We Made It!!

   We made it to Land of Lakes with no problem.  Russ drove through rush hour traffic on I-4 like a pro... Of course, I was sweating with the bumper to bumper traffic.



First Palm Tree

   We had a great day.. We stopped at a rest stop and saw our first palm tree.  I just love seeing them 'cause it means I am in warmer weather. It was a high of 81 degrees with a slight breeze that was heavenly.

Can you tell where we are?



Ummm.. looks good



We had a big lunch at Cracker Barrell.  The food was excellent. Mom even ate most of her pot pie. We stayed on our diet with grilled chicken and veggies.



Yummy... umm goood.















I stayed on my diet.. boo.. hoo..



   This is what we didn't have,but wanted to eat. Cary , Phillis's husband, says the pumpkin custard is to "die for"...



Chatting with family



   Mom did really well today. It was a long day starting at 8:00 a.m. and endingt at 7:30 p.m. She was glad when we got there.

  So we are planning  our day tomorrow. Phillis thinks an Arts and Crafts Show in Mt. Dora would be fun. Stay tune for more pictures to come tomorrow. 

Smooth Sailing to Florida!



Autumn in Virginia



  We had a wonderful day traveling though the rest of Virginia and part of North Carolina. The trees were colorful with orange and red hues. We even saw a hot air balloon floating through the air. Helps to break up the long drive to see interesting sights..sigh....

  Once we hit Verona, Virginia we stopped at an Antique place that we have stopped at before. What fun...Mom even liked the place... We were there for about an hour and really didn't have time to see everything. It's a huge place.








Our favorite place











Mom is looking at dolls.



Steins anyone?














 

We were really "pumped" after our shopping trip. We continued down the road until we found a Red Lobster. It's one of our favorite seafood places. This Red Lobster did not disappoint. Check out the pics of our lunch.  



Mom's clam strips





Lovely cheesy rolls












Russ's fried shrimp lunch



My coconut shrim lunch



   After lunch it was onward to Florida to my sister, Phillis and her husband, Cary's home. We made it to North Carolina . We are in Smithfield, North Carolina for the night. We will take off tomorrow and hopefully make it to my sister's by six o'clock. It's been a smooth ride with Russ doing a great job driving the whole way.

   Here are a few more pictures of the day.. Great weather so far.. It's 78 degrees now.. ummm so nice.



Found this at a rest stop.





Russ acting like Vanna White.






Look at the price of gas down here!!!

 



                                                                                     











We made it to Winchester, Virginia!!

A Huge Monument with Lincoln to the left

  What a lovely day in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. We went off the beaten path to show Mom Gettysburg. She  said she always wanted to see places she had read about in history books. We got a "little" lost once we got there, but were able to find our way to Pickett's Charge and Little Round Top. Mom got see many of the monuments commemorating the soldiers at Gettysburg.

A moving tribute

Reading about Culp's Hill

  
We did the autotour and got out at a few of the monuments. Mom was really impressed with the monuments at the site of the Little Round Top battle. It is very moving.

Looking down from Little Round Top

Information of the Battle

General Warren surveying the scene forever

We were at Gettysburg for about two hours and then headed towards Virginia after a wonderful meal at Perkins outside Gettysburg. I forget to take a picture of our meal; sorry Mark. It was turkey, potato, stuffing, and cranberry sauce: a prelude to Thanksgiving. It was so good we are not having any dinner tonight. Although Mom bought a pumpkin muffing at Perkins. I think that might be gone tonight.
  We are heading out in the morning towards Florida. We hope to stop in Verona, Va. at an antique store we stopped at last time we drove to Florida. I think Mom will like it.
    Right now we are resting in Winchester, Va for the rest of the trip. Hope the weather continues to be glorious.    

Who had more fun??

Ready for tailgating

The game

Hubby enjoying the game.

   The guys went to a football game at Met Life Stadium. They saw the Giants beat the Washington Redskins. Hal had all the fixin's for tailgating. Russ was ecstatic. They had chicken wings, turkey sausage, and bacon wrapped scallops.

Our shopping fun

   The "girls" and I went  to Macy's Bridgewater, New Jersey. It was a fabulous place. Mom found a new pair of pants and a new nightgown with a robe. She's been looking for one for two years. Charlotte, my sister-in-law found a new red  sweater and a cami that is going to look great on her. I bought a new red cardigan sweater and a t-shirt for Disney. We all got our items on sale and used a twenty percent coupons.

