Happy New Year......

Our Location: Devencrest Rv Park, Albany, GA

A bit of a cool night and an equally cool morning, the temps finally reached 50 F/ 10 C around 11 am. We headed out the door for a walk at that time. Of course after looking at the cloudy skies we opted for the short track at Radium Spring Garden (RSG) just in case we needed to hurry back to the Dogsled.  We enjoyed the walk and managed to get our entire 3 1/2 rounds in with only a few sprinkles at the very tail end of the walk. 

Today's pics are from RSG. 

The view from the observation deck overlooking the river. The cypress trees are so amazing to see and the colour of the water is natural, I didn't change it at all. The reflections are truly awesome to see in reality, pictures cannot do justice to the beauty you find at this place. It is one of my all time favourite places to visit. 

From RSG we headed east along Holly Drive, which changes names a number of times but ends up being Mock Road, hung a right turn onto Oglethorpe Road to arrive at Walmart. We had a few items that we were lacking and realized we have another wedding to prepare for this coming year so we needed to pick up a couple of things for that little project. It was pretty busy there but we weren't long getting in and out, they had a number of cashiers open which of course truly does speed things along.

The sprinkles were still falling when we entered Wally's World but had stopped by the time we left. The clouds remained all day, the temps reached into the mid 50 F/  12 C range at the warmest part of the day. No wind though and that was a blessing as it would have been a lot less pleasant!!

From Wally's World we headed back out the direction we came and turned onto US 19 S or Liberty Expressway SE, right back past home and kept going. We wanted to visit Mike's country store again before we leave. I think we may to have to go back once more as they didn't have a few of the things I would like to stock up on if I can. It was pretty busy today but we managed to snag a few pieces of his fried chicken and a couple of biscuits from the 'hot' counter. It's a treat to do that and we don't do it often, so I don't feel one bit upset about having to walk a couple of days just get the chicken back off. ~laugh~ I'll worry about the biscuits next year. ~laugh~ 

I took a closer look at these flowers today and they are very small daffodils unlike the bigger ones we have in Ontario, Canada. I've never seen any with such a small flower on the stem and there are multiple blooms as you can see in the picture below. They are growing at the edge of the walking path at RSG and appear to be spreading further back into the bushes. 

After Mike's we headed back to the Igloo, put away the groceries, had some fried chicken and biscuits for lunch, and while it wasn't the Colonel's secret recipe it was still pretty finger licking good. ~laugh~ There is still a piece left over in case any one would like to stop by for a snack. 

After that we read, or I read and Riley played on her phone. I spent some time trying to figure out how to send a text message from my phone to my email address but I'm not smart enough to figure that out. 

Actually we used Riley's phone for the picture taking today as I forgot mine at home. I don't normally do that but well, it does happen. Must be my old age creeping up on me. ~laugh~ 

Dinner tonight was a quick fix, breaded loin chops with an Orange Mustard Glaze added to into the egg for dipping. Steamed veggies with Italian seasoning, and Vegetable Garden Rice. It was very good, very quick and very easy to make. I like that kind of meal. 

Clean up after dinner, played a game of Yahtzee. I won, I won, I rolled TWO Yahtzees. ~laugh~ Riley thinks I'm cheating now!!!! ~laugh~ 

I've been trying to get the results of my blood work on line as I was told I could, but it's not possible. I need to sign in to something that is available only to US citizens, and even though I used a US address my SIN number isn't registered in the state of Georgia so it won't recognize me. I've sent off a letter to Lab Corp in hopes that they can help me solve my issues. I'll let you know how that turns out.

Dinner was excellent. Riley laughed when I took a picture of my food. I explained that it looked good enough to eat and I might want to see it again some time so I can perhaps duplicate for another meal. I don't think she bought that though. ~laugh~

Not a truly exciting day but a busy one all the same. It is raining as I type, not hard but steady. The low tonight is supposed to be almost the same as the day time high, so I see a warming trend coming this way. However the forecast is calling for rain tonight, tomorrow, tomorrow night as well as Monday. Flood warnings in being posted. We are high and dry so I'm not worried. The temps will be warmer though.

