Procrastination refers to the act of putting off actions or tasks to a later time.
(From Wikipedia)
Procrastinating is easy to do and then gets easier with each time we put off the task. I can't believe that it has been almost a year since I've written on my blog. I hope to do better about this. I've also worked on my art site too and added some new paintings, but I'm still behind in photographing paintings and updating my inventory list.
 |
| Hoping to get fit |
Terry and I have been really enjoying "retirement". Traveling in the Chinook motorhome is trying to become the main extra-curricular activity. Terry is working on something for the motor home all the time, making a bigger bed, hooking up TV and satellite radio. He built me a beautiful section of shelving that works great in the kitchen area that holds all of the can goods, along with extra shelving and hooks. He's also added things to the outside of the camper to hold the batteries and bicycles. Since the last update, we've joined the Chinook Camping Club and attended a rally in Crossville, Tennessee. Lots of fun.
 |
| St. Andrews Resident |
This year we've managed to go to St. Andrews State Park in Panama City, Florida. A beautiful park that prompted us to go and buy bicycles so we could ride around and see things. This was a great way to get around St. Andrews and I also thought that it would be such a good exercise when we got home. I really wasn't thinking, Florida is nice and flat, Snellville is nice and hilly, and forget Ellijay with it's north Georgia mountains. So the bikes aren't getting quite as much use as I had planned, but they do get a little use in Snellville and around the campgrounds. This little bird was walking along the shoreline.
We are trying to visit all of the National Parks and don't have many left to go, so we added two more to our list. We worked our way up to Minnesota and Voyageurs National Park located at International Falls. Voyageurs is a water-based park where you must leave your car and take to the water to fully experience the lakes, islands, and shorelines of the park. We did take a boat trip around the park and it was quite beautiful. There are really unusual rock formations from the glaciers melting thousands of years ago. The voyageurs, who paddled large birch bark canoes carrying trade goods and furs between the Canadian northwest and Montreal is why the park is called Voyageurs. They sure must have been some strong people to withstand all it took to survive.
 |
| Boat to Isle Royale |
We left International Falls and headed north to Canada, going across the top and through a Canadian Provencial Park to Thunder Bay, Canada. We spent the night here and then traveled down to Grand Portage where we were able to get a boat to Isle Royale. Minnesota and Michigan both sort of claim Isle Royale but it is really in Michigan. We camped in a beautiful spot right on Lake Superior, looking out to beautiful scenery and had visits from beavers that were raising a family under the marina dock. Early one morning they were playing in the harbour and then raised a ruckus because we were watching them. One went out into the lake one evening and came back with a huge tree top. So in between our scrabble games we were entertained by the wildlife.
Isle Royale’s physical isolation and primitive wilderness is beautiful and inhabited by wolves and moose. The story goes that the wolves walked over on the ice and the moose swam over in the summer. Accessible only by boat or seaplane, people experience the park by hiking its trails, paddling its inland waterways
 |
| Isle Royal Ranger talk |
and exploring its rugged coast. We went on the nature walk with the Ranger and it is to me a very lonely place to visit. You really are roughing it and we saw groups of young people that had hiked the island and were catching the boat to go back to civilization with us. There were a group of teenage girls that sat near us on the boat and they were beyond dirty, I think they probably just threw there clothes away when they got home. If you go to Isle Royale be prepared to rough it. I'm sure they were all having the time of their life though, because it is all quite beautiful. There are sunken ships in the waters approaching the island because of the treacherous Lake Superior waters and an old lighthouse. We enjoyed our visit but I was glad that we could get back on the boat and go back to my creature comforts. There are only about 22,000 people visit Isle Royale every year compared to the Grand Canyon that has over 4 million. Everyone should visit the National Parks they are really beautiful and a wonderful experience for young and old alike.
I went to Folly Beach with my artist friends and we painted plein air. They rent a beautiful house on the beach and all week you just immerse yourself in art, from painting plein air and in the house, to talking art and visiting galleries in Charleston; it's really great. While in Charleston I managed to work in a little genealogy, finding some relatives at the Magnolia Cemetery and a book that mentions my Cordes family that lived in Charleston in the 1800's. My sister went with me so we had alot of fun with the "Folly Group" and have made some new friends.
 |
| Beautiful Lake Claytor |
Didn't even unpack, Terry wanted to go to Shenandoah National Park before the leaves were gone, so we packed up and took off. The leaves were maybe a little past their peak but not far from it, the color was gorgeous turning the darker jewel colors. The first night we stayed at Claytor Lake State Park in Virginia and were in a tornado watch. Stayed snug though but it was really starting to get cold. By the time we got to Shenandoah it was really cold and we used the furnace. The drive through Shenandoah is so pretty and this time I was able to plein air paint some. Maybe I'll get the hang of it sooner rather than later. As always the deer are everywhere and also saw Ranger programs on the Owls. We were lucky that was the last program for the year (campfire talks at night and the owl viewing and talk the next morning). We even hiked a little on the Appalachian Trail.
