I'll try to redeem now ..

I'm trying to figure out where we've been and what we've done since the last post - and YES I do realize the last real post was two weeks ago, as we were leaving the great campground on the Mississippi River outside Memphis, TN.

When we left there we went to a Moose Lodge in West Monroe, LA for a few nights before we went 25 miles down the road to Choudrant, LA to have the latest mods done to the coach. We were in Choudrant for two nights at the house of the couple who does the mods - they are so gracious they have rv hook ups and a little house that we can stay in or do laundry or whatever while they are working on the coach.

After we left Choudrant we went to a campground in Mt. Olive, MS that I found on line I guess. I am still unsure if it is a state park or county park, but we had a full hook up with 50 amps for a "Passport America" rate of $7.50. The first photo of this post was taken there. And by the way, you aren't seeing double - there was another Alfa (our coach manufacturer) that came in two days after we were there. THIS is "my kind" of campground - lots of trees, space between sites peace and quiet, lots of peace and quiet did I mention it was very quiet and peaceful? There was, however, no satellite for us there because of the trees, and yes Chester, even Burger King has wifi, but there was NO Burger King in Mount Olive, MS - trust me!).

We left that campground (I just had to check the book I keep a record of campgrounds we've visited to find out when we left, and the book is behind also .... MY VERY BAD) on Sunday the 22nd (Happy Birthday Gunny Sgt. Lovett) and went to an "Elks Lodge RV Park" in Foley, AL. I put that in quotes because it was a bit different from any other Lodge rv facility we've been to - it was really a private campground (and some of those monthly storage units) behind the Elks Lodge and the second most expensive Lodge facility we've been to - for whatever reason - they charged it and we paid it for a few days. Why it is listed in the Elks rv travel book is beyond me, but it is duly noted in our book.

So yesterday we traveled the whole 25 miles over Perdido Bay to a great Lodge in Pensacola where we stayed for a couple night in our first few months on the road - will do a post about that in a few minutes (maybe?!?!) because I am having trouble loading a very important photo to coordinate it - actually what will be the theme of the entire short post)

Okay, so on to other things now that I've caught us all up. Well I haven't really caught us up so I need to digress for a moment. Rick and I have been fighting bitchin' colds for a week and a half. I am tired of feeling like crap and tired of being tired - but then again, I've been tired of being tired for about six months - what the hell is with all of this anyway?? Anyway, so the colds have really whacked us and I just had no inclination to blog or anything else - including the major sewing project I am working on that has a serious deadline.

Isn't that a great look Sir is giving Rick in the photo above - true devotion, listening to every syllable right? Yeah, sure ~ we're talking Sir Arlo here, so not so much. The key to it all is that Rick told Sir he could not have the "critter" on the table right then. So the story of the "critter ... ummmm it goes like this.

Some years ago I had a dog - the best dog in the whole entire world ... she (Bittersweet) was my best pal, my best caretaker, my best you name it. We adopted our Bittersweet when she was a tiny puppy and my boys were still small. We'd "lost" a dog a few months prior and for whatever reason decided it was time to have a dog rule our life again ... so off Joshua and I went one Sunday to meet this prospective new family member (Chad was not in favor of having a dog - he wanted "Gypsy" back). Well Josh and I returned home a couple hours later with Bittersweet cuddle gently in Josh's lap (he named her).

Through the years the boys grew, life happened and I was pretty much alone - it was "B"and I and let me tell you that dog was my protector. I had an incident when emergency medical attention was necessary and Ms B was my protector when the EMT's came in the front door and attended to me, her person, laying on the floor. So the EMT's had to deal with me and my fearless dog at that moment! Ms B became quite ill and lost the battle about eight years ago - Rick and I were, of course, devastated, but good memories eventually took hold. WOW, I digressed on that one didn't I.

Okay, back on track here - end the trip down memory lane for the most part - Rick and I bought Ms B this gopher stuffed toy that made a grunting noise when you squeezed (squose??? what is past tense of squeeze?) it's sides. Ms B was petrified of that noise (as well as having medicine dispensed to her) and would run upstairs and "hide" under one of the beds. Eventually the gopher just got put aside with other family treasures, the years passed, we lost our Ms B and many years later along came Sir Arlo (we were never having another dog you know) and Sir found that gopher in the treasure chest of family memories. Sir was NOT, in any way, afraid of the grunting noise. That original gopher is still in Sir's toy box today.

As I was walking Sir around our campsite at the fabulous place in Mt. Olive I saw, out of the corner of my eye, something that looked like a very dead, very old, very gross critter that I was sure was at one point a very alive critter - haven't a clue what type of critter, but I knew that fella was no longer a frolicking anything. It was greenish and just kind of yucky, so after I first saw it I never walked Sir by it because I knew he was going to want to make it play. As well as that fear, I kept forgetting to mention it to Rick. When I finally did tell Rick, being the brave soul he is, went over to where it was (as I directed from inside the coach, telling him it looked just like a green gopher and to go left, go over, go straight ahead, out the open window!) got near it, got a big stick and picked it up and gosh darn if it wasn't a gopher just like Ms B's gopher from years ago - although much greener! Surprisingly it didn't stink - why would that be? So I put it in a bucket of bleach and hot water, then brought it in the coach and put it in our washer - extra rinse, high speed cycle thank you very much!

And that gopher, my friends, is "Camelot's Sir Arlo's" most favorite new friend - when we return home from being out anywhere we are greeted with Sir holding one of the gophers in his mouth as a prize.

That same day, Sir decided, for whatever reason and I can't possibly imagine what that reason may be, he needed to climb into one of the outside storage areas of the coach. This is the bay that holds our outside lounge chairs, the rugs that rarely come out of there, some of our tacky lawn ornaments, the grill, a cooler ... various "stuff". He came out with nothing, but was on a mission for a few minutes ~ never happened in our two years on the road or since but it was what worked that day.

As we were out touring the Mt. Olive :-) area one day we came across Hot Coffee, MS (I don't make this stuff up). Vovo Roy, the town made me think of you (for I hope obvious reasons and perhaps Patrick's comment when y'all thought he was sleeping). By the way, when I went to find a link to Hot Coffee I expected my usual wikipedia (I LOVE wikipedia) but came up with this great National Geographic one that has music, seemingly appropriate for the area, that I will most definitely have to go peruse.

More of the tour of the Mt. Olive area. The lovely park we were at had a large lake where sometimes the locals would come spend a quiet afternoon on the dry end of a fishing line. Sir and I had been down there one day chasing sticks and wading when there were no fishing persons there.

One day when we were out doing "errands" or something I drove down to the lake to show Rick how "neat" it was. When we were there so were some fisherpersons. Rick took the pictures - hope y'all can expand them enough to appreciate them .... typical local scenery, but we loved it.

In closing, Kimberly or Jack, have you ever known a bovine named Bovina? Rick and I have had so so much fun with the name of a town called Bovina!

Am I making progress at redemption? Now if y'all would offer some advice to get rid of the colds and gain some energy I'd be appreciating it?