Day Two at Smith Mountain Lake

When I last lived in Roanoke (many, many moons ago), this Virginia State Park didn't even exist....but we are thoroughly enjoying it now!  It took the sun so long to come over the mountain that we didn't even wake up until almost 9 a.m.....

.....ahhhh, the luxury of sleeping in.  After that late start to the day, we took a quick tour and squeezed in a short hike...out to Osprey Point and back....

 lots of things to "catch" my eye....

....but the best was this....

....what wonderful things you can see in the forest!  And I like the nature-made bench you're relaxing on, Willie!  

We left Daisy in charge of security at the motorhome

and headed to the other side of the lake to visit with my long-time friend, Mary Conner, and her husband, Jim.  As a bonus, they had also invited Norma Jean, who was a member of our church there AND my high school government teacher.  We enjoyed a wonderful boat ride on the lake

Mary and her husband Jim

This is what I call "putting our feet up"!

'

House with its own island....no quick trips to the market from here!

Norma Jean

See that red visor?  It was actually "stolen" by the wind and floating behind the boat....but a quick turn and some expert maneuvering and Willie to the rescue!  He plucked that sucker right out of the lake.

Pulling up to their dock....

....what a relaxing setting!  It was a wonderful day capped off by a delicious dinner with great friends....complete.

Did I tell you how dark it is at night in this forest where we stayed?  If not, well....here's just an example.  We were coming back from Mary and Jim's, pulled up to the campsite, gathered up our things, and headed for the

motorhome, keeping one hand on the side of the MH until we got to what we thought was the front door.  Willie inserted the key into the lock....well, he tried anyway!  And he tried and he tried, and he tried again.  Only problem was....he was about three feet too far back!  We were a sight.....oh, no one could have seen us, but we were definitely "laughing in the dark".

We were due to arrive at Doe River Gorge Ministries Friday afternoon, so we reluctantly left Smith Mountain Lake behind and headed north, then west, then south (don't ask...it was one of those "you can't get there from here") into the mountains of Tennessee

until we arrived!

We are already enjoying the natural beauty of the area and the sweet and welcoming spirit of the people.  There will be three couples on the project this month....and I'm sure the Lord has some great things in store for us as we strive to assist the staff here in their ministry.  You never know what God has planned....but we are looking forward to living His plans for us!

The roads we travel.....

After a flurry of last-minute visits, including a couple of more Tides' games (they actually won the last one) and a yummy dinner at Bubba's (best salmon EVER), we headed out on Monday morning in the direction of Charlottesville and our "home" for the next two nights....

Misty Mountain Resort.  We had stopped there a number of years ago and didn't remember it being quite so inviting...

We were parked by a small stream (the sounds of a "babbling brook" soothe my soul)....which we saw go from a mere trickle to this

due to some heavy downpours.  While we were there Amber was able to come out to the campground for dinner and a nice visit....it is always good to spend time with family.

Wednesday morning we took our time (something VERY unusual for us on "moving" days), but it was only about 100 miles to our next stop (Smith Mountain Lake State Park) and check-in was late in the afternoon.  That 100 miles sure was interesting, tho'.  Lots of two lane roads....some more narrow than others....a lot more narrow!  And then there was the weather....we started out with this

and went to this

and then this....

and then some more of this...

Oh, yeah...there were a few stretches of divided four-lane road, which really helped Willie's stress level!

But it was all worth it when we arrived.....

Oh, yeah....can you hear deep sighs of contentment? 

More tomorrow on our time at Smith Mountain and visits with friends....til then I'll leave you with another "contented sigh" vista....

FIFTEEN YEARS...and hoping for many more!

Fifteen years ago this afternoon, I said "I do," to the wonderful man who became my husband on that day. It has been an incredible journey...we knew it would be, full of ups and downs and all kinds of twists and turns....but through it all, God has been faithful. Our love is even stronger now than it was then...it has been refined by life, and strengthened by God. And I am so grateful to share this journey with you, my love, my honey, my sweetheart, my best friend. Happy Anniversary, Willie!

Ouch!!

