Last stops

We spent Tuesday evening with Bob's sister, Gwen, and friend Ellen, at Ellen's house in Port St John. Ellen has a very lovely home.  We had a good dinner and pleasant conversation, and then had to leave to get ready to be on the road Wednesday morning.  In the morning, we drove to Winter Garden for a quick visit with Bob's son, David, and his family.  We got home about 4:30 with one more passenger  than we started with...Bob's 10 year old grand daughter, Emily, will spend some of her summer vacation with us.  This trip was 25 days and 5,508 miles long, but we're ready to go again!!!

Gwen and Ellen

Lisa,  Emily, David and Chelsea

 

Stop at the Space Coast

We could have made it all the way home on Monday, but it would have put us back about 9 pm having spent 14 hours on the road, so we decided to overnight at a Brevard County Park, Manatee Hammock, in Titusville.  Actually, we decided to spend two nights here which would allow us to visit with Bob's sister, Gwen, who lives in Cocoa, nearby, and either fish or go to the beach.  The park is a very nice facility on the Indian River--wish we had known about it sooner!  Tuesday morning, we met Gwen and her friend Ellen for breakfast, and then Bob and I headed to Playa Linda, a beautiful beach on the Cape Canaveral National Seashore.  We've been there before with Bob's mom.  She loved to go there as often as she could to fish and enjoy the beach.

A view of the Indian River from a path in Manatee Hammock Park.  

Charlie Dog never misses an opportunity to take a stroll on a dock.

 Some of the dunes at Playa Linda

The water was fairly warm, but to our disappointment, there were hardly any waves.  We were also surprised to see how few people were out at the beach on the first day of summer, which was a scorcher.

 

Good friends, great times

Even though it had been about 40 years since Jay, Plish, and I all got together, we just picked up where we left off.  The guys got along like they were old friends, too.  Jay is a wonderful hostess, and made sure that no one went hungry or thirsty, and the chatter and laughter continued throughout the evening.

Plish decided she needed a bib considering she was on her second "coconut milk" (Pina Colada).

The guys made us stop looking at our high school year book in order to do a photo shoot before everyone had to say so-long..  We felt like they were the  paparazzi:  John, Paul, and Bob each had a camera and took at least 4 shots each.

Saturday afternoon

We had met at Jay and Paul's Thursday evening along with John and Plish for pizza and some laughs, and on Saturday, Jay planned on having all of us over again for dinner, glutton for punishment that she is!  She asked us to come early so that we could meet with their son Sean, his wife, Elyssa, and their 5 year old grandson, Ryan, who wanted to stop by to say hello to us.

Brunswick Plantation

We joined Jay and Paul for their Friday night get-together with their friends at the 19th Hole Clubhouse at the Brunswick Plantation.  Plish and John were there, too.

Sunset Beach NC

Except for Thursday when it rained, we went to the beach every morning.  John and Plish met us there Friday and Saturday.  Sunday, they had an early flight home to Jersey.  Jay and Paul worked, so they couldn't join us.

Bandit, a Portugese waterdog, who entertained us with his frisbee skills on Ocean Isles Beach Sunday morning.

WVA to Sunset Beach NC June 14 2011

Once again, an early start...on the road from the Lazy A by 6 am and travel plans changed.  Instead of taking the scenic route and another day to get to NC, we decided to go on the interstates, while still avoiding heavy traffic areas as much as possible, so that we could have an extra full day in NC instead of spending half of it on the road.  We arrived at The Wishing Well RV Park in Sunset Beach around 3:30 pm.  It is about 5 miles from the beach and the friends that we intend to visit.  We were here last year, and really liked the place...wooded, secluded, well maintained, and extremely reasonable with our Passport America membership.

Charlie Dog, wondering what the delay is while Bob emptied tanks at the dump station, and I dropped off a garbage bag at the dumpster before heading out.

Hay bales in a field along I-81.  I love seeing them...they are so picturesque.

Our site at Wishing Well.  Only neg thing is that campfires are not allowed, which seems to be more and more the standard at a lot of the rv parks.  We did see a Smokey the Bear sign that warned the fire hazard was high, so it is understandable that open fires are prohibitted, especially in woodsy areas.

Starting home

Sunrise comes early here in Saratoga Springs.  The daylight woke us before 5 am, and we were on the road by 6.  We drove through beautiful countryside before getting on I-88 and I-81.  After having a fuel stop for both the truck and our tummies in Frackville, PA, Bob did a check of the trailer and truck before continuing, as is his habit for safety sake.  He noticed one tire didn't look right, and sure enough, it was low on air.  A further inspection showed there was a screw in it.  We were lucky to be close to a tire store which was able to plug the leak in no time at all.  However, PA law requires that the vehicle to be worked on be inside the garage building, so Bob had to carefully pull the truck into the garage without scraping the top of the trailer. We continued down the road back to the Lazy A campsite near Martinsville, WVA, where we had stopped on our way up.  It is a nice, quite spot for a one night stay, and nine and a half hours on the road way enough for us.  Tomorrow, we will continue wending our way toward Calabash, NC. 

Kevyn & Al's wedding June 11, 2001

To paraphrase the best man, Joey Paul, the long awaited day arrived.  The wedding was held at The Lodge in Sarasota Springs.  It was to be held outside, but due to inclement weather, a tent had to be erected.  To most folks' surprise, the men in the bridal party all wore formal Scottish attire...kilts.  Kevyn's family is Scottish, and Al also has Scottish blood on his mother's side.  Barbara, Al's mom, had no idea that was what they had planned...they kept it a secret from her, and she was extremely touched when she saw them.  Decorations had a Scottish flare; there was a bagpipe player; the ceremony included a Scottish ritual of bonding the bride and groom's hands with a scarf; and entertainment was provided by Highland dancers.  After the ceremony, appetizers and drinks were served in the Lodge, and then the dinner and party moved back to the tent with a lot of dancing after dinner.    The next day,  Barbara and Joe invited family to the Ripe Tomato for a very nice Sunday brunch, and then it was time to say so long to all once again. We were honored to be a part of this very special weekend!

Yes, Bob definitely was enjoying himself!

Al and Kevyn's Rehearsal Dinner

Friday, June 10th, we were invited to Al & Kevyn's rehearsal dinner at Fortune's in the Saratoga Gaming Casino and Raceway.  Al & Kevyn were honored in the winner's circle with the announcement of their wedding tomorrow.  It was wonderful to see everyone.  In the spirit of the racing culture, most of the women  and some of the guys wore hats.  I took 55 pictures, but thought I better post just a few.

 Albert, the groom-to-be...Barbara and Joe's oldest son

Kevyn...soon to be Mrs. Albert Piascik

 

Barbara, Al's mom, and Luke, his youngest brother

Joe, Al's dad, and  Al's sister, Christine, the first doctor in the family.  She was lucky enough to have two older brothers and two younger ones 

John, Al's next to youngest brother, and his aunt, Carol

Joey Paul, the second of Joe & Barbara's sons

Rita and Uncle Mickey, Al's paternal grandfather

Barbara and her dad, Mr. Jones, Al's maternal grandfather

Mrs. Jones, Al's maternal grandmother

My cousin, Joe, and my brother Joe

 My sister-in-law, Bev, Joe's wife

Cousins Carol, Adele, Jill and Rachel (Adele's girls), Kim (David's lady friend), and me

Michael, Adele's husband, and Bob

Nelson, Carol's husband..he was too busy betting on the races for me to get a better picture of him.

David, Michael & Adele's son, Kim, and Nelson & Carol's daughter and son, Annie & Matt