Guess we decided to hang out in a place that has temperatures as hot s our own (it said 109 on the marquee a few minutes ago) and different sorts of bugs than we have, with the ocean. Thanks Pidge, it was fantastic! It was LF's first time at the shore and he was fearless. I'd post the two pictures which show him running towards and away from the tide, but photobucket or gardenweb is preventing posting (changing my typed in URLs) :( We had a blast. We drove down I-65 until it ran out. Seconds before it did, the conversation went something like, "We have to choose, left is Florida, right is New Orleans". "Uhh... Left then. We'll go to New Orleans tomorrow.". LF and I were stung by jellyfish(?) and lived. Jumping in the surf, splashing in the waves, sitting on the sand sipping brews, we all got what we came for. Since we stayed on Santa Rosa Island, we drove to the tip end of it in the morning. That afternoon, we were in New Orleans. LF was able to taste beignet and cafe au lait, the sites were amazing (as many previous times have been) and sad (destroyed roofs, windows, walls, FEMA trailers as far north as Hattiesburg, MS). They are rebuilding, they're alive and their spirit is soaring. Unfortunately, they're still not done and much repair is continuing. Our hotel was at 12% occupancy and we ened up with a corner room overlooking the Mississippi and downtown NO, normally worth $525. We paid $129 for it. While we dined on our french doughnuts, we were serenaded by Goldie. He sang The Way You Look Tonite with Lady in Red mixed in, his own rendition. I heard America singing and saw a phoenix rising. Fun vacation!

My husband and I were camping last weekend at Unicoi State Park. The scenery was beautiful. ( after it stopped raining. lol ) I love nature and everything about it. I went for a short walk to check it out and I noticed there was a large # of large and small trees resemblig a pine of some sort. But with out the pine tree bark. You know what I mean? It stood up like a ceder tree but not the look on the bark. I am hoping I can have someone tell me what those trees are and where I can get one for my yard. I live north of Macon, Ga. . Thank You in advance, Mrs. Faith Gunter

Oh boy! After half a day of digging we discover a septic field line that is active and located no where near where it should be. Gonna have to move the pool location or kill a field line an add another somewhere else. Apparently the drawing on record from the 80's is inaccurate. Dept of health was out prior to digging to locate a replacement field for the future. But they don't locate your current field lines, that's on me. With no hydrostatic pressure Valve in the pool does it really matter if you pool walls are 10' off the field line trenches, that is the question.... Gonna talk to the pool builder in the morning and see what he thinks we should do. Apparently the dept of health and their drawings are worthless....gonna have to good ole boy it.

get out your atlases for this one. Or just dial up google maps-that's what I do. Friday night the newlyweds spent in Mitchell, OR. Saturday, they rode to Redmond. We decided that on Sunday, DH and I would drive down from Portland to Sisters and meet them there, because they were planning on climbing the McKenzie Pass-5325 feet-and a lot of tight switchbacks on the way up and even tighter on the way down. The trailer would not only be a weight, but a safety hazard on the tight, steep climb and descent. Portland to Sisters is about 2.5 hours, the second part mostly through the Willamette State Forest. As DH said, it was a 70 mile calendar shot. Absolutely stunning scenery. Sisters is an arty little town-reminds me of Cape May, NJ-lots of cute little shops in a cute little town with cute buildings in a pretty setting. (Cynical R Us-but I'd move there in a heartbeat.) We met the kids right outside of town, driving past them one way, then the other, then finally seeing them on the opposite side of the road waving and yelling. (I hadn't had any tea.) We loaded the trailer into the rental SUV, fed them a quick breakfast from the cute little bakery, and off they rode. Although the Appalachians had steeper slopes, and the Rockies were longer sustained climbs resulting in much higher altitudes, this would probably be their most challenging individual climb due to the switchbacks and the lack of shoulder--cyclists (and there are lots of them) ride in the car lane because the roadside edges end in nothingness and a straight shot down. The plan was we would follow in a couple hours and find them on the way up, give them water and food, then continue up and over and wait for them at the bottom. DH and I perused the cute little town for a while, hit the used book shop (two Elizabethan-era mysteries from a new-to-me author) had lunch, bought the water, gator ade and sandwiches as requested, succumbed to the cute little ice cream shoppe, then set off on our climb up the pass. It was tough to drive, much less pedal. DH complained that he wasn't seeing any of the scenery because he daren't take his eyes off the road for a second. I was busy watching the road ahead for the kids, with the occasional glance down over the cliffs........ We got to the summit without having seen them. As we pulled into the parking area, I heard "what kept you, you with 4 wheels and a motor?" They had made amazing time without the 70 pounds dragging them down and achieved their goal of beating us to the summit. There is an observatory at the top which looks out over the scenery, including the lava fields, many mountains with famous names, and a lake. Breathtaking. After visual appreciation time and a tailgate for the kids, DH and I took off down the mountain ahead of them. it was harder than going up-a route drawn by Zorro. Speed limits of 20 mph that drivers actually respected. No passing. We got to the pull-over at the bottom and pulled over (natch) to...