Sunrises & Stouffers

Big Buck’s RV Resort in Tennessee is another Passport Park where we stayed for a couple of days as we headed south this year.

This is a very rare sunrise shot taken while we were there.

Not that the sunrise is that rare, it happens every day.

Thank You God. 

What is rare is the fact that I was up at sunrise to actually take that photo.

The resort is a very remote 212 acre property about an hour and a half east of Memphis. With over 100 RV pads, each pad is very spacious and has its own grill. 

There is a beautiful large, furnished deck with a lake overview. Big Buck has beautiful scenery and is surrounded by many tourist attractions.

The above photos were taken through the windshield of the motorhome. While the quality of the photo may not be impressive . . . you have to admit that’s not a bad view of our front yard.

And now back in the kitchen . . .

While I try to avoid using processed foods I do try to keep a few items on hand for a quick meal. Something that we can enjoy after spending the day doing touristy things.

This was one of many varieties that we found in the freezer section and one that I would recommend for a couple of reasons. It’s quick and it was less than $4.00.

We like shrimp so I added these:

And a little more sauce:

This is what we ended up with. Yum!

The vegetables are flash frozen and it was all very fresh and tasty.

Another quick and easy idea for an appetizer or as a side . . .

Romaine lettuce boats. I had some seafood salad on hand but you can use whatever you have and your imagination. Just for perspective, that plate is a salad plate and not a dinner plate.

Today, I’m grateful for sunrises and the ever changing views out my front window.

del.icio.us Tags: Tennessee,Big Bucks,2011

E-Cigs & more Cowboyisms - as told by The Cowboy

SMOKE, SMOKE, SMOKE THOSE CIGARETTES!!
So I have only been a smoker for the past 50 odd years. I have quit many times. Mealtime, bedtime, plane rides, Grandkid times, you get it. I did quit once for about 4 months, I remember because it was the longest 4 months of my life. Those that don’t smoke won’t understand but those that do smoke will.
Anyone who may have tried to stop knows it isn't easy. They will give you the drugs, the patch, the gum and the list goes on. But you STILL want to have that cigarette.

About a month ago our friend Vicki came bubbling and bouncing into our rig with big news. She was so excited she couldn’t contain herself. She babbled on for an hour about something called an “E-Cigarette”. You would have thought she had just left a Southern Baptist revival meeting.
Now I had noticed at some flea markets these people puffing on a plastic cigarette and blowing out what looked like smoke and my only thought was “What a Loser” if you think that makes you look COOL you have a problem. You may as well be sucking on a toothpick or a drinking straw.
We ended up going out for brunch (I stopped smoking for that 2 hours too) and after we decided to look into this E-cigarette thing.
How exciting.

Some of you may not know me but those that do would probably tell you I am about as easy to convince as a mule with a defective hearing aid when it comes to something new. I took one puff on this E-cig and I was converted. I didn’t realize that this wasn’t just a plastic looking pencil. It is a nicotine delivery system without all that Tar, Hydrogen Cyanide and goop you get with cigarettes. It actually tastes great, helps me with my craving for nicotine and gives me the same satisfaction of having a real cigarette. I instantly went from 25 to 30 cigs a day down to 6 to 8. (Update: It’s been about 2-1/2 weeks since I’ve had a cigarette.)
Check out this YouTube link below to see what The Doctors on the TV show “The Drs” have to say.
Electronic Cigarette-ecigarette- Featured on The Doctors TV Show
I feel so much better, I can sleep at night and I can breathe better. Now I’m not going to run any marathons but I can once again carry the groceries in without panting like a beagle in heat.
For those of you in the London, Ontario area you can get these things at the Gibraltar Flea Market for the others I have a few web links that I have found.

Madvapes.com
E Cig Express
I will tell you that with Christmas coming on one of the BEST gifts you could possibly give to any smokers you may have in the family is an E-cigarette kit. Just be sure and get one with a refillable “tank” and some E-liquid with nicotine. Total package is well under $ 100.00. Less than a flower arrangement sent to the funeral home.
Signing out but always remember; “Never kick a cow patty on a hot day!”