Mom and Amerlia

  My niece, Jill and her husband , Rob came over in afternoon with their daughter, Amelia. We spent the afternoon watching her crawl around and chat with us.
  So the question is : Who had the most fun? I think we did...It's wicked fun to watch babies.
  Tomorrow we head south for Florida. We are excited to be heading toward my sister, Phillis and Disney. Thanks to Hal and Charlotte for giving us a place to stay on the way.

Amelia with Grammy Charlotte

.

We Made It!!!

As seen through the car window

   We had smooth "sailing" to my brother's home in New Jersey. The weather cleared about after we left New Hampshire. The trees were beautiful.

More trees

 

Favorite restaurant in New Jersey

soup

Mom's meal

On the grill

   Hal and Charlotte welcomed us into their home. We caught up on the family news and then headed to a Japanese Hibachi Restaurant. The food was yummy... We ate there last time we visited so we wanted to go back and have Mom experience it. She really liked it; especially the fire that flames up to the ceiling. She did think it was too much food.  We had a great time.
   Tomorrow Hal and Russ are going to a Giants and Redskins football game. Russ is ecstatic. They are going to tailgate and everything.  Color him happy. 
   We gals are going shopping at the mall with coupons and everything.. Color us happy. We head south on Monday. It has been a great trip so far....

For Queenie...

    I am so sad to say that my brother- in- law's mother passed away last week. Queenie was such a lovely lady.  We had the privilege of meeting her a few years back when we went to Northern Maine a  few times on  our  vacation with my sister and her husband, Tom.  Queenie was such a sweet and caring person. We will miss seeing her. I made this card for Chris and Tom to express our heartfelt sadness .

Sympathy Card

    I used the Lovely as a Tree set which seemed to work well since Queenie lived up North. I cased a card I saw on Pinterest. I used my chalks to color the background after I had stamped the image. To keep the rectangle shape I used a Spellbinders rectangle die cute and kept it in place as  I used the chalks. I love the softness of the image.
     I used my Stamp-a-ma-jig to place the sentiment in just the right spot.
    I will always think of Queenie still in her "little house" up North.

Ummm.... good!!

     Last weekend we went to Boston with our Dinner Group. We go out with some friends once a month to a different restaurant for some fun. Someone chose Boston.. We ate at Paddy O's. We had a lovely meal there. We headed to Quincy Market. Thanks goodness you don't gain weight just by looking at yummy food. It was packed, but so fun to try and maneuver your way through the crowds to get a peek at all the offerings.

On the boat

   Then we decided to go on the Duck Tours of Boston and the Harbor. What a gorgeous day for a boat ride. I learned alot about Boston that I didn't know, too.

A live performance

   It was back to the Amtrak station to catch the train which was a great  way to travel. We  might decide to go back again next spring.
   We head for Florida soon. Can't wait to get there and start enjoying the warmer weather. And thanks to our house sitter for taking care of things while we are gone. I will be posting pics and info on the trip to let you know where we are and what we are doing. We are Disney bound.

Moving Forward....

   We are so excited that we have sold our condo that we've had on the market for alittle while... Our realtor has been great. She worked so hard to make this happen. We are so pleased not to have to carry the bills into another winter...

Thank you card

  So I worked on a card to give her to express our gratitude. I really like this layout that I picked up ideas here and there from various cards. This one really was a joy to make.
   I used a Stampin Up set called Mixed Bunch. I really love this set. It's so versatile. The green flourishes are a Memory Box die. I also used Ranger's Rock Candy paint along with Tim Holtz's distress ink to age the sentiment paper. The sentiment stamp is from Stampin Up, I think.
   I have collected a number of buttons over the years and this one in the middle of the flower is one I have had for awhile. I just cut the shank on the back and used crystal effects to hold it in place.

Inside

   Lula, our realtor, has been wonderful to work with in selling and buying our homes over the years. I wanted to convey our thanks for all her work. I hope she likes this card. She truly is a knowledgeable, positive, caring person.

Fall is here.

  Well, Fall is truly here. I took a picture of this tree while I was waiting for my husband who was in Target. It is such a beautiful time in Maine.
   We are so blessed to have sold this condo so that we can move forward in our new home and not have to look back in taking care of this one. I know the new owner will be happy there.