Moving South (Zolfo Springs, FL)

We have covered a few miles since my last posting.  We are still making our way south towards Key West, FL.  

We stayed for the first time in Three Rivers State Park with a site on the river.  We had a great view of the airboats passing by while letting the cats explored.  We only stayed for one night and wished we had planned for more nights.  Maybe next time. 

 Our next stop was at the Suwanee River State Park.  We have been here before and had enjoyed walking the Lime Sink Run Trail several times.  This time of year it is not so much fun between large spiders making huge webs to walk through and mosquitoes having lunch on us.

Needless to say, we only walked it once this time. 😐

I did get a few good photos between ducking and dodging....

The big wheel below is from an old paddle wheel steamboat near the river path.  A much better walk under big shady trees with Spanish moss.

Next stop was Clermont, FL near Orlando.  Since June, my schedule has been to get out early before the day becomes too hot and humid for walking.  As soon as I return, we take cats out.  Hard to believe Fall officially starts tomorrow.  The weather still feels more like mid-July.

Most days have been very hazy so we end up spending most of our time indoors unless we have some shopping to do.

One good thing about hot days is that it does motivate me to get moving early enough to get those golden moment photos!  I'm rarely out the door before sunrise. 😀 ...or out of bed. 😴

By noon, the clouds are building up and soon we have a downpour that will last for about an hour or two.

We even had a nice rainbow one day.

Did I mention that our site backed up to a cattle's field?  It must have been a large fenced in area because the cattle only showed up once in awhile. I have never seen such happy cattle with so much energy by showing off their prancing and head butting skills.

We had a couple of visitors one day.  One of the Sand Cranes was begging for food until I showed him open hands.  Can a Sand Crane looked disgusted?  This one certainly gave it a good try as he walked away from me. "The nerve of some people.  Take a photo and NOT offer any food! Really!"

One more photo of the lake reflecting the clouds before we left the Orlando TT campground.

Dan discovered a Cat Cafe nearby.  I have read about the cafes in Japan and never thought we would have the opportunity to visit one in the US and here was one within a 10 minute drive from our campground!

 

The Orlando Cat Cafe is a partnership between the Axum Coffee and the Florida SPCA. All cats are up for adoption.

We ordered a small lunch with drinks from the cafe and paid $8 each to enter the Cat's room.  They limit the cat's room to 20 visitors at a time.  It was a slow day for visitors so it was nice and quiet for the cats.  We spent our time eating lunch, watching cats play or wander around, and hearing about their stories.

A very relaxed atmosphere for cats to meet their humans.  After visiting a Humane Society and seeing so many stressed out animals in cages, I have to admit that I was a little worried that I would feel very guilty for not adopting a cat, but they all looked very happy with their new temporary home.  Except for this one....such a woeful look.  Her look must have worked well on someone because her photo is gone from the adoptable list.

I felt good that we were able to donate some time and attention to the cats.  Adoptions have been very good since they started the Cat's Cafe.  I hope this idea catches on in other towns and we start seeing more of them.  

On The Cutting Board

I finally finished quilting all four quilt tops.  

I'm binding them now....

...and getting plenty of supervision from Max.  😻

2 down and 2 more to go!
Happy Quilting!

Rainy Days and Rainy Nights (Foley, AL)

We left Texas last week and made it to Foley, AL in two days.  Our first day of travel was uneventful except for driving through pockets of rain.  The second day was more fun as we crossed through Louisana's waterways and many swamps.  I spotted two 2 alligators!   The highlight of my day!😁

We also crossed the Mississppi River.  As we were going over the bridge, I was reminded of Clive Cussler's Flood Tide.  The adventures in this book brings Dirk Pitt and Al Giordino to the Mississippi River to foil the evil genius.  It was fun trying to imagine the two men on a boat pretending to be local fishermen while an old cruise ship tries to sneak up the Mississippi.  Yea, I know.  Sounds a little over the top, but I do love reading all about Pitt's adventures and I love visiting locations featured in fictional books.