So ends another day here in Albany, Ga. Our days are getting much fewer. Confirmed yesterday an appointment for January 5, 2017 in Hinesville, GA. We will leave here on the 4th, and arrive in the afternoon, stay for our appointment on the 5th, and leave the morning of the 6th. More on that later. 

I wish each and every one a Happy New Year, may the new year bring good health, good friends, and good things your way. Until next time....be safe, take care.....

Blah kind of day, pictures of Riverquarium......

Our Location: Devencrest Rv Park, Albany, GA

A much cooler night but still nice, we turned on the electric heater last night pointing into Riley's room as her main floor room gets colder than my upstairs room. Turned on the furnace for a one shot of heat around breakfast time and the rest of the day was fine with just the heater. 

Not really into writing a blog today so I'll just leave you with pictures from our visit to Riverquarium. Some pics will have a reflection and there is no way around that due to the glass between us and what we pointed the camera at.

Thanks for stopping by. Until next time...be safe, take care.......

Into every life a little rain must fall......

Our Location: Devencrest Rv Park, Albany, GA

A little cooler last night, and today was a mix of various kinds of weather. No complaints though, still better than being back in Canada!! Today's high reached about 73 F/ 22 C, however the night is cooling off very quickly, it's already dropped over 20 degrees and should drop another 15 to 20 by the time it bottoms out tonight. We will definitely have the windows closed tonight. 

Today's pics are from our walk along the Riverwalk in downtown Albany. 

 After breakfast we headed into the city and drove straight to the hospital and tucked in behind is a blood lab which I was more than happy to find as I require blood work once a month, but my Rheumatologist, Dr. Bobba agreed that I could have blood work down here once every two months. December marks the two month mark since my last one late in October.  

The wonderful staff were mystified by having a Canadian to deal with and no insurance company or US Dr to enter into any of those wonderful little boxes that require such stuff. It was easier by far to just give them the address here at the park as my home address. I had to chuckle to  myself when the lady told me she wasn't used to working at the front desk and that's why it was so difficult for her to input all the data, she spread her hands and said,"this is what I usually do" meaning draw blood. She's good at it I'll tell you. Although I felt nothing when she put the needle into my arm, I've felt it more and more as the day went by and it's starting to get quite the little bruise there now. ~laugh~  She thanked me for my patience while she was entering all the information and for helping her to figure out a bit more about the front desk work, and I thanked her for all her effort, her wonderful sense of humour and her expertise. I think we both learned a bit today and I think we both appreciated the patience and the effort on both sides of the desk.

 Looks like a typical fall day, cold and blustery with a chilly wind, but the truth is it was a bit cloudy but warm, very warm and humid. We had on short pants and short sleeve shirts/ t shirts. We walked out to the underpass bridge at US 19, and then took the nature loop as we've done before.

Right Pic: beginning of the nature loop.

Left Pic: the field before the nature loop starts, all dead grasses and cloudy skies.

 We enjoyed the nature loop, it is very green with massive vines growing everywhere. They appear to be the size of young trees but are vines that spring up from the ground and wrap themselves around other trees, and often times the vines have vines growing on them as well.

The clouds gave way to sunshine during this part of our walk making it seem even warmer, we were starting to take off cover shirts and just wear t shirts. While walking you would truly think you were deep in the woods but for the noises that echo around, vehicles, construction sounds, city sounds, train whistles. This part of the path is very noisy but the beginning of the walk is more park like with much less noise and again very few people. 

right, center, left pics: all vines growing/invading the trees. 

 

 

As we turned the corner heading back towards the beginning of the trail we noticed it getting a little darker and the wind picked up quite a bit. The clouds continued to roll by and we found it a bit less humid with the wind. We were about the .5 mile marker when the skies opened and we were drenched within 10 steps. ~laugh~ I mean it just started to rain, not a pitter, patter, but a splash, crash and no use making a dash kind of rain. By about 20 steps my feet were wet and I was squishing with each step. Rain was running down my face as if I were in the shower. ~laugh~ There was no place to take shelter and it was too late anyway, we were both soaked to the skin. I didn't take any pictures, I was afraid my phone would get wet and I truly didn't want to stop to take any. ~laugh~ 

 Pics are both of the Flint River at the picnic area of the nature loop.

