This 'N That

So how many of you regularly clean the roof of your house?? Well, we're supposed to every six months! But this is the first time we've done it since we purchased the RV. We started about 7am and finished a little after 11. Not only did we do the roof but the whole enchilada! What a job! We had read that one person usually takes 4 days to do his, and I guess we could extend our next cleaning to that extent. Keep in mind that the RV is 12-1/2 ft. tall, 8 ft. wide, and 39 ft. long, so I guess 4 hours isn't too bad. Think we'll check into someone doing it for us next time as it was only fun for about an hour and a half!

Here are a couple of pictures of Russ and me on the roof, and you need to take a close look as Russ finally got rid of his comb-over!! He was debating on starting a ponytail but decided at the last minute to keep future hair care simple. He's ok with the new look, and I actually like it.










Thought we'd share this cute picture with you of Billy and his son, Will, sitting in the Busch Stadium seats! As you can see, Will's sitting in #23, which is appropriate since his birthday is on August 23rd. He'll be 2 this year and is an absolute doll. One of his favorite things to do is run around the front yard chasing Grammy and Grandpa's two Scotties!

On our last day at Terri's, she took a picture of Russ, their mom, and me so she'd have proof to show mom that we had visited when she asks why we never come to visit. :-) We're glad we were able to spend so much time with her even if she doesn't remember.

Monday we head out to Gettysburg for a 4 day stay, so stay tuned for your history lesson on one of the biggest battles in this nation's history.

Delaware

Monday began with me driving down to Cape May, NJ, and meeting up with my sister, Julie, who had crossed over the Delaware Bay on the Cape May-Lewes Ferry to meet me. It had been 5 years since we had seen each other, and when she walked down the steps of the terminal building, I almost didn't recognize her because her hair had gotten so long! (That's her in the photo to the left.) After the initial hugs, we drove into the town of Cape May, the nation's oldest seashore resort, which has the distinction of being designated a National Historic Landmark. The town is full of incredible Victorian architecture as well as many quaint shops and restaurants. After eating lunch at Jackson Mountain Cafe, we wandered around the shops and just enjoyed spending time together, discovering we have more similarities than we thought.

We had decided to catch the 4:30 ferry heading back to her home in Delaware, but when we arrived, it was sold out and we'd have to catch the next one at 6pm. We had planned to have dinner with her husband, Terry, but the delay was going to put us home too late for him to join us. The terminal building has a nice restaurant and bar, but unfortunately it was closed for an event. Before getting a quick bite in the food court, we walked to the end of the pier and asked a couple ladies to take our picture. They asked us to reciprocate with their camera, and then the four of us starting chatting especially once they found out I was fulltime RVing. They had many questions! Next thing we knew it was time to get back to my car to board the ferry, so no time for that quick bite. Great way to kill some time though.

Though the Delaware Bay flows into the Atlantic Ocean right at this juncture, the ferry actually only crosses the Delaware Bay. The ferry ride is a 17-mile, 80 minute voyage, and we enjoyed a daiquiri and chatting on the upper deck. The water was a bit choppy, but not too bad. Once we arrived in Lewes, DE, it was a short drive to her home in Rehoboth Beach, DE, where we had dinner at fun place called Crabby Dick's.

After breakfast the next day, we tooled around the town of Rehoboth Beach, shopping, eating, and chatting. Rehoboth has a lot of outlet stores, but I was good and bought very little. Nowhere to put any more in the RV! At 4:00 we caught the movie, Hairspray, and if you haven't seen it yet, it is a must!! It's fun, entertaining, and the cast is a hoot especially John Travolta!! People were clapping and a couple of them dancing in the aisles as the movie ended. When we got back to Julie's house, Terry wasn't feeling well, so she and I went to Rehoboth Diner, where she works, for dinner. The Chicken Marsala I had was undescribably delicious!

After dinner, Julie wanted to show me the town of Lewes, DE, which has the distinction of being the "first town in the first state". Founded in 1631 by the Dutch, Lewes is situated where the Delaware Bay and Atlantic Ocean meet at Cape Henlopen. We walked around on one of the piers, walked down to the beach, and drove around looking at the historic architecture. On the way home, we picked up a bottle of wine, and relaxed watching a couple of my Sweet Adeline contest tapes (since Julie has never seen me perform) and reminisced through what Julie calls "the box o' memories"....photos and memorabilia of her life.

