Nashville, the Hermitage

Above is the front view of Andrew Jackson's mansion, The Hermitage, just east of Nashville. This historic place is one of the best tours we have been on. They have terrific audio tour sets, free!!! There is a museum, informational video, and acres of beautiful grounds. The garden is awesome, as is the graveyard where the family is buried.

If in the area, this is a must see.

Here is Ellen at the side entrance to the Hermitage.

We spent a few days looking at properties around Nashville...Mount Juliet (just east of Nville) has a beautiful Del Webb, and there were developments in Gallatin and Murfreesboro. Any of these places would be great to move into, although all are a little bit pricey.

Ellen has finally kicked her intestinal bug! She has been having trouble since we got back from Mexico Sep 24. It has been a long haul, lots of discomfort and limited activity. It is great to have her back to normal.

Murray Kentucky

Spent Wednesday racing around Murray KY (pop. 15,500) with a realtor to check out this community near Kentucky Lake. The racing was due to Rebecca's lead foot. Murray is a nice town, lots of good restaurants, a very nice college town, home of Murray St. University. Saw about 5 houses, 4 of which were brick. LOTS of brick homes. The neighborhoods were nice and quiet and well kept up, but we are pretty sure Murray is not for us.

It is a pretty 'young' town in terms of population, very conservative--with Tea Party meetings frequently, "dry" (not weather, alcohol), and we felt the house prices were kind of high. It seems to be a pretty vibrant community, and the recession has not hammered the town. The county has the lowest unemployment rate in the state.

So, step one in our search for our future home town is over.

Ellen is still having repercussions on her abdominal difficulties. We may need to see a specialist soon.

Sculpture in WI

This is a post from the past...when we were in west central Wisconsin this summer, we stayed in Baraboo, and got to visit an amazing sculpture garden just off highway 12 south of that town. I cannot remember the guy's name, but he collected a whole bunch of scrap iron parts, and welded hundreds of fantastic fanciful sculptures. Some were like 30 feet tall!!! Some were painted, some not. Some were small, like 12 inches tall, some moved, some were like wind chimes on a huge scale. And it is free! Here are a few photos.

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License Renewal

Ellen' South Dakota driver's license was going to expire on her birthday, Feb, 4, 2012. We decided we did not want to be in South Dakota in February!!! Fortunately, she could renew 6 months before or after her birthday, so we pulled the Excel to Tea, SD, 10 miles southwest of Sioux Falls, where the DMV was.

To get a renewal license, one needs several documents due to the strict regulations put in place following 9/11. The scary part is South Dakota did not fully comply with the Federal Regulations until 2009!!!

Further, to renew the SD license as a 'full time RVer', one needs a receipt for one night's stay in the state. After Ellen filled out a form and got to the window, the clerk informed Ellen that the receipt from the Red Barn Campground her name was not on it! So, back out to Tea to re-do the receipt!

All was good then, especially having lunch afterwards at Applebee's.

Frontier Days, Fort Dodge, IA

Wahoo!!! Frontier Days is an annual celebration of Fort Dodge. All kinds of stuff going on here, with music, a Lone Ranger Impersonator (no Tonto) on Silver, Lots of vendors selling everything from fake dreamcatchers to snakeskin belts to skunk hats--kind of like Davy Crockett's coonskin cap but black and white. And this interesting covered wagon with this frontier doggy riding shotgun.

Oh and thay had an old tyme speling bea, too. Alec Pendry and I participated on Saturday, and each of us got a ribbon--he an honorable mention, and I earned a second place finish. I missed 'proselyte', and I missed it badly. It was somewhat uncomfortable standing up and trying to visualize the spelling of a given word, and then vocalizing it correctly. Hadn't done this since 6th grade!!! It was kinda fun, in a weird sort of way.

Now where can I hang this ribbon in the RV?

Gowrie and Fort Dodge, IA

Erin getting ready to make her move as Mason and Jaiden look on

We have been in the Gowrie and Fort Dodge area for a couple of weeks now. We had been in Washington visiting daughter Heather's Family. Had a great time there.

We have managed to play a few games of Catan with Erin and the kids. I think Erin is hooked more on the game than I am! And Jaiden loves it too. Good players all.

We also have seen some soccer games, and music programs, and a couple of funerals too. We squeezed a few days in at Minneapolis, seeing daughter Jenn's family.

We took Mason and Ethan to Kung Fu Panda II in 3D. Wow, this movie was beautiful. The 3D effects at times were amazing, but the Chinese landscapes and architecture was jaw dropping!

We are staying at friend's Alec and Charlton Pendry's RV spot Alec fixed up for us. It has been great to catch up with them too. The weather has been soooo different than what we had in AZ. Clouds!!! Rain!!! Humidity!!!! yuk.

Marilyn is to my right

I did get to go to an art teacher retirement deal this week at Olde Boston's downtown Fort Dodge. Marilyn Olivari from Rockwell City was celebrating her 'freedom'. She had taken my position at Fair Oaks Middle School five years ago. She looked great and was truly excited about retirement. I am amazed I have been out of work for 5 years!