Apple Cider Day

 We had our annual hayride and wiener roast minus the hay ride.    We made cider instead.  Kyann was very interested in the cows and kept wanting to pet one.    They are not that tame.

Everyone got into the act in some way.  Either turning the crank or putting in the apples or on quality control.  

Here is another bunch working away.  We didn't have a many apples so we also made some pear cider this year.  It was very yummy!

Here we are back at the barn.  Kyann wanted in the worst way to pet one like a dog but it did not happen.

She made a new friend with Little Jo, and had a good time with her but couldn't understand why she wouldn't talk to her.   She did better when Ellerie showed up.

Loren pitched right in too.  Tim worked the crank but she shoveled the leftovers to the cows.    We had a really good supper and hot dogs taste really good cooked outside.  It was cold and the fire felt good.

Days Five & Six - The Journey Home

Thursday we started our trip home.  Had to have our suitcases outside our doors by 7:30  Then breakfast and on the road again.  We knew this was going to be a long travel day so everyone was right on time and we left at 8:15.  It rained off and on through North Carolina.  Almost like they were sorry we were leaving.    We had one stop today it was the Kentucky Artisan Center in Berea Kentucky.  We were scheduled to be there at two but because we started a little early and we didn't hit any construction we made it there at noon or maybe it was 12:30.  Can't remember for sure.  We all had lunch there and did a little shopping and then back on the bus.   We stopped here in the afternoon for our potty break. The rest areas in Kentucky and Tennessee were really nice.  This one was like a log cabin.  

This sculpture was out front and was like a sun.  It was entitled "Good Morning" As you can see we left the rain behind and it was another beautiful day.

The trees were spectacular in this area.  This picture doesn't do it justice at all.   We trucked down the road and arrived at our hotel in Indianapolis  a little before six.  We were  scheduled to get there at 8:30.      As it happened Carol gave out the room keys alphabetically.  It is good to have a sister with the name Barton.  We were first off and went and left our luggage in the room and headed over to the Cracker Barrel which was right next door.  When the lady asked if we were visiting Connie told her we were with a bus and the rest were coming.  She asked if we were kidding.  But they are used to large groups and everyone was fed quickly.  A good nights sleep and we were again on the road.  We passed the time playing card bingo and while we were in Kentucky we had animal races.  Not just horses There were six animals (bennie babies)  Sally the dog, Pete the pony,  Pixie the pig, Freddie the frog, Pokie the Turtle and Rudy the rooster.Everyone signed up  for the animal they wanted to root for.With a roll of the dice each animal would move along the seat backs until they had made the entire course.  Connie picked Pokie the turtle and I picked Freddy the frog.  Pokie won the first race and Freddy won the second.  It was a lot of fun and helped pass the time.    We gained and hour going home when we left Indiana.  So we arrived at Galesberg a little after eleven to drop the five friends off   A quick lunch at McDonalds an the last stop was home  We got back to Libertyville a little after 2 and by the time everyone got off.  Carol had gifts for us and we collected our luggage and got to Connie's and divided  up our stuff loaded my car and got home around four.  It was a fun trip but I was exhausted.  Was so happy to sleep in my own bed.

North Carolina Day 4

 Day 4 started with a stop at the Asheville Welcome Center for a quick look around and to pick up our guide, Madeline, for the city tour.  She was very good and very knowledgeable about Asheville.   And man could she talk!  And talk!  And talk!    Our first stop on the tour was the St Lawrence Basilica.   It was a beautiful church!

This is the front alter.

This however is it's claim to fame.  The picture doesn't do it justice but this circular ceiling is unsupported.    I tried to get a picture of the outside so you could see how big it actually was but was never in a good spot.  

It also had beautiful stained glass windows.  

Quite a few.    The man who designed the building was buried there.  He died rather young and by the time his wife died they had changed the law and no one could be buried on public grounds.  Just an interesting side note.  

