Aiken Visit

Well, we have been home for a month now, and every day I vow to sit down and write about the most wonderful visit we had with our dear friends in Aiken, SC, and every day goes by, and still “no Blog’! So, finally here it comes!!!!
WOW! What a great time we had with Gwen & Frank Lustig in their “warm and welcoming” home in beautiful Aiken. We met the Lustigs way back in our “previous” life as we began our career with DuPont in Camden, SC. Gwen and I were “mere children” when we became fast friends, and we have not aged or changed one bit!!!! We had such a fun time together, just catching up, sewing and socializing.
Aiken is a very lovely town centered around Equestrian activities and lifestyles. Polo matches, Steeplechase races, and other “horsey” activities abound. We toured the town in a trolley, and learned about the history of the area, and the folks who live there. Many of the streets in the town are unpaved so as not to harm the horse’s feet! We visited the Thoroughbred Hall of Fame, and enjoyed a delicious Southern breakfast at the “Track Kitchen”.
The model railroad you will note has the Reading Terminal in the layout. The gentleman used to work for the Railroad in Phila. And much of the layout is representative of that area. He also set up an LGB size train outside. Really cool!!!!
Our friend, Frank, has become a very, very “gifted” potter. He took his first lesson at the John Campbell Folk School in NC, and very quickly developed his own “style” which as you can see is MAGNIFICENT. He has shown in local Aiken galleries and those in the Rabon Gap, GA area as well. And like many other gifted people, Frank took up his craft at retirement.
We hope you enjoyed our little tour of Aiken. The only trouble is that we got to enjoy Gwen’s yummy meals, and you only saw pictures! Thank you, dear friends, for a very special visit to your lovely town, and home.
We will be on the road again from the middle of June to mid July as we Caravan to Madison, WI. for the International Airstream Rally. We will keep you “Blogged”!!!
Happy Trails,

Mary Ann, Les, and Miss Polly aka. “Devil Bird”

Art and Hobby Show and Surrounding Area Pictures

We want to share some special pictures with you as we prepare to depart Travelers Rest on Thursday, March 19. During our last full week here, we decided to “explore Dade City” and check out some of the great shops they have. Every weekend offers a “festival” of some kind. It is really cool!!! As you can see, I found the wonderful Quilt shop, and have paid many visits since I came down. “Kumquat Kuriousities”, Garden Café, a wonderful old time hardware store, just to name a few of the great shops in the town.

We enjoyed FABULOUS Strawberry Shortcake near Plant City, and as you see, I was crowned “Miss Strawberry Shortcake 2009”! On the drive down to Plant City, notice the Airstreams “planted” in the ground by the highway. Is there no end to the produce the Florida produces??????

There are some “strange sights” roving around the Park, such as Lester on a bike, and the “Aliens” cruising up and down the streets. The golf carts resemble those little critters on the “Wii” game with no legs or feet. They just bounce up and down! Lester actually bought himself a bike, and vows to ride it often. However, he is leaving it down here so he will have it for next winter. Well, so much for that!!!

We are sharing fantastic examples of the talent here in the Park. A Craft and Hobby Show was held yesterday, and we were so impressed at the quality and variety of the talent here. A model steam engine, remote control boats, wood carving, basketry, photography (note Lester’s exhibit), sewing, machine embroidery, quilting, oil and watercolors, and much more. You don’t see any of my work on the quilt table do you??? That is because my quilt is still in the “piece” stage! We were also treated to Root Beer Floats during the show! What more could one ask for?

We are looking so forward to seeing ALL of you again as we travel home, and arrive around April 1. We are sad to leave this warm weather, and the great folks we have met. But, most folks will be leaving the Park in the nest few weeks, and we will all look forward to meeting back here next winter. I had three main goals when I came down here. One-complete my king size quilt top-it is still in the cutting out stage. Two-complete Tucker’s scrapbook-it is still in the car. Three-to lose 15 pounds-you know what happened there! But, we have had a BALL, and that is the best part of this whole time.

