We’ve been off the road now for almost 3 years. We’re all settled in, back in a stick and mortar home, for a change.
With very little to say or report it’s time to close the book on this endeavor.
This Website will self destruct in Mid-December.
Carla and I continue taking care of business. She bussies herself with some cooking and diamond Painting, and I do my best to take care of most of the other daily chores. Carla continues to struggle with her breathing and, of course, the bone cancer. She is tolerating the meds very well.
For those who have looked in, from time to time on our travels, thank you for your interest.
I thank Him, so often, for having given us so many awesome years together. I pray now for Carla and some longevity so I can assist Carla in the future, when her days may not be as smooth as the present.
Thank you,
Prayers for Carla, please.
Paul
very simple tasks to face each day; mainly Doctors. We did visit Carla’s cousin Connie a couple of years ago and she mentioned she’d taken up a new hobby; diamond painting. I know, the name sounds like a very expensive hobby, but no. It basically consists of a mat with very little color in it but lot and lots of paint by number. In place of paints and filling in large areas on a mat, you make use of colored dots. Each dot number on the unfinished mat corresponds to a colored dot or bead, a better way of describing them. It’s not difficult but it is painstakingly tedious. each square inch of mat you see in the picture consists of 64 or more beads of different colors. To see how intense this hobby is, take your thumb and index finger and place them in the center of the picture and expand the picture size. Something else, hun! Carla is working on her second project except instead of the beads being square they’re round. I know, you’re saying “so what!” Square beads must be placed perfectly square in each receptive bead spot or it might not look as nice as it should. The round beads, fitting in round holes go in imperfectly with very little difficulty, cutting down the amount of time this project should take. If you have an interest in this, possibly, give Carla a call to learn more.
As you can see, just as in the Journey, all our rooms are tightly nestled together. The bottom left-hand corner of the picture is the edge of our living room with new TV and to the right is our dining room, or as in the RV our universal table. Needless to say, many of these cabinets extend too high for us to reach without a step stool. 
There’s not much else left to talk about except for the bedroom. In the picture below you can see we have a ten-foot twin-closet area with storage draws in the center as well as below the mirrored closets. In the Journey we had a King-size bed, which, quite frankly, was overkill for what we needed, although Carla really liked the size very much. 
This experience and the added bonus of having President Dan and Miss Aimee give us sharing their valuable time with Carla and I this day will be an event I’ll remember for years to come. This was definitely a very rare opportunity to view the many changes that have taken place since I graduated in “62. 
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Mom and Dad, Abby and Michael, deliver a beautiful baby girl into the world.
Awesome! Doesn’t this look like a brand new coach? Well, almost brand new.
After resolving the tire problem we heard from Sam the Painter. Sam will be repainting the full cap over the front windshield. His problem is that he’s stuck in Georgia doing a big RV repaint job and it is raining every day. Sam is on hold until his schedule eases up. It should get done by May.
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We awoke around 6am to prepare ourselves for an 8am departure. Needles to say the 175-mile journey went flawlessly. We arrived in Cedar Rapids around noon, traveled through the to the town of Marion to Squaw Creek State Campground just off root 100. We’re in Loop A site 14. We have everything except sewer; it’s doable for two-weeks. Don and Joyce invited us to dinner that evening which was bountiful and delicious.
Our main concern moving forward is the fact that it is, most likely, to get colder more than warmer, especially at 2am in the morning. Our fireplace would be our first line of defense against the cold. We went online and found Colony AC in Cedar Rapids, IA. Henry, from Colony, came to diagnose the condition of the fireplace. A new part will be ordered and, hopefully, early next year it will be back in business again. We enjoyed a delightful afternoon and evening with Don and Joyce.
smaller than the city of Titusville, FL. Hundreds of shops and kiosks. We needed to find a schematic on where everything is located. And there is was, an information kiosk. This venue was about eight feet tall and two feet wide and totally interactive. We’d never experienced anything so easy to operate. 
The longer we stay here the more this town is growing on us. Another venue popped up on our way a Cathedral.
At this location we can see Jerome in the distance. These rusting machines of the past are symbolic of the mining tools that grew Jerome in the past.
4686-Jerome was built on Cleopatra Hill above a vast deposit of copper. Prehistoric Native Americans were the first miners, seeking colored stones. The Spanish followed, seeking gold but finding copper. Anglos staked the first claims in the area in 1876, and United Verde mining operations began in 1883, followed by the Little Daisy claim.