From here we went around downtown Asheville and then to The Grove Inn.  It was an enormous building.  Lots of famous people have stayed there.  We just did a drive by.    Next we went to their Farmer's Market.  It was pretty neat.  Wish I could have brought home some tomatoes and apples. They looked really good.  But instead I bought apple butter and T.O.E. Jam.    Too funny.  Don't think Dan has tried it yet.

We went back downtown and Madeline told us about some places to eat.  We decided on Tupelo Honey Cafe and we were not disappointed!   They started everyone out with a home made biscuit and honey or jam.  Yummo

I ordered grilled steak tip chili and a fresh salad with orange sesame  dressing.  It was wonderful!.  Made our way back to the Arcade where we were to meet the bus.

Some musicians playing outside.

This is the Arcade building.  It was beautiful.  Click on it so you can really see all the wrought iron work.   It was originally built as a mini mall with places for shops and cafes.  During WWII it was confiscated by the government and used until about 10 years ago.  It is back to little shops and cafes.  Lots of North Carolina crafts.   

After lunch we headed up the Blue Ridge Parkway.  That is a fancy name for a really narrow winedy road to the top of a mountain.  It kind of made Connie woosey and I (because of my fear of heights) couldn't look.  When we got to the top the view was amazing but then you still have to come back down.

 You can see why they are called the Blue Ridge Mountains.  There was a blue haze in the distance . Obviously we made it down and to our supper at FATZ.

Again the name was a poser.  The food was good but not what I was expecting.  Back to the Hotel to get ready to head home tomorrow.

North Carolina Day 3

 I slept pretty good but Connie didn't.  Never the less we were up and ready to go on time.  Today was the Biltmore house.  And it was awesome.  You couldn't take pictures inside which was a bummer but you started out on the main floor and then went up to the second and then up and then down and then up and then down.  Seemed like there were steps everywhere.  I really wanted to take a picture of the walls in the library.  The are made of hand tooled leather but there were guides everywhere so I behaved myself.

My favorite part was the basement.  They had a two lane bowling alley, a full size swimming pool, all the servants rooms (and they each had a private room), a kitchen, pantry,  a rotisserie room, I can't remember what all but it was pretty interesting.   As we came down the stairs from the third floor.  One of the older ladies was having some dizziness and leaning to the left.  So I had to put on my nurses hat for a while.  They got a wheel chair for her and the whole bus took turns sitting with her.   The outside was guarded by two lions.  

This V in the trees was intentional.  for Vanderbilt.  It has kind of grown in a little.  

This was the greenhouse at the end of the gardens.  Again steps and more steps.  but the flowers were beautiful.

This is one of the favorite pictures that I took.  Just loved the delicateness of the flower.  

Everything was very fallish, but they were getting ready for Christmas.  Planting trees and decorating in the house.  We loaded up and went to Antler Hill Winery.

We started with a wine tasting.  I wasn't really impressed.   But I'm not much into wine.  This was the cellar.  It used to be the dairy.  Perfect place to keep wine cool.  

Every thing had the Vanderbilt crest on it.  

We walked up to the farm place and saw this on the side walk.  I could not figure out what it was.  Can you?  I will tell you at the end of the day .

This was right next to it and I thought there had been a murder and it was a crime scene.  Don't think that was it but you never know.   About 5 we loaded up in the bus and set out for our supper that night.  We had no idea what it was but only that it was at Claxton Farms.     

We went down some gravel roads that I was not sure the bus would fit but Cal was a good driver and we arrived safely.  Our supper was bar-b-que brisket or chicken with all kinds of salads, baked beans and banana pudding or peach cobbler for dessert.   The food was very good! and the entertainment was really good too.  It was a bluegrass band called Bob Something and the Blue Ridge Tradition.  

These were the tables and

this was the view out that door!  I could watch that every day!  

This is a llama called Marshmallow.  They also had miniature horses that were really cute.

Everyone was so tired from all the walking at Biltmore that we left a little early and headed back down the gravel roads to the hotel.  They really expect old folks to keep a hectic  pace.   We were up at 6 and on the go till 8 or after every day.  Made me sleep really good.

