Happy Thanksgiving!

We're in Buford, Ga. for Thanksgiving dinner at my Mother's house. Ate waaaaay too much. Sister-in-law Helen, from Asheville, NC, cooked and/or assembled the entire dinner on Wednesday night and it was delicious: Turkey breast, dressing & gravy, squash casserole, green bean casserole, mashed potatoes (by brother Jim), and sweet potato casserole with marshmallows (by Mother). I brought the Pecan Pie and biscuits (and washed the dishes - LOL!)

Buddy and Lacey in the kitchen, patiently waiting for a few crumbs to drop to the floor!

Wednesday night we had dinner at Scott and Angelia's and played with the grand kids. Ethan had a new bike and Kenzie (helped by Buddy) played Nintendo.

It is supposed to rain tomorrow....not sure what we will be doing....certainly eating leftovers. Love a good turkey sandwich!

Welcome our newest followers.....Randy & Kim and Karen! Enjoy the ride!

Today we drove out I-20 towards the Alabama line to check out a park we had seen once before, to get some more info and have a better look around. Yogi Bear's Jellystone is a franchise park and the owners live on site. It's an option for us if we want to stay in the area several months, near family. This park is very 'kid friendly', especially in the summer. Today was dark and overcast but I got a few pictures with the cell phone.

Yogi welcomes everyone!

Main office and activities area

Campers on the lower loop

More campers around the circle

And a few more

Friendly pet pig. He came running to the fence looking for a 'snack'. :-) See one of several playgrounds in the background.

While we were out that way we visited John Tanner Park to see our buddies that work there. It is such a beautiful park, we just wanted to sit on the front porch of the office in the rocking chairs all afternoon. We feel like this is our 'home' park.....it always feels like home when we return.

John Tanner Park.....

and ice on the lake last winter.

Miscelaneous going-ons....

We're at Samantha's in Georgia for a few days. It was a pretty easy drive up I-75, about 7 hours (arrived Wed. afternoon) and we stopped 3 times. When traveling with a doggie, you stop according to 'his' schedule! ;-)

Yesterday we went over to Carrollton to do few errands and last night I went with Samantha to Douglasville for some grocery shopping. I had 5 prescriptions filled at Kroger (all $4 generics) and with my five $25 K-Mart gift card coupons which Kroger accepts, I was able to get $125.00 in Kroger "Rx Rewards" and that meant $125 of FREE groceries for $20 in prescriptions! Samantha was able to get most of her supplies for her Thanksgiving dinner and we got enough food to last the rest of the week at her house. I LOVE Kroger but there are none in Florida.......ugh! I always stock up on their toilet paper and usually they have the Tyson boneless, skinless chicken breasts on sale and Cokes, too! (As for my "Pantry Purge", I donated 3 Publix shopping bags full of miscellaneous food items to a good cause!).

Today we are just hanging out at her house, babysitting tonight for her to go to a friend's party. Nathan is working out of town until next Wednesday. Tomorrow we may ride out to John Tanner (formerly State) Park to see what's happening out that way......and check out another couple of campgrounds in the area. Sunday is the last NASCAR race and then the Falcons are on at 4:00. We will meet up with my BFF, Judy, and have a late lunch and watch the race somewhere.......maybe TGI Fridays near the mall in Douglasville. Monday we hope to meet up with Karen of FabGrandma for lunch or coffee, also in Douglasville. So far, Tuesday is free and the boys are out of school for the week. Guess we'll do something with them all.

We plan to go to my mother's in Buford on Wednesday morning for Thanksgiving with DB Jim and DSIL Helen (from Asheville, NC) and their pup Lacey.....and DS Scott and his family who live nearby. We'll stay there until Monday, when we go back to Florida............but just for about 3 weeks, when we will come back for Christmas and do it all over again! ;-)

Constantly changing plans and Homosassa Springs

On Saturday, we took a drive down to Homosassa Springs. I did not realize there were so many animals at the park. I got a few good pictures (below) but there were also black bears, red foxes, deer, gators, and others but the pictures weren't that good.
We took a picnic lunch but ended up eating an early dinner at Cody's Roadhouse in Crystal River, using my $10 birthday gift card.
We also visited Crystal River Archaeological Park and Crystal River Preserve (which is now closed on Sat/Sun due to budget cuts). The Archaeological Park had a museum with Indian artifacts dating back to 300 B.C.
We made it to Rainbow Springs but were too late.....the gate closes at sundown and it was about 6:00. We'll check it out another day.