Have you ever gotten smacked in the face with a dose of reality that you really didn’t want to deal with? It has happened to me more times than I care to admit….and yesterday it happened once again. I think this time it really IS a wake-up call. I’ve been saying all summer long that I need to get back to eating more healthy foods, get back to exercise and essentially get back to taking care of myself. But as we all know, that talk, or blah, blah, blah ….well, it’s really easy to say and a lot harder to put into practice. The old saying, “Talk is cheap,” is sooooooo true. Yesterday I had a couple of “issues” (don’t you just love catch-all words like that one) that had me at the emergency room. As it turns out, nothing life-threatening, or even too serious….tho’ they sure felt serious at the time. My severe hip pain (that I had assumed was my thigh….good thing I’m not the nurse in the family) is a bad case of bursitis. And it’s not even in the joint! And the weird vision thing I experienced….well, it was an ocular migraine (no headache, tho’). The sad thing is, that if I hadn’t gained BACK the weight this year that I lost last year, it’s very probable that neither one would have happened. So what does that say….that I’m getting older, yep….that I need to lose the weight that I regained, yep….that I need to make taking care of myself more a priority….double yep! So here it is, I am publicly making a commitment to make healthier choices foodwise, to get more exercise and to take better care of myself. It all sounds so easy and so common sense-like. It is….but I seem to have a hard time with all of those to some degree or another. There is an incentive tho’….beyond the “feeling better” part….we are planning to be in Alaska next summer, and I want to be physically fit so that I can REALLY enjoy our time there. I won’t be posting every day on my progress, but I will try to keep you up-to-date with the choices I am making. FYI – tonight we are having spaghetti - made with whole wheat noodles, lo-sugar sauce and ground turkey. Since I am still in quite a bit of pain from the bursitis, my exercise has consisted of walking around the motorhome a little and making dinner….much better than yesterday, tho’! I do have to give credit to the ER, tho’….in 30 minutes, from time of arrival they had me in the back, x-rayed, and discharged with prescription in hand, along with directions to the retina specialist who saw me at her office….AFTER HOURS! How often does that happen? I don’t think I have ever “escaped” an ER in under three hours before….this shattered that record! We were thanking the Lord last night for the quick treatment AND the less-serious diagnosis. And I’m thanking Him today that I have had no more vision problems and that the hip/leg is better than it was this time last night!

Out of Chaos

Remember that photo of our storage unit a little earlier this summer?

Well, after a couple of "sessions", it now looks like this....

....and, I have to say that I feel a little bit better about leaving our "stuff" for another "who-knows-how-long" spell.  It looks like it just might survive our absence without caving in on itself!

On Sunday, we enjoyed our last bit of time with Brandon (who is off to stay with his dad for a couple of weeks).  Those grandkids sure know how to weave themselves deep into the recesses of our hearts.  Here are a few pictures of some of our activities during the rest of our PawMimi Camp time...

....a game at Harbor Park....

.....watching the Norfolk Tides....

 .....and running the bases after the game!

We also spent a lot of time outside (in spite of the heat) doing "little boy" things....

catching butterflies, shooting off balloon rockets

riding bikes...

 Oops!  Paw's on the wrong bike!

 And Paw even captured a toad-for-a-day!  

 What little boy wouldn't love that....Brandon just hated letting "Tiny" go at the end of the day.

All of our activities weren't of the outdoor type, though.  We had movie time

craft time..

...and cooking time where Brandon learned to crack eggs like a pro.... 

It was time well spent, and there are many moments that I have filed away in my heart to treasure during the coming months.

Things are quickly coming to a close here in VaBeach, and when we leave it will be with very mixed feelings....looking forward to our adventure in Alaska next summer and the journey there, but with sadness at those family and friends we will be leaving behind.  Know that we love you and you hold your own special place in our hearts.  But before we leave, I have more pictures and words to share....so stay tuned!

As Promised....well, almost as promised!

Yes, I'm posting pics of the first day of  PawMimi Camp ("stole" this idea from my friend Mary) 

...a little later than promised, but right now, that is nothing new...unfortunately!

Anyway...we started the week out with grandson Nicholas (showing off his bubblegum-bubble-blowing skills)

who spent Sunday night with us in the motorhome....

Monday morning ....bright and early...okay, early.  (I don't think I'm ever "bright" at 6:15 a.m.!)  But back to the early morning part....Brandon joined us and after a quick stop for some blood work, we headed down to

Knotts Island and a ride on the ferry....a first for both of the boys.

(Photo taken by a German tourist who was on a road trip with a friend attending Penn State....amazing the folks you meet "on the road".)

I think they had fun, don't you?

After we disembarked in Currituck North Carolina, we headed to our next stop....GRAVEDIGGER!!!  (For those of you not versed in monster truck lore....well, GraveDigger is the original big name in monster trucks.)

 We checked all the static displays outside and then checked out the museum/gift shop inside, and THEN....

well, the guys all just had to have a ride on one of the monster trucks....

 Nothing too dramatic, to be sure, but it was a ride on a monster truck, so it rated right up there on the "cool" scale.

We stopped for a picnic at a roadside rest area....

and had an unexpected guest...

 .....pretty, huh?

 And then there was a stop at a Farmer's Market...

 ......yup, you read right....TRACTOR churned ice cream!

and then on to our last stop....a guy's dream "graveyard" - 

 ....located at an antique car/vehicle restorer.  The little guys enjoyed walking around with Paw, but I think this stop on the "tour" was more for Paw than for them!

And that was our first day of PawMimi Camp!