Flea Market Shopping Day

I have officially gone "stir-crazy" because I'm not really a flea market shopper, however, when life gives you lemons...

 

On our trek to Luray Caverns yesterday, I spied a few unique looking flea and antique markets so I visited them today in search of my pick ax and pail.  Wanda, at Vintage Treasures, was most helpful and actually got on the phone and called three people that she thought might have one but - no go.  I visited on the porch and talked with Wanda for quite a while...even invited her to join me in a cup of frozen custard from Pack's Frozen Custard shop next door.  She declined as she was watching her weight but I had a small cup and lingered a little longer in a rocking chair on her porch watching life go by.  Let's see...there was the school bus that made a stop in front of the store, then two jeeps heading up the mountain (probably to go off-roading) and, of course, a Walmart truck!

 

Vintage Treasurers

Pack's Frozen Custard

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

OK...in place of a pick ax and pail, I found an old red-handled potato masher ($4.50), a sharp pointed fork ($4.50) and a great old rolling pin ($4.00).  I doesn't take much to make me happy today.

 

My new "old" utensils

Once back at the motorhome, I had a friend request on FB from a high school classmate.  I accepted and, in doing so, found another friend and former neighbor, Gloria Haynes.  "Glo" as we called her, was the younger sister of my friend Sharon who lived two doors down the street from my childhood home.  What a nice surprise.  We've spent some time catching up with each other this afternoon.  You just never know what's in store for you each and every day of your life.

Luray Caverns

Happy Mother's Day to all of the mothers out there today. I heard from both of my step-sons today and so proud that they think enough of me to bless me with their good wishes.  We talked to George's mother this morning also. She hopes to go hear Rocky and the Rollers at Brownwood this evening.

 

 

As for me, I spent Mother's Day in a cave...yep...a cave.  We explored Luray Caverns today which was interesting.  Our first experience at caving was at Carlsbad Caverns with Tom and Pat, our friends from CA.  I was a bit reluctant at first but was awestruck in short order by the vast beauty of Carlsbad and am now forever spoiled.  We also visited Mammoth last year which was a great experience too.  All caves have similarities, of course, but all have their own special characteristics. 

 

We had a snack before leaving then made a Walmart run on the way home.  Anna is still finding ways to get under the sofa and George is out to win this battle so we need more trickery.  Good luck Sweetie but, as we know, it's really hard to outsmart a cat.  OK, we are back to closing up the 'L" in the L-shaped sofa as Anna is getting in through the back end of the "L".  That said, did we outsmart the cat or did she outsmart us?  Hmmm...

I made Tortellini for dinner and we devoured it.  Watched the climatic end of the Player's Championship and happy that Rickie Fowler won in the fourth hole of the playoff.  Relaxing evening watching TV.

 

Shenandoah Valley

  

SATURDAY:  We left NJ this morning (bye, bye bad roads) and stopped at Shenandoah Valley Campground in Mt Jackson, VA for a couple of days.  We have stayed at this campground before and love the area.  It's a small campground run by a young couple...it's fairly new and very well kept.  The Shenandoah Valley is beautiful at any time of the year so, after we got set up in the campground, we took a drive through Mt Jackson and New Market stopping at a big flea market and rustled through stuff we remembered from our childhood days.

 

 

Flea Market Cow

Flea Market Man

I'm looking for a pick ax and a pail for our Fall trip out West but didn't find one at this flea market. Who knows, I may find some gemstones or an arrowhead in them thar hills.
 

There is a nice breeze outside so we are just going to chill here tonight and grill hamburgers.

Big Party at Brother Dave's

Brother-in-law Dave (George's baby bro) usually has the family over on Saturday nights but hosted everyone tonight to accommodate our schedule.  Dave and Sharon have a large house, big covered porch on the back and large backyard with fun things to do.  The guys played corn hole while the wives visited and the kids played on the swing set and slide.  Bro Dave was at the BBQ grilling hamburgers and hot dogs plus busy at his Margaritaville machine making his infamous margaritas.  Life is good...

