And Yet Another Year (Clermont, FL)

 

 

Happy Holidays to everyone. 

Chalk up another one on the Roan Road.  Another year is coming to a close.  On Dec. 14th we will start heading up to New York City for our annual doctor thing. 

Not must to talk about, so this will be a short post.

Evelyn will be coming in and bringing her parents.  We are very excited about seeing them. 

We are supposed to have the awning replaced, but that will have to wait until we get back.

Happy Birthday to Vic and Happy Anniversary to Jenn & Jon and Pauline & Irwin.

Life is Great on the Roan Road.

Basking in the Hot Sun (Clermont, FL)

 

Happy Thanksgiving to all our family and friends!

We are here in Clermont, FL to take advantage of the great weather and to use up the last of our season tickets to Disney World.  We have been back to Disney 3 times and are going back once more to see the Osborne Lights in Hollywood Studios.

Last month, on our way down from Atlanta, we went to White Springs, FL to see the  Stephen Foster State Park. 

We changed our reservations here in Clermont and will be staying until January 4th.  Then heading for Cedar Key for the rest of the winter.   We are leaving the camper here in Clermont and driving up to NYC around the 16th of December and will be back  just before the new year begins.

Nothing more to report.

Special November Birthdays:  Evelyn (18 months) and Olivia (10 years old)!!!!

Life is Restful on the Roan Road…

Gone South for the Winter (Clermont, FL)

 

We spent  a week in the Smoky Mountains of North Carolina (mid October). photographing the fall foliage (leaf peeping).  We spent the week roughing it.  We had no cell service at the campsite, no satellite and extremely bad Wi-Fi.  We did have cable TV though.  Now that is roughing it !  We had to travel to the coffee shop in the town of Cherokee to make calls, check emails and  talk to Evelyn (note, they had good coffee!) 

When the temperatures started to drop and we had to wear long pants, sweaters and jackets, we decided to follow the birds south.  So, here we are in sunny, warm Florida.  We will use up the rest of our season tickets to Disney World which are up December 1st.  BTW prices at Disney World are UP considerably.  Good thing we are not renewing the season passes.  

We will stay here in Clermont, just outside of Disney, until December 1st,  Then head over to Cedar Key on the west coast, just north of Tampa.

Below are some of the pictures we took while leaf peeping.

I have lots more.  But will leave them for another blog.

Get well wishes to Harvey.

Mike, Congratulations on your Special Honor in being named best doctor under 40, in Fairfield County,  Connecticut.

Happy Anniversary to Alyssa & Mike!

And, Happy Special, Special, Birthday to Alyssa!

 

Life is Super on the Roan Road…

Smoky gets in Your Eyes (Norcross, GA)

 

After five weeks in Atlanta, tomorrow we are heading for Cherokee, NC and the Great Smoky Mountains to do some leaf peeping.  At least, I hope the leaves have changed.

We just had two repairs on the truck.  One, we had the DPF catalytic filter changed to the tune of $2800.  Then we were stopped on I-85 because of traffic and promptly were rear ended.  Fortunately, the other guy’s insurance paid for that (and the damage wasn’t too bad).  Now we are ready to move on to the next adventure. 

We also spent time with Cheryl, Harris, Adam, Debra, Ethan, Isaac and the newest family member, Sophie (who just turned 4 months).  We had a great time seeing everyone.

We did, however,  do some touristy things while in Atlanta.   So here is my picture essay. 

First we drove to Warm Springs, GA, The Little White House for FDR. The Little White House is a state park approximately 80 miles south of Atlanta, It is the place FDR went to try to recover from Polio, and where he died in the third term as president.

Park Visitor’s Center

Little White House.  Servants quarters(right) Guest House (Left)

Little White House

Unfinished portrait.

 

Martin Luther King National Historic Site

Gibbs Gardens is 40 miles north of Atlanta on what was once the Gibbs farm.  They are now having a Water Lily Festival.

		Gibbs Gardens VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

I saved the best Lily for Last.

Life is Great on the Roan Road…

Happy 5776 (Norcross, GA)

 

To all of our family and friends L’ Shana Tovah  (Happy New Year).

Last week we stayed in Cherry Hill RV Park outside of Washington, DC.  We spent the time with our cousins Linda , Jonathan,  Sarah,  Russ,  Ava and Zack to celebrate Linda and Jonathan’s 50th anniversary.  We really had a great time,  Thanks guys.

Before we left Linda told us about a carousel in Glen Echo Park.

Sooooo,  Ann was on the run.

Ann loves museums, carousels, and book stores.  I have been hearing for the last year about “ the next time we go to DC we have to go to Politics and Prose”.  So I was dragged there “twice”.

Announcements:

Happy last un-birthday to my BFF.  Tomorrow is your BIRTHDAY!   Happy Birthday Ann.

Also, Happy Birthday to  our nephews Jonathan and Ethan.  Also Happy Anniversary to Caroline & Andrew and Maryann & Santi.

Life is Great on the Roan Road…

Catch Up Part V (Martinsburg, WV)

 

Massachusetts:

The following are the places we visited while staying in Pittsfield.  There is a link for each place.  We had a great time in Massachusetts.  We were able to visit with Heidi , Jay and Linda (Jay’s Mom) as well as Vic & Joyce.

Norman Rockwell Museum.

Clark Museum

 

Hancock Shaker Village

Tanglewood Music Festival

This was the Student Orchestra (Summer Program).  They were excellent!!

 

The Mount – Edith Wharton’s Home

Tomorrow we leave WV for a 150 mile trip to Washington D.C.  We will be staying at Cherry Hill campground.  We are not going to sight see, we are going to visit our cousins. Linda and Jonathan,  for their 50th wedding anniversary celebration.  Then it is on to Atlanta!