Jerome grew rapidly from tent city to prosperous company town as it followed the swing of the mine’s fortunes. The mines, the workers, and those who sought its wealth, formed Jerome’s colorful history.Americans, Mexicans, Croatians, Irish, Spaniards, Italians, and Chinese made the mining camp a cosmopolitan mix that added to its rich life and excitement.
Jerome was the talk of the Territory, a boom town of its time, the darling of promoters and investors. The mines were nourished and exploited by financiers who brought billions of dollars in copper, gold, and silver from its depths. Changing times in the Territory saw pack burros, mule drawn freight wagons, and horses replaced by steam engines, autos, and trucks.
After the mines closed in 1953 and “King Copper” left town, the population went from a peak of 15,000 in the 1920s to a low of 50 people. The Jerome Historical Society guarded the buildings against vandalism and the elements, the Douglas Mansion became a State Park in 1965, and Jerome became a National Historic Landmark in 1976. During the 60’s and 70’s, during the time of the counter culture, Jerome offered a haven for artists.
The Bell Tower has three bells. They are dedicated to Archangels Gabriel, Rafael and Michael. 
The stations of the Cross around the church were made for the Immaculate Conception Church in Prescott Valley. Each is five feet tall. Father David Kelash is the Pastor and is adamant on keeping this parish moving forward. Soon the town expects the building of over 5000 new homes. The Immaculate Conception Church offers both English and Spanish Masses with a splash of Latin just to remind all the Church’s roots. Confession is offered on Thursday, Friday and Saturdays. 
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After construction of the new church, the old church deteriorated quickly, even though it was being used a parish hall. Fr. Norm Whalen made plans to build new classrooms and a new parish hall. In April of 1967 the bell tolled for the old church when it was demolished. It stood for 72 years in service to the Lord and the people of Benson. 
In order to attract tourists, some of the Boot Hill grave sites are falsely marked, and fictitious claims of burials have been made by the cemetery’s various operators over the years.
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The Ornate Umbrella called the Ombrellino, is one of the two special symbols is tradition in a Cathedral to be used when the Holy Father visits the Cathedral. The other is the bell. 
And you’re saying what bell.
We are now in the lower portion of the church called the Crypt. This was added to the facility a few years ago. It is not fully available to the public, thanks to a metal gate. It is here that the remains of the Bishops that serve the diocese are Encrypted. 
Today we began our so-longs by revisiting the Russell’s. One of the nicest families we know. Vanessa, Scott and Kora. That’s a close-up picture of Kora to the left. She’s a little chatter-box but her communication skills are awesome; definitely a product of home schooling. They were also planning to leave Orlando just after us but their plans got messed up a bit and they’ll be remaining here for a little longer. Then we drifted over to revisit Randy and Pat Hill, a blossoming author with another soon to be best seller, The Vigilante, waiting for you to purchase it. What we did not know is that Randy and Pat had left the park but were not that far away, thank you Walmart. We met up with them at our local Olive Garden and had a very enjoyable evening. As Carla mentioned earlier this evening, “it’s refreshing to be apart from friends for months at a time, and then once your back together again, it just like old times again.
Carla and I wish friends, family and everyone we know and all those, around 2800 readers, who visit and read this blog every month, a Very Happy and Healthy New Year. In 2015 readership, quite honestly, averaged in the low teens. Now back to the day at hand. Yesterday we traveled from the Riverside RV Park in Arcadia, FL. Currently we’re back in Clermont, FL at the Orlando Thousand Trails RVP. We’ll be here for fourteen nights. It will be from this campground we will jump start our travels for 2019. Our travel schedule for the next four weeks. To see all our planned travels go to the top of this blog and click on the “TRVEL PLANS” title.
Great night for sleeping. Woke up at 4am this morning to find the temp in the coach at 61 degrees, decided to turn on the heat. We finally woke up this morning around 8am and, for a change, I made breakfast. 
