SHOPPING AND THE VILLAGES

 After breakfast and a ride though Grand Oaks, we needed to go to PetSmart. We were really surprised as to how close we were to everything in The Villages. We were 10 to 15 minutes away. It seems like all the major stores and businesses run down 441/27. On the west is the upscale Villages and east is rural with horse farms and lots of big properties, where we are staying.

We went to PetSmart first and rode through a few of the shopping area. Then we noticed there were 3 quilt shops, all within 5 miles of each other and all on 27. We visited each one and they were all small, but different and the owners were all very nice. One of them was The Sewing Studio, which is a smaller shop like the one where I bought my new sewing machine at the AQS meeting in Feb. They carry some great bag patterns and lots of nice vinyl to for the bottom of bags. I bought a couple of pieces of the bag vinyl. One pink and one gray.

By then we were hungry for lunch and saw a Johnny Rockets listed in The Villages. It was quite a ride through that area. The Villages is a retirement community with about 80,000 people over 55 years of age. The roads are quite curvy as there are many, many neighbors in different sections., many golf courses too. There are commercial business, shops, and restaurants mixed in, including Johnny Rockets. There is no lacking any restaurants or services you might need. The big thing in The Villages is the hundreds of golf carts people use to ride around in. They have their own riding lanes, and they park EVERYWHERE. Crazy. I wish I had gotten a better picture of the overwhelming number of golf carts.

The streets are jam packed with cars and golf carts and there was nowhere to park at Johnny Rockets. We passed Toojays, a very popular Deli in south Florida and opted for a hot pastrami on rye sandwich. We hadn't eaten at Toojays since West Palm Beach. Their menu is huge and lots of bakery items too.

The sandwich was huge, and we couldn't eat it all, so we saved half for another meal. It was good, but not as good as we remembered.

Back at the MH, we took out 2 strollers and a play pen for the kitties to sit outside with us. So relaxing and they all enjoyed it. Even Abby had a great time. There was a nice breeze in the air and perfect weather.

We are here for 5 more days, so there is lots more time for us to explore. 

SETTLED IN AT THE GRAND OAKS RESORT

 We are all settled in and enjoyed our first day & night here. What a nice place. It is so quiet here. Not a fancy campground and only about 20 other RVs all spread out. No TV and the Wi Fi isn't good, but we get some channels over the air, and we have a Samsung TV, so we are good.

We had some of our New York bagels for breakfast with cream cheese and the kitties had a great time looking out the door and windows. It is super foggy here in the mornings.

There is nothing for them to see, but they are searching anyway. They are all getting along so well in the MH. Usually, Abby growls when they get too close, but she is doing so much better. She even lets them sleep next to her.

We thought, today we would check out the area. We wanted to ride around the Grand Oaks to see what was here. This is a 400-acre property, primarily for equestrian events, but there is not one going on at the moment. Last week they had a carriage competition, and it was pretty busy, but they left before we arrived. When we checked in, Stacy told us not to feed the horses and there are signs on the roads saying horses have the right of way, even though they have their own lanes beside the roads. This place is huge!! Here is a map. It's hard to read because they have tried to get the whole property on the map. We only rode though about half of it.

They have little houses that you can rent as well as the campground. The weather got up to 81 and in about 66 at night. It is so relaxing here. Here are some pictures we took as we rode around the property.

                                                      Our view from the front of the MH.

  Lots of geese over by the front entrance, near the pond. I'll post more later of our day.

ATLANTA AND LADY LAKE

 Our drive through Atlanta couldn't have been easier. Going through on Sunday morning was perfect with very little traffic. 

Our next stop was at the Tifton Overnight RV stop. It was an unmanned RV stop with full hook ups, Wi-Fi and 75 ft long concrete pull through sites. It was only a few blocks from I-75 with easy access. I had a little trouble getting the gate code to work because the buttons on the pad were recessed but we got in. It was very nice and clean and not many people there. The Wi-Fi of course, was not good at all, but we have 2 hot spots, so we were good.

We had a great dinner at Longhorn, just 2 blocks away and then went to Walmart for a few items. David loves their brand of Caramel ice cream, so that was a must buy. We were tired again and fell asleep at 8:30. We were up and ready for the next day.

The kitties were not settled in with the motorhome moving all the time during the day and nothing to entertain them. They all enjoyed sleeping with us and that nice warm blanket. And Molly finally relaxed in the bunk after she was all settled in.  

I showed her the cabinets over the bed. Finnigan and Nickie loved to get in there. She wasn't interested, but Riley certainly was.

We wanted to get on the road by 10, but we had time to make a big breakfast of potatoes, corned beef hash and eggs.  It was delicious.

The kitties don't eat, drink or go to the bathroom while we are traveling, and I can't blame them. They had a nice breakfast, and we had a quick clean up and away we went. 

