DENISE

this picture was suppose to go with the message but for some reason it didn't

WEEKEND

ok since we've been home we have fallen right back into the swing of things...just like we were never gone...volunteering/exercise classes/fire dept/being busy but then i guess this is what life is all about...we were given a couple of home depot gift certificates when denise passed away and this winter/spring coming home we decided that the "RED BUD" tree was what we wanted to plant in her memory so we have done that...we planted it so if she were home she would be able to see it from her bedroom window and the color was one of her favorites....so now that that is in place we hope it blooms some now that we are home....also lar plowed the garden this afternoon and i even mowed the lawn....spring has sprung and so has the busy time around the home front begun...

NATIONAL PARK STAMPS

if any of you collect national park stamps washington , dc is the place to go to get the 'MOTHER LOAD"...when we were at the old post office tower we were talking to a national park person "susan" was her name so christine and i asked her all about the stamps and she told us where to go to get the most...we did even better than what she told us..she said at washington monunment we could get 18--we got 25-but by then end of the weekend we had gotten over 35 so we were very happy which made tom and larry also happy...christine has just gotten hers this winter and i've had mine for several years but i also misplaced it for several years..there have been places i've been that i could have gotten a stamp but didn't because i didn't have my book...but low and behold a couple of years ago it was found so now it is with me all the time in case we go some where that i can get a stamp...our other friend caroline is on her second book as she filled one already but then she has been doing this alot longer than we have and she lives in the state of washington and there are more national parks in the west...here in the east not so many....right now we both feel that we never were gone for the winter right back in the swing of things...



lar got up early this morning to go out and listen for turkeys as the spring season starts on may 1st which is next friday...

WASHINGTON

now that we are finally home and trying to get caught up..hahaha..i will try to

put some pictures on the blog...we had a good time in washington, dc..the first day we dodge in and out of the rain and at times heavy rain so all the museums were packed full of tourists just like us...we camped at greenbelt national park and took the metro into the city that way we didn't have to worry about parking but we walked and walked (forgot my pedometer)...one day we spent at the monuments walking and walking there's way to much to see in just a few days ...one day we spent at arlington cementry and watched the changing of the guards and also there was a presentation of a couple of wreaths by 2 different groups which made the changing of the guards more special...

then on sunday we went to mount vernon george washington's house and spent the whole day there and didn't see it all ..we missed some of the gardens...saw several movies of the time and george was more than just a president he was also an inventor and loved his gardens...

george build a 16 sided barn to have his horses run around on the wheat to trash it...

the four of us standing outside the barn

all in all we had a great winter and now it is time to try to get caught up around the homestead before we take off again...

HOME AT LAST

we are now home...but i am using the desk top and the laptop is the place where all the pictures are so later i will enclose a couple...arrived home about 5:30 monday the 20th...good to be home almost like we were never away...had a great time in washington, dc with our friends tom and christine...as were were walking to the washington monument i ran into a daughter in law of some very good friends of ours here in Ithaca...funny how these things happen....i won't go into details of our trip until i can included some pictures...but all's well

ANNIVERSARY

anniversary you say no not ours but our country's...it is the day that Lee surrender to grant...we did not know that at the time we decided to go to Appomattox court house but we we got there today we soon found out...they have special events going on all day today and tomorrow...so it made it more interesting...a hilly ride from where we are to appomattax and we sure were glad we didn't have the rig hooked up some very windy-hilly-narrows but we got there...can you just imagine during the civil war they had to walk up these mts and without a GPS but they seemed to find there way and we didn't hear of anyone getting lost...i guess they just followed game trails or the person in front of them hahahah...tomorrow on to lousia for an overnight visit with mem/larry rom our build in dade city where tom and christine will also appear...we will spend the day then the 4 of us will adventure on the dc..so the adventure continues....

RAIN, RAIN,GO AWAY!

Drove all the way to the TN border yesterday, as we drove into VA the weather cleared, but not for long, showers continued off and on untill we reached Lexington,
VA. where we pulled into a passport america campground and will spend 2 nights as we
tour some civil war "stuff"..... It rained most of the night so the area is a mud hole and Mitch and I get in trouble tracking it in, but there is no way around it!
Kids are gonna have a heck of a time looking for easter eggs in the mud!!!











on the water front in knoxville, tn