This, most likely, will not be our Christmas Season Dinner, that should be a little closer to Christmas. We found ourselves with a gift certificate, from my daughter I think, and it had a balance on it, and was getting dusty. We had some shopping to do and the best stores in the area are in Lady Lakes, FL a few miles from Wildwood, FL. If Lady Lakes sounds familiar it’s because this is where I came for both chemo and radiation only a few months ago, but that’s in the past. Today was a beautiful day and our shopping went better and faster than expected. When we arrived at Texas Roadhouse I ordered the same meal as Carla. This is the same meal she had when we found ourselves in Elmira, NY. Only difference between hers and mine was rice in place of the potato. Aside from the generous portion of potatoes were the beef tips. Sauteed exquisitely in a bed of onions and mushrooms. Not the least of the dinner were the bread rolls everyone loves. TR is a little like Kohl’s for us today. You buy something and you leave with a gift certificate to put towards another meal or two in the future; awesome!
Highland Woods is a Thousand Trails Property located in Pompano, FL. We will be staying here for five-nights leaving on the 25th. As a result this will be a free stay for us. This is very big campground. It’s made up of three parks all either next to each other or across the street. It looks like they could have about 1500 sites altogether. What we were not told is that all reservations go through the Breezy Hill Resort; we found that out the hard way. Nothing fancy here, but who cares, we’re just here for Thanksgiving and visiting with Dennis. Dennis is aggressively looking a new home in Broward County.
This weekend we would attend St. Sebastian Church. The Pastor Fr. John Morrissey. We first met Fr. John about three years ago. He had just finished his homily and noticed us. After ending his homily he noticed us and spoke to the gal next to Carla. At the end of the Mass the gal asked if we had time to join Fr. John in the rectory with other parishioners. We did and met many of the parishioners. If it were not for us being RVers and if we were in the market for a new church to attend, St. Sebastian would fill the bill. It was memorable seeing him again.
11.18 Sunday-For us it was up bright and early this Sunday morning as we were planning to visit my brother Dennis in Boca Raton, FL. It has been six months since we left the Boca area, and even though we telephone regularly, there’s nothing like a visit. He is doing well. His and our favorite caregiver, Camille, was on duty today as well. Sometimes were not sure if she cares for all of us as much as she likes Scoots, our cat. She’s an awesome caregiver and better still a friend. We arrived around ten am after a two hour drive and stayed with them till three. We talked about everything, even a little politics, to keep the day lively. He was nice enough to treat all of us to a Boston Market Lunch, which was delicious. Even Camille joined in on the banquet. The afternoon, like all visits came to an end for today, but we’ll be visiting him again on Thursday, Thanksgiving, when we hope to enjoy a Prime Rib Dinner with him. 
Our Lady of Hope is located in Port Orange, FL. We used to attend this church back in the days when we had the cabin on Seabird Island, Florida.
After Mass we went out for lunch at a Mexican restaurant. I was a little leery about the menu but my meal was excellent. When we got back to Mary Ann’s she told us of her new toy; an electric trike. We both fell in love with it.
She loves it and so did we. Both Carla and I had the opportunity to test it out. Reluctantly after a good ride I did bring it back to her. This is not a toy, it can reach speeds of up to fifteen miles per hour. On top of that, in Port Orange, she can use it both on the roads and on the sidewalk. I would not take it on I-95 however.
Today was a Holy Day of Obligation therefore we go to church. We attended Epiphany
We spent last night at the Walmart in Kingsland, GA. It was much quieter than we were anticipating. Temps dropped to the low fifties and, inside the coach, the temperature was at 64 at 3am this morning. I wasn’t to concerned since I was sleeping soundly, except for Scoots climbing on me on the bed looking for shelter under the bed cover from the cold. I decided to just turn on the electric heat, oops! Forgot we were boondocking; therefore no electricity. Normally I would just turn on the generator, but we’re sharing this parking lot with eight other RVs all in close proximity. Generators are noisy. My neighbor in back of us made his feelings felt when he came to the coach last night to ask us when we were planning to turn it off.
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The name was chosen in honor of his mother Margaret Murphy. The name, which was a second choice, was chosen because “She always fed the poor and he always fed the poor.” The facility was built to accommodate 200 parishioners at one service. The parish, at that time, was hardly big enough to fill the church, even if it wanted to. In reply to the size of the church he commented, “I did not build the church because of the demand, I built it for the future- strong so it will last for ages. Someday, it will be full every Sunday.” The Bishop there at that time often urged Michael Murphy to become a priest.