The next morning we drove into downtown Rehoboth Beach. Located on the Atlantic Coast only two hours from Washington, D.C., Baltimore, MD, or Philadelphia, PA, it is known as the "Nation's Summer Capital" and one of the "Best Places to Retire". Between 1650 and 1675, English and Dutch settlers put down roots here as the area became home to farmers and members of William Penn's earliest legislatures, and in 1873, on 414 acres purchased from local farmers, The Rehoboth Camp Meeting Association was formed. The Boardwalk, now a mile long, was originally built in 1873 and is filled with many eclectic shops and places to eat. Julie made sure that I tried the frozen chocolate covered strawberries on a stick! Yummmmm!!!! Julie and I both consider ourselves "water babies", so of course, we walked down to the ocean but no swimming this trip.

Then it was time for me to head back to NJ. Though our time together was short, it was a good visit and we both vowed that it would definitely not be another 5 years before we see each other again.

Atlantic City & Sweet Adelines

On Tuesday, Terri took us to the Borgata Casino in Atlantic City for a few hours so we could work on supplementing our income, unfortunately it didn't quite work out that way. Even though we lost a little money, we still had a good time. When we arrived, we got a couple pork sandwiches from Tony Luke's, but the sharp provolone cheese on them was just a little too much for our tastes. Next time we'll get them without the cheese!

The thing that we really noticed about the casino was how quiet it was as none of the slot machines payout coins in Atlantic City. A few years ago when we were in Las Vegas, they were also using the paper coupon payouts, but you always had a choice of recieving your winnings by coin. There is nothing quite like the continuous clang, clang of coins being paid out by thousands of slot machines. The quiet was eerie and in our opinion, really takes away from the excitement of being in a casino. Another major difference is that only horse racing is posted in the Sports Book. That is because only in Las Vegas can you legally wager on other sports. Russ said that this really makes the Sports Book pretty boring as he is not much of a race fan, but then again for those on the East coast it's much more convenient than Nevada!

Wednesday night I visited one of the local Sweet Adelines choruses, Jersey Sound, a mid-size chorus of about 50 members with 41 present that night. Their director, Stephanie Brictson, is dynamic and enthusiastic and really made it a fun evening while adding in all that educational stuff. I actually knew the first two songs they were working on (Lazy Day and Softly) so after physical and vocal warmups, I was able to jump right in on the risers to sing. I'd never sung them in barbershop, but since I sing Lead (the melody), it was easy to get in the groove! Since they had a performance scheduled for this Sat., they worked on several other songs, some I knew and some I didn't, but I was welcome to look at the sheet music and join in.

The ladies were all very friendly, which doesn't surprise me since this singing organization is known for making guests feel right at home. No matter where you go, it is truly a sisterhood. Throughout my travels with every move over the last 11 years, I have always found a chorus and instant friends, which helped make those transitions easier. Now I'm getting the opportunity to visit other choruses throughout the country and continue to learn and enjoy this craft. And who knows...possibly make even more friends! You can check out Jersey Sound Chorus at http://www.jerseysound.org/.

The next few days will be spent watching the British Open and no doubt eating. Russ has put on 6 pounds since we arrived here, and I'm afraid to get on the scale! It's not like the food is being forced down our throats, but it seems like there's always something to munch on, and Bill and Terri both do an excellent job of fixing dishes for us to enjoy. We had a Caesar salad prepared by Bill the other night yhat he made from scratch, and would rival those in any restaurant. Garlic chicken was also on the menu.

On Monday I am heading down to Rehoboth Beach, DE, to visit my sister for three days while Russ stays behind and catches up on some minor RV maintenance and prepares for our departure on July 30. We will be heading to Gettysburg, PA, for four days, and then on to Harpers Ferry, WV, for another four days. From there we head to St. Louis arriving Aug. 10 for about six weeks to see family and friends.

Till next time!

Cards win!

What fun we had last night! As we mentioned the other day, Billy had a couple extra tickets for the Cards/Phillies baseball game in Philadelphia, and we made it down there just as the gates opened. We were able to see all our favorite Cardinal players up close and watched the Phillies finish batting practice, and the Cards take their swings.