 

To say that we were surprised by the rain would be an understatement, as it didn't look threatening at all when we left the truck. To say that we were amazed how much rain fell in such a short period of time would also be an understatement. The rain stopped and started numerous times before we managed to get back to the Dogsled. Wrapped in blankets to keep from getting everything wet, we drove home. We were fortunate that it wasn't a cold wind blowing. ~laugh~

Home to the Igloo, a change of clothes, a good laugh, and lunch were the next orders of the day. (Clothes are still hanging in the shower as we can't put them in the baskets wet).  We watched the movie Three Kings with George Clooney, Mark Wahlburg, and Ice Cube while we had lunch. After that it was time to settle in to some reading. I truly love a good book!!!

Dinner was excellent, Riley cooked again. Such a wonderful break it is for me and I truly appreciate it. Riley made up some turkey burgers, and a huge packet of veggies for the BBQ. She added some toasted English muffins (toasted on the BBQ) instead of hamburger buns. I enjoyed a couple of oatmeal raisin cookies and she enjoyed an orange to finish off our meal. 

Clean up and then we had a game of Yahtzee. I won by 7 points. ~laugh~ 

Left pic: thru the trees if you look carefully you can see the bridge over pass on US 19. The RiverWalk goes under that overpass.

I chatted with my dad for a few minutes on Skype tonight. He didn't seem able to stay on line, whether he was playing with buttons or just had a bad connection, it's hard to know. ~laugh~ I also managed to chat with my sister in the early part of our walk this morning. It's always nice to hear from folks back home and see how they are managing in the cold weather. 

On that note, I'm going to sign off. Thanks for stopping by, I hope you have enjoyed your visit. Please feel free to leave a comment. Until next time....be safe....take care....

Snowflakes in Albany, GA today....

Our Location: Devencrest Rv Park, Albany, GA

A wonderful night for sleeping with the window open. The humidity is quite high and makes a person clammy but cool at the same time. An overcast day today, but warm, not hot but a comfortable temperature if you didn't factor in the humidity. 

Our day started off shortly after breakfast when we headed out for our walk. No, we didn't go to RSG today, instead we drove to the area behind the park, parked the Dogsled and hoofed it down Nichols to Aniock, did the little loop there and around the block back to the waiting Dogsled. It's 3.4 miles /5.4 km. A nice walk that had us moving right along and enjoying the scenery. 

Signs here often have moss growing on them due to the high humidity this area has most of the year. We've actually seen them pressure washing road signs here. 

On our walk today we managed to set at least a dozen dogs barking, about half at one time. ~laugh~ It was a huge racket and the barks were so different as per each dog. ~laugh~ I think we will not go that side street again but go back to the next one that we usually take.

This flowering shrub/tree was in the front yard of a house in which the dog would come thru between the two gates and bark, bark, bark, not come to the roadway but about half way from the fence to the road and when we got even with the driveway he ran back in between the two gates. ~laugh~ What is the point of having a fenced yard if your dog can still get out between the gates. ~laugh~ Kind of defeats the purpose, doesn't it? 

The tree is loaded in pink blooms and I didn't walk closer to get a better picture due to the 'loose' dog. All of the pictures today were taken with my phone. 

This house appears to be empty but I love the trees covering the entrance to the driveway. This picture doesn't do them justice but they form a wonderful little arch that obviously wouldn't be good for a truck but a small car would fit nicely under them. 

Note the windows and how high they sit under the eaves. Most houses down here have windows set that high. I'm not sure the reason! 

I'm not sure if this is one tree, 2 trees or perhaps even 3 trees that have grown together but the trunk is huge. This is a Living Oak tree/s and is always green, drops tons of tiny acorns. You can see on the left what appears to be one tree, and on the right what appears to be one tree but the piece in the middle has had something cut off the top and leaves that gap in between the other two. 

