Friday - April 20

35 degrees this morning but no wind and lots of sunshine!    The campers met for breakfast at 8 in the dining room and then said our good-byes...what a fun 4 days with these dear friends!   

Heather and Cardy

 

Mark and I got Flo back to Philip and Annette's and then we were off to Morganton for haircut (Mark) and manicure (me).    Annette spent the day with Luke and his class on a field trip in Marion.

 

Mark and Philip did a bunch of odd jobs inside and outside.    It was a glorious day getting to 68 degrees.    While Maeve was napping I watched the special tribute to Barbara Bush.

 

Philip and Annette had a date night and out for dinner while we held down the fort, did some laundry, baths, etc.    Tomorrow Luke and Daddy are flying to Chicago and Luke will spend his spring break (till Thursday) with his other grandparents.    He's excited!!!

 

Grandpa learning a new game from Luke

Maeve loves Grandma's computer 

Philip's latest woodworking project - desk in the laundry room!

 

Curly locks trying to say "Julio"

Hanging out with the munchkins!

 

Thursday - April 19

Bright sunny day but breezy and only in the 60's and then dropped to the 50's....far cry from yesterday!

 

Mark and the 2 "Bill's" went to the dining room for breakfast.    I slept in and then did some little jobs around Flo and caught on up e-mails, texts, etc.

 

Mark has been working away on logistics for Brady, Liam and Connor to join us on Catrina this summer in New York.    Airline tickets are purchased and now the fun of planning... 

So looking forward to having these 3 together for some cousin fun.

 

The 7 campers drove to downtown Marion and met Philip, Annette, Luke and Maeve for lunch at Bruce's Café.    We had never been and what a large menu which all sounded so good.    After enjoying our lunches, we all had various kinds of cheesecake which is their specialty!

 

Back to hibernate out of the wind and cold - what a difference a day makes.    Sure would not have been a good day to be on the water like yesterday!

 

Happy hour at Bill and Charmaine's - so fun to be together and God willing we will all be back for our 4th annual camping trip in April 2019 in Cherokee, NC which Bill and Nancy will organize!

 

The temperature has dropped this afternoon and along with the strong winds....some of us drinking coffee with Bailey's instead of wine!

 

Twins.....who is who?

 

Bill and Nancy

 

 

 

 

 

Wednesday - April 18

Oh what a beautiful day........got to 83, sunny, clear-blue skies !!!   All of us left at 10:30 for Philip and Annette's home which we walked thru, then to Michael and Brooke's home and another tour.    Mark met us with Philip's pontoon and then we all climbed aboard for a ride to Camp Lake James for lunch.    Great lunch for everyone in this lovely setting on this warm day....

 

Left the camp and went for a pontoon ride around Lake James.    Absolutely delightful!

 

After the ride, Bill, Charmaine, Bill and Nancy left to go back to campground.    Heather and I drove to Philip's to pick up Mark after he dropped the pontoon off.

 

After a quick visit with Annette and the kiddies, we were off to Flo....

 

Happy hour outdoors - so pleasant and just a very nice ending to a great day.    We should all sleep well tonight after the sun, water and good eating!

 

Lunch at the camp...

Bill G, Nancy, Charmaine, Bill W, Mark, Heather

 

 

Bill, Ty and Charmaine

Sweet Maeve

 

 

 

 

Tuesday - April 17

It was a very fun day at the campground with our fellow campers.    Mark and Bill W did a donut run to Mr. Bob's Donuts in Marion - GREAT donuts.     Relaxing morning catching up on e-mails and other things on Flo.

 

It warmed up to 71 but was very windy!

 

We all had lunch at the dining room of the campground - they serve breakfast and lunch and it was very good.     Then all of us except Nancy went to Old Fort and toured the Gateway Mountain Museum which was all about the history and culture of western North Carolina.

 

Bill W with Ty, Pat, Bill G, Charmaine and Heather

outside the museum with this lovely dogwood tree

 

Some of the group took afternoon naps and then we got together at Bill and Charmaine's for

happy hour.   

 

No one was really hungry so we opted for dessert and came over to Flo's for

coconut cake, strawberries, ice cream, and whipped cream! 

Happy after dessert

Nancy, Heather, Bill G, Charmaine, Ty and Bill W

 

Line-up of our campers....from left

Bill and Nancy's, Heather's, Flo, Bill and Charmaine's

 

Lots of good visiting and reminiscing today....

 

Monday - April 16

Hello from the Tom Johnson Campground in Marion, NC where we've been seeing snow flurries tonight!     Not looking forward to an overnight low of 31. 

 

Mark took Luke to school, I got things stowed away on Flo and did a load of laundry.   We left around 11:30 and stopped for lunch at Drew's Diner, Ingles and onto the campground where we were met by our friends......Bill and Charmaine from Linville, NC, Bill and Nancy from Fairfield Glade, TN and Heather from Crossville, TN.    So good to see them all....

 

They all came on Flo and we spent the afternoon visiting and staying out of the cold!

 

We had dinner in Marion at Las Salsas - good Mexican and margaritas, beer, wine, soda!

 

Bill G and his massive, delicious 32-oz margarita

 

Nancy and Charmaine

Heather, Mark, Bill W.