A little motorcycle ride to St George, GA.

We haven't done as much motorcycle riding as we would like, partially due to other things on the schedule but mostly due to weather. We knew when we opted to winter here in south Georgia that the weather would be cooler than what we had been used to during our past winters in Clermont, FL.

That is good and bad. It's good for the #2doods since they can overheat easily. It's bad when it's too cold for us to ride. Yes, we admit it. We have both become weather wimps. If it's much below 60 with no chance to warm up, we aren't riding.

We did have one spectacular day in February when we managed to get in several hours of riding and we headed off to see what was in St. George, GA. All we were looking for was a nice ride and it was that. Almost no traffic but a lot of trees. Turns out forestry is probably the biggest industry in this part of Georgia. Who knew?

We stopped for lunch at K & C's Oak Tree Cafe after fueling up the motorcycle. Quaint little restaurant with good food. I almost forgot to take a photo. The food was good and very plentiful, the onion rings were excellent - our big splurge.

















We soon headed home, not wanting to leave the #2doods for too long in their crates.

Ciao for now!

A quick trip to Dollywood!

We decided to take a mini-vacation and booked a stay at Best Western in Kodak, TN. While there, we spent an afternoon/evening at Dollywood where we saw one show and took some photos. We had thought about staying for the parade at 8:15 that night, but it was WAY too cold. LOL!

On our leisurely drive up, after dropping the pups off for two fun days at doggy camp, we decided to try a new spot for lunch. After being misdirected by our outdated GPS in Jeremiah Jeep (aka JJ), we found Wendall's Diner in Harriman.

The decor is straight out of the 80's - fun memorabilia abounds!



The menu offers a wide selection and there were lunch specials.



Stu opted for a Reuben with onion rings and I got a steak hoagie with fries. Both meals were excellent but next time, we will split the onion rings and pass on the fries. BIG servings!



We got into Dollywood about 3:45 ET (we always forget we lose an hour when traveling east on these short trips). The next show was starting just after 4, so we found a good seat. The show was "It's a Wonderful Life" and we enjoyed it. I snapped a few photos with my iPhone, not the best, but best I could do.





When we came out, the sky featured a blushing sunset, setting off the beautiful light displays.



I snapped several photos of the lights as the evening darkened...









We wandered the park, sat for a bit to enjoy some holiday music and ended the evening with our favorite meal - sausages smothered with sweet onions & peppers. Yum!





A fun day, albeit a cold one. A warm hotel room awaited us. We look forward to visiting again when spring comes!

[Click any photo for a larger image and feel free to look at the entire album on SmugMug.]

Ciao for now!

How did it become December already?

I turned around and suddenly it was December? Where did the rest of the year go? How did this happen? LOL! Life continues on here...just to show you how exciting things have been, here is a partial list of what we've been up to lately.

• Stu finished winterizing the RV, well, except for our washing machine. So we continue to run the electric heat pump, keeping it 55 inside. He also winterized the washing machine stored in the barn (for his eventual pole barn)
• Stu put fuel stabilizer in the lawn tractor, lawn mower and Freddie.
• Stu started putting an insulation blanket around our water heater (under the house) and insulation wrap around all the pipes. He ran out of material so hopefully will finish it on Tuesday before the REALLY cold weather moves in next week.
• We took advantage of the great sales, mostly online. Stu got some tools, I got some decorations as well as clothes and a few other things.
• Stu hung a few outside decorations - red bows on the mailbox, Santa caps on the outside lights and stockings on the porch railing. That's pretty much the extent of what we will do outside this year.
• Entertained friends at home and were then entertained at their home.
• Cooked our first Thanksgiving dinner in our new home.
• We went to Dollywood with friends and plan to go back again the middle of December. The decorations are always so great!
• Went to a couple of movies, took the pups to doggy day care for play and grooming.
• Went grocery shopping, did laundry (lots of laundry), cleaned house - all the usual stuff.
• Cleaning nose prints off the front and back doors!!!

See? Not much exciting in our lives. The biggest thing has been to prepare for the winter weather. Here is our forecast for next week. Eeep!

The weather for the last week has been beautiful, mostly sunny which made it feel much warmer than the 60-65 degrees the thermometer read. The pups spend most of their day outside, playing, especially enjoying it when Stu is in the shed (converted to a woodworking shop).

