Short stop in Warwick RI

We got to West Warwick RI early in the afternoon and parked at another Elks lodge and then transferred the DD-531 ship model to Richard Ernst. He and his wife Ann are doing the local planning of our ship reunion in April 2013. We went with them to look at the hotel where the reunion is to be held reunion and we checked out the lounge. They have found an excellent place for the reunion.

We had dinner with them next door at a very nice seafood restaurant. It would have been nice to spend more time in the area but we decided to leave in the morning and head to Troy so we could get some things done prior to the start of the official activities.

Wedding Bells

We arrived in Zanesville, OH on Wednesday SEP 26 and parked at the Dillon State Park so we could have power during our stay. Lori and Brad's wedding was scheduled to be on Saturday and my sister, Jeannie, was arriving on Thursday. It was nice that Lori was able to pick up my sister at the Columbus airport as she was in Columbus and coming to Zanesville on the same morning that Jeannie was arriving.
We made our usual stop at Rob's grave site and Carol did some cleanup and decorating.

The wedding on Saturday was a very nice event and we were happy to see that Lori is now returning to a more normal life. She and Brad were high school sweethearts but drifted apart after both went to college.

Since we had a tight schedule, we departed the day after the wedding, Sunday SEP 30 and headed for Trafford. On the way we dropped Jeannie at the Pittsburgh airport and she picked up a rental car. She was planning to stay in the area for several days visiting old friends.
Our main reason for stopping in Trafford was to drop off some Mint Julep pre-mixed cocktails to Rey and Bib Peduzzi!! As usual we parked the middle school paring lot but had to be out early on Monday morning because of school hours.
 We departed at 6 AM and drove in fog and rain for several hours on our way to Warwick RI. We stopped just short of NYC in Parsippany NJ at an Elks lodge. It was a good place to stay and we were even able to get some reasonable priced diesel (for that area) in the morning. ($4.08 per gallon!!). We left early enough in the morning to miss most of the rush  hour traffic and crossed the Tappan Zee bridge north of NYC easily ..... except for a toll of $24.75 for the motor home and our towed car!!

Cincy & Montgomery Inn

Arrived at the Family Motor Coach Assn. campground last night and as usual have a great place to park. And it is free for 2 nights with full hook-ups and even Wi-Fi.

To make our stay even more pleasant there is a motor home of the same year and model  of  ours across from us. You can see it in the above picture but not very well.
Of course the major event of today was going to dinner at the  Montgomery Inn, Jim's favorite rib restaurant. We ordered one dinner that came with their Onion Straws. They are deep fried onions that are cut very thin. Even though they are deep fried, they are not greasy at all.

 Look at that pile of Onion Straws!!! You can't see the whole rack of ribs but it is the full width of the plate. Even though we got one dinner and split it, we still had a carry out box to take home.

At least Jim looks happier in this photo and Carol must have enjoyed the ribs. Notice the sauce on her cheek!! She actually ate one  more rib than Jim! We took the ribs on the plate back to the motor home for lunch tomorrow.

Carol said she wanted to horse around a little this evening so here she is .... horsing around.
We leave here on Wednesday and head to Zanesville for the wedding.

 

Visiting Reagle's in Monteagle TN

After a shaky start to our trip north for a wedding and a college reunion we finally got on our way. It was a shaky start because the refrigerator in the motor home would not work 2 days before our departure date!! Thanks to the maintenance guys at the RV repair place in Englewood, we got on our way on Thursday. We drove to Valdosta GA and spent the night at our favorite campground there, Sam's Club!!
The next day we drove to Monteagle TN and stayed at Dave and Lana's place. They are in the process of selling their cabin and this will be our last time to stay there. It is much more than a cabin as you can see below.

Dave and I had some fun feeding the catfish he has raised  in his pond. He put about a dozen small ones in the pond several years ago and now all are about a foot and half and longer. The fish look for the feeding each evening. Here are several of them.

