Yes, from start to finish today ranks right up there as one of the most fantastic days yet!  First, last night.  Amanda’s husband Charles left for home to feed the dogs and get some sleep since he had worked all day.  Amanda, on the other hand, wanted to stay and play dominoes.  Can you guess who slept on the couch last night?  If you said Amanda, you’re right!  First time we ever turned the couch into a bed.  It worked like a charm.  We threw some extra blankets over her and she drifted off to dreamland.

Come the morning and it being Sunday it was time to get ready for church.  Not just any church but one I had worked at for a time not too long ago and one that is extra special to both of us.  The church is the Monocacy Valley Church located on Old National Pike in Frederick, Maryland.  Both Barbara and I were really looking forward to this visit.  It was like going home in many respects.  We spent a wonderful morning with old friends and had a delightful time in worship.

After church, we went back home to regroup and figure out what we were going to do today.  Who to see?  Amanda?  Adam and the grandchildren?  As it worked out everyone but Amanda was busy so the day was spent with her.  What another wonderful day it was.  We started at our house and then went over to hers for supper.  Amanda had asked Barbara if she would make chicken cutlets, and of course Barbara was not about to say no.  So we had an early supper and then if was time again for dominoes which has also become a favorite game of Amanda’s.

Yes, that is Marti in Barbara’s lap.  After an afternoon of rough housing with his cousins he was just plain tuckered out and wanted only to be held and cuddled by Barbara.   Once in her arms he fell fast asleep until it was time for us to leave for home.

Oh, by the way the park is empty again!  I marvel at how quickly it emptied out today.  Once again we are all by ourselves and quiet has once more descended upon us.  Not that I’m complaining by any means.

So that was our day.  Yes, from start to finish today ranks right up there as one of the most fantastic days yet!  It has been so great to spend time with our daughter.  Times like this are, we all agree, not to be taken for granted.  Each day, each moment has been so precious and we’ll leave with so many more new memories.  So another day has come and gone.  A day together.  A day enjoying the good things that God has blessed us with.  We hope you had an opportunity to enjoy your day as well, that you where able as it were to stop and smell the roses.  For each of us now a closing thought to ponder:

As always,  if you are coming to the end of your day with concerns and worries let me suggest that you turn them over to God.  After all, He is going to be up all night so why not let him handle them for you.

Time now for our evening prayers and some shut-eye.  Till tomorrow.  Thanks again for sharing our day with us.

These are the voyages of  Graybeard and it’s occupants, four paws and two humans.  Our continuing mission: to explore as many new states as possible, to seek out new acquaintances and make new friends, to boldly go where we have not been before

Yes, just a day but what a difference.  Wanted to sleep this morning but couldn’t since Amanda was coming for breakfast.  But wait a minute, Amanda never is on time.  Let’s see she said yesterday that she would be here by 10 am at the latest.  That means she should be here by 11 am.  OK, time for some more sleep.  Sure enough she called at 10 am to tell us she overslept.  Yes, Amanda is consistent, God bless her and we love her.

So it was a full house for breakfast with Barbara rising to the occasion and taking orders from one and all with a smile.  By the time it was over, we each had what we had asked for, Amanda a special made omelet, I had an egg sandwich with cheese and sausage, and Barbara, well, I really don’t know!

Yes, just a day but what a difference it made in so many ways.  Remember yesterday the picture out the solarium window?  The place was empty.  No more, take a look now and

you can’t find an empty site in the place.  This is a family park and kids are everywhere having a great time.  It’s nice to see families spending time together.  We haven’t been in a park this packed with families and kids since we’ve been on the road.  It’s different.

Oh yes, I’ve also found a wonderful way to shrink a 36 foot rig down to something like 23 feet – just add two more people and two more dogs and you have instant downsizing.  What happened you say?  First Amanda joined us in the afternoon with Sasha for a visit.

Then in the evening her husband Charles and Petrie joined us for supper.  Full house!

That’s Charles zoned out on the couch, he went to work this morning at 6 am and was catching a nap before the pizza came for supper.  Yes, supper was Pizza for all of us.

As you can see, we made quick work of it and no, those two pieces didn’t last long after this picture.  Amanda, of course, had to document the fact that her dad does love pizza as does Marti who is busy with a piece of crust on the floor next to me.  Yum, Yum!