Here's a little video I shot when Stu was out winterizing the lawn tractor and lawn mower.


We did get out for a short motorcycle ride and stopped in for lunch at Mac's Diner in Jamestown. What a treat! We will be back, good food, reasonable prices and a fascinating owner to chat with. You can see more photos here.

They have started work on the property across the street from us. We heard rumors they were putting in an RV site but we're not positive. Time will tell. In the meantime, I am enjoying our late fall/early winter sunset view. I'm afraid we may be losing it next year.

The #2doods enjoying watching them out the front door while they work. Or maybe they're waiting for mail delivery...LOL!

Murphy is in a growth spurt, his legs getting longer. We will get them weighed on Monday at the doggy daycare/grooming. They still eat separately but Murphy has good manners about it, even when he finishes first.

Now for a little fun. If you have an iPhone/iPad with Siri or one of the devices like the Amazon Alexa - ask them what they want for Christmas. Here is what Siri told me....

Ciao for now!

Busy weekend....

Early Friday morning, we loaded up the 2doods and headed to neighboring Cookeville. First chore, dropping the pups offatr doggy daycare. Stu had a 10am appointment to get his FIRST tattoo, a Celtic wedding band on his wedding ring finger. If you remember, I did mine, double hearts, a while back.

We are both really pleased with the results...and he is no longer a tattoo virgin. In fact, he is now considering a special one honoring his family history. Time will tell... Here are a few photos.





We ran errands, saw a movie [Daddy's Home 2], did a little shopping. At Sam's Club, I had to get some teddy bear love....LOL! When done, it was time to pick up the pups and head home.



At Cracker Barrel, I enjoyed the Christmas display but not as much as the GIANT Twizzlers!





An early bedtime for us all since we had to get up even earlier on Saturday. We were boarding the pups for the weekend (their first time away from home - sniff) while we headed over to see our friends Pauline & Earl. Once at their home, we drove over to Dollywood for the afternoon and evening.

They had never been and have only been living in TN for a year now. The crowds weren't bad, the weather, while windy, turned almost balmy by evening. We browsed shops, bought a couple of things, took a ride on the coal train, saw a show, watched some craftsmen at work, counted eagles in the sanctuary, looked at the beautiful light displays, walked thousands of steps and enjoyed a chatting over dinner.

We offered to take a photo of some folks attempting a selfie, and in turn, they took our photo.



We got home around 10:30, after driving through a downpour. We sat up and chatted while we enjoyed some wine, beer & frozen slushie drinks. Needless to say - we all slept well!

Sunday we all relaxed and finally, around 2pm, we headed home. It was strange to not have to worry about the pups since we weren't picking them up until Monday morning. We took advantage of that and did a major grocery shopping before we went home.

Monday was another hectic day. We picked the pups up from their boarding facility and headed back to Cookeville where they went in for a day of doggy play, topped off with baths & grooming. We ran a couple of errands including getting watch batteries replaced for me (and buying a toaster oven for Stu at JC Penney on sale - $60 toaster over for $20), stopping Verizon to get a charge removed from our bill and I even got a flu shot!

The movie today was Thor: Ragnarok. It was "okay" but not as good as the first or even the second one. That said, two new characters were introduced that we hope to see in the next movie, Valkyrie & Korg. I don't want to give too much away, so I'll leave it at that.

Now we are home, pups are sleeping blissfully (they smell so good and their fur is so soft), Stu is napping while thinking he is watching TV and I'm, well, I'm blogging.

Ciao for now!

Another visit - from & to...

Last Sunday our friends from Philadelphia, TN (formerly of MD) came for an overnight visit. We always love to see them and never fail to enjoy ourselves. Even though it was cold and damp (we had some very light snow flurries), Monday warmed up and the sun came out from behind the clouds.

So, we opted to head off to the Muddy Pond Mennonite community to introduce them to what we discovered a couple weeks earlier with our friends who are buying our property here in TN.

They fell in love with the rockers at Muddy Pond General Store but they also discovered something we missed on our other visit - a whole upstairs filled with goodies!











Including more differently styled rockers...




From there we continued on The Country Porch for a little more shopping (I just had to get more of the relish which is very much like my grandmother's picalilli relish from my childhood) and some lunch.



Loved this sign...


A great day and one I know we will soon repeat...

Ciao for now!