Zephyr and friend at her favorite campground: Farr Park Equestrian Center in Baton Rouge

We are saddened by the passing of our dear sweet dog,  Zephyr.  She was almost 15 years old and had become very ill last week.
The good news is that she had a great life, growing up with the girls, traveling around the county with us – sniffing where she’d never sniffed before!   Also, we are in Baton Rouge where she got to see the girls for Christmas and where her vet from puppyhood took care of her and us.  So, though we miss her, we’ll always remember her for the sweet, loving companion that she was.

We headed back to Haas Lake (New Hudson, Michigan) after the Escapade to spend a couple more weeks near our folks.  As the nights became chilly and the birds gathered to migrate we did as well.   Haas Lake has become one of our favorite spots with several retired gravel pit lakes populated with beautiful Mute Swans and Canadian Geese, plus lots of room to roam around with Zephyr.  She loves to drink out of the HUGE water bowls (lakes to us).

 

Unusual gray swan

 

 

Canadian geese in a row!

 

 

Cute fuzzy caterpillar

 

 

Hundreds and hundreds of blackbirds - baked in a pie! Actually, flocking to migrate.

 

 

Our favorite critter, a little gray around the edges.

 

Our destination after leaving Michigan was Atlanta and the American Rose Society Convention where we participated as vendors.  Rose growers from around the country brought their best and most perfect blooms to be judged.  There were various categories relating to size, fragance, and color and the judging criteria is quite complex.  ”"A rose by any other name would still smell as sweet”.

 

The convention hall tables lined with beautiful blooms

 

 

Colorful pallet

 

 

ONE rose is crowned "The Queen" of the show

 

 

 

Frayer Designs display

 

While in the Atlanta area we are staying at Stone Mountain Campground.  Stone Mountain Park is at the base of Stone Mountain the world’s largest piece of exposed granite formed 350 million years ago. The park is a well loved rustic sort of attraction featuring the Summit Skyride and activities mainly aimed for families with kids.  The park covers aboout 3200 acres with lots of walking and biking trails amidst beautiful scenery.    Monday – Thursday the campground is deserted however, come Friday and the RV’s are packed in like sardines (hmmm…perhaps too apt a comparison!) for the many seasonal festivals.  Right now the annual Pumpkin Fest takes place each weekend in October.    The Skyride provides a stunning view of the Confederate Memorial Carving (Jefferson Davis, General Robert E. Lee, and  General Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson). To give some perspective, two school busses could be parked on the back end of Robert E. Lee’s horse. The cable car rises to more than 825 feet above ground to the top of Stone Mountain. From the top, there are amazing views of the Atlanta skyline, and the Appalachian Mountains 60 miles away.

 

Stone Mountain Carvings

 

 

Skyride to the top

 

 

Welcome to the top of the rock

 

 

RWF with ATL in the background

 

 

Stone Mountain Campground

 

 

Valerie's favorite "blackened marshmallows"

 

We’ll be heading for Charlottesville, VA next week to see the mountains and colorful Autumn leaves.

Anniversary #1

We spent a great week in Goshen, Indiana attending the 50th Escapees “Escapade”.  Goshen is in the heart of the Indiana Amish community and if you own an RV, chances are it was built in the Goshen-Elkhart area.  The Escapees RV group, to which we belong, is over 30 years old,  its mission being to educate people about the RV lifestyle.   There have been 50 “Escapades” thus far, having sometimes been held twice a year and in different parts of the country. Next fall it will be held in Gillette, Wyoming.  This year about 750 rigs and 1500 people were in attendance. Classes and seminars were offered daily, plus socials, entertainment and various RV related vendors. We parked next to our RV friends, Jim and Nancy Tidball whom we met when we attended RV Bootcamp and began full-timing in 2007.  We took a CPR class, and attended several other interesting and informative seminars.  We learned a lot but most importantly we learned we still love what we are doing!

Since we started "Full-timing" in 2007 we are part of the Class of 2007

Aerial view of 750+ rigs - all Escapees! We were parked in the infield of the harness racing track (red arrow).

"Happy Hour" with 1,000 or so "SKPs" (ES KAY PEES)

The Escapade was held on the beautiful grounds of the Elkhart County Fair.

Our friend, Nancy, attending a seminar on choosing just the right kayak - just add water!

Since we were parked on the infield of the harness racing track we had to cross the track into the main grounds.

The track was often in use!

Just one of the many beautiful farms of the Goshen countryside.

Anniversary #2

Richard and I celebrated our 40th wedding anniversary (traditionally the ruby anniversary) while at the Escapade. Our girls planned a great surprise for us (assisted by the Tidballs). Since Marissa is living in Sweden, Richard said it was truly a ”worldwide” conspiracy! On the morning of our anniversary Jim and Nancy knocked on our door bearing wonderful gifts! We were truly overwhelmed by our girl’s thoughtfulness, creativity and planning!

A huge basket of fruit and a bucket of gem mine dirt from the Elijah Mtn. mine in Hendersonville, NC.

First we put the gem dirt into a strainer

Then rinse away the dirt to reveal shiny things!

We found rose quartz, clear quartz crystal, emeralds and even a few RUBIES!