That was our day, a time together with family.  Day is now done and night has come and things are beginning to quiet down.  It’s been a great day, sort of chaotic, decidedly different from yesterday but we wouldn’t trade it for anything.  We hope you had a great day as well whatever your day might have brought you.  In closing something for all of us to ponder:

There are amazingly wonderful people in all walks of life; some familiar to us and others not. Stretch yourself and really get to know people. People are in many ways one of our greatest treasures. —Bryant H. McGill

As always,  if you are coming to the end of your day with concerns and worries let me suggest that you turn them over to God.  After all, He is going to be up all night so why not let him handle them for you.

Time now for our evening prayers and some shut-eye.  Till tomorrow.  Thanks again for sharing our day with us.

These are the voyages of  Graybeard and it’s occupants, four paws and two humans.  Our continuing mission: to explore as many new states as possible, to seek out new acquaintances and make new friends, to boldly go where we have not been before

The day started with a bang, quite literally!  Yes, I’ll explain in a minute.  Good night’s sleep last night.  We awoke to pleasant temperatures and a warm bedroom.  We were looking forward to spending time with Amanda during the day and having supper with her and her husband that night.  So we slowly began to stretch and extract ourselves from under the warm covers.

Out to the kitchen for breakfast consisting of juice, eggs and, of course, a good cup of coffee.  Always a nice way to start the day.  Barbara makes a great breakfast every day and I’m grateful to her for doing so.

Breakfast finished and as usual Amanda called.  She was on her way home from the vet and wanted us to know all was well with her one dog Petrie.  This was her one rescuse dog who just a week ago seemed to be on death’s door.  No more, he is alive and kicking, he only had two ear infections.

As for the day started with a bang, quite literally.  While talking to Amanda on the phone she said to Barbara in mid conversation I’ve been in an accident and I have to go.  With that the phone went dead.  For several anxious minutes we knew nothing.  We didn’t know how serious it was.  We had no idea what had actually happened.  We just hoped and prayed that she was alright.  Finally, she called us back and explained.  Someone was coming at her head on but she managed to swerve to the right.  In the end she was

alright and the car as the pictures above show only sustained minor damage and she could still drive it.  Thank you good Lord.

Plans for the day were still on.  We got ready to meet her at her house which was only about 15 minutes away.  She wanted to take us out to lunch and then she and Barbara were going to go grocery shopping.  Once we were all together, off to lunch we went.

This is where we ended up and speaking for myself it was an excellent choice.  All the food was hot, fresh, and delicious.  If ever I’m back this way again this restaurant will be high on my list of places to go.

Lunch finished it was time for the two girls to go shopping.  They didn’t have to go  far for right next door was an Aldi.  This is, I believe, Barbara’s home away from home.     

When she knew we were coming to this area she was thrilled because she knew Aldi was here.

Shopping finished back to Graybeard to put the groceries away and then back to Amanda’s house for supper.  A simple meal of hamburgers with potato salad but made with love which made it so special.  Here are the four of us, Barbara and myself along with Amanda and her husband, Charles, at the supper table.  Time with family is so precious and moments like this we both believe are not to be missed.

As for the one dog in Amanda’s arms perhaps I should explain.  Amanda and her husband Charles rescue senior dogs but at this time have two puppies and three seniors.  They currently have the maximum allowed in a residential home which is five.  They are:  Fred ; Petrie; Mae; Sasha; Inky (the new arrival in her arms above).  As for Fred’s name, seems one night Charles came home from work from the late night shift.  That nigh it was raining and when he opened the door to their then apartment, this wet, cold and shivering dog walked in the front door and simply chose to never leave again!  So the name Fred – front entrance door.

Fred, of course, is the character in the bunch and is always full of vim and vigor and with a definite playful nature.  Doubt me?  Take a look at his attack on Barbara in the picture below.  He snuck up on the couch and ambushed her from behind jumping on her head and licking her head and neck!  Oh yea, that’s Fred for you.

I couldn’t get pictures of all of them but here are a few of the gang of five.  This is Petri who was so sick just two weeks ago we all thought he was on the way out.  But no more.

This is Inky who is so afraid of everyone except Amanda and Charles we can only guess how she was treated in the past.

 

 

Now if anyone has any doubt as to where Amanda and her husbands hearts are when it comes to dogs, take a look at some of the signs and other things in their house.

 

Of course, each dog also has their own outfits for special occasions during the year, thanks Aunt Peggy.

Now we all know that the expense of taking care of so many senior dogs each with special issues does at time run into some considerable expense.  Hence this next sign they posted.

