Been Awhile.........and Merry Christmas-Happy New Year!!

Okay - we know we have been negligent in posting, so here goes the latest.

We left you on our way to getting Matt moved at the end of October. He is now settled into a nice apartment in Columbus. I had a great time getting him somewhat organized and it was certainly nice getting some of the stuff out of our storage unit for him.

From there we went to Waverly to help bring Barb's dad home from the convalescent center on November 2nd (he was there a little longer than they had planned). He is doing very well with his walker and has attempted to use just a cane but needs a little more practice. He is very happy to be home with Ruth and Sammy, their cat.

From Waverly we moved our "base camp" to Hilton Head Island in South Carolina. We found that motor homing does have a downside that on the surface seems like an upside -- we eat out a whole lot and that's not real healthy. We decided to enroll in a two week lifestyle change program at the Hilton Head Health Institute. It was very eye opening and a great academic, cardio and body strengthening program. We highly recommend it to any/everyone. It was a lot of work but having delicious meals served to you three times a day made it seem like just a healthy vacation. Besides losing a little weight, more importantly we significantly lowered our cholesterol, triglycerides, blood pressure, etc and basically just feel a whole lot better. It has definitely changed some priorities and we have become much more active.

We have thoroughly enjoyed the "island" and the warm climate (nothing like Christmas shopping in 70 degree weather). Walking the beach, golfing, walking the beach, golfing, kayaking, walking the beach, dolphin watching, walking the beach really has merits this time of the year.

For Thanksgiving we drove the car only back to Waverly, Ohio to visit Barb's dad and see how he was doing with his rehab (very well). Beth, John and kids and Matt also joined us for Thanksgiving Day. Had a great time with Ruth's family (about 20 for Thanksgiving dinner). We also celebrated Barb's dad's 87th birthday while there.

For Christmas and New Year's we are traveling (in the car only again) to Louisville to spend time with Trish, Rick and the kids, then on to Virginia to visit the Beth and John Lossing family, then on to Philly to visit Patsy and Jim for New Year's. We'll then head to western Pa to visit Bill's mother and family. We'll return to Hilton Head to watch the BCS Championship game on January 7 and then head further south (with motor home and car) and begin our trek west.

We missed seeing our Buckeyes in person this year but brought the Buckeye spirit to Hilton Head (there are a lot of Ohio people down here). Picture is day of OSU/Michigan game.

That's all for now, so until our next update, have a very Merry Christmas and we wish you a happy and healthy 2008.

GO BUCKS!!!

We're still out here having fun!

We have been negligent in updating and we apologize. After the wedding we stayed in Asheville for a few days - such a beautiful area of the country.

Visiting the Biltmore Estate was a real treat. A headset walking tour brings it all to life and is highly recommended. The things that were included in this house for that time period were amazing. We took pictures but have been unable to find them on our camera or computer so I guess we chalk this up to "senior moment."

Next we took a 44 mile train ride thru the Smokies. The scenery was beautiful although too early for the fall colors. Riding the train put Barb back in her childhood - very pleasant memories of traveling to North Carolina from "Yankee country" in the summer.

On our stop at a nature center we were able to 'officially' say that we walked on the Appalachian Trail. Another first and a check mark on our 'to do' list.

From Asheville we stopped overnight in Boone, North Carolina on our way to Beth and John's cabin in Fancy Gap, Virginia. We spent a weekend with the Lossings and had a fun weekend visiting the Mabry Mill and playing with the grandchildren. We even had a movie night in the RV and the kids loved laying in the bed, watching the movie and eating popcorn.

Another fun thing to do for Bill, John and Beth is to target practice with the black powder rifle. Barb and the kids watch from the porch.

Jonathan is still improving from his heart surgery and has started school on a half day schedule. He loves learning and is like a sponge soaking up all the knowledge he can. Mia and Sophie are loving preschool and doing well.

