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

Music City...Nashville, Tennessee

Nashville 4-17 thru 4-22

Well, here we are in Nashville, TN, home of country music! I had to hold Walt back, he wanted to get on stage everywhere we went! Especially at the Wild Horse Saloon!This is the Ryman Auditorium - the original home of the Grand Ole Opry. Beautiful old architecture! Below is a pic of the Tennessee Titan football stadium.We went to a couple of country music shows and in the campground where we stayed - Two Rivers, we met the road manager and piano player for The Judds! It was exciting to talk to them and hear "inside info" about their experiences on the road with the stars! They have also invited us to join them on the next tour with VIP show tickets! How can we refuse that! The tour starts in November (around Thanksgiving) in Connecticut and ends in Las Vegas. We will probably meet up with them closer to Vegas. Did you know Naomi is really Diana and Wynonna is really Christine?  Actually Ashley is really Ashley but not a Judd (different father).  As most of you know, we are headed to WV, with a stop over in VA to visit some friends. The road manager actually lives in Virginia Beach and wants us to contact him when we get there to attend an informal jam session with some other country musicians while we are there. We are really excited about this! I have received regular emails from them since we left Nashville! Tooooo Cooool!This is a pic of our RV with the Judds road manager's RV right behind us. His RV used to belong to the Judds, they bought it in 1995. They have several Prevost tour buses now!  They would rather travel in this old RV because the Prevost RV's are equipped with about 10 bunks and a bathroom with no shower and no slide outs.  Would  you believe Naomi and Wynonna started out in just a car! Wow, who says there is no future in country music!

Red Bay, AL

Here we are in Red Bay, Alabama - The Home of "Tiffin Motorhomes". These are pictures of the office and manufacturing facilities of Tiffin Motorhomes. As you have probably figured out, this was the birthplace of our home on wheels.This is Main Street Red Bay! Looks a little like Plains, GA, doesn't it? Except Red Bay has two traffic lights! In these pics it looks like some interesting shops, however most of them are out of business - unless they are owned by the Tiffin family. This is the world famous "Swamp Johns" restaurant in Red Bay. The best catfish in the land! Notice the gas pumps out front? Yes, it used to be a gas station. Dinner is served in the oil change bay! No matter the outside, good eats inside! Don't miss it if you are in Red Bay!This is our accomodations at the Tiffin RV park in Red Bay. We left the pollen in Alexander City and got plenty of dust here! It will take us a week of cleaning to remove the pollen and now the dust too! The weather was quite warm and we had a good time, even with the dust. We had a few extra touches added to our home, by master cabinet maker Chris Berry, during our stay in the area. He does beautiful work!This is one of the traffic lights in town. Brown sign directs you to the Tiffin RV park.This, as you can see, is the Allegro Club. It is exclusively for owners of Tiffin Allegro motorhomes. Yes, we pay annual dues and even get a newsletter for the privilege of entering into these hallowed halls of Allegro merchandise!

Wind Creek State Park, Alexander City, AL

This is our little home in the woods of Alexander City, AL.  It was a beautiful park right on Lake Martin. We enjoyed our stay there eventhough the pollen was horrendous! Our black Ford Explorer suddenly turned yellow! The lake was lovely, but had an ugly yellow scum covering on it. The house belongs to our friends Greg and Sandy Stafford. They were not there while we were, however Walt did make a house call to do an electrical switch fix for them while we were in town. I neatened up some of Sandy's flower gardens while we were there.Here we are relaxing around our campfire - no smores in sight!Walt is never far from his phone.... think he was getting orders from Greg!This is some of the beautiful wisteria growing in abundance around the area. The foliage of dogwood and wisteria was gorgeous!We enjoyed our time in Alabama, especially the restaurants! The thing we were anxious to get away from was the HEAVY pollen. Fortunately, the evening before we left we did get some rain.