Me and my sis-in-laws

Only two of Dave and Sharon's five children were present...Kerrigan and Delaney.  Donna (George's only sister) was there with her daughter, Rhiannon and her boyfriend.  Randy is George's middle brother and was there with wife Linda and all four of their children Ian, Kyle, Lindsay with boyfriend Jack and Erin with boyfriend AJ.  Danny and Megan were there with their two children Danial and Torianne.  Whew!

The whole family

It was great to see everyone but the evening was way too short...bye bye for now.

Delaney and Torianne



Erin and AJ

 


Lindsay and brother Kyle

 

Bye, bye for now Miss Coraline

I found a nail salon near the campground this morning where I got a much needed pedicure....ahhh, life is good.  Afterward I made Chicken Olivia (see Recipes page) and we took it over to Mark and Pauline's for dinner tonight along with the strawberry pie.  There was not a morsel left...except for 2 pieces of strawberry pie which I left for Pauline.  I held Miss Coraline as long as I could, then it was time to say "bye bye for now".
 

 

Dinner with #2 Son

For those of you that have never driven in NJ, there are NO left hand turns (at least on major highways).  They have these things called "jug handles" which goes past the street you want to turn (left) on, then you take a right hand turn onto the jug handle which comes out on the street you wanted in the first place.  Got it?  For example, I went food shopping this morning and took 3 right hand turns to get to the shopping center, then I was able to take the dreaded left hand turn because I was not on a major highway.  Upon leaving, I took 3 right hand turns (including 1 jug handle) which got me back to the campground all while taking a different route.  So, basically, 3 right hand turns equals 1 left hand turn.  Hmmm...

 

I saw some beautiful strawberries (probably from Florida) in the grocery store and decided to make a strawberry pie!  In honor of Mothers Day, I'm going to give it to Pauline.

PS:  Haven't put the whipped cream on it yet. Hopefully it will cover the already crumbling crust.

 

OK don't be alarmed...I often refer to Mark and Brett as #1 son and #2 son respectively simply because of birth order....nothing personal and no favorites intended.  Anyway, Brett and new wife Nicole, met us for dinner tonight about an hour north of our campground and 45 minutes from where they live in Asbury Park.  I haven't seen them since their wedding last August and they both look great.  We had a few short hours together but good catch-up time.  Nicole works for The Learning Experience and has a 1 hour commute but is going to try for a transfer closer to home.  Brett's work is only about 30 minutes from home and he is pretty happy there. They are very proud owners of our old Suzuki Grand Vitara and tell us so often.  It apparently has had a big impact on their lives so glad it worked out for all.

The Wedding 8-22-14

 

Stocking the Freezer

We arrived at Mark and Pauline's at 3:30 today as Pauline wanted me to help her prepare food for the freezer. With my favorite meatloaf recipe in hand, I made two meatloaf's and 57 meatballs.  She also wanted to make Chicken Caccitorie but feeding time and dinner time got in the way plus she was pretty tired.  So we will save that one for tomorrow.  It was fun being in the kitchen with Pauline again as we like cooking together.  Our Christmas tradition is to make cheesecake for the guys, plus, she taught me how to make wontons.  With her Asian background, it's second nature for her but a challenge for me.

 

For dinner, I sliced two port tenderloin into 1-inch pieces and sautéed them in a little butter and olive oil.  I served them with mashed potatoes and a vegetable medley of corn, carrots and green beans.  There was just a small portion of meat and veggies left over....we scraped the bottom of the pot of potatoes.

 

After cleaning up the kitchen, I had some Miss Coraline time then we were off to the motorhome. 

Night night sweet Coraline....

 

Tryinng to outsmart a cat...

We both apparently died last night when we went to bed.  Neither of us woke up until dawn and the bed was very easy to make up as we had not moved all night.  Had a lazy morning...George working on his laptop and me getting the weekend blog caught up on mine.  Suddenly, Anna goes missing - right before our very eyes so, once again, the search is on.  George found her under the sofa.  Little stinker found yet another very small opening where she was able to wedge herself.  I have officially run out of towels to close up all the openings.  Once out, I decided to outsmart her by creating her own little cubbie-hole.  We have a small closet next to the fireplace where I keep my vaccum so I emptied it and coaxed her in.  Nothing doing....she doesn't like it.  I tried opening a bathroom cabinet where towels once lived but she doesn't like that either.  Now wishing we had brought along their kittie condo.  What's a gal to do now?  I'm still plotting...not going to let a cat outsmart me!