We hope you enjoyed following our travels to Florida, and we look forward to all of your “welcome back” hugs!
Blessings, Mary Ann, Les, and Polly

Homossassa Springs Wildlife State Park

Wow! What a fantastic time we had visiting the Homosssassa Springs Wildlife Park on Thursday. We were part of a group from the Digital Photo class Les participates in. This park is definitely something that you do not want to miss when you are down this way. It is very reasonably priced, and the food items are also priced low. What a deal!

We were taken by tram to the main part of the park. From there we could walk along boardwalk through wonderful displays of Florida birds and wildlife,, all in their own habitats. Beautiful Flamingos, Pelicans, Swans, ducks, , and plenty of Turkey Vultures, all cohabitating together. Also, there were Black Bears, Florida Panthers, Otters, a cougar (eat your heart out, Delaware), Balk Eagles, Owls, and many other animals, we viewed “up close and personal”. But, the very best part for us was the Manatee! They make their way up the Homossassa River to the Springs at the head of the river. because of the warmer water. We saw a wonderful demonstration of their feeding, and learned that they are kin to the elephant, and can weight as much as 3000 pounds. They are very gentle, and are vegetarians. Their only enemy is “us” with our boat propellers, fishing lines, and garbage in the water. They prefer shallow warm water, less than 20 feet deep. The Manatee we viewed are ones that had been rescue3d, and they will continue to live there. There are “wild” Manatee that are kept on the other side of the bridge partition, and they will go back out into the rivers and Gulf area

Of course, the Alligators were also on display, and we found them to be very interesting animals. Not nice, but interesting! FYI: After they mate, mommy lays her eggs in a hole in the sand. The babies will be male or female depending on the depth and temperature in the hole. Those which are below 86* will be male, and those above 86* will be female. When the babies are ready to be born, they make a noise, and mommy comes crawling over to the hole. She then helps to remove the shells from them and carries them by mouth, to the edge of the water. She can have 200-300 babies, but only 3 or 4 survive as they become “food” for other creatures. Now, aren’t you glad you know this? The Park also houses Lu, the Hippo! However Lu decided to continue his afternoon nap, and we did not get to see him eat. He weighs 6000 pounds, which is as much as our
Trailer!!!!
Another highlight was the underwater viewing of “schools of fish” around the warm water spring located under the viewing area. The “schools” are so thick with fish, one can not see through to the other side. Fascinating!!!! The spring pumps up 3 million gallons of water each hour!!!!! That was an AWESOME sight!!!

Hopefully, our pictures will do our visit justice. We had a wonderful day, and would have loved having you with us. When we get home we will share them ALL with you.

Take good care! Love, Mary Ann, Les & Polly

Sarasota Rally

We would like to share our adventures at the Sarasota Airstream Rally. We arrived in Sarasota a week ago Tuesday, and arrived back at TR on Sunday. We had a really good time, chatting with friends, attending some workshops and a fashion show, and visiting the vendors. Entertainment, including Ronnie and the Rockets was held every evening, with door prizes and ice cream to follow. What more could one want???? The Vintage Airstreams hosted an “Open House”, and it is really neat to see how folks have fixed up these “oldies but goodies”.

We “thrift shopped” one day, and explored Sarasota. What a pretty city!!! It is “soooooooo Florida”! They hosted a roast beef dinner for all of us on Saturday evening, and there was a wonderful church service on Sunday morning.

When we attend these Rallies, we have electric service of 3 amps, which means that Mary Ann must brew her coffee on the stove, AND Mary Ann’s hair does not always look its perky best because we don’t dare use a hair dryer! I did manage to walk my wet head down to the bathroom and dry it with my electric dryer. I felt much better!!! We have water hookup, and we can shower etc. in our trailer, but we must watch our tanks as we do NOT want them backing up in the trailer. YUCK! So much for the lurid details. We did have fun, and we look forward to our trip to Madison, Wisconsin this summer.

Enjoy,
Les, Mary Ann & Miss Polly