Citizens Bank Park replaced Veterans Stadium a few years back and is a great place to watch a game. One unique feature is that the two bullpens are stacked on top of each other behind the right center field wall. This was something that neither of us knew and really was a surprise to see. After watching most of batting practice, we decided to walk around the stadium and get someting to eat and drink. The food choices are varied and tasty! We settled on a couple Italian sausage sandwiches with the works, a slice of pizza, a pretzel, and our favorite beverage. Later we each got Italian Water Ice, a first for us, which is basically a glorified snow cone although the packaging made it much less messy!


The Cardinals were at the top of their game pounding the Phillies 10-2, and we were able to witness a slice of history as it was the Phillies 10,000th loss, the first professional team in any sport to reach that milestone! The game was televised on ESPN, and when we returned home, Bill and Terri had taped the last few innings, and we both received a lot of airtime between pitches since our seats were 6 rows behind the 3rd base dugout! Also at the game sitting a couple rows in front of us were Boo and his girlfriend, Taylor.

Although it was a sellout, arriving and leaving the ballpark was a breeze with the only aggravation being the Walt Whitman Bridge and its $3 toll. The prevalence of toll roads and bridges in this area will be a topic to talk about at a later time.


Till next time!

Philadelphia

Decided to go to Philly yesterday to take in the sights. Instead of driving all the way in, we took the train which was really nice. It was about a 15 min. drive to the station and about a 20 min. ride on the train. Dropped us 2 blocks from Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell! We walked to the Visitors Center and grabbed a couple tickets for the tour of Independence Hall. It was really inspiring to walk through the same doors as Washington, Jefferson, Adams, and all the boys used more than 200 years ago! From 1775 to 1783 this was the meeting place for the Second Continental Congress. It was in the Assembly Room of this building that George Washington was appointed commander in chief of the Continental Army in 1775 and the Declaration of Independence was adopted on July 4, 1776. In the same room the design of the American flag was agreed upon in 1777, the Articles of Confederation were adopted in 1781, and the U. S. Constitution was drafted in 1787. All the things that we learned in our 8th grade history class and have mostly forgotten definitely come to life in this building! The National Park Service does a tremendous job of keeping the building looking like it did in the late 1700s. Over 90% of the brick and 70% of the wood are original as are many of the furnishings including preserved militia rifles.

After finishing that tour we walked across the street to view the Liberty Bell. They have a very nice museum and as you pass through it tells you everything you would ever want to know about the bell. By the way did you know that the bell did not ring on July 4, 1776, and numerous attempts to fix the crack have actually caused more damage. This icon of liberty and freedom truly rings loudly in reminding us of the rights and privileges we enjoy.

Next we headed to the Portrait Gallery in the Second Bank of the United States. Original paintings from the 1700s of all the patriots that you've heard of and many more that you haven't made this a worthwhile stop. Each portrait was accompanied by a small plaque highlighting the accomplishments of each person. The amazing thing to us was that most of these people were already of wealth and standing but were willing to sacrifice all they had to help in the birth of a new nation. Kind of makes you step back and wonder if we would be willing to make the same sacrifices today.






It was now time for a snack and across the street from the Gallery was a rather plain diner called Benny's Place. Russ wants to mention that he had the Philly Cheese Steak and does so because no matter where we've traveled, when he sees one on the menu, he is likely to order it. Once finished he always says the same thing "they don't know how to make 'em." Last week Bill and Terri got takeout and Russ ordered the cheese steak. Although good, he still felt something was missing. Alas, after taking two bites out of his sandwich at Benny's, with grease dripping down his wrist onto his forearm, he finally remembered what a real Philly Cheese Steak was! Meat, cheese, onions and grease! He was in artery clogging heaven!!

After lunch we went by Carpenter's Hall, where the First Continental Congress met. As a homebuilder for the last 20 years, Russ marveled at the detail and fit and finish of a building 230 years old. This building also housed many original furnishings including the chairs used by Congress in 1774. So that there is no confusion, the one that Russ is sitting in is a reproduction. From there we went to Franklin Court, which houses Ben's Underground Museum and the Market Street Houses where Franklin's original print shop and a post office are located.

We had the chance to watch a page of newspaper actually being printed and found out that the paper was not made from trees during that time period but rather through recycled clothing. We also found out that instead of printing on the paper, the process actually imbedded the ink into the paper and takes up to 24 hours to dry.