After our walk we hurried home as we were expecting a contractor/worker to drop by and work on a project today.  David has been building pull out drawers for a few cupboards in the Igloo and today was the day he came to install them. They aren't quite what I wanted but they will do for now. I had hoped they would be a bit thinner on the outside, and a bit tighter to the size of the opening as the shelves aren't very big to begin with. He's never built something like this before and I think next time he would do a better job. He forgot to build 2 more for the upper pantry but at this point, I'm not too concerned, I can have someone else build them or perhaps I'll do it myself this summer. We shall see. 

Boots called while David was working and I moved outside to chat with her for a while. I always love to hear from her and I don't call her as often as I should but we've been friends for many years, seemingly able to pick up where ever we left off between visits. We chatted about the holidays, kids, family, travel, etc. Time slipped by pretty fast as it always does when we talk. 

(This is the same tree as above, just a bit different angle)

These vultures were all gathered around a holding pond by the train tracks, couldn't see what they were eating but there were a huge number of them, easily over 20. They were very quiet though, I thought that was strange.

After David left, we put all of our stocks back into the pantry but had to do some rearranging as things didn't fit back in the same places as they had come out of. However the shelves make it easier to get what is at the back of the cupboard and that was the whole purpose behind having them built. 

Some reading, some lunch, a quick clean of the main floor from all the tracking in and out installing the shelves, plus I tidied up the basement of the Igloo in preparation for our upcoming travel. I left the chairs and BBQ out as we will still be using those while we're here but the other stuff in there needed to be repacked, cleaned, and organized. Not as much room in the basement in this 5'er as there was in the old one. It looks more impressive because I think the door is bigger but the over all space is actually smaller, the ceiling is lower and it has a step down, about a foot wide just inside the door, which the other one didn't have, so that makes it look bigger as well. 

Snow flakes in Georgia today. Can you see them? ~laugh~

I have found a blood clinic for my blood work, I'll be heading there tomorrow after our walk. We've decided since we will be going downtown anyway that we will walk along the River Walk tomorrow. I'm looking forward to it, it's been some time since we've walked there. 

This old farm tractor, I think is a Ford N 8 or maybe 9. It looks like it's been doing a lot of work by the size of that pile of brush and lumber there. 

After my little bit of cleaning outside I once again sat down with my book and enjoyed it while Riley made dinner. Such a nice break to not have to cook two days in a row!!! I'm getting spoiled.  

  

Two of the 4 drawers David built for us. The edges should be made from thinner material and I think there is too much of a gap between the sides of the box and the frame opening. I wanted the rollers to be on the bottom but he didn't seem able to find any or make these ones work that way. They pull out further than shown in the picture. However they will do the trick for now. 

Dinner tonight was spaghetti with steamed veggies, grated Colby and Monterrey Jack cheese, with a few dashes of Parmesan cheese as well. I topped mine off with Oatmeal/Raisin cookies. It was a great dinner. Lucky we cooked indoors as it started to sprinkle about the time she started cooking. It stopped about the time we sat down to eat. ~laugh~ 

After cleaning up we played a game of Yahtzee, I rolled a Yahtzee on my first turn but lost the match. I can't figure out how she's cheating. She wins way too much not to be cheating. ~laugh~  She keeps saying she isn't, but we all know she must be. ~laugh~ 

Numerous ant hills like the one on the right, (this one is a small one) can be seen all over the landscape down here. That is the true colour of the dirt here, reddy/orange and it sticks to EVERYTHING, tough to get off as well. 

So ends another day here in our little part of the world. I hope you had a great day as well. Thanks for visiting, feel free to leave a comment. 

Until next time....be safe....take care.....

Searching, searching......

Our Location: Devencrest Rv Park, Albany, GA

Another wonderful night for sleeping with the windows open. Today was very humid and warm but not so much sun as one would expect. Still a very nice day. 

This morning started with trying to find a place to have some blood work done. I found labs in many states while researching on the net before coming south, but I don't know if I just didn't look in the state of Georgia or more specifically the town of Albany. It's very difficult to find one here. I've ask a few people in the park and they gave me various ideas but none of them worked. I asked a couple of pharmacies as well, nothing they gave me worked out. However I think I've finally found a place, more on this later. 