Homosassa Springs

Nice view of the river from the tour boat. (There were water fowl, fish, and turtles along the way.)
Manatees (These are rescued and eventually released).

Bald Eagle

Pink Flamingo (there were lots!)

Screech Owl (I think)

Whooping Crane

Roseate Spoonbill (we saw these in the wild in Texas)

Beautiful park.......we would go back again. Entrance fee is $13 each, but we got in free with our Florida Parks Annual Pass.


Our new (revised 11/15) 'plan' is to remain here in Chiefland..........only we moved to Breezy Acres Campground, about 7 miles down the highway, until about mid-January (which is only 8 weeks - yikes!). The new park has more activities and is quieter and nicer. (Later this week we're heading to Georgia to visit for Thanksgiving.) Sam has doctor appointments that will continue here in Florida thru 1/7/11. Then we'll move to Gulf State Park in Gulf Shores, AL, where we've had reservations for over a year! It takes that long to get a site in the winter! We'll stay there a couple of months, and hopefully have some of the grands visits while school is out for their winter break, the week of February 21st! :=) In the meantime, we'll go 'home' to Georgia for 2 or 3 weeks around Christmas.

And welcome two new followers (and all who came before), Terria F., and msucheermom. Hope you enjoy our simple adventures. I try to blog when there is something interesting to write about ..... or just whenever I get the urge!

Last week, Karen, over at FabGrandma, blogged about her personal pantry challenge. That sounded like a good idea so I decided to do the same.....try to use up a lot of the food/staples that are currently taking up a lot of room in my pantry and cupboards.

Upright pantry pulls out....more is stored underneath the pull out.

Pantry below the pull out has two shelves

Cupboards in the slide, over the sofa and dining area.

Cupboards at the end, over the picture window and 2 chairs.

Now the challenge is to use up some of this stuff. Tonight using 2 cans of green beans, some chicken breasts from the freezer and some leftovers from Saturday night. (The Freezer and Fridge are pretty full, too!) LOL!

Nothing much going on today. We were going to Gainesville for my birthday dinner but Sam's doctor's office called and postponed his appointment for his treatment until later in the week so we decided to wait til then to eat out. No need to drive to Gainesville more than once a week - a 35 mile drive. Probably end up going Thursday or Friday this week.

Instead, Sam went to Walmart and got a small cake and some ice cream. Surprisingly, the cake was delicious! Then we settled in to watch Dancing with the Stars.

I did enjoy talking to all the kids and grand kids. We're planning on going up to Georgia for Thanksgiving and will be there about 2 weeks. Lots of time to visit and just relax.

The cold front came through last week and the temps are still in the high 40's at night, rising to near 80 during the day. Every day gets a little warmer. Luckily, it only rained about an hour but the wind did blow for several days. Hope it's not too cold in Georgia!

Here's a picture of our last sunset in Del Rio, Texas, in July, 2009.

Bridge separating Rio Grande River and Lake Amistad.

Manatee Springs State Park

We visited Manatee Springs State Park on Monday to get a look at the springs. There is a nice boardwalk that goes through the woods along the edge of the springs and continues all the way down to where the spring enters the Suwanee River. The water, even in the river, is crystal clear. We could see some large catfish on the bottom, around the boat dock that extends out into the river. No Manatees yet. They will show up in another month to get warm in the springs that stay 72 degrees all year.

The mouth of the springs where the water flows from below ground.

The boardwalk along Manatee Springs, headed toward the Suwanee River.

Looking down the springs as it heads into the Suwanee River

Cypress trees along the bank of the springs

Manatee Springs flowing into the Suwanee River

The Suwanee River