From there we walked over to view Benjamin Franklin's grave at the Christ Church Burial Ground and also visited the Free Quaker Meeting House, where a blind lady in colonial attire was playing one of Franklin's inventions called the Glass Armonica. If you go to this website (http://library.thinkquest.org/22254/armonica.htm.thinkquest.org/22254/armonica.htm), you can see a picture and find out more about this truly unique musical instrument.




Temperatures reached 97 degrees in Philly while we were there so about 1:30 we decided to pack it in and head back to the train station. Everything we saw was free of charge and under the direction of the Park Service. To see all these things for only $9.40 (the cost of 2 round trip train tickets) plus $15 for lunch is hard to beat!

With the Johnson family still on vacation, our plans for the rest of the week are to play it by ear. It rained this afternoon and calling for more rain on Thursday and Friday. We are still moving things around in the RV as it seems almost daily that we decide a different location for a particular item will be more convenient. Russ has hung the electric can opener, the spice rack, the wine glass holder, and a rack for my necklaces, and we turn on our martini happy hour light everyday at 4! We have also started to watch some of the DVDs we have bought over the years. It seemed like we never had time to both sit down and enjoy a movie. Being Star Wars fans and having all 6 movies on DVD, we decided to start there with Episode I and work our way through. We'll let you know how it ends when we finish!

Russ' nephew, Billy, came upon an extra pair of tickets for the St. Louis/Philadelphia baseball game for Sunday so we do have that on our schedule!! Look for us on TV six rows behind the Cardinals dugout wearing our Cardinal red and pounding some Budweisers!

And that's all from the Folly!

Eatin', drinkin', and hangin'!

We've spent the last few days relaxing and reconnecting here in NJ. Saturday night, Terri's son, Billy, and his wife, Maggie, had a barbecue at their beautiful new home. Shrimp, clams, ribs, chicken, hamburgers, and all the sides plus lots of desserts! Russ said there was hardly room for the beer!! It was nice to see Michael and Mary Ellen (Bill's brother and his wife) after so many years. We also got to meet Maggie's parents (Bobby and Stephanie) and sister (Kate). Here are some pics of Russ' mom (Bernice), Terri and Maggie, and Kristi, Russ, and Terri.

Sunday Russ played golf with Bill and the two boys (Billy and Matthew) at Stone Harbor Golf Club (http://www.stoneharborgolf.com/) located on Cape May. Russ was pretty whipped after 98 blows and said it was possibly the hardest course he has ever played with its U.S. Open rough. He was kidding Bill that he's going to soak his golf balls in Roundup before the next time they play in hopes of finding better lies! The rest of the group all shot around 80, and the boys sure do hit the ball a long way!

Monday was spent relaxing, eating, drinking, and getting our new home more organized. We were able to unload some of the items we brought with us including our Busch Stadium seats, which are now anchored to the pool deck at Bill and Terri's. Kristi (their daughter) asked if we liked Mexican food, so on Tuesday we went with "the kids" to a Mexican restaurant down the road and had an excellent meal. Terri went with us while Bill decided that the track was the place for him. It's been very nice getting reacquainted as we had not seen them in almost 15 years. They are all fine young adults, and Bill and Terri should be very proud of them.

The 4th of July brought another barbecue as Bill cooked up ribs and chicken. The whole family was here and though the day was overcast, all had a great time. We have now been here for a week, and there is no shortage of food and beverage at this house!! We had both lost a couple of pounds during the first week but fear that this past week has made up for that! That's Michael seated on the far left at the pool, Bill at the BBQ, and Mary Ellen between me and Kristi with Matthew (also known as Boo) on the end. Kristi, Matthew, his girlfriend Taylor, and his friend, Mike, all relaxed playing some bocce ball.

Mom spent some time in the RV with us yesterday watching the Western channel and asking a thousand questions. Although she does not remember much, i.e. who we are, she still has her sense of humor.

The entire family minus mom is heading to DisneyWorld starting Saturday, and they will be gone for a week. We were initially going to take the RV out but have decided to keep it parked and do some day trips from here. We haven't finalized our plans but have Philadelphia, Valley Forge, the beach, and maybe New York City on the list.

Well, that's all from the Folly for today!