Spring Has Sprung in Florida

Wow, where has the time gone. Almost a month has gone by since I last blogged. I had a good visit at home in Victoria. Ann and Tony were gracious hosts. I ate too much but what else is new. I had alot of good things happen while at home. First I had a check up with the doctor and my usual blood tests. For the first time since the surgeries on my leg all of my blood tests are normal. Yeah!!!!! That means the infection is probably all gone. Secondly, I did our Income Tax on line for the first time with Gary's help and with the new income splitting we both got healthy returns. Yeah!!!! We can now afford the fuel to drive home from Florida. HA! Thirdly, I was able to put together the top for the baby quilt I am making. It turned out really well and Ann's sewing machine is a dream to sew with. It was a good week all around.

On my return to Florida, we quickly packed up the motorhome, did laundry and bought groceries and headed to Maxton NC for the Monster Mile Races. On the way we met up with our friends Pat and Jim Smith at the Visitors Bureau on the Florida Georgia Border and they followed us to Maxton. We had an overnight in a Walmart along the way and an exciting dinner outdoors in the wind at Sonic Burger. This was Pat and Jim's first time at Maxton and the first time surrounded by Bluebirds. They were made to feel very welcome and invited to join us again anytime. The weather was the pits on Saturday. Lots of thunder and lightning and even a tornado warning. The races were cancelled for the day but lots of visiting went on from coach to coach. We even managed to have Shane's brisket under awnings. They did run the time trials on Sunday and John Finn, one of our group got his Rabbit up to 105 miles an hour. Way to go John.

We left Maxton on Sunday afternoon and drove to Mooresville NC where Jim and Pat's son Jimmy lives. We stayed in a KOA up the road while Jim and Pat have a hookup in their yard. Mooresville is the Racing Capital of the USA. Dale Ernhart's family live here as do alot of other NASCAR families. Jimmy has a shop where he works on vehicles for NASCAR racers. His 11 year old can tell you all the racers he has met and the list is lengthy.They are a really nice family and we enjoyed our visit there. Rob was really in awe of Jimmy's shop. The girls went shopping one day to Hobby Lobby. Heather, Jimmy's wife, had never been to one and she loved it almost as much as I do. I got a few bargains but they don't seem to have as much on the Clearance Walls as they did last year. It was fun anyway. We took the crowd out for Pizza for supper. The next day we went to Mt Airie for a visit. It is the town where Andy Griffiths grew up and based his televison show on. It has Aunt Bea's cafe, the barber shop, Emmitt's hardware and the garage which he based his show on in Burbank. It was really interesting. Rob got his hair cut by the same barber that cut Andy Griffiths hair until he moved to Burbank. He is in his 80's and has thousands of pictures in his shop of people who's hair he has cut. He took Rob's picture and added it to the collection.

We then moved on to Fort Valley GA to have new wind shields put in at the Bluebird factory. That went well and Muriel's son Mike fixed our plastic carpet cover which had lifted a short while after they put it in last year. It is great now. I did laundry at the Birds Nest, the campground at the factory, and Rob did another tour of the plant and took pictures for the Forum. He also took pictures of another coach that Randy has for sale. We drove back to Archer FL on Friday afternoon.

On Saturday I went with Carol's Mom and George to the Gator Football Stadium for the Blue and Orange Game. It is a game where the Florida Gators Team divide into two teams and play against each other. It is a practise for them and it gets the fans going too. It was lots of fun and they will have a strong team for the fall season. ESPN was there broadcasting as well because they say the Gators are the team to watch for the next season. GO GATORS.

We had an awesome steak dinner on Sunday. Patrick, the fellow we watched race at the drag races, his girlfriend Nicki and her sister all came for dinner. We had t-bone steaks, Randy's famous Macaroni and Cheese, Guacamoli and I added salad and fruit salad for desert. Yum!!!!

Last night we went to the University of Florida to see the "Myth Busters". For those of you who don't know who they are, they are two guys on TV who prove or disprove myths. The show is full of explosions, and funny antics. They had a professor from the University interview them and they took alot of questions from the audience. They ended the show with videos of some of their explosions and the stunt about lighting farts. It was lots of laughs and neat to see these celebrities. There were about 20000 peole there.

Well that is all the news for now. Til later.....