A visit with Dad

After we leave TN we always stop near St. Louis to visit my brother, Larry Vern, and his wife, Jan. We always have a good visit with them.

We also have a chance to visit my dad who is now 92 and living in a nearby nursing home. We had a good visit, although I'm not sure Dad knew who I was, and he was having some difficulty finding the words to finish his sentences. But he seemed happy and is basically healthy.

Mindi and family visit the Rally

 One night Mindi came to visit Dan and Cari at the Rally, and I had a chance to see the new baby.

There's Joakim, 3, Mindi, Masayda, 7, Gunnar, talking doctor talk to our friend, and Cassian, 5.

Here's baby Mejella, 2 1/2 months.

Online Campers Rally 2012

We spent a week in Sevierville, TN for our Online Campers Rally, with our shrimp bake one night, Mitch's ribs for all another night, great potlucks, a show one night, some golf, a little shopping, a tour of the wine trail,

and there are always home projects (or motorhome fix-it-ups). Marshal and Mitch were determined to get our new Wii set up and working. And they did!!

The End of April

 We traveled on to north of Chattanooga where we met up with other friends and all parked at Jackie and Jerry's place, affectionately called the "Smith Family Campground". Besides overlooking the gorgeous valley, we again spent a couple of days enjoying the commaraderie of motorhoming friends.

Mitch always enjoys cooking in Jackie's kitchen and we had a couple of very nice meals. There's Jerry, Dick, Sally, Marshal, Jan, Mitch, and Jackie.

This is the back of Nancy and Gary's (Jackie and Jerry's son and daughter in law) newly built house located just up the hill. Very big and very lovely and our daughter, Caryn, designed it for them.

The Rest of April

Jan and Marshal joined us for a couple of days in Orlando and we both headed to Lake Lanier, just northeast of Atlanta, for a long weekend.

We parked on a peninsula overlooking the 529 square mile lake and proceeded to have a very good time.

 Saturday we joined friends who had a pontoon for the day and the eight of us enjoyed an afternoon of cruising around "a part" of the lake. We brought a picnic lunch, ate well, stopped for a Bloody Mary, enjoyed the scenery, stopped to inspect a two story 90 foot houseboat, had a lot of laughs and conversation.

 Jan and Marshal are keeping track of Higgins' weight gain, so we dug out our food scale. Higgins tipped the scale at two pounds seven ounces, but I think he was worried about what the futures holds for him.

We had always zipped through Atlanta, usually hating the traffic. Now we really have something to look forward to.

If you are ever in the Atlanta area, check into Old Federal, a Corps of Engineers campground.

Pickleball Brunch

 As the "season" draws to a close and our friends are up and leaving who will we play pickleball with?

Anyway, we decided to get together for a potluck brunch and Mitch made his waffles and enjoyed his Mimosa.

The food was great but the company was better. Pickleball players make wonderful friends.

Happy Easter and Happy Birthday, Keith

 We decided to fore go the Easter dinner at the club house and had a great meal for the six of us, Gene, Keith, Marie, Nel, Mitch, and me. So Keith made a wonderful appetizer, puff pastry filled with crab, lobster, and shrimp, with a decadent sauce over the top. Then we had Mitch's French onion soup, and for our entree Mitch grilled a beef tenderloin and asparagus, and he made Jason's truffle scalloped potatoes. It was all very yummy and we enjoyed eating and each other's company for our four hour long dinner.

To celebrate Keith's birthday, Marie made the very chocolatey and moist Black Joe Cake, a recipe from Keith's mom. Oh, was that good!