Leaving the Igloo to do a number of errands including the one just mentioned we started off by stopping at RSG for our walk again. Lots of traffic around the roads and a number of people using the walking path, in fact more using this path than the walking path along the Flint River. 

 We noticed this splash of green and white as we walked today. They look like Daff stems and greenery but the flowers are definitely not Daff's that we see in Ontario, Canada. 

I played around with my iPhoto a bit tonight on a few of these pictures. Thought it would add a different look than just the plain pictures.

 More of the same flowers as above and the first dandelion of the season.  Seems kind of early to me as it's only Dec 27 but dandelions don't lie. ~laugh~ It must be spring!!! 

After our walk we headed off in search of a blood clinic/lab, stopping at the Clinic near Oakridge Drive as two people were pretty certain we could get blood work accomplished there. Wrong, it's a dialysis clinic, and they had no idea where we could go for blood work.  Leaving there we headed on out toward our next errand keeping an eye open for a dr's office, or a pharmacy. 

We stopped at a pharmacy, they weren't of much help but did offer a Dr's name that might be able to help me, and 'some place on 4th avenue' as another possibility. 

We continued on to Home Depot, our next stop on the list. I was looking for some more lights for the Igloo. I've been trying different LED's and I think I've found what we will be using. We bought 6 of these lights at H.D. to put in various sockets to try them out for brightness, tightness, and longevity. Not all of these lights will fit well in the light sockets, for various reasons. 

This is the light we bought. It is equal to an 18 w light but it's only a 1.2 watt. It's pretty bright, and isn't white, which is a good thing, the white lights are hard to use, or at least for me they are. The only problem with this one is that it doesn't seem to fit tightly enough in the socket, that may be because I'm not pushing hard enough but I'm always afraid they will break in my hand. 

After H.D. we scooted down to Ledo Road to the local gas bar as the Dogsled was getting thirsty. $2.32 per gallon here today for diesel, which I think was pretty good. Riley is so proud of herself, she pumped the fuel today. I paid, but she pumped. ~laugh~  After the pumping experience we went into Wally's World for a quick couple of things and came out much lighter in the wallet but heavier in the basket than intended. ~laugh~ We eat a lot of fruits and veggies and that stuff is not cheap. 

After that it was home to the Igloo. We put away the groceries and I installed ONE light to test it out, I'll do more tomorrow. I put up a new blind in Riley's bathroom. Finally remembered I have two cordless drills in the cubbie, do you think I should use one of them to install this blind instead of hand cranking like I did on the last one? Some days I am sooooooo blonde. ~laugh~ 

After that it was a matter of going thru the things we've put aside to take home, and pack a gift basket to figure out how much more we need to get. While doing this I figured since I'm already working with stuff under bed I should just clean that out, and in so doing managed to clear up some space by putting some unused things down in the basement. (outside compartments).

That finished up it was time to dye Riley's hair with an Intense Purple colour. Not seen in the picture above. It was looking pretty pinky in the bottle, she was pretty worried. ~laugh~ After I finished my part of that duty I decided at 3:30 pm it was time to have some lunch as I hadn't eaten since breakfast. 

Lunch finished for me (Riley had eaten when we first returned home) I went online to find a blood clinic. I found one and chatted with a person on the other end that assured me a Canadian Req form would be no issue. So either tomorrow or Thursday I'll be going there to have some blood work done. I also got the address for one in Long Beach/Gulfport area that I'll need when I'm there. 

Booked some reservations after the blood work chatter for a state park in the Montgomery, Al area for Jan 6 - 17, 2017, and in the Holt, Florida for Jan 17 -24, 2017. 

Riley BBQ'd dinner tonight, veggies with oregano and thyme, potatoes with garlic and onions, along with mild Italian sausages. She did an excellent job!!! I read my book while she cooked dinner, lazy thing that I am. ~laugh~ 

Cleaned up after dinner, called my brother's house, chatted with Sister in law for a while, getting all the latest news that I've missed while being down here. 

End of another great day. Nothing too exciting but busy and full. Someone asked me once, "What do you do all day?" Truthfully, I'm not really sure but the days seem to be over before I know it. ~laugh~ 

Thanks for stopping by, I hope you've enjoyed your visit. Feel free to leave a comment. Until next time...be safe, take care......

