Up, Up and away we go on our Fall Adventure .... (Part Two - New Jersey)

Up early and ready to get in the air!  Heading to Philadelphia to pick up the rental car for our journey to New Jersey.

Welcome to Philadelphia!  At least it isn't raining.

Traffic jam on the Walt Whitman bridge - welcome to New Jersey!

The Atlantic City Expressway heading for Egg Harbor Township - our home for the next three days.  At least the traffic has gotten better.

Welcome to dreary Atlantic City ... seems like the sun doesn't shine here on the East Coast!  We are here today to visit with Andy's eldest daughter Andrea, her husband and two of her sisters.  They are staying here for the big celebration and we wanted a little more time with them.

  The destruction of Superstorm Sandy is still very evident here - we didn't go down on the main boardwalk, but here on the North end of the city there is no boardwalk ... just the concrete pilings that used to hold the walkway.

The main reason for this trip East was to help celebrate Andy's first cousin's 90th Birthday!  This picture in the center of the table is of Clifford when he was in the Army - he was probably in his early 20's?  He is still just as handsome today!

Waiting for the fun to begin - Andy, Linda, AJ (Andy's Son) and Dianna (Andy's middle Daughter)

The Birthday Guy Clifford is standing with Andy.  Seated is Margaret, Betty and Betty's Fiance Rudy.  Standing on either side of Andy & Clifford are BA (one of Margaret's Sons) and Dianna (Andy's Daughter).  Clifford is the eldest of his siblings at 90 years young.  Margaret and Betty are his Sister's and they are not far behind him.  Looks like there are great genes in that family!!!!!

Andrea and Gerald

Andrea is Andy's eldest Daughter and Gerald is her husband.

Carolyn (in the center) is the Daughter of Clifford and Gloria.  She was the driving force in organizing this wonderful celebration for her Father.  Pictured here with AJ and Dianna.

A sign of the times?  At one point there was at least 10 devices plugged in along this back wall!

Andy and Linda with Gloria and Clifford.  We had a wonderful time at the celebration and wish Cousin Clifford many more terrific birthdays!!!!

Up, Up and away we go on our Fall Adventure...... (Part One - Atlanta/Nashville)



After arriving in Tempe AZ the day before, we were up at o'dark thirty to catch the first plane out of Phoenix to Atlanta GA.  At this time of the morning there isn't any traffic, no crowds on the shuttle, and no lines at the security check-in .... all went smoothly and we were waiting at the gate with plenty of time to spare.

Settled in our seats on the aircraft and ready for take off - the dawn/sunrise is beautiful as we leave Phoenix for the East.

  

Arriving in Atlanta GA for the first leg of this adventure.

One of the highlights of our time in Atlanta was our visit to the top of the Westin Peachtree.  If I remember correctly, the bar is up on the 80th floor - give or take a few floors .... in any case it is way up there at the top!

Seems like you could see forever from the top.  We got there before the sun set so we could see the town.  The top floors consist of a restaurant and a bar with observation area.  These floors revolve, so you stay in one place and the floor makes a revolution.  Before it gets dark you can observe Atlanta from all angles.  Once the sun sets the inside lights kind of obscure the lights outside - making the taking of photos difficult.

Here we are enjoying a refreshment while checking out all the lights below.  Pictured are Grand Daughter Camille, Andy, Linda, Son AJ, Daughter Dianna and Martin.

After drinks, we headed back down to the ground to enjoy dinner at a very popular restaurant, the Juke Joint.  We were lucky to be able to enjoy live music during our dinner.  The music was wonderful and the food was excellent!

Our last day in Atlanta was a day-trip to Nashville Tennessee to visit Grandson Sam at Vanderbilt University.

The first order of business was to get Breakfast at the local Pancake Pantry.  This is a very popular place - we had to stand outside in line for almost 30 minutes to get inside ... as you can see, space was limited.  You can see the line of people outside the window waiting their turn.  Pictured are Sam, Andy, Linda, AJ and Pete.

After a very yummy breakfast, we head out for a tour of Vanderbilt.  First stop is Sam's dorm room - no pictures (you will thank me later).  Just kidding.......

Grand Dad Andy and Grand Son Sam

AJ, Linda, Andy and Sam - the campus was beautiful

Sam had a class, so we headed back toward Atlanta.  Of course, being so close to Lynchburg, we just had to stop at the Jack Daniel's Distillery on the way!

It's the water, of course!  The main reason the distillery was built on this site was because of the water.  It filters down thru the mountain and is retained naturally in this underground aquifer - they say they will never run out of the water ... we are quite glad of that!

Our big chance to enjoy "Jack on the Rock"!  At least that is what our guide said.

Past this point on the tour we were not allowed to take any pictures - then we went into the tasting room and I forgot to take pictures!  The county that the distillery is located in is a "dry county" - no liquor sales...period!  Several years ago, the distillery got a special rule that they could do tastings - for a nominal fee of course.  We got to sample Gentleman Jack, Old No. 7, and Single Barrel - Single Barrel is the best by far, but a little too expensive - Old No. 7 is just fine with us!