We had 224 miles to drive, which wasn't bad and most of the drive was down I-75 until we got past Ocala and then had to go over to 441 in Lady Lake (Weirsdale). It is right near The Villages and super crowded driving through that area. Once we passed our turn off, there was nothing but rural area and horse farms. We are staying at Grand Oaks Resort. It is a 400-acre equestrian resort with RV parking, a restaurant, horse barn, museum and various rings and areas for horse events. You would never think it is so close to The Villages.

https://thegrandoaks.com/   The weather is warmer here and we won't be needing that electric blanket.

The kitties will get some go out time too. I hope to get lots of pictures to share.

On the Road to Florida Again.

 This time we are headed to, first Lady Lake area for a week, and then to St Augustine to spend Christmas with Ryan, Najla, Emma and Trevor. 

We are taking our time with 2 stops on the way, before we arrive at our destination. My last day at the shop this year was on Friday, the 13th, so we decided to leave on Saturday. Friday afternoon we loaded my car with our clothes, food stuff and kitty food and other things that we would be taking so we could just get going Saturday morning about 10am. We put everything away in the motorhome and went to the bedroom to set up out electric blanket. It was supposed to be in the 30sm and 40s at our first stop and we wanted to be warm. Well, the blanket didn't warm up. It was an old one from home, so we weren't surprised, but we needed to get a new one before we left and there was no time to order from Amazon. There was a Walmart about a mile away, so we thought we'd go there and pick one up. Walmart had NONE. Then, I was on the internet trying to find a local store that would have one. We decided to stop by Kohls on the way home and see what they had. Well, it was everything BUT electric blankets. We looked at Target on the way home, NOTHING. I checked the Penny's store online. NOTHING, then Belks. They showed them online, but who knew if they had them actually in the store. So, we drove to Belk's at the mall. The lady in the home's decor section of Belks' was not the least bit friendly. She showed us a small stack of them and said that was all they had, that they were selling like hotcakes. There was only 1 king size, so we grabbed it, paid and ran. It was 8:30 and we hadn't eaten, but we were too tired to think about it. We just wanted to get home. 

The next morning, we had to get everything done at home, with lights, timers, feed the kitties, load up their strollers, playpen, get our computers and the last-minute items. Molly and Abby, road in their carriers in the backseat and Riley, in the cat in a bag in my arms. Being the most docile, he enjoyed looking out the windows and fell asleep. Everything was loaded in the MH and away we went, right on time.

Our first night was in Cartersville, Ga, about 100 miles down I-75, at Winding Waters RV Resort.   https://www.windingwatersrv.com/about/    It was a rather new RV park, with water slides and a pool with 80-degree temps. The sites were spacious, and it was very clean and well laid out. There was no cable TV, but we figured it would be easy to pick up channels over the air or use our Samsung TV, from over the internet. They had probably 6 internet boosters but their internet was terrible. They were probably just sitting in a internet dead zone. 

We were so tired and decided to go in the bedroom under our new electric blanket and watch TV. The blanket was great. David said he hasn't been that warm since his heart surgery when they wrapped him in all those warm blankets. We feel asleep at 7:30 !!! During the night there were terrible gusts of wind. ALL night long it went on. It sounded like the wind was ripping off our roof. It was rumbling and roaring and clanking all night. At about midnight we thought it was probably the covers over our slide outs that had torn off and were flapping in the breeze. We would have to wait until morning to see the damage and trying to figure what to do about it. and how we were going to get up there and cut off the remains of our tattered covers. Finally, at 7:15 am it was light enough to go out and look., and what we saw was NOTHING. No damage at all that we could see. It seems the angle of the MH and the angle of the wind were just right for the wind to get under the cover and make it flap and crack all night long. We were so grateful. We couldn't see the top of the roof, but it seemed everything was intact. What a miserable night as we both laid there wide awake trying to figure out what was being ripped off our roof.

The kitties have been nervous with the riding. Molly more worried than the others. We just can't stop looking at these sweet faces.

I didn't get a picture of Abby, but she has been extra good on this trip. We stopped at a rest stop on the way to make a sandwich and there was a feral kitty in the parking looking for something to eat off the pavement. So, I gave him a can of Fancy Feast and a cup of the kitty's dry food. He ate every bite. He was so hungry. 

Sunday, we drive thru Atlanta. Hopefully, the traffic will be much less for an easy drive.

A SHORT TRIP TO ROSSVILLE, GA

 Where is Rossville, GA you ask? It's just over the Tennessee state line about 15 miles from our house. We decided to take just a few days and go camping with the new kitties before the cold weather hits. We didn't want to travel too far since we had such a short time. I have been swamped with about 6o quilts to finish before Christmas and they were still pouring in. I finished 17 last week and needed a break for a couple of days. So, the Holiday Travel RV Park sounded like good one.

The new kitties Molly, 7 months and Riley 5.5 months have never traveled with us, and we wanted to break them in on a short trip. This will be Abigail's 3rd trip.