NO to the vacuum closet

Anna's new cubbie hole

Isa is tired of playing ball...

 

Last night, I offered my services to the kids as a housekeeper, launderer, cook, weed puller, bottle washer and expert shopper, but they apparently have everything covered.  However, I noticed that they fixed a frozen pot pie for dinner so I announced that I would cook dinners for them this week.  Stopped at the grocery store on the way home last night and am going to fix a big pot of spaghetti for tonight.....enough so they will have some leftovers. While they eat, I can hold Miss Coraline.  It worked!

Back to the cats....George ended up going to JoAnn and purchased a large block of foam (for $68.00 no less) and is going to attempt to close all the openings and return all the bath towels to me which I will now need to wash.  It just never ends....I surrender.  It's impossible to outsmart a cat.
 

A Big Travel Weekend

SATURDAY:   We left Myrtle Beach around 9:00 AM and drove until about 9:00 PM.  We had planned to camp on the north side of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel (aka "The Chunnel"), but, after the crossing, it was only 6:00 and George felt like driving farther up the road.  The problem with doing so was that we were literally in the middle of nowhere so we ended up spending the night in a Walmart parking lot!  Our first experience but it worked.  George checked in with the manager of the store and they were more than accommodating to us.  Why?  Because we spend lots of money in their store.  Our neighbors were a couple in a large rental truck pulling a very big sailboat.

 

Back to The Chunnel experience.....this was our second time crossing The Chunnel so we were not as nervous this time.  It was not a windy day and our BRT made it just fine.  It's still amazing to me that we were actually driving UNDER the bay.

Coming out of the Chunnel

 

SUNDAY:  The motorhome is a mess...stuff is everywhere. George slept on the sofa and I slept crosswise on the bed as we could not open the slides in the Walmart parking lot.  I gave him the comforter off the bed and I used a throw and a sheet as my cover. Amazingly, we slept pretty well.  As accommodating as Walmart is, they want you out of the parking lot at an early hour so their otherwise paying customers can have a place to park.  I threw everything on the bed, grabbed a clean shirt and we were out of there by 8:00 but not before having coffee and a Special K Flatbread Sandwich...these are pretty tasty when in a hurry.

 

Since we now have plenty of time to get to our destination, I coaxed George to take the scenic route through Ocean City, MD.  He was relunctant to deviate from the designated route as you never know about detours, low bridges, etc but he decided to try it.  Glad we did as it was the most beautiful drive. I've never been to Ocean City, home of my friend Heather Devlin, but heard a lot about it from her. Ocean City is home to such famous bars as "Big Peckers Bar and Grill" and "Bull on the Beach". 

 

Now into Delaware, we passed through Fenwick Island, Bethany Beach and Rehoboth Beach, it was like spring had sprung as all of the trees and flowers I am accustomed to back home in Atlanta, were now in full bloom.



Quansa Cherry Tree

Red Bud Tree



Azaleas

More Azaleas

 

We checked into Timberlane RV Resort in Clarksboro, NJ a little after 1:00.  We've stayed here before but, this time, they put us in the back with the other "Big Rigs".  It's very nice and quiet back here. Once we got settled, we drove up to Marlton to meet Miss Coraline.  When Pauline handed her to me, an unexpected flood of emotions came over me as tears filled my eyes.  She is such a perfect little princess, very petite and dainty and very much a little girl..  She has the cutest little button nose and appears to have Mark's facial expressions of the mouth and a flood of dark hair.  I am in love in a way I've never been in love before.



Miss Coraline

Pappy and Miss Coraline

Myrtle Beach Week....

MONDAY:  George is back to work this week (ugh) so I'm on my own for daily entertainment.  Cool again this morning so I waited until after lunch to go to the beach.  The high was in the low 70's and oh so pleasant.  He joined me for Happy Hour and we cooked out on the grill again.

