steak-fries with my father and youngest son. Wednesday, John and I got caught up on all our laundry & cleaning and had dinner at Longhorns. Today we celebrated my youngest son, Schuyler's, 23rd birthday with a delicious dinner at Tuscany Grill in Suntree, FL.