Experiment

Can't get the blog to respond.  I am going to have to switch to Facebook....coming soon. 😊. Marilyn

Nova Scotia

Hello !! I am finally back on the blog site... on my new tablet...  Still can't get photos out of my phone or camera.

BUT, we're here.... Pictou, NS, in a campground by a bay....for a month.  So far our biggest adventure has been a tidal bore rafting trip.
The most dramatic thing here is the huge changes in tides. There is the horizontal tide, vertical tide, rip tide, and bore....the differences being in the topography of the floor of the ocean at any given point.  The vertical tide change can reach 57', but what we are seeing here is somewhere more around 10 to 15'. But the Bay of Fundy gets very shallow as it goes further inland, thus some horizontal tides can be up to 3 miles ....so you see a lot of mud flats... Red mud.
So the tidal bore is the incoming tide rolling over the sand bars and mudflats of a river trying to flow outward in the opposite direction....creating a series of standing waves that can be around 8'. The day we went they were only about 4', thank goodness. But we got really soaked, in red muddy water!  Hope to get you pics later.

So to update you: Vera stayed behind with her sister Susie in Owego,NY....until Charlie and I come back thru. We are exploring here with a couple we met at the campground in Owego... Who were headed for the same destination. It's a nice feeling to have someone to buddy with when you are so far from "the familiar"... I think it is a "God thing".

Well, this post is somewhat of an experiment... since my last one did not go thru. So we'll try again.   Later, Marilyn

Yeah! Internet, finally

You cannot imagine how frustrating it has been not having access to this blog. Its been a real comedy of errors.

So, to catch you up in a nutshell:
We have been here at a beautiful city park campground in Owego, NY, for two months. Vera has been staying at her sisters house almost the whole time (so "we" really meant just me and the dogs; Charlie rejoined us one month ago, and we've had a great time running around.
We even went kayaking...and now we have the "kayak bug"... Love it!  We will eventually get a couple, but Vera's not to keen about them on top of the car... we'll have to work on her about that.

Vera's sister and family are still needing help because of continuing health issues, so Vera has decided to stay on with them for at least 5 or 6 weeks.
Charlie and I are going to travel on to Nova Scotia, leaving next Wednesday. I have reservations in a campground there for a month, so we will have plenty of time to explore.... And, we are meeting up with some friends we made here in this campground, and are really looking forward to hanging out with them. They will also be there a month.

So, I'll send this out without photos for now..... I still have to figure out how to use the bluetooth to get my phone pictures onto this new tablet. Aarrgh 😕
Later, Marilyn

Pennsylvania reunion

Vera attended her 60th high school reunion this weekend, here in Troy, Pennsylvania.  The same school building she attended (as well as her mother) is still being used as the high school today. It is designated as an Historical Building.  Vera said she will not be going to the next reunion (not a reference to her health).... but, she said: "there was just a bunch of old people there". :-)

They now have a new elementary, a middle school, and many new additions to the high school building. They will graduate 105 seniors this year...... in 1956 they graduated 96.  The town population is officially 1004, but the students are bussed from the farms and small communities for miles around.  A little bit of trivia for you that I thought was interesting.

This is rolling farmland, very beautiful. We stayed at the County Fairgrounds, where they have a small campground..... also the community swimming pool, the football stadium, and just about every other major activity occurs here on "the fair grounds".

Tomorrow we are off to Owego, NY, to see Vera's two sisters.
The weather here has been just ideal; but I hear Houston is not doing well just now.
We don't get reliable internet anymore, something is wrong with our "autonet" system which served us so reliably for the past 5 1/2 years.

By the way, Charlie is not with us for the month of June. She is staying in Fletcher, NC to help a friend who is having major health issues. (but we have her dog Boo Boo with us).
More info when we get settled in NY. We will be there for a month.
Marilyn

Mountains............!

Fletcher, NC, near Asheville.......in the Blue Ridges !
Going to the grocery store....mountains
Going to Lowe's....mountains
Going to the YMCA...... thru the mountains
you get the idea.

Passed by a roadside stand with a sign that said: Local Strawberries
picked this morning, brought to the market by the lady who grew them and picked them....this morning!
The fields behind Ingles Food Market are already being planted and worked for the crops you will see the next few months on the shelves.
when they say local....they mean it.
And Kroger, in Houston, has billboards that say "eat local", with a picture of blueberries on it.   ???
Really ?

But really, it just continues to delight me to see a 'mountain vista' nearly everywhere you look.
Beautiful weather. Will be here almost all the month of May; then move to Owego, NY for the month of June.

Later, Marilyn

Atlanta

We were fortunate enough to stay just ahead of the line of thunderstorms all the way across.  I wanted to stop at Stone Mountain outside Atlanta, but we could not find a campground that didn't require a two nite minimum stay (some sort of collusion seems to me).  So we came on out to the edge of town and stopped in a Walmart for the nite.

We did get weighed in Livingston..... and it was not as good as we hoped for.... but ok.  We got rid of approx. 1100 pounds.... so now we are only over by 915 lbs on the rear axle. The good news is we are no longer over any tire rating.  Nobody polices the weight ratings... but it is a safety issue to me.  But honestly, I don't know what else we could purge.

Anyway, as I was driving thru Alabama today the feeling started to come over me that we were almost back to the mountains..... aaaahhhhhhhhhhh !

Later, Marilyn

we"re leavvvvvv-ing

On our way to Livingston to get weighed. Stopping at the tire place to get an inspection. North Carolina here we come!

Paddle faster !!!

We have not left Houston yet..... waiting for the regions northeast of us to drain down a little. We will be traveling diagonally across Arkansas and Tennessee, which includes several large floodplains.

Current plan is to pull out on Monday; and be in Rutledge, NC on Friday.
Good news is: for once we have everything accomplished on the list, and are ready to leave !

Our "weight problem" is "weighing" heavily on our minds :-)  We weighed the motorhome when we first got back to Texas in December, and found ourselves to be some 1800 lbs. over our gross vehicle rating...... soooooooo..... we have been Purging, and purging, and getting rid of lots of 'stuff'.  And we will stop back by Livingston Escapees to be weighed again.  "We" are hopeful, but "I" am nervous.
There is no penalty for being overweight except for safety issues and excess wear and tear on the coach.  I just want to be safe.  So, if we get to Livingston and are still overweight.... you may hear of a constant string of 'discarded items' along the roadside heading north.  Aside from that we could draw straws to see who gets left behind ;-)

Everyone is well... except Toby the golden retriever is getting less and less mobil. I have a ramp for part of the steps down from the coach, but it is still hard for him.  He's 13 and really starting to slow down.
More later, Marilyn

All is well

Charlie's surgery went very well, it was simpler than we feared. She is in ICU but will be home soon.
We've been here in Pearland (Houston) for about 10 days now, and are enjoying mild weather.
More later, Marilyn