Food for Your Body & Your Mind

There are always tons of things for Winter Texans to do down here in The Valley. Our activities usually consist of anything physical or cultural eating!

On this particular day . . .

We started out with our usual 2 hour coffee this morning before heading over to Port Isabel for their annual Shrimp Cook Off.

Each year over a ton of fresh Gulf shrimp is expertly prepared by over two dozen professional and amateur chefs who compete for top honors.

We have never seen so many different ways to enjoy shrimp.

 

Live entertainment, specializing in authentic versions of rock, soul, and classic hits from the 50s, 60s and 70s.

   

They were set up under a huge tent and there was lots of rockin’ & rollin’ goin’ on in there.

There were a lot of vendors offering a wide variety of crafts, collectibles or that elusive object d’arte that added to the day’s experience plus games and rides were available for children of all ages.



From there we headed on over to South Padre Island to take in their Kite Festival on the beach.

 

This was a much smaller event than the one we usually attend in early February but just as much fun.

They have competitions for individuals or for teams that provide a wonderful ballet in the air,

all with wonderful music in the background.

Amazing!

The weather was perfect for sitting on the beach and watching those kites soar aimlessly.

 

Even though we don’t belong to that crazy work-a-day world anymore we still believe that Sunday’s should be set aside for nourishing your soul. You can do this by attending a church, spending quality time with your family or curled up quietly with your favorite book.

Eating shrimp and chasing kites . . .

What a great way to spend a Sunday!

How do you replenish your spirit?

del.icio.us Tags: South Padre Island,Kite Festival

Natchez Trace Parkway

This has to be one of the most tranquil, scenic drives in the whole country.

A few years ago we travelled and stayed in Hohenwald, TN, near the northern part of The Natchez Trace. That was our first taste of this little piece of heaven and as promised to ourselves, not to be our last.

This year, since we were enjoying such nice weather and we were in no rush so we opted to travel the southern section of The Trace for about another 270 miles.

Also known as the ‘Old Natchez Trace’, this historical path extends about 444 miles through three states and 10,000 years of North American history from Natchez, Mississippi to Nashville, Tennessee.

There are no commercial vehicles permitted on this wonderful two lane piece of serenity.

The Parkway commemorates the most significant highway of the Old Southwest.

The natural travel corridor that became the Natchez Trace dates back many centuries. It bisected the traditional homelands of the Natchez, Chickasaw, and Choctaw nations. As the United States expanded westward in the late 1700s and early 1800s, growing numbers of travelers tramped the rough trail into a clearly marked path. The ”sunken” sections you can walk along today are clear signs of historic use. In 1801 President Thomas Jefferson designated the Trace a national postal road for the delivery of mail between Nashville and Natchez.

Gen. Andrew Jackson, Jefferson Davis, James Audubon, Meriwether Lewis (who died on the Trace in 1809), and Ulysses S. Grant are among the famous Americans to have traveled the Natchez Trace.

Most travelers were anonymous working folks. In the early 1800s through the mid-1820s, “Kaintucks” from the Ohio River Valley floated cash crops, livestock, and other materials down the Mississippi River on wooden flatboats. At Natchez or New Orleans, they sold their goods, sold their boats for lumber, and walked or rode horseback toward home via the Old Trace. As the road was improved, stands (inns) provided lodging, food, and drink to Trace travelers.

With the rise of steamboat culture on the Mississippi, the Trace lost its importance as a national road, as goods could be moved more quickly and cheaply, in greater quantity, on the river.

There were rest areas and plenty of places to pull over and enjoy nature or you could find your own spot to stop and add water to the radiator. Or something?

The speed limit is only 55 mph and there was very little traffic on the morning that we were traveling. We did meet another motorhome . . .

heading in the wrong direction? Or maybe heading to the Tiffin Plant in Red Bay?

There was a short distance of devastation caused by the storms earlier this year.

Ross Barnett Reservoir:

If you have not experienced this beautiful and calming stretch of highway you owe it to yourself  . . . another item for that bucket list.