Another great day......

Our Location: Devencrest Rv Park, Albany, GA

Another warm overnight and day time today. We were close to breaking the 82F /27 C mark from the recorded highs. We certainly are having some great luck with the weather. I remember other years it not being so nice and warm. I actually am getting a tan. ~laugh~ 

Today's pictures were taken a few years ago in Newberry, South Carolina and Colleton State Park, Walterboro, SC. This was the old Igloo, 2005 Fleetwood Orbit.

This morning after a thorough cleaning of the inside of the Igloo, which of course happens every Monday (unless we are moving), we decided we had some things to return to Walmart and wanted to get that accomplished before the day got too far advanced. We opted to skip our walk today.

The Wally's World wasn't overly busy, just seemed the regular amount of cars in the lot. The inside didn't seem to busy either. The only odd thing was customer service was being handled at 3 of the cash registers instead of the little area designated as customer service. We didn't see any long lines, great sales or evidence that it was anything but another regular day. 

We returned one mini blind that was the wrong size, and bought two more that were the correct size. All of that took us about 20 minutes, which was not long at all. We walked thru the store a bit just to check on sales and then headed back to the check out. 

 

After that successful trip we went around the corner to Home Hardware where I was interested in purchasing some lights for the Igloo. We've purchased a few LED white lights for a reasonable price but I don't like them, the light is too weak and bland, and so I wanted to change those. I had purchased some Moonray bulbs that were excellent in both brightness and colour and wanted to get some more. Today we managed to find some that work great, and are only 7 watts each. The 4 watt bulbs weren't quite bright enough for me. The 10 watt bulbs are excellent and I'll be looking for more of both 7 and 10 watts.

Finishing up at Home Hardware the time read 11:30 am. Where does the time go? I'm telling you folks, it's just slipping by faster than ever. Time to head home and get some lunch. However we didn't go straight home, as we were already going past the road to Leesburg, GA we decided to drop into the Mike's Country Store there to pick up a few things and have a look at their stock of Mike's own products. We left with very few items as the prices are much more expensive in that store. We will be returning to our local Mike's in the next few days to stock up on a few items to tide us over during the summer.

 From Leesburg it was home to the Igloo and some serious reading time. Well actually first I had to install the new kitchen blind. Easy, peasy and within 15 minutes I was finished. After that I had lunch outside while reading my book and enjoying the warm temps and sweet sun shine. No need to worry about prepping dinner as it's left overs from yesterday. Aww, the good life, warm sunshine, great temps, no cooking!!!

Left overs for dinner and a quick clean up that turned into a long clean up. ~laugh~ We have a water jug on the counter that we fill with water from 1 gallon bottled water jugs, then dispense it into our drinking jugs. Much less expensive than buying bottled water by the case and we drink a LOT of water in a day. I decided that needed to be cleaned and began by just washing it and running some hot water thru it but I couldn't seem to get it clean enough. Long story short, I took it apart and washed all the parts and pieces to the spout. It looks much better and is much cleaner now. I can always find things to do. ~laugh~ 

 I took down all the Christmas stuff today, took about 5 minutes. ~laugh~ Tomorrow will be a cleaning day for certain but it will be outside stuff, the Dogsled, the basement, check tire pressure, etc. Won't pack the BBQ or the chairs just yet but I'll be putting the ladder away and just cleaning everything up again which I haven't done for a while outside.

 Tonight we will be sleeping with the windows and vents open again. Just love these kinds of nights!!!

I believe we've solved Miss Kitty litter issues. She seems to be quite content now and believe me Her Royal Highness lets us know if she's not 100 percent happy. ~laugh~

So ends another fantastic day here in Albany, GA. Our days here are getting fewer and we are ready to move on as hitch itch is setting in. We will be going to Hinesville, GA when we leave here Jan 3 or 4. A bit of a backtrack for us but necessary. More on that later. 

Thanks for stopping by, hope you had a great day as well. Feel free to leave a comment. 

Until next time...be safe, take care......