Ohio, Indiana and Wisconsin June/July 2010

Our next stop took us to Cincinnati, Ohio and a great visit with more family! In this pic is our beautiful daughter Kim and her kids, Ashlee and Hoot. Don't we have the most beautiful kids and grandkids? Prejudiced, you say? I think not! Ashlee and Poppie relaxing! Ash will be a freshman at Lake Erie College in the fall. Very proud of her! She is not only beautiful, but smart too! Hoot will be a senior in high school this fall and also taking advanced college courses! He is scoping out colleges in Florida right now. Quite a bright young man, even if he does resemble a California surfer dude!

Just had to include this pic of the Amish carriages tied up at the hitching post outside a supermarket! The Amish people and how they live still fascinate me. On the road again heading for Wisconsin and more adventures.This is Walt's brother, Tom and his wife, Lynn. We were fortunate enough to be able to spend some quality time with them during our time in Wisconsin. It gave us a chance to catch up on old times. Tom and Lynn were wonderful hosts as well as tour guides. We certainly enjoyed our time with them. Lots of good times sightseeing and good food too! Lynn is a whiz in the kitchen. Best salad dressing in town! She was even nice enough to share her recipe with me! We also met some friends and neighbors of Tom and Lynn's - Bill and Lynn Barrett.  Of course that means more food and good times!We girls let the men have some "guy time" alone. They spent the afternoon at Lambeau Field touring the facility and enjoying the ambiance. Walt was especially impressed by the tunnel where the players pass through when entering the field. It is equipped with a  sound system that lets you hear the roar of the crowd in the stands.The Wilson brothers outside their empire? Don't know about that, but the ice cream sure was tasty!

We had gorgeous weather during our visit and took advantage of it! We drove up to Door County (how appropriate for Walt) and took the ferry across Lake Michigan to Washington Island. Beautiful scenery, relaxing time. We made a few stops at some of the shops along the way and thoroughly enjoyed our day.

We also got to visit with Tom and Lynn's daughter Dianne, husband and cute little granddaughter, Eleanor. All in all, we had a really great time in Wisconsin! Next stop - Sault St. Marie, Michigan! Our wish for all of you who may read this, is that one day you too will be fortunate enough to live this kind of life and enjoy seeing this beautiful land of ours.

Kenzie and Jacob vacation 6-9 to 6-16

We were very happy to have the pleasure of the company of two of our grandbabies (Jacob and Kenzie) for a short trip. We enjoyed our recent visit to Virginia so much, we decided to share it with them. We went back to Colonial Williamsburg! We also took them to see Fredericksburg, where Grammy and Poppie used to live. Oh yes, they did go to Carl's!What is camping without a campfire, smores and playing in the fire! We really had a fun time and during our trip - mini golf, the pool, swimming in the lake, going to Captain George's Seafood Restaurant, and a scavenger hunt in the campground!  We also visited Arlington, VA, and Washington, DC where we took a tour and watched the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknowns.

Jacob and Kenzie were both very impressed with this and the grave site of President John F. Kennedy.

I think they learned a lot.

Jacob in the old swimmin' hole! No sharks or gators here!

On our way back to WV after a fantastic week of fun! Looks like two pretty happy, but tired little campers! We hope they enjoyed their time with us as much as we enjoyed having them with us!

Oh yeah, we also visited the airport in DC and watched some jets take off!Jacob was not really a bad boy, he was just trying it on for size! Kenzie says the stockade just didn't fit into her plans! We really had a fun time after the kids got out of jail! Kenzie especially liked the horses pulling the buggies. Unfortunately, we didn't get there early enough to sign up for a buggy ride, so they had to settle for petting them.

West Virginia May/June, 2010

Dr. Christopher J. Wilson! Beautiful graduation ceremony at the West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine. We are so proud of him! He will be doing his residency in Dayton, Ohio.Does this look like a proud father, or what?This is our son, David and his family, wife, Ashley and twin daughters, Avery and Olivia! We still have trouble telling them apart! Gorgeous girls!Grammy and the California girls!Two very handsome sons and beautiful daughter, Dawn.Beautiful daughter, Shellie, good looking son-in-law, Jeff and cutie, Jacob at Chris' graduation party!Hey, here is another handsome son, Jeff!Paul, Dawn's significant other, and the kids having fun at Noah and Hunter's birthday party! Hey Paul, let the kids play, okay?

Hope everyone enjoys these pics. We certainly enjoyed our WV visit and seeing all the younguns!

Virginia May 5th to May 17th

Well, here we are in Colonial Williamsburg, Virginia. As you can see, Walt can't stay out of trouble! Seems like pretty stiff punishment for such a nice guy, doesn't it? I told him not to "borrow" that horse! Even with Walt's time in the shackles, we still managed to have quite a nice visit! Beautiful weather was very cooperative. I'm just standing by, waiting for my man to do his time! I'll be waiting for ya, honey! But right now, I'm going to go see the sites! Lots to see in this beautiful historic area, set in the 1700s.

I did manage to get in some shopping in this colonial shopping mall! But they wouldn't take my credit card! Cash only! Didn't they have plastic in the 1700s? Like my new hat? I think I may join the drum and fife corps. This beautiful old church is one of the oldest Episcopal churches in America, and still has regular services. The cemetery to the side of the church shows some very prominent and recognizable names displayed on the tombstones. Inside, we sat in George Washington's and Patrick Henry's pews!