After some thought Murphy enrolled and studied at St. Meinrad Seminary in Indiana and was ordained on May 11, 1972. Now, Fr. Murphy, was age 80 when he was ordained. News of his ordination sped around the world. Fr. Murphy, believe it or not, continued to operate his Falling Waters Motel. In 1981, with help from the Bishop, it was converted to the Living Waters Catholic Reflection Center. Even to this day it continues to be a popular retreat spot. Within a year after his ordination he was assigned to be Pastor of the St. Margaret of Scotland Church, which he had constructed.
10.18.18- I write this blog on Maggie Valley with mixed feelings. Those who know me know that I have always had a very strong affection for Littleton, NH. Long story short, it will always be tops on my list. Next would, most likely be the New London, CT area. Not that we had lived in NL, but not that far away. Carla and I spent many weekends at Crocker’s Boatyard on our boat. Thirdly I had placed Maggie Valley in that spot. It too has many memories, especially of our weekends spent in our cabin up there. We’ve been back tor or three times over the last five years,
but this time I’ve been having mixed feelings on this beautiful piece of America. As you can see from the pictures the valley is surrounded by the Great Smoky Mountains.
Always liked this shot of Co
bbler’s Cabin.
Back to my mixed feelings. As you’ll see in some of the pictures to follow, Maggie Valley does not have an actual downtown, never realized that before. Waynesville, on the other hand has a very definitive downtown, but like MV is inundated with strip shopping centers. Not sure if I could keep myself busy if we were full-time residents of MV; especially in the winter months. Almost think I would have to be involved in a local business to make the time go by. Definitely not working for someone else, I don’t do well with that. Many log cabins like you see above dot the mountain sides. Best to see them in the evening with the glow of their lights and the sight of smoke coming from so many fireplaces.
Ingle’s above is to MV and NC as Publix is to Florida and Stop and Shop is to Mass. The store, inside, is so beautiful, almost makes it a destination.
We still have difficulty in passing up an ice cream shop. We’ve been in here before but never realized they serve “Blue Bell” ice cream and it was so good. Not only that, a steal at two sugar cones for $3.49.
Yesterday we ventured away from the coach, got our ice cream then decided to try to find a cabin we almost bought before Cobbler’s. It was a very narrow road which was, as with most mountain roadways, very steep. I was just telling Carla, hope no one is coming down the mountain. Within ten seconds pops up a van. We slid over to the side as far as we could and he likewise was way over on the right side. We passed by each other with inches to spare. This is not atypical. A four-wheel drive vehicle, for us, would have been more beneficial. As you might have suspected we sadly could not locate that log home. On our way back down the mountain we came across a Llama farm; never thought I’d see that in MV. At the bottom of the mountain was a Christmas Tree Farm. Thousands of trees. Christmas trees are a big business in MV and NC in general. 
We spent about twenty enjoying this venue. Chairs, tables and benches are generously located all over this property. The inside of this building was as nice as any beautiful home could be. Below- This is a very big, clean and sold out park. Many of the campground roads are paved, Awesome!
A monument dedicated to the Confederate soldiers, mostly North Carolina, in the battle in this area.
This picture, to the left, only merits a small entry since the NPS person was just there to be helpful so Carla needed some help on the local bugs. As his dissertation went on he got into kitchens. Having been exposed to this information years ago with our Gettysburg trip on how and why kitchens were not usually part of the living portions of a typical home, he began talking about fires. He mentioned the majority of fire related burnings began in the kitchen. He then went further on to say; the majority of deaths for women were related to fire. The heavy clothing with multiple layers made it very difficult for a woman on fire to disrobe and shed her clothing in order to save herself, sad!
Once again, I asked the NPS gentleman, about the little teepee structure to the left of the main home. (For what it’s worth, I already knew the answer.) I knew he would tell us that this structure was used to preserve foods keeping them cool by letting a stream of water flow through the structure. He was nice very forth coming with his answer. It was an “ice house.” That’s not what I had expected and I told him. He confirmed my understanding but enlightened me by explaining that Virginia has very few underground streams do to all the rock, slate and marble in the ground, therefore no stream cooling. Inside the ice house a hole would be dug, possibly as deep as 20 to 24 feet deep. During the winter season chunks of ice would be cut up and carried to the ice house. Once filled with enough ice to last the hot summer months the ice would be covered with hay to shield the ice from the summer heat.
Another picture of the County Courthouse with its Knee and hip killing steps.
