November 11, 2011 So Much to Catch-Up On

Oh my, where do I begin? It has been so long since I last posted on the blog and so much has been happening. Starting with today I want to be mindful of today's date and start by saying a "thank you" to all the veterans that are honored on this day and to one special veteran, my husband, for serving in the US Navy.

Now getting back to my last blog. We left the Outdoor World Campground on Friday, October 7th and went to White Oak campground near Strasburg, Pa. for a Traveling American campout. There were only 4 units in attendence as many of the group were just returning from a month long stay in Myrtle Beach. It was a nice weekend with pleasant weather. Tom and I along with Larry and Joanne hosted the weekend. Because of the small number we (the Hosts) provided breakfast on Saturday and Sunday as well as dinner on Saturday evening. Saturday breakfast was creamed chip beef on toast, Saturday dinner was pork,hot dogs, sauerkraut, mashed potatoes, hot bread and pie, and Sunday breakfast was an egg casserole dish. Usually we have pot luck meals but with such a small number we felt it was just easier to do the way that we did.

Returning home we encountered a problem getting our new motorhome into the driveway with it dragging. We did get in but knew we had to devise something to prevent the dragging. Tom had installed small wheels in the rear of our last motorhome but that was not a workable solution for this motorhome as the weight in the rear is so much greater due to the diesal motor being located in the rear. A trip to Lowe's for some boards to aid the transition from the driveway to the road was in order.

So on Wednesday, October 26th, we backed out with the boards in place and still had some dragging. We went to Frederick fairgrounds for the Maryland Good Sam Samboree. What an event that turned out to be. The weather was fairly nice Wednesday and Thursday, so-so on Friday and then Saturday it snowed, yes snowed, all day- sloshy, sloppy snow- what a mess! It had been decided that our group would sell barbeque sandwiches and cole slaw at the Saturday flea market. I had made-up about 20 pounds of meat (approximately 80 sandwiches) into a pulled barbeque before leaving home, frozen it and then thawed it before Saturday so several of us could put it into crockpots to heat it up for serving. We were really dissappointed that we only sold about 30 sandwiches. It seems that the hot item was baked potatoes. Those that were sold we receive compliments on and even had several return customers. Well, we did that for the first and last times. The leftovers were divided up among our club members with them making contributions that netted us a little more than $70.00 profit. One of our club members became lightheaded necessitating a trip to the Emergency room via ambulance for him. After some IV fluids and some tests he was able to return back to the Samboree feeling much improved.

Sunday we left Frederick and travelled to Stafford, Virginia to be near our son,Todd, and his family as they were expecting the arrival of a new baby girl. We stayed at Aquia Pines campground just a short distance from Todd's. We enjoyed spending time and having dinner with Todd, Beth, 2 year old Parker and Beth's mom, Rose, on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday evenings. Monday evening was Halloween so we were entertained with the trick or treaters coming to the door. After Beth's amniocentesis on Monday it was determined that the baby would be delivered on Wednesday morning by Caesarian section. So Wednesday November 2, 2011 Gabriella Paige Van de Bussche was born. Tom and I went to the hospital to meet our new granddaughter on Wednesday.

From 2011-11-02

From 2011-11-02

In the afternoon we picked up our 11 year old granddaughter, Maddy, from her mother's house and took her to meet her new sister and then out to dinner before returning back to her mother's.

Thursday morning we got little Parker and brought him to the campground. We went for walks through the wooded area, played on the playground and watched a big truck deliver a bulldozer to an evacuation site nearby.

From 2011-11-03

After lunch we returned Parker back home where grandma Rose put him to bed for his nap. In the evening we stayed with Parker while Rose went down to the hospital to see the mommy and baby.

Friday morning we left Virginia for Whaleyville, Md. near Ocean City. We were having the last Traveling American campout for the year at Fort Whaley campground. This campout is always a big turnout, we had about 15 rigs. The weather was cool but dry. Usually at this campground we have the use of a heated building but this year the building was being renovated so we only had a pavillion. It was a little chilly eating breakfasts on Saturday and Sunday mornings as well as dinner on Saturday evening but we did it. Quite a few of us stayed until Monday or later, so Sunday evening a group of 14 went out Pittsville for dinner. Tom and I left Monday morning. We made our normal stop at Fisherman's Inn on Kent Island for lunch and the returned home.

We tried different ways of getting into the driveway, did get in with some lesser dragging but realize that we need to get more boards to improve the situation for the next time.