 

TUESDAY:  I went shopping at Belk as I only brought shorts, sleeveless shirts, flip-flops and one pair of capris jeans.  With these cold to cool days and nights, I needed a few things.  Afterward, I hit Walmart for a few groceries and a prescription refill.  It warmed up this afternoon so I took a nap outside in my beach chair until hubby woke me up to go for a drive.  I fixed Tomato Florentine Tortilini Soup with fresh bread for dinner....it was warm and good.  After we went to bed, we heard a cat scratching on the inside of the bedroom wall.  George could hear her bell ringing so we knew it was her.  WHAT?  Isa had somehow wedged herself into the inner-workings of the coach and worked her way inside the bedroom wall.  Well, we panicked.  George, unsuccessfully, tried to pull her out through an opening inside a cabinet door in the half bath.  She panicked and retreated back into a black hole.  So I decided to try and was able to coach her to me.  She basically went limp and allowed me to pull her through the opening.  OMG...needless to say, we didn't get to sleep for a while pondering how far this opening went and if it ultimately led to outside the coach. 

 

WEDNESDAY:  By the time I got up, George had done some research and figured out that Isa had wormed her way underneath the sofa where an opening at the back of the sofa led through the back of  kitchen cabinets and into the half bath ending at the bedroom wall.  We re-arranged the furniture and used my beach towel to close the opening leading under the sofa. When we get home, we will come up with a more permanent solution.  Meantime, keeping fingers crossed that this "quick fix" will work

The "Quick Fix"

 

The Culprit

Meanwhile, its raining outside so I'm kinda stuck in the coach today.   Somehow, George was looking for something under the dinette table, opened a door and - VOILA - there's my laptop!  I'm sooo excited to find it PLUS that gives me something to do today since he is using his.

 

The Laptop

It has rained all day and I have taken the opportunity to update my knitting blog knitwitsofstonecrest.blogspot.com.  My last post was in 2013 so I did my best to bring it into the 21st century.

THURSDAY:  We woke up to sunshine today - YAY!   So back to the beach for me but, before doing so, I made my Golden Mushroom Chicken (see Recipes Page) in the crock pot.  We drove over to the PGA Tour Superstore this evening where George found some bargains and broke down and, with coaxing from me, actually spent money on himself.  Once back in the coach, dinner was simmering and smelling really good....there was not a bite left.  Meanwhile, the cats are officially going stir-crazy.  Isa got into trouble again...she remembered that there is a shelf amongst the wires underneath dashboard and, amazingly, she still fits under there.  As kittens, they would both get in there together, cuddle up and hide.

FRIDAY:  Nothing is going right for me today...bumped my head on a cabinet, opened the car with George's car  key (because I lost mine), which set off the horn, gashed my finger on the milk carton shelf at Walmart, had a prescription dilemma with Humana so I have to wait until Sunday to refill (if I have a heart attack, would somebody please bring suit against Humana!).  However....nothing is going to get me down today because George is getting off work early and we're playing golf at River Club in Litchfield thanks to the dude at PGA Tour Super Store who was able to get us on.  Apparently we hit Myrtle Beach in their high golf season.  The course (what we saw of it) is gorgeous.  We were paired with Laura and Dave, a couple from St. Louis but own a second home in Litchfield.  They know the course well and were able to guide us in the right direction.  They only played 9 holes as her back was bothering her.  In spite of dark clouds looming overhead, a big threat of rain, and cooling temperatures, we trudged on.  We stopped at the turn for George to use the bathroom and I bought a warm top.  As we were approaching the 11th tee, the rain came.  I'm not getting upset....just a bit disappointed that we didn't get to play the back 9.  The temperature cooled off quickly and glad I had my new warm top.  We stopped to eat at Red Robin, famous for gourmet hamburgers.  I could only eat half of mine...are hamburgers good left over?  Anyway, relaxing now with my feet up and a nice glass of wine....ahhh.  Tomorrow morning we leave for NJ but will take us 2 days to get there.  Had a nice relaxing time here recharging the batteries but I'm now ready to move on and meet Miss Coraline.