Beautiful flower and vegetable gardens like this one, are abundant in Colonial Williamsburg. Tranquil and peaceful to view, but a lot of hard work for the gardeners! I appreciate their hard work, all done with only hand tools. Ahhh yes, Captain George's! The sign does not lie! When you come to Captain George's, you had better wear elastic in your waistband! So you don't care for seafood? Not to worry, this huge buffet has EVERYTHING and lots of it!No, this is not a part of Colonial Williamsburg! This is our beautiful former home in Fredericksburg, Virginia. We also visited our old stomping ground of Fredericksburg, while in the area. We stopped by and visited the new owners too! Surprisingly, they have changed very little about the house. Maybe my decorating tastes aren't so bad after all!We were also fortunate enough to spend time with some of our favorite friends in Fredericksburg, the Serrett family, and Shelva Rhodes!

Actually, I think our Fredericksburg house would fit in here rather nicely!Be sure to check in for our next entry - more fun to come! Live, laugh, love!

Back yard camping at Steve and Stacie's house, Kingston, TN 4-23 to 4-28

Here we are in Kingston, TN. We found the perfect campground! We had a beautifully landscaped lake side site on approximately 6 acres with full hook-ups! We were also fortunate to have some of the best neighbors ever! They even fed us lobster and steak! Actually, we were the guests of our very good friends, Steve and Stacie Hall.  I even had a couple of wonderful substitute grandsons to play with! Parker and Peyton made great playmates for us! We played cards, went to a candy store, rode bikes and scooters (Payton gave me lessons on the scooter). The whole family certainly made us feel quite welcome at right at home.We also had the opportunity to participate in one of the Hall's Crispy Kettle Corn gigs! What fun that was! As you can see, Walt got right into his old position of chief popper, while Steve, Stacie, the boys and I bagged and kept the sample tray full! Steve didn't seem to mind one bit and Parker does a wonderful job as cashier. This event really brought back some fond memories for me and Walt. Unfortunately, we had rain later in the day, but all in all we had a good day! This was an opera festival in old town Knoxville, TN. Parker and Walt relaxing in the front yard after the boys put on a funny fashion show for us! Peyton doing who knows what in the background! Peyton has unending energy! Oh, to be young again!Parker and Peyton have quite a nice tree house too! I didn't make it up the rock climbing wall to enter, but Walt managed to conquer the wall and made it up! We spent a week in this marvelous setting and thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it. Thanks for the hospitality Steve, Stacie, Parker and Peyton!

Pigeon Forge, Tennessee 4/28 to 5/2

We moved on to Pigeon Forge, TN after a wonderful visit in Kingston and Knoxville! Let me tell you, the Great Smokey Mountains are a sight to behold! And there is plenty of entertainment to be had in Pigeon Forge and Gatlenburg, TN! So many great shows - just not enough time to see them all! We were fortunate enough to see some of the most popular ones. This one is "Comedy Tonight" - good music and fantastic comedy too.Most all the shows are presented in beautiful buildings and settings nestled in the valley of the Great Smokies. We saw a different show every night and sometimes were able to fit in an afternoon one too!One of our favorite shows was at the "Smith Family Dinner Theatre". We saw a few Elvis impersonators, but this one was the best! The dinner buffet was delicious too! Our friends, John and Robbie came over to spend the night and go to the show with us. They drove over from Asheville, NC. We all had a wonderful time at the show and just hanging out together.

This is one of the camp sites where we stayed in Pigeon Forge. Gorgeous! You can purchase this lovely sliver of real estate for only $200,000! Just bring your own house! Hey, you have to consider all the amenities and you do have an unobstructed view of the Smokeys! There are also beautiful log cabins for sale!

This is our good friend, Steve Hall. Walt somehow put his picture in the wrong section of the blog!

Me, John and Robbie at the Smith Family show. We also took time out for a drive through the Smokey Mountain National Park. Unfortunately, we were too busy looking around at the beautiful scenery to remember to take pictures! The Old Mill area of Pigeon Forge was a delightful experience too. A quaint, old fashioned town with lots of shops and restaurants from the good old days! We especially enjoyed the ice cream parlor and the country store.

Of course, we had to tour the Muscle Car Museum! Walt loves the GTOs! It's not like he never had one.... or two of them. This one looks a little familiar - except ours wasn't a convertible.

Here we are having a delicious lunch at the Applewood Farmhouse Restaurant. Beautiful weather for a porch picnic!

Walt always manages to catch me in the most unflattering of poses, like taking pics of me while I'm talking! His excuse is that I never stop talking!  This one was taken in a quaint little area of Pigeon Forge, called Old Mill Town. A beautiful area that makes you feel like you are back in the old days. We especially enjoyed the country store and the old fashioned ice cream parlor!

So far on our journey,  Pigeon Forge is one of my favorite places. So many things to see and do. We thoroughly enjoyed our stay there and hope to visit the area again soon. Hey, we have to go back - we didn't even make it to Dollywood!

Next stop - Williamsburg, VA and then on to our old home - Fredericksburg, VA

Stay tuned...... for more adventures with the Wilsons