Friday, November 17, 2006

Fun with Terry and Dale

Our friends, Terry and Dale Pace, from the fulltiming Class of '05 are here at Rainbow Plantation this week. It is so good to see them again.

We have made a couple of day trips with them. On Tuesday we went to Lulu Buffet's restaurant called Lulu's (of course) where I had the best crab claws. Although is was a little cool we still enjoyed the outside atmosphere. Outside the entrance they have a ring puzzle where there is a ring attached to a small rope and you have to swing it so that it catches on a hook. Well, my smarta** husband did it on the third try. Terry tried and tried and tried and....... Anyway here is a picture of him trying - lol.



After eating we drove out Ft. Morgan road to the fort. Along the way there are still signs of Ivan the Terrible (hurricane). There is also a lot of land for sale and unfortunately I think it will be developed into hi-rise condo's.

We toured the fort and the museum which was interesting. Terry made it more interesting since he is such a history buff. My theory is "you've seen one fort, you've seen them all", but I guess that isn't really true. I took one picture at the fort of Dale walking some really steep steps - of course the camera angle helped.



Yesterday, Thursday, we drove to Robertsdale to Mama Lou's for lunch. After lunch we hit the hardware store circuit as Terry was looking for ???. What ever it was, he finally found it. Then we took off in search for some lawn chairs - no luck there, but I did find some insulated tumblers with handles - love them! And yes, I did get rid of six tumblers that I had - I followed the rule of something in, something out.

Saw this sun dog as we were walking the beach near the fort - pretty.



Today we rode along with them to Orange Beach and Gulf Shores. We stopped for lunch at the Perdido Beach Resort and it was very good. Especially the Bloody Mary! Well, the Jalapeno Poppers and the cheese sticks were good also along with the rest of the lunch. Dale and I walked out to the beach and got some good pictures of the Gulf. It was so pretty there, I could have just sat and watched the water for a long time, but the guys were already in the truck, so we didn't stay very long. We made a stop at a souvenir shop and then Old Time Pottery before heading home. Not sure what was wrong with Dean today - he was quieter than usual and believe me, that's quiet! He says he is feeling OK. He actually fell asleep a couple of times while riding - how rude!

Here is a picture of the Gulf and beach.

This one shows the re-construction of Orange Beach. One day it will be all highrise's and you won't be able to see the beach!

We really have enjoyed this time with Terry and Dale. They are leaving on Sunday, but hopefully we will catch up with them somewhere west this winter.

Thursday, November 09, 2006

Past Week Update & Sad News

I know that it has been over a week since I've updated my blog and I apologize. It has been a busy week touched with a lot of fun, catching up with old friends and sadness.

Sunday was wonderful as we returned to our "home" church, Robertsdale UMC. It was so good seeing everyone again and experiencing that back home feeling. I didn't realize just how much I've missed my church friends! The only thing missing was our pastor, Ron Nunn. He had undergone surgery for prostate surgery three weeks earlier and of course was not back in the pulpit yet. He is not only our pastor, but a great friend along with his wife Diane. Hopefully he will be back soon!

Our friends, Nancy and Jake, that we met at Raccoon Valley are here and we've spent some time with them. We've been out to dinner, went to see the Blue Angels practice and today we are going to the MS. Coast where I'm sure we will have to make a deposit at one or more of the casinos. Should be a fun day as they are a fun couple to be around. If you ever meet up with them, be sure and ask Jake about the SNAKE!

On a very sad note, one of our very best fulltiming friends, Mickey Ivey, passed away on Monday. When I received the word on Tuesday, I was in total shock, to say the least. We spent time with Mickey and Patti last winter in Texas, a couple of weeks in the spring in Natchez, MS. and when Patti's sister was in the hospital, we stopped by in N.C. to give her our support during that time. I wish I were with her now to help her through this, probably the hardest time of her life, but it isn't possible. I am with her - long distance - in my thoughts and prayers as are many, many of their fulltiming friends. Mickey, what can I say about you? You were one of the people that I'll remember the rest of my life. I'll miss your funny antics, like when you made faces at us in Goshen,IN at Denny's through the window. I'll miss the times we played Rummycube - darn, I guess I should have let you win, but you wouldn't have wanted that! You had more fun losing and making me feel guilty. Dean and I have lost a wonderful friend who will be missed but remembered.







FAREWELL MICKEY

Wednesday, November 01, 2006

Ahhh, Back in Baldwin County

It's so nice to be back in Baldwin County, AL.

We are parked for seven weeks at Rainbow Plantation, Summerdale, AL in site #70. If your down this way, come by and say hello.

I think the off the road time is what we are looking forward to the most. We're parked and know that it will be awhile before we move. However, I'm sure in a few weeks I'll be looking forward to the day we head west! Stationary sounds good, but to much of it gets boring.....places to go, things to see.

One nice thing about being back in "home" turf was seeing my Dad. He recently moved into a new apartment and after visiting him yesterday, I can see he needs my help getting things straightened up! Oh well, he's 86 now and I guess he's entitled to live in a mess if he wants - it just drives me crazy! I'll get it straightened up, but know that within two weeks of us leaving, it will be back to a mess.

I don't know what we'll be doing or where we will be going while here, but if we do anything exciting, I'll post it here. Otherwise, it may be awhile between posts. Be patient.......