Poor poor Judy

Judy spotted a TV commercial and checked out the Ham Jam in Philadelphia, MS this weekend. She is really into BBQ so we had to go to there today. She was drooling all 35 miles there. When we parked and walked several blocks to the downtown event she was slobbering all over anxious for that wonderful BBQ sandwich. This is a juried BBQ cooking event so the BBQ had to be good. Well, first we walk down all the tents with BBQ cooking and judges judging. She was smelling it and wanted it. We then checked out all the crafts and stuff then we headed to the food block. Guess what....lots of standard fair food but NO BBQ!!!! Judy was NOT a happy camper. We walked back to the truck to leave and she wanted a chili dog as we passed Sonic so I felt it was the least I could do. To make things short she ate two bites, hated it and walked away. Poor poor Judy.

Meridian, Mississippi

We had fun today, almost forgot how enjoyable it is exploring new places. It's amazing what's out there in the USA. The first picture is of the old silent movie organ in the 1928 Hamas Shrine Temple Theater. We received a personal tour of the old theater. The wall full of pictures of famous performers was amazing. The third picture is of the Highland Park Dentzel Carousel. It was made in 1895 in Philadelphia for the 1904 St Louis Exposition Exposition. In 1909 it was purchased by the city of Meridian and placed in Highland park. The second picture is the Jimmie Rodgers Museum, he's the father of country music and was known as the "singing brakeman" because he worked for the railroad. The last picture is of a Confederate burial mound containing the remains of 30 to 40 soldiers and sailors. One Confederate sailor was Lt C. W. Read, the John Paul Jones of the Confederate navy. The fourth picture is of the graves of the King & Queen of Gypsies of America. There are coins, beads, Mardis Gras stings of beads, beer bottles with candles in them, a CD and more. The Queen, Kelly Mitchell, died in 1915 when she was pregnant with her 15th child. She was moved to Meridian, MS because it was the nearest city with enough ice to preserve her 6 weeks until 20,000 gypsies arrived for the funeral! The graves are covered with 3 or 4 feet of concrete to stop grave robbers. When the King, Emil, died in 1942 his ceremony was much smaller due to WWII. Rose Hill Cemetery is now a main burial place in the southeast for gypsies. Perhaps full time RVers should be burried here too? This is fun!

Lake Okatibbee, Mississipi

YEAH!!! We remembered how to make the wheels under our home go round & round after 5 months. We had an easy but hilly 200 mile day to a remote CG outside Meridian, MS on Lake Okatibbee. I almost forgot how different and wonderful the RV lifestyle is. We left a 250+ site RV park full of families and kids on bikes with well manicured sites in a location with lots or resturants and shopping 4 miles from the Gulf of Mexico. We are now in a remote state CG with no neighbors, no kids, no grass, & no sat TV. We are still in our home with all our stuff but a new surrounding. This is a pretty location 10 miles from Meridian. It also has something Gulf Shores didn't have, bugs & poison ivy. We'll stay here 3 nights and enjoy the remote peace & quiet. Internet access is so so and I'll add some pictures when it's working faster than it is now. I'm kinda surprised we have internet access at all.

Bye bye Gulf Shores!! Will the wheels go round & round?

We are ready to hit the road!! After returning from Michigan Sunday we relaxingly washed the truck & fifth wheel, had the truck serviced, aired the tires, packed stuff up for travel, cleaned and lubed things and did some travel planning. I think we are ready to bug out tomorrow morning.

THANKS Kristi & Randy for hosting us last week. We enjoyed you and especially Devyn. Saturdays meal was great, be sure to tell & thank your aunts too. Yesterday we went to see Jody in Mobile, have dinner and say good bye until November. Maybe August?? We are really looking forward to starting our summer adventure tomorrow & heading to Mississippi. We've been here since mid November....5 months!! It was good to make trips to Florida and Michigan but we are ready to start moving again.

Michigan

Judy returned home April 2 and we flew to Michigan on April 3. Margaret had an operation Tuesday and all went very well. She is recovering so well she came home Tuesday April 2. Judy has been in touch with her and she's sounding great!! We are so happy for her and her family.

Our first two days in Michigan had sunny and 50 degree days allowing us to enjoy puttering around their home. Sunday night winter struck with 4 or 5 inches of snow. The good part of this is that Randy, Devyn & Judy got to make a nice snowman. Judy, Devyn & her friend Haleigh are now at Great Wolf Lodge enjoying the indoor water park. It's nice being able to spend time with Randy, Kristi & Devyn.....especially Devyn. Judy taught her how to play rummy last summer and, I'm serious now, she beats us almost ALL the time!!

Last night Judy and I went to Monroe to visit with my sister Bev. We caught each other up with what's happening and our kids and their families. Bev just loves the Michigan winters & she has no interest in ever leaving here, ha ha ha.

Still here!

How time flies, two weeks since my last post! Since then we've been home a week then Jody had last week off and her friend Trish came down to visit. Jody stayed with us 2 or 3 nights and Trish was at Don & Zola's. Judy, Jody & I drove to Bilouxi to see Margaret last week. She was there for a couple days gambling with her daughter Trish and her husband Don. After several years we finally got to meet him. Judy's sister Jean returned with us and spent 2 nights before she and Judy rented a car and drove to St Augustine Friday to spend some more time with Margaret. Judy will take Jean to the airport before she leaves then return home Thursday.

Many of the snowbirds have been packing up and heading out. A few are going straight north but many are taking their time wandering north allowing the weather to improve. When a snowbird departs a spring break family with kids show up. I've seen more kids in the park the last week that I have in the previous 5 months. The complexion of the park is changing with young families and some of the kids ain't so nice. The bath house cleaning lady is not happy. We've had some nice storms and lots of rain lately. Eighteen more days and it's our turn to head out!!!! Can't wait.

Shuttle lift off.....up up & away......

We left Margaret's home and 11:15am, arrived at our viewing site 13 miles from the launch pad (adjacent to the cruise line terminal) at 1:30, watched the shuttle launch at 7:43, and were back at Margaret's at 11:30pm. It was a 12+ hour trip to watch the shuttle for 7 minutes. It was very interesting as the sun set 15 minutes before lift off. The shuttle started with a very bright light, the smoke was gray. When it was about 2 miles up the sun was shinning on it and the smoke was yellow. When it was several mile high the color changed to bright white. We could see the solid rocket boosters separate and fall back to earth. If we go to another I want to be closer. After a minute or two we could hear and feel the lift off. On Monday we returned to Gulf Shores with Don & Zola.