We packed everything up on Saturday and headed down to the campground in the afternoon. The traffic was crazy due to the construction, so we didn't arrive until 4:30. Just our luck, the office closed at 4PM. I have never seen a campground close at that time of day. But, they didi leave us a map and a list of sites that were available. The campground was much larger than I thought and it looked pretty nice. They had lots of oak trees (squirrels) and the sites were well marked. The sites were a bit close to others, but certainty do-able.

We put the kitties outside in their stroller so they could check out the campground.

We were tired so we had a quick dinner and spent time with the kitties.

Abigail felt right at home.

It was a nice night and the Molly and Rilley had a great time in the upper bunk. We have a scratching post in front of the bunks, so once we showed them how to get up there by themselves, they mad themselves at home.

                                      

                                                       And yes, they have their own TV.

The next day we had corned beef hash and eggs for breakfast, and I took Molly for a walk in the stroller. As it turns out this campground was built on a Civil War battlefield, and they had a marker down a winding trail in the campground. Molly was a bit nervous at first, but once she settled down, she started looking all around for birds and squirrels. 

                                                             

                                                   Here is Molly, next to the marker.

                                                          

In the afternoon, David and I went over to Costco for some shopping. It was only a few miles from the campground. It's not as close to us as Sam's Club where we usually shop.  It was packed with people, 

After that we came back to the campground to sit outside with the kitties again. Later, I threw out some peanuts to attract the squirrels, but there were no takers yet.

For dinner, we went to Portofino restaurant. I have always wanted to try them, but it wasn't near our house, so we never did. They had just built a new place (2 story) and the food was fabulous. They had a rather large menu of Italian and Greek food. David had the ravioli and I the cannelloni. I like to order that because it's something I wouldn't make a t home. The portions were huge with plenty of sauce and cheese and we ended up only eating half of it.

Then back to the motor home for a quiet night. All the kitties slept with us at one time or another.

The next day was just a lazy one. I worked on my hexie EPP pieces. THEN the squirrels discovered the peanuts in front of our door. The kitties parked themselves in front of that door for the rest of the day.

                                

                                                      

             They are enjoying their time here very much. Tomorrow we leave for home and back to work.

                          So far, it has been a successful trip.

More Time in Pigeon Forge

 Tuesday was a quiet day. We all met for breakfast at the 

It was right down the hill from our campground and close to the Meyers cabin. Breakfast was great and we all had too much to eat. The service was great too. We had a nice relaxing day. Glynda spent time in the lazy river at the campground and we spent some quality time with Abigail. The weather was perfect. Glynda had to leave in the afternoon to go home which was only a few hours' drive.

For dinner we went over to the Meyers cabin for spaghetti, salad and garlic bread. It was delicious and the views were spectacular. The cabin was at the top of the mountain, and it was quite a drive up that curvy steep road. The cabin had nice sleeping areas, a hot tub, a pool table, a foosball table and great balconies overlooking the mountain range. A fun place to stay. 

On Wednesday, the Meyers went to Dollywood Splash Country Water Park. They had a wonderful time on all the rides and slides. Fun times, for young people. Not so much for old folks like us. David and I went to Mel's Diner for breakfast.

 We have eaten there several times in the past, and it was always good, but it wasn't good this time. So-so at best.

After breakfast David wanted to go to the outlet mall to look for a new pair of Sketcher's. He couldn't find what he wanted in his size, but I found a pair I liked for a good price. I checked out the Talbots store, but everything seemed to be in petite sizes, so no luck for me.

After the outlet mall we went to the Shine Girl Moonshine store. It is owned by Dolly Parton's niece, Danielle. You should read her bio. She is amazing.

  Her website.     Shine Girl Moonshine. New in Tennessee! #moonshiners #fulltimerv #tennesseewhiskey (youtube.com)

We sampled their 4 moonshines, and they weren't what you would expect. Very smooth and flavorful. and didn't burn your throat. We bought a bottle of the Red Velvet and Coconut to take home. One drink you could make with the Red Velvet was to mix it with cold brew coffee and heavy cream and the coconut could be used in a Margarita. Very interesting. 

After Shine Girl, we stopped by Iva's Quilt shop. I haven't been there in years, but I did find some fat quarters I liked. 

On our way back to the campground, we drove down Tester Dr, a street over from the main drag in Pigeon Forge. That road used to have little strip malls on the left side and empty fields on the right. Now it was all built up with hotels, restaurants. It was late in the afternoon, and we were hungry. Lo and behold, we saw a Guy Fieri, Downtown Flavor town restaurant. So that was something else. David ordered the cheesesteak eggrolls, and I ordered the trashcan nachos. WOW! they were delicious and huge. Plenty of leftovers.

And this place was HUGE. It just seemed to go on forever. Here's a video.  Downtown Flavortown Pigeon Forge Full Tour & Review (youtube.com)

It was worth the visit and luckily, they weren't busy at that time in the late afternoon. I would go back there again. It was great.

The Meyers came over for a campfire and Smores. It was a fun time. The campground was almost empty since it was the middle of the week. Even Abigail sat out in her playpen. She still smelled like a campfire when we got home.

It was a wonderful trip. Close to home, short and fun.