We departed there on Sunday and stopped by in Louisville to pick up a case of pre-mixed mint juleps we  had ordered. These are the official mint juleps that are served at the Kentucky Derby each year. We like to keep a supply on hand and there are several of our friends that also wanted several bottles.
After our short stop in LOU we drove to the FMCA campground in Cincinnati to spend a couple of days just chilln' out. I do want to have a dinner at the Montgomery Inn because they have my most favorite ribs in the entire USA.
Best to all, Jim and Carol

Key Largo SCUBA trip

On August 15 Carol and I drove to Key Largo so I could go SCUBA diving a couple of days, Spiny Lobster Season opened on August 6 and I wanted to dive for some and see if I could get a few. Prior to going I tried to find a dive shop that did lobster trips but fond none so I was gong to do dives on wrecks.
After we go there I drove around and finally found a shop that does lobster dive trips and arranged for  2 dives on Friday. On Thursday I did a dive on a wreck and one on a reef looking at the fish etc.
I got a little disappointed on my first dive because I turned my camera on to take pictures of the wreck and it would not function correctly. When I got back on the boat I found out that it had flooded!! So I am contacting the maker of the camera to  have it sent in for repairs.
I did get a couple of pictures when Carol and I arrived at the motel. It was the most unique motel we have ever stayed at. It had 2 floors with a bedroom, large sitting area and bath on the 2nd floor. The first floor had a sitting area, a full kitchen, balcony and another bath. Quite apparently these units had been apartments or condos at one time. There was also a pool for the guests.

As you can see the view is great and even though we did not use the kitchen much, it was nice to have a full refrigerator.



The dive on Friday for lobsters was a lot of fun. Three of us dove together and it was not long before one guy spotted one. We all helped capture the rascal as the lobsters are not happy about being caught. When they scoot away, they really go fast. They hide under coral and in the nooks and crannies of it. After catching it, he measured it and it was of legal size so it was a keeper. We did not see any more on that dive but we were the only group that came up with a lobster.

On the second dive we moved to another reef and I spotted one under a large chunk of coral and we nearly got him but he shot away, never to be seen again. Near the end of the dive the other guy spotted one in a hole in some coral and we could not get him. The holes in this coral group had a maze of tunnels and he got out of our sight,

We did see other interesting sights such as a large Moray eel hiding in the coral. That thing was about 9 inches in diameter at the head. We never saw how long it was because he would not come out even with all of our coaxing. One of group looked under a  ledge for lobster and came face to face with a 4 foot nurse shark. It swam away without bothering anyone as they are usually quite docile, thank goodness.

All in all it was a very good diving trip and I am definitely going beck to chase after lobsters again

Carol's Birthday

Yes, today was Carol's birthday but we will not say how old she is at this point.  I told her I was taking her to dinner but we were to stop at Gus and Marilyn's for a "drinky po" before dinner. In fact it was to be a surprise dinner for her at their place. Gail, Carol's sister, Angelo, Ernie and Sonya also came to make it a special evening for  Carol.

Marilyn served her great appetizers and then we had dinner of her special pizza. As usual it was a great meal.

Of course after the meal there was the traditional birthday cake. Carol seemed a little overwhelmed with all that was going on but she was still able to blow out the candle on the cake.

It is great living here in Riverwalk and having such great friends around us.

Birthday celebrations

With Jim's birthday on August 1 and Carol's on August 10, we arranged for a birthday dinner to celebrate both at one time. Gus and Marilyn Lopes provided the transportation to Fleming's in Sarasota this past Sunday.
Fleming's is a fine restaurant that has excellent serviced and superb meals.It is especially nice to go there on Sunday as they have a prime rib special that is Gus's favorite. They also do some nice things for the birthday celebrants one of which is taking a picture and giving it to you before you leave.

They also gave both Carol and Jim a box of four chocolate truffle candies that are really good. Then they top off their gifts with a $25.00 gift card to each of us for use in their dining room in the future. You can hardly go wrong if  you go to Fleming's for your birthday!!!!
There is no doubt we will be back many more times in the future even if it is a bit of a drive and a little on the pricey side. It is well worth it.