Salisbury, NC

Here are some more pics of the town of Salisbury, near Lexington, NC and the lake we stayed on.  It's a pretty nice town, Salisbury, that is. This is their "famous" wall mural and I couldn't resist this shot. Too much time on my hands and not a lot of imagination!!  Lots of historythere.  Kind of like a big Amelia Island maybe?  Anyway, another spot to mark off in our book "1000 Places To See Before You Die".  I think it's in there.  But the lake and the birds were nice and I got some new flower pics as well.  We are beginning to plan our 2010 trip; up thru the Natchez Trace, Graceland, Hot Springs, AR and then slowly go up the Mississippi River.  We'll be in Jax until April and are enjoying time with friends and family.

It's All About The BBQ!

I've heard a lot about "Lexington style BBQ" so we decided to take a little detour and head to Lexington, NC from TN to find out what's so special about the way BBQ is prepared in this part of the country.  We went to two places, Lexington BBQ which has been featured on TV and a local favorite well off the beaten path - Cooks BBQ.

Our 1st place was Cooks BBQ not too far from the camp ground.  The place is a place where locals eat and it literally located in the very back of a residential sub-division.  Weird.  They did have brisket ( which is called sliced beef in this part of the country) so we shared a combo platter of BBQ delights which included ribs, pulled pork, brisket, hush puppies and a pitcher of iced tea.  We couldn't eat it all, so we took it home and made two more meals out of it the next day.  I liked the food and it was cheap!

The second place was Lexington BBQ, which I saw on TV.  It was so hard to find ( not on our GPS) that we had a heated discussion on the way... but we finally found it.  It sucked.  Not worth the trip.  Just plain pulled pork.

Lexington style BBQ is dryer than the BBQ's of the south west and the primary meat is pork.  As a matter of fact, Lexington BBQ serves ONLY pulled pork.  No brisket, no ribs, no nothin!  Didn't like it much.  I can season and cook a Boston Butt in my crock pot in the RV that comes out with more flavor than Lexington BBQ.

This was our parking spot

Back In Tennessee!!!!!

Ok, so we made it out of Florida and of course, our timing was impeccable!  We sat through 2 months of 90° plus weather and 95 per cent humidity..............but wait!  It all went away the day we left!!!  Oh well, the mountains are spectacular and so is my son.  I love the beard!  He and his friend Patrick (a great guy, also a GREAT BIG GUY) came for dinner last night.  I guess I didn't remember how growing guys eat...................sorry boys if you didn't get enought steak and shrimp.  It is so good to see my son; it's been 10 months!  Plus, he is giving us the privilege of painting his bedroom tomorrow, so that's really really nice of him.  We'll be here for about a week and then off to Charleston, SC to spend some time with Nicole.  She's ALSO allowing us to help her move.  Gosh, we such thoughtful children.  God Bless Yooz Guyz!!!!!  Please take a look at the pics below.  There's one of Grandma in there at her birthday celebration.  The lake is Lake Watauga, right about  20 miles from here.  Very pretty, too bad we won't be here in 3 weeks when the leaves turn.  Don't forget to scroll down to the next post.  It's got all the pics from Amelia Island and Crystal's 29th Birthday Party!!
Thanks for reading and welcome Heidi!!!  It's so good to see you again....................

Here's the link to the pics

Fun On Amelia Island, FL

So, after holing up in the RV, and adjusting to the heat and humidity, we starting visiting our great friends on Amelia Island.  We spend almost a week there house and doggie sitting (Maxie, the min-pin) will get into all the liquor and have parties if she doesn't have a babysitter.  Plus, her mom and dad went to Denver to see Jay's son get married.  Anyway, long story short, we partied hard when they got back; then went back a couple of weeks later to Debbie's daughter Crystal's 29th Birthday Party!  Steve grilled a bushel of oysters; we had oyster shots and Margaritas....................good food, good party.  I got to catch up with a lot of folks I hadn't seen in years.  Oh, BTW, Crystal is a model for Ford Modeling Agency and she was on her way to New York City for a Cosmopolitan photo shoot...............hope you got the job Crystal!!!  And here are the pics..................................all pretty much "G" Rated!!!!

Click to see pics of Amelia Island 

Florida in the Summer...

Yikes!  I forgot how hot and muggy FL is during the summer.  Almost too hot to sit outside during cocktail hour.  Almost.
Kathy's Mom is doing just fine, so that crisis is over.  I took my RV to Rivers RV in Jacksonville to get my body work done, so that's done too.  Scratches and dents are all gone :)
I think that we've had maybe 5-7 days with no rain since July around here.  The weather is really starting to get on my nerves and I'm looking forward to fall and winter when the temps drop below 95 degrees. Whew.
We are having fun visiting old friends though!  Since we'll be here in Jax until sometime in April, we have lot's of time to catch up. Cheers!

Back in Jacksonville...

Well, we made it! We drove 2,800 miles in 7 days. Kathy's Mom gets out of the hospital tomorrow and we will be here in Jacksonville until Sept.12th when we have to head for Alabama to get some body work done and a few other "after market" mods done to make our RV more livable for us.

Thanks to ALL our friends and family for their concern about Pat! she's doing well and is under Kathy her sister's  care for the next couple of months.

Did I mention that it's HOT in FL this time of year?? We forgot!
Cheers!
Steve

Thanks Everyone!

Mom is doing well and as I write this, she's resting comfortably in her hospital room, watching her favorite show.

Steve and I would like to thank everyone of you who called, emailed, etc. to check on her. We have some great friends and family.

We made it to Wyoming today and should be home in about 4 or 5 days, and I think my mom will be in the hospital for a few more days.

My sister and niece Kellie are awesome!! Thanks you two...................you are the best.

Kathy

Heading to Florida

I just wanted to let everyone know that Steve and I are headed back to Jacksonville starting this afternoon. My mom is in the hospital having surgery and I need to be with her. I hope everything will be ok and I will keep you informed.

We are going to take care of mom, and then regroup later on.

Take care all,

Kathy & Steve

Illegal Gas Pumping...

Did you know that's it's illegal to pump your own gas in the state of Oregon?? Some gas station guy threatened to call the police on me when I got out and filled my own tank. Zeez Louise!!!

The Scene Of The Crime...

The place: Midway RV Park, Coos Bay, OR
The time: Approximately 2:30pm

The crime: See those landscaping bricks in the picture? Do ya see em? The ones under the cute boat? I HATE those bricks! They have feet and they jump out at people from Florida!!!

Why, you ask? I'll tell ya why: When I was turning into this place, I was in a hurry and not paying attention while making sharp right hand turn in my RV.




There is only one entrance and one exit into this place and people were waiting on me to back into my parking spot. THIS is what happened to our home. CR@P!!!!

Now I have stop by a body shop on my way back to FL in Alabama and get it fixed. CR@P.

Anybody got any bondo??? And maybe some black paint? And some silver....