Mississippi River

 Our first day in Foley, AL was a trip to Florida's state park office to get a new pass.  We stopped at Orange Beach which was quite busy with the last vacationers before school started.  I have missed the white sandy beaches of the Gulf Coast.  The sand is soft and as fine as sugar grains that it squeaks if you drag your feet while walking.  Oh! And the big Turtle to the left offers free beach toys for the young visitors to borrow while they are on the beach.  It looks like the visitors are doing a great job of honoring the Turtle because the bin had quite a few toys in it.

Orange Beach, AL

A couple of days later, we visited the Foley Depot Museum & Model Train Exhibit.  The following are photos of the park.

With the look of rain coming our way, we decided to move inside to see the model trains. ☂

 

Below are some photos of the Model Train Exhibit.  The guide turned off the lights so we could see the town with all the night-lights on.  He told me that a group of men got together at one house and spent 14 months building this small, not to mentioned, very detailed town.  The town got so big that they had to cut it into pieces to get it out of the house.  A great place to bring everybody.  The kids were really enjoying the display with the lights off.

 Lots of moving parts.  The ferris wheel is going around while the drive-in behind it is playing a movie with Lucille Ball.

Towards the back, the Fireworks building is on fire.  The firefighters are trying to put it out. 

 My favorite part is the man trying to escape the bear.  According to the guide, the bear is protecting the moonshine still from the revenue guy.  🤣LOL!

And what train track doesn't have a Hobo camp?  Looks like they have found themselves a nice little camping site.

 They even have a list of Hobo Codes. The "Jail with good lodging" is a good one.

 But, my favorite one is the "Kind Lady" code!

Kitty!

Lots of rain in this area which hasn't cooled it off.  It is still hot and humid.  After seeing what is happening in other areas, I am quite happy to deal with this weather.

The fires and the floods seem to be getting worse.  If you are in the NW or the NE states, I hope you and your families are safe.

On The Cutting Board
I'm getting a few things done.  Well, sort of.  I'm not sure what is up with me lately.  I just want to work on a few things and then I put them aside for later.

I started an English Cottage garden themed for the Happy Campers.  I'm really loving the Hollyhocks.  I have actually found them relaxing to make and a joy to watch them grow.

I have finished embroidering quite a few of them, but this is as far as I have gone on them.

Now, I am working on a new ABC Animal quilt.  I'm on the 'B' now and should have the 'C' done soon.

Maybe once the weather cools off just a little, I will fill more like pulling out the sewing machine and getting all the UFO projects done.  In the meantime.....
Happy Quilting!

Better Weather (Sutherlin, OR)

It rained quite a bit last week.  I'm happy to say the smoke has cleared out.  I'm hoping the rain continues over the wildfires and helps in putting them out.   The Timber Valley SKP is starting to look a little empty with so many of the people already heading south for the winter. 

Blue sky!

Dan has been busy with a large checklist that includes working on the motorhome, VA appointments, and dentist appointments.  While he checks things off his list, I have  been staying busy with a few different things.  I'm spending more time outdoors.  Rain or shine, I'm getting in my walks.

Turkeys for neighbors

The cats seem to like our new site.  Which is good because we are here for two months.  They get plenty of entertainment from the wildlife running around our rig.  Dusty and Hitch were having a stare down with a doe yesterday.  I thought I was going to be the one to break up this little stare-down when the doe was startled by a loud noise.  I think the cats high-fived each other and smirked, "yea! we showed her!" 😃

Dusty wore himself out

Max in the meantime, just loves rolling around on the cement pad and soaking up the sun.

Well, no slacking off for me!  I'm on a roll with quilts this month.

On The Cutting Board

After I agreed to sell two of the baby quilts just from posting them in FaceBook, I received a request for another baby quilt.  I'm almost done with it. 

A is for Apples and Ants - yes, a green ant

The customer wanted one with ABCs as the theme because the baby's mom is a teacher.  I just happened to have some ABC fabric.  Do you see the quilt block in the fabric above the bear's head?  Q is for quilts!  My kind for fabric!

B is for Bears and Balloons

I had a lot of fun embellishing this one.  I used crayons, embroidery thread, and permanent fabric ink.

C is for Clouds and Cars

One more photo taken a couple of days ago while getting it setup for pinning.

Well, I better get back to my ABCs!
Happy Quilting!