From Virginia we traveled back to Waverly to check in on Dad and Ruth. Dad is doing well but is still in rehab at the convalescent center. He is progressing with the walker and his hip is mending well. The surgeon has said he will probably be there for another 4-6 weeks but the therapist says he is doing great and thinks he may go home before that. Hopefully the therapist is correct as it is difficult on dad and hard on Ruth going back and forth everyday. We stayed in Waverly a week and helped out where we could.

We had dinner with Matt in Columbus. He is loving his new job with Enterprise Truck and looking forward to moving into a new apartment.

From Waverly we stopped in Louisville to see Tricia, Rick and the Kentucky grandkids. It had been much too long since we had seen them. All are doing well - Julie is doing awesome in kindergarten (she is already learning to read), RR is happy in preschool (not quite as interested in doing letters and sounds) and Ranger is just totally cute (he has figured out he needs to be loud to be noticed). Tricia is still happy to be teaching but feels totally overloaded with administrative demands. Rick is happy that it is football season but is also working hard and doing well. He and Bill enjoyed a game of golf (Bill's third game of season).

From there we headed to St Louis on our way to Branson, Missouri. The St Louis Arch was worth the trip and more impressive than expected. The picture was taken from our campground.

Here we are a the top of the arch (630 feet up).

We toured the Anheuser-Busch factory which was interesting (seeing the offficial Clydesdales was the highlight) - the facility was impressive with a lot of history. The stable for the Clydesdales actually had this chandelier in the center (talk about the Hilton for horses)

Grant's Farm, an Anheuser-Busch animal preserve and retreat is the home of over 1000 exotic animals from six continents and was a pleasant surprise. We wished we had had all of our grandchildren with us on this trip - close up to many animals and two great shows about animals.

Grant's Farm is also where the new Clydesdales are born, kept and trained. It was a special opportunity to see and pet the Clydesdales. Here is Barb with a 'lil' one.

......... and here's a 'big un'.

We even had our picture taken with one (available for viewing on request)!!

Next to the preserve is the Ulysses Grant homestead and that was a very interesting stop.

We are now in Branson, the non-gambling Vegas type entertainment center in the Ozarks.

We are loving going to shows and enjoying the beauty of the mountains once again. So far we have seen Spirit of the Dance (Irish dancing), The Haygoods (a family of seven, very talented brothers and one sister), Dolly Parton's Dixie Stampede, and Twelve Irish Tenors. We are still planning to see Broadway, Silver Dollar City, Hits of the 60's, and the Oak Ridge Boys. A fun place for sure!!! We also had a chance sighting of Mel Tillis in the American Bandstand Grill!

From here we will head back north to Columbus to help Matt in his apartment move. (When do parents get to quit doing the moving thing?)

Until next time.........

Can't Seem to Get Away from the East Coast

Gettysburg, Pennsylvania

Gettysburg was pretty sobering as we took the 'road tour' of the famous battlegrounds. Losing approximately 45,000 dedicated Americans in three days is hard to fathom. There were hundreds of monuments honoring those that gave their lives during this short period in our history. We stopped to photograph the North Carolina monument and the Virginia monument. Both were very impressive. An amazing and eye-opening day!!!

Sterling, Virginia

From Gettysburg we drove to Sterling to be with the Lossings during Jonathan's heart surgery scheduled for August 31. However the surgery was postponed until September 4 and so we made a quick weekend trip to Waverly to see Barb's dad who is in rehab after he broke his hip. It worked out well as we were able to travel to Columbus to see Matt's last OSU band performance. Had a nice visit with Dad and Ruth. Dad is working hard to walk again and go home. Back to Sterling on Monday to watch the girls as John and Beth were at the hospital the majority of the time. The operation went better than expected but he still was hospitalized for eight days. His recovery has been amazing and he is one strong, special kid - beating all the odds of having half a heart. One visual result has been the coloring of the tips of his fingers (blue to pink) as oxygen is now reaching all parts of his body. As tough as the operation was, Jonathan's disposition did not change much with smiles for everyone. Coming home had the energy of Christmas morning and the emotion was a bit overwhelming. (pictures below) He has bonded so strongly with his sisters and parents. Tears were very abundant. His English is coming along great and he can't wait to start school (he will be tutored for about six weeks at home). The girls started preschool and ballet during this time and love it.