The distillery is also allowed to sell very pretty bottles, but no booze.  So... they sell you the pretty bottle and then fill it with booze FOR FREE!!!!

Time to return to Atlanta to prepare for Part Two of our adventure.

Quick visit by friends.....

Our friends Linda and Larry were on their way to San Diego and decided to stop by for a quick visit.  We had a mini-gathering in the afternoon so they could reconnect with other friends living here locally.  We had a great reunion and look forward to a return visit before the Winter is over.



Happy "lot" Anniversary!!!

November 6 will be our 5 year anniversary of the purchase of our lot.  Time really flys!!!  Pictured helping us celebrate this milestone are Nita, Ken, Andy, Linda, MJ, John, Lew and Dottie.  May we have many more wonderful years here with wonderful friends!



Home Sweet "Winter" Home!!!!

Landed safely at our Winter Home.  We had a great Summer of travels and are now looking forward to relaxing and enjoying our little piece of paradise here in the desert Southwest.  Lots of work ahead and some travel in our future, but for now we will just kick back and enjoy this wonderful weather and warm sunshine!

Leaving Las Vegas - Arriving Lake Havasu City!!!

Almost to the California border heading South from Las Vegas, there is a brand new beautiful rest area.  Didn't see any signs that you couldn't park overnight and this might be a great spot to use as a "get-away" destination when leaving for our Summer travels in the future.



Our campsite at Campbell Cove RV Park in Lake Havasu City Arizona.  We have a good view of the lake out our windshield.  The park is not full and we have lots of room to relax.

Lake Havasu is awesome .... especially when it is almost empty of drunken boaters.  Great day with our Hosts Shirley & Willie, and friends Flor & Ron.  The weather was wonderful!

The next day we were joined by friends Dottie & Lew and spent another great day on the lake.  Well, it was great for us, but our hosts had problems with their boat - so it wasn't so great for them.  Long story short, insurance is a wonderful thing and all was well once again.

This is our friendly "tow boat" Captain.  He is our savior this day as we were almost dead ducks in the middle of a very large lake. 

All hooked up and ready for the "slow tow" back to the marina.  We are far enough South on the lake that it will take about 1 1/2 hours for the tow!

At approximately 7.5 MPH, it is truly a "slow tow"!  Actually we were in great shape, plenty of cold beer and nothing else to do by enjoy the ride!

This guy was having a ball!  We enjoyed the show.

Here he goes!

Dinner with good friends at the local steak house.

Our last day in this paradise, we have a "Pool Party" at our campground.  The weather was wonderful and we enjoyed lots of snacks and dips in the pool and of course some adult beverages!  Can't wait to visit again....

Viva Las Vegas!!!!

Safely parked at the Thousand Trails Preserve in Las Vegas Nevada.  Here for 16 nights to visit with family and friends - and staying off the road for the Labor Day Holiday!



Andy's Son, AJ, flew in from Atlanta for a weekend visit with us.

This is the main pool at the "M" Hotel & Casino.  Andy's Cousin Monjure works here and we all joined up one afternoon for a mini-family reunion of sorts.

Spent most of the afternoon at the "Party Pool".  Lots of hot young bodies getting drunk and maybe a little wild.  The music was loud and not what we usually like to listen to, but the beer was cold and lots of good stuff to look at - not to mention spending time with Cousin Lema who lives in Vegas.

Mystic Falls at Sam's Town.  This is the day-time show - nice, but not as good as at night.

Not the best picture, but it sure was a great variety show!  Once a week, Sam's Town puts on a show made up of performers that are currently performing in town.  This week we saw several singing acts and a lady magician that was absolutely wonderful.  It is a free show with drawings for some prizes - neither of us won this year, but Andy did last year.  A nice way to spend an afternoon in Vegas for sure.

A weird storm brewing - the Monsoons are hitting Vegas more this year than in the past.  All we got was maybe a "spit" of rain at the TTN, but other areas of the valley got a lot more.

Just a small sample of the wonderful Seafood/Prime Rib buffet we enjoyed at Sam's Town.  It is safe to say we will be full for days!

Surprise visit from Linda's Brother Lawrence!  He was returning to San Diego after a visit to Idaho and stopped for the night with us in Vegas.  We had a good time catching up.

Sam's Town at night.  After dark, the lasers really show up and the colors are wonderful. 

Senior Day!  Our favorite day at Sam's Town.  We play a little slots, get a two-for-one Buffet, watch a first run movie for $3.00 each and watch an entertaining laser light show.  Little did we know that the rain was falling outside!  It looked pretty wet, but we didn't think it could be too bad......

Well..... after leaving the parking garage, we discovered we couldn't go where we wanted because of all the rushing water!  After a few turns in the opposite direction we wanted to go, we managed to get back on Boulder Highway heading North towards our "home" the Thousand Trails Park.  This was pretty bad, but to our right from this picture it was much worse.  We know about flash flooding in the desert - this was just a little of a surprise as it all happened.  We made it back safely to our campgound and once there it didn't even look like it rained!  The desert can be so weird sometimes.......