Virginia, Lexington - Sunday, May 31, 2015 - Natural Bridge/Lexington KOA

We are here in Natural Bridge/Lexington KOA site 74 for the night.  We normally don’t use KOAs but there wasn’t much else to choose from that was decent.  The good campgrounds in Virginia must be nearer the coast J.  Since we are just passing through this will work out just fine.

 

 

We are having the same trouble finding a good campground around Harrisburg, PA which is where we plan to be tomorrow night.  The last time we were in Harrisburg we stayed at Harrisburg East RV Park, it was ok and I think it was the only thing we could find then.  We’ll probably be staying there again tomorrow night because we can’t seem to find anything else – we are open to suggestions if anyone has stayed somewhere else.

Greg was pretty certain he wouldn’t be watching TV this evening but the Dish locked onto a satellite through a hole in all of the leaves.

 

 

After we left the rally site this morning we had to stop for our monthly grocery shopping.  I put away all of the things that had to go in the freezer and fridge while we were in the Wal-Mart parking lot.  This is what still needed to be put away this evening.  I did find a place for everything.  I’m glad we only do this once a month, wears us out.  Pulling into Wal-Mart with the coach keeps us from having to do really large shopping trips on the motorcycle.

 

 

 

The scenery through North Carolina and into Virginia was really pretty until we ran into some rain.

 

And then some other vehicles ran into each other creating this 3-mile back up in front of us.  I guess it went back behind us several more miles.  When we got to the accident site it looked rather minor to have created all this mess.

 

 

Site 74 was the only site available that we could fit into.  In fact we had to pull through the site behind us in order to get into this one.  Later in the day another couple that was at the RV Dreams rally pulled into it, we were glad they were running late.  At $60 a night it is more than we usually spend on overnight stays.  It is more expensive because it has a large deck.  Everything looks pretty new except for the fire pit, it has had some hard use. 

The swing looks brand new and was real comfy until the wind and rain came in.

If you are big into checkers, this is the place to come.

North Carolina, Marion - Saturday, May 30, 2015 - RV Dreams Rally

HAPPY BIRTHDAY YESTERDAY TO GRANDKIDS JACKSON AND BRAELYNN (sorry grandma didn’t write a blog on your birthday)

We are kind of dressed up for the Hawaiian Luau tonight J.

 

 

They were setting up for quite a feast – Hawaiian shrimp skewers and drumsticks, Hawaiian rice, sweet potato casserole, pineapple and orange salad, rolls and cake.

Plus a whole roasted pig.  I’m a little squeamish about this, but this looks better than the “after” picture would have. 

 

 

I think it looked better on the plate.  Everything tasted great.

We’ve had a good time with old friends, Roger and Dianne.

 

 

And, new friends:

Joe and Carolyn

Bob and Lindy

Tom and Linda, hope they get their house sold soon.

After the luau they had a hard time finding volunteers for the games.  Beach ball relay might have been easier on the knees than the Frisbee relay I participated in earlier in the week – I have bruises from that.

Lazy man’s volleyball had a few takers.

Howard has a fire ready to go but we headed home before they got it going.  We need to get ready to leave in the morning after breakfast.  We have to make a stop at Wal-Mart before we go too far we haven’t bought any groceries in about ten days so we are getting pretty low.  We may make it as far as Roanoke, VA tomorrow, we’ll see.

North Carolina, Marion - Monday, May 25, 2015 - RV Dreams Rally

This is the first gathering of the group, we have people from previous RV Dreams rallies from 2008 through the present.

 

 

We enjoyed a catered barbeque dinner Saturday evening.

Our “ice breaker” event Saturday evening involved teams of six trying to shoot marshmallows into cups from one end of the table to the other.  As we were supposed to be picking up the marshmallows, things escalated (or deteriorated, depending on your point of view) into a marshmallow fight.  It’s hard to catch on film those little marshmallows flying through the air.

Sunday most people stayed home and watched a day of racing on television.  The evening ended with an ice cream social.

Monday has been a busy day.  We started out with a full catered breakfast.  Fun and games started at 1:00.  Some people tried the hula hoop relay.

 

 

I tried the Frisbee relay – we didn’t win, but we didn’t come in last either J.

Our friend Roger, on the left participated in a water balloon relay.