So that was our day.  It definitely had a little bit of this and a little bit of that in it!  Thank you good Lord for the blessings that occurred today.   We had another great day spent together and spent with our daughter Amanda and her husband, Charles.  Memories were made that will last a lifetime.  We’re back home now and settled in for the night.  We trust that you had a great day as well, that you had a chance perhaps to spend it with someone special to you, that today was a day so special you will remember it for a lifetime.  In closing, I noticed this posted on Amanda’s front door and wanted to share it

As always,  if you are coming to the end of your day with concerns and worries let me suggest that you turn them over to God.  After all, He is going to be up all night so why not let him handle them for you.

Time now for our evening prayers and some shut-eye.  Till tomorrow.  Thanks again for sharing our day with us.

These are the voyages of  Graybeard and it’s occupants, four paws and two humans.  Our continuing mission: to explore as many new states as possible, to seek out new acquaintances and make new friends, to boldly go where we have not been before

On the road again, just can’t wait to get on the road again.  So it was, we slowly made our way out of bed this morning to begin packing things up.  We’ve both sort of looked at each other as we laid in bed and agreed, we have to limit these two or three-day stays in the future.  We sort of like being rooted in one place for a minimum of at least five to seven days.  We’re learning.

Out to the kitchen for breakfast.  Nothing special today, cereal for both of us with juice and coffee.  Barbara also made extra coffee as she usually does for the thermos on trip days.

Breakfast out-of-the-way, I began to pack things up on the outside and made preparations to bring Graybeard down from his lofty perch on numerous leveling blocks.  Barbara did her usual thing and packed up the inside.  In no time, we were ready to move out.

On the road again, just can’t wait to get on the road again.  Yes, today was moving day as we continue our trek toward Maine.  We left The Small Country Campground  in Virginia and headed on up to Yogi Bear’s in Maryland.

But how to get there?  What road to take?  That’s when we sort of had a minor disagreement.   Take all back roads out to Route 81?  Or go out the same way we came in to Route 64?  The GPS wasn’t being too helpful either in that it wanted me to take back country roads to Route 81.  I chose instead to go back out to Route 64 west which would take me to Route 81 north.  In the end it all worked out.

It was a wonderful day for a trip, that’s for sure.  Beautiful, clear blue skies and the scenery along the way was fantastic.  Traffic was moderate and not once did we encounter any backups for construction.  Winds were non-existent which made for a one-handed drive most of the way.  Hills, now that’s another story.  This is the first time I’ve encountered hills, no make that mountains to climb with Graybeard.  Route 81 basically works it way through the Appalachian Mountains and at one point there was one long, steep uphill climb to traverse.  This time I decided to leave the cruise control on and

learn how Graybeard would handle it.  I figured if necessary I could always take over manually if need be.  That was never necessary.  The transmission downshifted accordingly and we went up and over without an issue.

A few hours later we were almost there.  That’s when we found out we couldn’t check in until 3 pm.  Are you kidding me?  Two hours early was not allowed?  OK.  Thankfully we knew the location of a Wal-Mart where we could pull off and kill a few hours.  It got even better when our son, Adam, called to let us know that he could meet us for lunch.  Perfect!

Lunch over, it was now 2:30 pm so we headed back out and in 20 minutes we arrived at

our destination for the next week.  Overpriced?  You bet!  Unfortunately, it’s the only game in town that is not an absolute dump.  Believe me, I know, I’ve checked many out in this area.  It is what it is and it’s only for a week.

Home Is Where We Park It.  So here we are at our new digs.  All level, slides out, pin

wheels in place, awning open and our new patio mat spread out.  It’s a really great site but as I said it does come at a premium.  Here is the look out the solarium window.

Sort of empty right now but they claim they will be full this weekend.  Time will tell.

So we settled in and got ready for company, Amanda, our daughter, was coming for supper.  She loves her mother’s cooking and put in a special order for spaghetti and meatballs.  I got a picture of her and Barbara right after supper at the kitchen table.

So that was our day.  It was a really great day in so many ways.  Spending time together and spending time with our son and daughter was the icing on the cake.  In a few days, we will also get to spend some time with our grandchildren.  We’re both looking forward to this since we probably will not see them for some time after this visit.  We hope you enjoyed your day as well.  In closing, a thought for each of us as we wait for the new day

As always,  if you are coming to the end of your day with concerns and worries let me suggest that you turn them over to God.  After all, He is going to be up all night so why not let him handle them for you.

Time now for our evening prayers and some shut-eye.  Till tomorrow.  Thanks again for sharing our day with us.

These are the voyages of  Graybeard and it’s occupants, four paws and two humans.  Our continuing mission: to explore as many new states as possible, to seek out new acquaintances and make new friends, to boldly go where we have not been before