Did you figure it out?  It was a bike path.  If you look at it up side down it does look like a bike.    

North Carolina Day 2

Slept good until 3:30, just dozed after that.  Up at 6 and showered.  Down to breakfast at the hotel and on the road again by 8:30.  Had a potty break about 10 and heading on down the road.  The trees just get prettier and prettier the father south we go.  These pictures don't begin to do them justice.  The reds were breathtaking!  We stopped in Richmond Kn for lunch.  There were several places you could go.  Connie and I chose Panara Bread.  It was really good.  I had a turkey harvest salad and baked potato soup.   

We walked around the parking lot  to stretch our legs and back on the bus and on our way again.  This afternoon we played card bingo.  Connie and I both won 50 cents.  We arrived at the restaurant "Frankie Bones" about 6:15.  It was not what I expected.  With the name I thought it would be  a bar-b-que   place but it was more an ode to Frank Sinatra.  The food was good.

We got to the hotel about 8.  However it was not the place we were told we would be staying.  It was nice enough but not the caliber we were promised   The beds were so soft on the edges you almost slid off.   This is the end of day 2.

North Carolina Vacation Day 1

Got up at 6 and got around and headed out to pick up Connie about 7:00.  We were sharing a carry on Connie.  We were sharing a carry on bag and needed to get it packed.  It was pouring down rain all the way.  The bus was at the bank when I went through.  We got our bags checked and got on the bus.  There were 35 at that point but were picking up 5 more in Galesburg.  Our  driver's name was Cal Lorenz.  He was a good driver and very accommodating.  Funny too!.  At Galesburg we had a potty break and a coffee break and then one the road again.  We had to watch a safety video on bus behavior.  We stopped at Cracker Barrel for lunch.  They don't seam to mind when 40 people show up at the same time.  Actually there were two buses at the same time but we got in and out in good time and back on the road.    We watched a video about Biltmore.  We had a time change about 3:45 and got to the hotel about 5:45.



We had nice room and there was a pond outside with a fountain and lots of ducks and a pretty gazebo. We met for supper at 6:30 and tried to find a shopping area that had several eating places but  after driving around for a while we finally settled on Arby's.  It had started to rain again.  They only had three people working but they worked very hard and got us all fed in pretty good time.  We were back to our room at 8 and in our jammies watching tv.  Both of us were very tired cause we hadn't slept very well the night before so turned in for a good nights sleep and another exciting day tomorrow.

Fall Festival 2012

We went to Keosauqua on Wednesday Oct 10th.  It was cool and we hovered around the fire,  You can see in the picture the black smoke from the fire .  Donnie was trying to get rid of some wood he couldn't burn in their furnace.  We were constantly moving to stay out of the smoke.   But it did keep us warm. Thursday we made a trip to Cantril to the Dutchman's store.  Doris Jean came on Thursday afternoon to play games.  We had ham and beans and cornbread Thursday night.


Friday we went to some garage sales.  Think we hit most of them  When we got back Dick was there.  We played some games inside till it warmed up to be outside,.  Friday night was lasagna night with salad and garlic bread.  I tried a new desert, an apple cake which was pretty good.

By the time Dan and Katlin got there and had eaten it was time to play some music. People had been asking all day if we were going to play.  They had only gotten started we it started to thunder and then before long sprinkle.  We hurried and put things away and headed to the campers.

Button and Bow were part of the listening audience. We had quite a crowd before the rain started.

It rained most of the night and most of the morning off and on.  We tried something new for breakfast Saturday morning.  Omelets in a bag.  Everyone could add whatever ingredients they wanted.  I did bacon, potatoes, ham and  cheese.  You mix them in a baggie and drop in boiling water and cook for ten minutes.   This is mine and it was good.  Will do that again for sure.  The girls went to the Roberts building to shop and the guys all went to Cantril. Gary came to go with them. Back to the campgrounds cause it was pouring again.  Connie and I had to leave early to get ready for our next trip to North Carolina the next morning.    Guess the rain came back but I think everyone had a good time anyway.