The water balloon relay ended in another free for all.  Notice I backed off for some picture taking.

 

 

The evening ended with a pot luck dinner - lots of good food.

 

 

North Carolina, Marion - Saturday, May 23, 2015 - RV Dreams Rally

HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY TO GRANDSON KYLE

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY TO DAUGHTER DESIRA AND SON-IN-LAW DAN

This is where we will be until next Sunday – The RV Dreams Rally at the Tom Johnson Camping Center in Marion, NC.  This is a reunion rally for people who have attended previous RV Dreams Rallies.  We’ve already had people from Minnesota and Alabama stop by for some lengthy discussions on living fulltime in an RV – good times.

I got the itch for a marathon cooking session on Thursday before we left Asheville.  I made ranch crackers, seasoned ground beef filling for some sandwiches we will take to a pot luck tomorrow night, cheesecake filling for some potential dessert, dried bread crumbs for future meat loaf, chocolate mayonnaise cake with a new recipe for brown sugar icing (yum) and a couple of crocks with Hawaiian ham and cheese spread.  It occurred to me as I'm writing this that if I am going to publish food pictures I should get better at food styling to make it look pretty.

When we left on Friday the weather was great and the scenery was beautiful.

 

 

Right before we got into Marion we came to some 6%-7% grades for several miles.  I won’t lie, these steep downgrades scare me.  Truck emergency ramps one after the other just don't give me confidence.   Greg and the coach both handle them well, we never have any trouble but I still hold my breath most of the way down.  I do that even in a car.

Lots of people are starting to gather for the rally.

This is the view from our front window.

Beyond the trees is a quiet river.

This morning everyone is getting registered and there will be a catered dinner this evening followed by a campfire.  The rest of the day is going to be spent just hanging out.  We didn’t sign up for any of the day trips some people will be taking.  We decided we would rather just get together to cuss and discuss the lifestyle we have chosen with other people who have done the same.

North Carolina, Asheville - Wednesday, May 20, 2015 - Asheville Outlet Mall

We’ve been really laid back this week.  After our Sunday outing with Les and Amy we’ve done some pretty mundane things – grocery shopping, prescription refills, laundry.  This was my view yesterday afternoon, kicked back in a chair on the patio.

 

 

Today we thought about going to Biltmore, but instead we did something we rarely do – we went shopping for things other than groceries.  Right now we have everything we need and everything has a place so, shopping doesn’t happen unless we really, really need it.  Greg needed a new pair of tennis shoes so we went to the Asheville Outlet Mall that is just down the road from where we are staying.  I’ve been a fan of Skechers shoes for some time now – love the memory foam soles.  We noticed they started advertising them for men just recently so he thought he would try a pair.  Rack Room Shoes had “buy one, get one half off” and I still had one empty cubbie in the shoe rack, so guess who else got a new pair of shoes J.  I was trying on a pair of my usual white choice and Greg pointed out I came in wearing a white pair, I had a new white pair at home - I needed to get a little daring.

Daughter Desira would have loved this store, they had aisles of the Nike shoes she likes in all colors of the rainbow – the flashier the better for her.

This evening I’m making a list of some new recipes I want to try next week while we are at the rally.  I’m thinking I might be able to find some taste testers besides Greg and I.  I’ll post if I come up with anything really good.

North Carolina, Asheville - Monday, May 18, 2015 - Asheville Farmer's Market

We had to go into Asheville to get our prescriptions refilled this morning.  After that we headed to the Asheville Farmer’s Market.

 

 

Building A has a lot to offer. 

Then there is Building B.  Honey and jams were overly abundant.

We found some wonderful semi-sweet wines at the Wood Mill Winery booth.  Our wine cooler was empty so we had to purchase some J.

For lunch we decided to go to the Moose Café, a farm to table restaurant at the Farmer’s Market.

This is Moose.

The biscuits were big and very tasty.

I chose Virginia ham with sides of pinto beans and spinach salad.  Yes, the ham slice is the size of the plate.

Greg chose chicken and dumplings with mashed potatoes and spinach salad.  He said the mashed potatoes were “real” they had some lumps in them.

The food was good, the service and the presentation were a little haphazard.

This is our stash from the Farmer’s Market – good day.  Rain came in not too long after we got home.