 

 

del.icio.us Tags: Natchez Trace,Red Bay,Mississippi,2011

Addicted to blogging

 

Along with the announcement last week at the annual meeting of the American Psychological Association in Boston that Internet Addiction is now a real problem effecting an estimated six percent of the online population, news immediately broke that a 12-step program had been formed for those who suffer from this dangerous affliction.

Dr. Kimberly S. Young, founder and CEO of the Center for Online Addiction in Bradford, Pennsylvania, told the APA that Addiction to the Internet is a true addiction that can lead to broken marriages, job loss and law suits.

She presented results of studies conducted in the past few years that show that "the addictive use of the Internet directly leads to social isolation, increased depression, familial discord, divorce, academic failure, financial failure, and job loss."

You Too Can Recover!

Naturally a self-help, 12-step program sprang up immediately to meet the challenge. In an exclusive interview, About.com Alcoholism Guide BuddyT posed questions to SurferGeek, the self-proclaimed founder of the new program, Webaholics Anonymous Outreach, better know as Wa-Out.

Below is the startling revelations that came out of that interview, presented here with tongue planted firmly in cheek:

Q: What prompted you to start Webaholics Anonymous?

A: When I saw that this study was released to a bunch of shrinks I knew that the Mental Health Industry would be gearing up to make big bucks off of these poor suffering web junkies, and I also saw that their approach would never work.

Q: Why would it not work?

A: Because those who are suffering from the addiction are online. They don't like paying for anything! They believe everything should be downloaded for free! That's what Wa-Out hopes to do, provide them free, downloadable recovery.

Q: How has the program helped you?

A: It saved my life and gave me a new life! I never knew I had a problem. I was in denial. Then one day I was in the electronics department at Wal-Mart. When I wrote a check instead of signing my name, I wrote my email address. I knew I needed help.

Q: What have you been doing since you began to recover from your Internet Addiction?

A: Mostly developing the Wa-Out web site. I have been emailing everyone and posting to newgroups about Wa-Out and teaching myself Java script and PERL so that I can install interactive cgi scripts for user-friendly forms, chat rooms and bulletin boards on the Webaholics web site.

Q: Ah, I see... where exactly do you hold your Wa-Out meetings?

A: Online of course! We will have a 24-hour chat room and an email discussion group. Members will be able to log on at any time of the day or night, click on Get Mail and have a meeting right on their screen!

Q: But isn't that a bit paradoxical? To hold meetings for Internet Addicts online?

A: How else can we carry the message to these hurting people? Internet Junkies aren't watching TV! They are not driving down the road looking at billboards! They don't read newspapers and magazines anymore!

Q: Hmmm... I understand, but wouldn't it be true that if they participated in your online meetings they would by definition be having a recovery slip?

A: Oh, our program is not based on total abstinance. We don't believe in this day and age or in the future it will be possible for anyone to completely stay offline. Our program is based more on moderation... we call it Modem Moderation.

Q: So how do your members help one another recover?

A: By offering love, acceptance and forgiveness and by sharing our own experience, strength, and hope... and of course our ICQ Numbers.

Q: So, you see this as a growing problem?

A: Are you kidding? There are an estimated 85 million people online in the USA alone, so six percent of that number is five million people... and the numbers are growing every day. We predict that we will get millions of hits a day on the Wa-Out web site!!!

Q: Do you call it Wa-Out because you see it as a "way out" or because the participants are "way out" there?

A: Ah... are you being serious or were you making a funny. I can't tell over the phone if that question was followed by a smiley face or not?

Q: It was a grin. Hey, thanks for chatting... er... talking with me.

A: No problem. If you need anymore information, email me!

Quoted from www.about.com

THANK YOU!

This is a long overdue, big shout out and Thank You to our followers.

We love receiving your comments and emails and the wonderful feeling of camaraderie and belonging to this blogosphere.

2 Granddaughters = 2 Honour Rolls

No words needed!   

Wal-Mart

We received this in an email . . . so it must be true!

Please keep in mind that we love RV friendly Wal-Marts.