Yup!! Life is Great on the Roan Road…

Catch Up IV (Martinsburg, WV)

 

This blog will finish up the state of Maine. 

Roosevelt Campobello Island is not technically in the US. It is actually in Canada and you need your passport to get there,  It is considered an International Park.  It is the boyhood summer home of FDR.   While we visited Campobello we went to a talk about Eleanor Roosevelt's life.  It was an informal talk where they served tea.  It was called “Tea with Eleanor”.  Everyone sat around tables drinking tea with cookies during the discussion.  It was the kind of thing Eleanor did.  It was really interesting!

Acadia National Park, Maine

 Happy Birthday to Harvey (a special one) and Sarena.

Next, Massachusetts.  I hope this week.

Life is Great on the Roan Road.

 

Catch Up Part III (Martinsburg, WV)

 

We are now in West Virginia (Almost Heaven ?).   There is some beautiful farm country here.  It is very hilly.  Not big mountains,  Just very hilly.  We were taking some back roads on our way to Martinsburg,   just to get off the interstate.  It started to get very narrow and twisty. Combine that with the hills, we decided to head for the interstate.  We will be in Martinsburg until Sept. 5th when we will head for our nation’s most dysfunctional city, Washington, DC.

Now for the Catch Up.

After New Hampshire we headed for the coast of Maine.  Maine is a state we really enjoyed.   We drove up the coast and stayed in a campsite in Ellsworth, Forest Ridge Campground.   The owners are great people.  We used the campground as a place to explore the area. 

We visited the town of Castine.  Castine is a typical New England sailing town.   We toured the town and the lighthouse. The town is full of typical white clapboard houses.   While in Castine we decided to take a sailboat ride on the Guildive.

We boarded the Y-S Guildive.  The Guildive is a 56ft two mast sailing ship.  It is owned and operated by Kate and Zander Parker a husband an wife team who are both captains.  They personally, beautifully  restored the ship.  We had a great time.

 

We took several day trips along the Maine coast using Ellsworth as our starting point.  Unfortunately, I did not write down the location of some of the pictures.  Anyway here is a slide show of some of the pictures.

Not far from our campsite in Ellsworth is a newly constructed bridge that crosses the Penobscot River.  On top of one of the towers of the bridge is an observation deck with spectacular views.

Next post, finish Maine. 

Life is Easy on the Roan Road…

Catch Up Part II (Elkhart, IN)

 

In my last post, I had a video of Ann on a carousel from Syracuse.  I miss spoke.  The carousel is actually at the Shelburne Museum in Shelburne, VT.  What a great museum.  You could easily spend two full days there and not see everything.   There are many buildings.  Each with a different theme. 

There goes Ann !!

Waiting !!!

Pure Pleasure.  Look at that face.

And Again.

This building houses a display of a circus parade.

An old time train station.

		Train Station VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

This Riverboat was brought overland in the winter when the ground was frozen and restored.

		Riverboat, Ticonderoga VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

Our friends, Jerry and Maddie, came to stay at our campground. 

We took a drive together into the White Mountain National Forest.  One word, Beautiful.

More to come.

Life is Really Great on the Roan Road.

 

 

A Lot to Cover (Elkhart, IN)

 

We are now in Elkhart, IN having some repairs taken care of.  One of our BigFoot levelers was bent at a 10 degree angle.  Most likely happened when we were at one of the campgrounds with uneven sites.  Plus one of the slides makes an unusual sound when closing.  So, Sunday morning,  after leaving Wadding River we got on I-495, across the Throgs Neck bridge, across the Cross Bronx, and over the GW Bridge.  Got in I-80 and straight to Elkhart, the RV capital of the world. 

Monday night we dry camped at Big Foot so we could be first in line.  We were up around 5:30 AM and were in the repair bay at 6:30 AM.  They did a great job.  Between pulling it straight with a fork lift and shimming the jack it is as close to straight as it is going to be.  They also made a cross member between the two rear jack to give them more strength.

Now we are waiting for our appointment on Monday at Indiana Interstate to look at the slide.  We will camp on their property Sunday night to be ready for our 7 AM appointment.

 

Wadding River, NY

We made a stop in Long Island, NY so we could go to the wedding ofour long time friends (Phyllis and Arnie) son’s wedding, Eric and Katie.  We really had a great time.  It was good seeing lots of old friends.

 

 

In our travels, so far, we covered all of the New England states.  So  we have a great many pictures to show.  I will show them in a number of post so as not get you too bored.

We are are leaving here on Sunday, heading back to Elkhart, IN to have one of the hydraulic jacks fixed.  It seem the mount is bent and it is now at a 10 degree angle. 

Now for our travels.

New York State:

In the last post we were in Corning, NY.  From there we went to see several Locks on the Erie Canal.  We visited the Eire Canal Museum in Syracuse.  Along the Eire Canal were Weigh-locks where the barges were weighed and paid a toll according to their weight.  The Erie Canal Museum is an old Weigh lock.

While staying in the Syracuse area Ann found another…

Shelborn Carousel from Roy Brody on Vimeo.

We took a boat ride down the canal and through Lock 17.

While in the Syracuse area we visited the Ft. Stanwicx National Monument in Rome, NY.

We went to the fort in the morning during the week.  It was a slow rainy morning except for 3 bus loads of  children from nearby schools.  Actually, they were well behaved.  The ranger at the fort gave us a private tour because there were no other adults around.  As usual for the National Park Service, she was very knowledgeable and very personable,   We have found that everything the Park Service does is well done within the limits of their budget.

New Hampshire:

We drove into the White Mountains.

		White Mountains VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

No, we did not go swimming.

New Hampshire and all of New England is such beautiful country.

Next post,  Vermont and Maine.

Until then Life is Great on the Roan Road.