Stayed for two nights and then headed back down the parkway towards Danville and spent the night, Halloween, at Paradise Lake. They had a hayride for the kids and they were going around the lake and you could hear them laughing and hollering, finally stopping about 10 pm. Went on to bed and then up about 8 to have breakfast and then get back on the road heading towards Asheville. We were going to go down the Blue Ridge Parkway but decided we'd had enough of twisting roads and took the better road.
The campground in Asheville, Mama Gerties, was extremely nice. Wasn't real big but up on the side of a mountain looking out with lots of foliage. We went into Asheville the next day and visited art galleries and had lunch, then headed on home to pick up Toby, who was staying with Pat and Greg.
I think we're getting our money's worth out of our little Chinook camper. Hope I haven't bored you all too much with my travel. I know my kids always dread going through all of the "pictures" when we get home, not quite the same as being there I guess. Terry and I are making lots of good memories though.
We are trying to visit all of the National Parks and don't have many left to go, so we added two more to our list. We worked our way up to Minnesota and Voyageurs National Park located at International Falls. Voyageurs is a water-based park where you must leave your car and take to the water to fully experience the lakes, islands, and shorelines of the park. We did take a boat trip around the park and it was quite beautiful. There are really unusual rock formations from the glaciers melting thousands of years ago. The voyageurs, who paddled large birch bark canoes carrying trade goods and furs between the Canadian northwest and Montreal is why the park is called Voyageurs. They sure must have been some strong people to withstand all it took to survive.
Stayed for two nights and then headed back down the parkway towards Danville and spent the night, Halloween, at Paradise Lake. They had a hayride for the kids and they were going around the lake and you could hear them laughing and hollering, finally stopping about 10 pm. Went on to bed and then up about 8 to have breakfast and then get back on the road heading towards Asheville. We were going to go down the Blue Ridge Parkway but decided we'd had enough of twisting roads and took the better road. 
our way to Vermont. We thought we should have gone earlier, but I had a workshop with Ann Templeton, a fabulous artist. It was great and I can't wait to paint, but had to put it off because the leaves were quickly turning. We left on Monday October 19th. Worked our way up through Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania and New York before we finally got to Vermont. The leaves are beautiful!
at the Big Meadow. It was beautiful with all of the color. I painted a little watercolor while Terry went out and hiked the trail at the Big Meadow. He came back excited because he had managed to see some larger deer with horns and even a black bear. There had been 4 inches of snow a few days before and you could still see remnants of it. I bet it was really pretty too. The weather was beautiful for us cool but not cold.
er did find where it was, right road but no campground. So as we are leaving to go back to I-81 we saw another sign. So... we finally found a beautiful campground by East Lake. We stayed the night there and they had beautiful stone buildings with lots of fir trees that were huge. They had lots for children to do in the summertime, pool, putt-putt golf, horseback riding and game rooms. It was really nice but had a beautiful old charm with those stone buildings. 
In Shelburne we went to the Shelburne Museum, a fantastic museum. They were having a special event showing of motorcycles and Tiffany glass lamps. I was able to make lots of pictures of the 38 historic buildings that they have on the property. You were even able to make pictures inside as long as you didn't use a flash. So I really enjoyed this museum and we spent almost all day there. What we didn't realize was that it was the last normal day of the museum being open for the season. The next day they were having a 
Halloween party and expected 2000 people to attend.... not quite what we were looking for.
ws it down to their collector tank. All of the tanks and cooking vats ar
e stainless steel and I never would have thought inside their barn they had all of this equipment. She showed us everything and then offered us to taste the different kinds of syrup. That was especially nice and also not what I thought. The light to dark amber syrup is all equal, the color is determined by the weather/temperature. Each time they make syrup they keep a sample and they were just beautiful sitting up in the window with the light coming through them. I hope to paint a picture of that. The taste test was also a surprise. I have always thought that the better syrup was the dark amber.... with the taste test my favorite was the "fancy", a very light amber, the darker the amber the stronger taste and I didn't like it nearly as much. So we learned all about the maple syrup industry and couldn't leave without buying some fancy maple syrup.