This would be the General Store, and then some. It’s a regular Ace Hardware Place. 
Once again, the Lynchburg/Richmond road right through the center of Appomattox. The gentleman above is a retired doctor with a great deal of time on his hands. We sat and tolerated him for twenty minutes and he was still asking folks who they were and where they came from. If I wasn’t certain that the Kentucky Fried Chicken Colonel had died, I’d be certain this was he.
We arrived in Lynchburg all in one piece. The trip was very pleasant especially a fifty mile segment of it on US 29. It was a 4-lane divided highway which looked like it was carved right through the Shenandoah National Park. In general the roads rated a 9+. On our trip down here we saw highway signs for the President Woodrow Wilson Presidential Library and Appomattox, VA the courthouse. This would be the location that General Lee surrendered. The picture below is not very clear but is a result of my asking Carla to take the picture in a coach going sixty miles per hour.
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This was our log home back in 2008. Something we’ll never ever have again, since it was close to half million home. Cobbler’s Cabin was only in our lives for a couple of years prior to the recession of 2008. We had to let it go otherwise it would have sunk us. This property in the Pocono area could not support a structure like this even if we could afford it. I still enjoy the memories from that phase of our lives.
This would be the Vanderbilt’s sleeping quarters. Not exactly shabby. Myself, I’d probably have a difficult time trying to get to sleep with all the opulence in this room. It did not seem to bother these folks.
The goal here is to just enjoy the area and take in the coastal Maine atmosphere. Tom has planned, after we see to our hearts content, to eat at Beal’s Lobster Pier.
They’ve been here almost a hundred years and the size and taste of their food is a testament to their longevity.
The MacDougall’s’ would be nice enough to join us just after we got back from church. As always the pizza came out excellently and we enjoyed food, drink and company. for the evening.
This is the reception hall. You’ll notice Tom is absent, he had a Doctor’s appointment to attend. Within a few minutes we were greeted by Sister Sarah. She was totally knowledgeable of everything in the building and its history. In the bottom picture is a statue of St. Michael. In 1923 and fire threatened to destroy the entire the St. Rose Convent, one sister died. The Statue of St. Michael was to guard and protect the sacred chapels at this end of the convent. Even thought the fire destroyed the entire west wing of the facility and fire abruptly stopped when it approached the St. Michael statue. 
The Angel Gabriel is represented here was the angel that appeared to Mary way back in the beginnings. 
Back in 1865 a promise was made by Mother Antonia Herb that a chapel would be constructed and that “perpetual adoration” would also be promised. Since the completion of the original chapel and least two Franciscan Sisters have prayed in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament since 1878. 
We’re breaking a little more often than in the past because of me. We arrived in Perry Georgia, at Cracker Barrel just a little after 2:30, following our schedule pretty closely. Total mileage today was 280 miles. Weather was 88 to 90 and overcast. We are still in quest for cooler temps.
It was a very enjoyable evening. No one kept score on the Scrabble game but that was just fine.
It’s been so many years since Carla and I have been on the water., it felt so good. The air temp was in the high 70’s and the sky was blue with some intermittent clouds. A perfect day.
Today we thought we’d treat ourselves so we used a couple of good size onions and made enough to go for at least two meals. That did not work. The soup was so good, except for about a half bowl, all was gone in one sitting. Made it using the crock-pot. It did haft to cook for about four-hours, but it was well worth the wait.
Tomorrow, on Friday 18th, we’re going on our first field trip in over a year, if not , almost two years. We’ll be traveling with Abby and beau, Michael, and will visit Chiluly St. Pete. We’ve been to this type of exhibit before in Seattle but, to the best of our knowledge, Abby has not seen something like this before. We’re now residing in Orlando, actually Clermont, at the Orlando Thousand Trails RV Park. We arrived a couple of days ago and are now living with 50 amp juice and it’s a very big RV Park.
and very original. Please take a couple of minutes and click on the link below the picture she created for us , and check out her portfolio of artwork. I call this beautiful painting “Creation,” I don’t know if she might have her own name for it. I realize it is a little difficult to appreciate it’s full beauty but if it had been a typical 16 by 20 you would be looking at a “sea scene” blanketed with ominous stormy clouds typical of what earth might have looked like after HE had finished creating the worlds oceans. I would only hope that she might re-create this production as a full picture as opposed to the letter “G” portrait.
