Our Long & Winding Road

 When I was a child my parents would drive us every summer to visit our grandparents. Nonnie and Pepper my father's parents lived in Sherwood, Arkansas  Mema and Pepa my Mother's Mother and stepfather lived in North Little Rock  and had a summer home on Greers Ferry Lake.  We came in from Savannah via Tennessee and I remembered the rice patties and irrigation systems and shack-like housing just as it still sits along the highway. We ate barbecue a catfish along the way. I ate okra steamed and fried ;) and greens. We stayed at a campground next to Greers Ferry Lake and met a couple from Searcy, Arkansas who gave the visit a more homespun feel replete with shared meals and great conversations - thanks, Beth and Gordon!  The Campsite was a bit flooded because Greers ferry was 9' above normal.  We stayed dry though. On the rainest day we drove down to Conway to see my Father's almamater Hendrix.  We visited Blanchard Springs Caverns in Fifty Six Arkansas a...

The aptly named Joyful Journey Springs Spa in Moffatt, CO, is our current home, and we recommend it highly.  We came in last night in time to set up The Turtle (our pop-up) before heading to the dining hall for a delicious vegan meal.  The woman who runs the kitchen is SO very proud of the chef she's been mentoring and encouraging over the last 10 months, and his food speaks for itself.  Then we headed to the pools - the hottest of the 3 first, and WOW did that feel good!  Everything in my body seems to melt a bit and let out an audible, "Ahhh."  NOTE: One must be careful walking along the wooden decks as wet footprints quickly freeze into flat slicks. This morning when we awoke, it was 13 degrees inside The Turtle.  The bathing suits we wore last night in the hot springs and laid out in The Turtle to dry were frozen solid.  This despite the fact that we had our electric heater running full steam ahead all night.  The hot shower, delicious breakfa...

  We experienced southern hospitality at its best staying with, Amy my college friend & fellow Dandelion (there's a story there...), in Savannah, GA.  She and her family welcomed us into their beautiful home with warmth and love.  They engaged us in wonderful conversation, gave us the inside scoop on the city, and included us a feast with extended family and another visiting adventurer.  We, in turn, wowed them with the magic of not only our pop-up camper but also our personal toilet with a tent for modesty.  Everyone was happy!  :) Savannah itself is gorgeous.  There is so much history packed into 2 square miles!  Forsyth Square sported one of the city's many fountains with green water in honor of St. Patrick's Day.  Rali took me to high tea at Gryphon, a very cool tea house that was once an apothecary/pharmacy and then a bookstore before being purchased and renovated by the Savannah College of Art and Design.  SCAD is super cool an...

After a wonderful four nights in Reston, VA, and visiting our nation's capitol and hanging with Jenny's brother-from-another-mother Todd and his wife Juliana and son Henry we also got to have dinner with Caitie and Dan, Jenny's niece and nephew-in-law, and then we headed to Landrum South Carolina to visit David Cedrone , my favorite artist and pal. We had a beautiful hike in the rain and David let us use his ionizer to improve the air quality in our pop-up. It was so musty that first night we were afraid we couldn't breathe! We have been endlessly listening to the Phillipa Gregory series that Jenny's mom suggested. We got to visit Jenny's nephew Mitch today and are now in Santee, SC, on our way to Charleston, SC then to visit Jenny's college friend Amy in Savannah,GA, before heading west. The world sure is a beautiful place full of beautiful people! I still feel like I won the lottery!  FYI, the last pics are from our current campsite in Santee, SC on the ...

This past Friday-Tuesday were the first few days of our cross-country adventure!  First stop = Quakertown, PA, where we enjoyed wonderful time with lots of family and friends.  PA feels more and more like home  each time we visit . . . perhaps something we should pay attention to!  Special shoutout to my brother Keith who cooked up a yummy dinner and let 17 family  members  invade his house and flop around on his new couch.  We will, for sure, seek out his services again.  Five stars!  We even saw some of our VT lake neighbors in their PA habitat!  :) Yesterday, we headed south.  After locating the house in which Rali and her family lived for a few of her elementary school years, we stopped at the Valley Forge National Park.  Rali remembers going there at the age of 8 or 9!  It was blustery cold as the wind whipped over the hill, and this deepened our reflection and appreciation of what it must have been like for the ...