ST. AUGUSTINE AND VISITING FAMILY

 While we were in the campground in Daytona, this huge Prevost motorhome pulled in towing a Hummer.

The paint job on it was gorgeous. I would have loved to see the inside, as it looked customized based on the outside paint job. This CG wasn't the best, but it served our purpose. When we checked in the guy at the desk said he wasn't going to give us a password for the Wi-Fi since we wouldn't be able to get it anyway, due to the cg being so busy. I guess it's a good thing we have hot spots. Promptly at 6am you could hear all the jets taking off from the Daytona Airport next door. The traffic on the International Speedway Dr, was quiet loud during the day, but it didn't bother us at night.

We were only an hour away from St Augustine. We had to check out of this cg at 11 am and couldn't check in to Sun Outdoors cg until 2pm. We waited until the last minute to leave and stopped and parked in the parking lot of a Tanger's outlet mall parking lot for an hr. and a half to pass the time. Then we continued to SA, stopping for gas on the way. We arrived there just at 2pm. Perfect timing.

We try to stay here whenever we can. It is such a nice cg if you can get a spot in the back section (Oasis Section). It is spacious (20ft wide x 70 ft long), and quiet with brick pavers. Our favorite site was taken, so we are in site 149 and will have to move to 143 on March 1st.We are right across from the laundry, gym and one of the dog parks.

Bentley and Abigail went for nice walks all around this section of the park. They both really enjoyed it. Their heads were on a swivel.

I put Abigail out in her playpen, and she was not a fan. Poor baby. After this I gave her a little haircut since her hair was getting so long. She was so good and acted like she loved being trimmed. The clippers I have are so quiet too.

We had a nice quiet day. Since Emma and Trevor are still in school and Ryan and Najla are working, we won't be seeing a lot of them while we are here. We did get together Monday night for dinner with Ryan and Trevor at Ford's Garage. The food is always good and plentiful there and their Ford, garage theme is always a hit. Emma and Najla were in Jacksonville for Emma's volleyball and wouldn't be home until 8:30.

We'll see them all later, I'm sure.

The AQS Show in Dayton Beach

 I am on day 3 of 4 of the AQS show and classes. I have one more to go to and I'm done. I guess I don't have the stamina for these things anymore and I am exhausted.

My first class, Wednesday morning was with Kathy Dunigan. She used to run an Acadamy of Applique every year and I so much wanted to go. It just never worked out as it was always out of town and the tuition alone was over $500 to work on one block all week long. On top of that there was airfare, hotels, food and other items. I just couldn't justify it. When I saw she was teaching here, I jumped at the chance to take 2 classes with her. One was on turned applique using a medium interfacing and the other was machine applique. I enjoyed both of them and learned a couple of new tricks.

During the machine applique class, I used a Brother sewing machine which I had never used before, and I really liked it. It had a lot of features that my almost 20 yr old Bernina doesn't have. It is sewing only, with no embroidery, but that's what I need right now. I always thought Brothers were very cheap, but this one seemed really nice. When they told me they had a show special for 1/2 the regular price, I decided to buy one. I also received a couple of other free items. I was ready for a different machine, but I didn't want to buy one for thousands at this point. If I need embroidery, I can always use my Bernina.

Three of my other classes were long arm classes with Julia Quiltoff. She is a sweet girl originally from Russia, that does beautiful quilt work. I really wanted to hear and see some fresh ideas and she was very good at sharing hers.

I have one more class in the morning and I'll be finished here. The vendor area was pretty busy. this year. From what I heard, last year was very quiet and attendance was down. I ran into 2 of my customers from Chattanooga. They were checking out the vendor booths. And in class I met three other people that have shopped at Chattanooga Quilts or had family there.

I tried to take pictures of some of the quilts in the show area.  There were so many that were over the top as far as design and quilting. I don't know how they come up with their ideas. Here are some that I really liked.

This is the lady that made this quilt out of wool rather than cotton. It was truly beautiful and had a lot of embellishments.

Carole Behan-Berry Wins 1st Place at AQS QuiltWeek - Daytona Beach 2024 (youtube.com)

The show certainly gives you plenty of inspiration.

By the end of Friday, I was so tired. I knew it was going to be a long week, but I did enjoy seeing so many gorgeous pieces of work.

When I got back to the motorhome, Abby and Bentley sat out side with me, they in their strollers  for a while until it started to rain. Then, it was in for the night and dinner time for the kids. Tomorrow will be another busy day.

IN DAYTONA BEACH FOR THE AQS SHOW.