Asheville, North Carolina

Our next stop was Asheville to attend the wedding of Audrey Wilkinson and Brad Loder. Audrey is the daughter of Barb's cousin, Mildred. This brought together all of the North Carolina cousins - and there are quite a few of them. Barb's sister, Patsy flew in on Friday and stayed on the RV. The weather was awful (pouring down rain) and there was some concern for the outdoor wedding on Saturday but the day was perfect - sunny and 75 degrees. The wedding was beautiful and fun, held on a ranch with horses coming over the hill across the lake during the reading of the Apache prayer -- long horned steer in the fields as you entered the ranch. However any time with our cousins is always a good time and we look forward to the next get-together, maybe the pig-pickin in November.

We stayed in Asheville until Thursday because there was so much to do and we will give you all the details in the next blog, hopefully within the week.

Life continues to be good as we travel down the road!!! I think the board of directors below agrees!!! (Bill; cousin, Gil Vick; cousin-in-law, Bill Roberts)

August in New England has been amazing!

Well August is quickly coming to an end and so is our trip to the northeast! We definitely picked the right place to be for this month with so many of you being in triple digit degrees. We spent most of the month in 70-80's - one perfect day after another. We even turned the heat pump on a few times in the mornings.

We had a fun time in Bar Harbor (Bah-Hah-ba) although I think we actually liked Boothbay Harbor the best! We did love Maine and would like to return someday! Acadia National Park was breathtaking and we just took in the view at the top of Cadillac Mountain. Thunder Hole pictured below was wild. There are no words to express the beauty of God's creation. Lobster continued to be on the menu and we took full advantage of every opportunity to have some.

We enjoyed a Lumberman/woman show emceed by Tina Scheer, a former Survivor contestant. She was really a delight and very funny!

From Bar Harbor we stopped one night in Scarborough, Maine and spent the afternoon strolling in Kennebunkport. The towns in New England are so quaint and beautiful along with all the lakes, harbors, bays, rivers, ponds and of course the ocean! From there we camped in Plymouth, Massachusetts and had a week of busy days.

Bill was delighted when the fishing turned out to be great at Sandy Pond - all on old turkey lunchmeat - he caught a 19 inch pike one day but threw it back - too many large teeth! We now have a freezer stocked with fresh blue gill.

Our first trip from Plymouth was Provincetown at the very end of Cape Cod. Another beautiful panorama! On the way back down we drove through Hyannisport and stopped on the National Seashore.

We took one day and drove to Newport, RI, less than an hour. We walked the Cliff Walk (3 miles) along the coast by the immense mansions.

Since we have been scouting out different places to live we decided maybe these places would do - however Bill likes the one on the bottom (The Breakers) and I like the one on the top (Rosecliff). Guess we'll have to pass since we can't agree!

The next day we drove to Boston and walked the Freedom Trail. We have fallen in love with this city - such history on every corner and once again quaint streets mixed in with big city. Every time we stopped to look at our map someone would stop and ask if they could help! A truly friendly place. Bill became a bit nostalgic seeing some Navy ships and sailors when we went to tour the USS Constitution. The aircraft carrier he was on in the 60's drydocked in Boston once. Providence and Quonset Point RI were once his old stomping grounds. It was a special time of his life and he remembers it fondly. The Red Sox were out of town so we were not able to take in a ball game.

The last day of our New England trip was spent in Plymouth, checking out Plymouth Rock and the MayflowerII. A waterfront festival was going on and the temperature decided to send us off with a humid 94 degrees. I'm going back to Maine!!! Plymouth was a very impressive town and the harbor was one of the prettiest we have seen .

We are off to Virginia on Sunday with a stop in Gettysburg on our way. Our grandson, Jonathan, will be having open heart surgery on August 31 and we ask that you say a little prayer for him and his family.
Jonathan, Mia and Sophie

We have been truly blessed to be able to make this trip but we are looking forward to seeing some familiar faces very soon! Love to you all.

Julie, Ranger and RR