Resort, Relax, Refresh, Refurnish

What a terrific time we had at Lehigh Acres Resort relaxing around the pool and spending time with friends, Carol, Dave, and Jack. The flowers were all in full bloom and the warm breezes had the flags flying. It is a fun two weeks that we spend each year getting together with folks from around the USA and Europe. We then gathered with friends to give thanks for all that we share at Thanksgiving Dinner. Jo and Denise cooked a delicious dinner for all of us, Skip and Diane, Joyce, Tom and Denise, Jo and myself. Always good to be with friends. Jo did a little refurnishing in our home. We enjoy the new pieces especially this time of year.

Back home in Florida

Arriving back in Florida we found we had lost some orange trees from the freeze last winter. We replaced them with a tangelo, a navel orange, and a grapefruit tree. Also replaced a palm tree with a rose bush. Hoping that these will survive the colder temps we seem to be getting. Thought we saw a few relatives at the community hall, and discovered they were scarecrows to celebrate the fall harvest. Oh well, hope some relatives and friends will visit us this winter.

Visiting our son in North Carolina

Continuing on to North Carolina to visit Ryan and Melissa gave us some great views through the Appalachian Mountains. This area is really spectacular and a nice drive. We had a great stay with them and enjoyed going to the North Carolina State Fair. Since we are state fair enthusiasts we are always looking at the livestock and crops. We were especially impressed with the fruit and vegetables shown. Each state has its own unique items on display. Tobacco of course is unique to NC. Another item we found interesting and enticing was the Krispy Kreme Burger. Ryan and I thought we might split one to try it, however, splitting was not an option and it was mighty tasty. May try them at our 4th of July get-together at the farm. The flower and gardening displays were awesome. We certainly were impressed with the vintage crafts display. These talented people showed their wares and expressed that we buy American. Something we all need to consider to get America back on track. Our day at the fair ended with some terrific moto-cross bike riding. Brought back a lot of memories when Ryan was a youth and tried his best on the homemade jumps.

Visiting our daughter in Indiana

Our first stop on our way south was in Indiana to visit our daughter Ashley, Danny, and Sabrina. We had a nice stay with them and enjoyed spoiling our grand daughter with hats, strawberry jelly, walks, and naps. She is definitely an outdoor kind of girl. She likes to watch the birds and visit the neighbor's horses. As they say, grandparents are supposed to spoil their grandchildren, so that is what we are doing to the best of our ability.

Time flies while having fun

As summer flew by and the fall colors enriched the scenery, we helped our niece and husband repair their yard. Our skid loader made the job much easier. Then it was off to the Kansas NASCAR Race. It was a beautiful weekend. The wind was cold and the car spotters, high above on their perch overlooking the track, got the brunt of the chill. We enjoyed all the activity on race day and cheered on our favorite driver, Carl Edwards. Work at the farm needed to get done as the weather cooperated for farmers to get their crops harvested. Vaughn used the 966 to do some waterway work. We took a day and drove to the Mississippi to see the fall colors. Enjoyed getting together with family to celebrate Lynn's birthday. While finishing our yard work, we saw the bald eagles land in our field. It was as if they were telling us to get ready to take our flight south too. So we put a snow fence up between our buildings, packed our truck, and began our journey south.