 After Cordelle, we drove to a KOA campground in Kingsland, GA where one of my cousins' lives. We hadn't seen each other for several years and since it was kind of on the way, we stopped to visit for a day. It had been raining and everything was wet and muddy in the campground, but we finally got settled in. The kitties were happy to not be riding, and so were we. They both sat outside in their strollers, and then I took them for rides around the campground. Bentley was looking around at everything like his head was on a swivel. Once Abby relaxed, she was looking at the trees and woods all around.

The next day Debby and Tom came over to the MH to see Abby and Bentley. We sat outside for a while and talked & then went inside. I can't believe we didn't take any pictures. What was I thinking? Debby looked great and we had a good time talking out our pets, kids and grandkids. Then we went over to their house. They have a very nice lot in a nice quiet neighborhood. They have plenty of bedrooms, a really big screened in patio in the back and Tom has a great big workshop in the back. We also met Max, their bulldog. He was the friendliest and sweetest dog. He is a much bigger dog than their last bulldog Gus, and he loves attention. 

We went with Debby and Tom to a great seafood restaurant in St. Mary's called Seagle's Restaurant. The food was excellent, and we all had a great meal. Afterward, we went back to Tom & Debby's and chatted, & loved on Max. Their son Clark was there, and we got to meet him before heading home for the night.

I sure wish I had gotten pictures. The area was so beautiful and not so touristy as St Augustine.

The next day we headed for Daytona, which was only 2 hours away.

Bentley was eager to get there. Abby loves the bunk. We have to put her up there because her legs are too short for her to jump up.

After we arrived in the campground in Daytona, Abby, was amused. by the 4 large wild turkeys that kept walking around the campground. Bentley never saw them, but I'm sure he will see them tomorrow.

We went out to PetSmart to get some more cat litter and a special toy for Abigail, as it was her 9th birthday. I don't think she was impressed, but Happy Birthday to Abigail Cleocatra. Bentley helped to celebrate by getting a new toy too.

They are all settled in and ready for a good night's sleep.

 

ON OUR WAT TO THE AQS SHOW IN DAYTONA BEACH AND ST. AUGUSTINE

 Usually when we take plan a trip we plan to leave at a specific time, so that we can arrive at our first stop within 5-6 hrs. or drive no more than 300 miles. It never turns out that way. Since our motorhome is stored in Soddy Daisy, 45 minutes away, it takes us a while to get there. We always load up the MH the day before we leave, so that the day we leave we can just take the cats, get in the car, drive to Soddy Daisy, hook up the car and GO. It never works out, the way we plan since we always end up leaving 1 to 2 hrs. later than we plan. So, this trip, we loaded everything on Thursday. As soon as I left the shop on Friday we loaded the cats and a few items that we needed to take, drove to the motorhome, hooked up the car and drove to Rossville, GA, 1 mile over the TN/GA line. There is a new overnight RV stop there with full hook ups, & Wi-Fi. It would give us a chance to check everything out in the MH, de winterize and straighten everything out inside and get the cats settled in. No stress and it would put us going thru Atlanta on Saturday morning.

The kitties were so good. Bentley was right at home. When we pulled out of the storage lot, he jumped into the bed on the dashboard to see where we were headed.

Abigail got up on the back of the sofa to look out.

We arrived at the Hawkins Pointe RV Park and it was very nice, clean and quiet. The people there were so nice. The lady there had called me that morning to tell me she credited my credit card due to our Good Sam membership. Every little bit helps. The only problem was that it was COLD and windy and we had to back the MH up in order to reach the water spigot. So, I moved the car around to the front of the MH and this is what I saw.

He is such a sweetie. We slept really well with a nice electric blanket on the bed. Even, Bentley and Abigail got together in their bunk. Notice the look on Bentley's face. Not happy with Abigail in HIS bunk..

In the morning, we took our time leaving, thinking it would warm up, but it was still 35 degrees when we went to disconnect the electricity and water and get the car ready. Did I say it was COLD??? We wanted to go through Atlanta when the traffic wasn't too bad, and the timing couldn't have been better. There was just one area where the traffic was slow, but we breezed right through otherwise.

Our next stop was in Cordelle, GA at Love's RV Stops. It is another overnight stop at a Love's gas station. It was very clean, spacious parking, gated and full hook ups. You pick a site, pay in advance, they send you a gate code and the wi-fi password. We would definitely stay here again for $57.00. Even though the drive was only 4 hours, the kitties were tired. Abigail really hasn't found the place she wants to call her own. Some of the roads were very rough and she didn't like that at all. We didn't either. She did try out the dashboard and the sofa, but she didn't care for the riding.

I know she will settle down as soon as we are parked, and she has a chance to go outside in her stroller.