HIGH SCHOOL SWEETHEARTS

SCRAPBOOKING RETREAT

2012-02-09T08:30:00.000-05:00

I went on a 2 1/2 day scrapbooking retreat with my Stampin' Up friend, Vicki.

We focused only on making our scrapbook pages and both of us got a lot of work done. I created 11 pages for Graham's scrapbook.

Here is a look at others who are working in the large room and what all they brought to the retreat.

The retreat center provided accommodations -eeeeuuuh!

but Vicki and I chose to stay at a nearby Hampton Inn. The center also provided our meals so we didn't have to think about anything but being creative.

THE COLLING'S ARE IN THE HOUSE!

2012-02-07T16:50:00.001-05:00

Friends, Kathy and Gary, came for a visit at the end of January. We had beautiful weather whilst they were here so we got to do many outside activities.

When they arrived we had a rainstorm come through. By lunchtime we had clearing skies with intermittent sunshine. So, we went to lunch at The Pub, dining on the Intra Coastal Waterway.

Saturday morning we joined the SRMC for a day trip to Arcadia, FL. It is a well-known town with numerous antique stores. This Saturday is a big day with many stands selling antiques in addition to all the stores. We had a great drive there. Lunch was at a local B-B-Que joint that served tasty food.

Sunday we slept in, took it easy and stayed close to home. Al packed a picnic lunch and we took a look at an open house for condos on the Gulf just a few blocks from us. Then we walked through the Historical Village and adjoining botanical gardens.

Monday we drove into Tampa to the TECO Manatee Viewing Center. It was the first time Al and I had been to the Center. It was a great place to visit and we saw lots of manatee enjoying the warm waters by the power station. Al packed another picnic that we enjoyed while on the grounds.

We also tried to tour the Henry Plant Museum at the University of Tampa which is housed in the Tampa Bay Hotel built by Plant. It was closed on Monday but we did look around the University office spaces. We'll have to check it out during their next visit.

Thanks for coming, kids!

THE CHUDZICKS ARE IN THE HOUSE!

2012-01-21T11:58:00.001-05:00

Alyssa, Andrew and Emma came for a visit.

After a quick, one day 'hello', we dropped Alyssa and Andrew off at the Jewel of the Seas in Port Tampa so they could take a four day cruise to Mexico. What a great way to have some couple time!

So, Al and I got to have Emma all to ourselves without all that parental interference. She had her daily chores; feed Trixie Marie her morning wet food snack and fill the outside fountains with water. Then we were off to: play at the Turtle park, story and craft time at the library, movie time at the library,

a 5 hour visit to the Clearwater Marine Aquarium,

go on a bike ride to feed the ducks, frequently check the large fountain next to our community to see if it was flowing,

do lots of pretending with Gaia..... "Pretend I'm the big sis and you're the little sis......", and reading books from the library and our "Fancy Nancy" books before sleeping in the "funny bed".

She was a great trooper, up for almost anything we'd suggest to do.

Granpa Al's pancake making helper.

Granpa Al sure knows how to decorate a tasty pancake!

Even a busy girl needs her beauty rest!

Our weather cooperated nicely and gave them two beach days while the parental units were in town.

Sand castle building

Buried in the sand

Kite flying

Alyssa chillin'

Checking out a lady's pet birds

Sun, sand, sea and fun! Can a visit ever get any better than that?!

WE'RE FED UP!

2012-01-18T14:49:00.002-05:00

Rosemary, John, Al and I went to a protest rally. We are sick and tired of US politics and the uncooperative, uncompromising idiots who are using the financial collapse of 2008 to demonize teachers, union and Federal workers - basically the middle class.

So, here we are on a beautiful winter day, showing our support for organizations who's budgets have been gutted by our idiot Governor, Rick Scott.
The crowd was smallish but vocal.

The speakers were passionate.

We are mad as hell and we're not going to take it any more!

CLEVER BOY!

2012-01-15T14:51:00.000-05:00

My boyfriend is so very clever sometimes! I love the way he can repurpose items!

We walked the crock pot 1/2 mile to Rosemary and John's so they could borrow it. The dang thing is heavy. The stroller was a great idea and we got a mile worth of walking in to boot! Please note it was strapped in for safety!

A MID WINTER GET AWAY

2012-01-12T00:53:00.000-05:00

I bought a B&B package for a get away on January 2-3 in Mount Dora, a quaint little town northeast of us about 1 1/2 - 2 hours.

The Adora Inn was just wonderful!

The building is a 1916 Craftsman-style. It was built as a duplex but has been renovated into one contiguous home with 5 en suite rooms.

Our king room was beautiful and comfy. Arthur and John couldn't have been more welcoming hosts! Their decor was just perfect for us - minimal modern. We really liked the fact there were NO TVs!

The package included discounts to various businesses in or around Mt. Dora. We used the coupon for the Windsor Rose Tea Room to have a High Tea for our lunch after we arrived.

Next, we went to Merrill's Market for a wine tasting with cheese, meat and crackers. We had 6 reds and 6 whites.

This white was our overall favorite wine.

Before going to dinner we had a Black Crown with cheese and crackers from Merrill's. January 2nd is Kristy's birthday so we are toasting her with our crowns.

We spent a little to long enjoying our Crowns, cheese and crackers that we almost missed out on dinner. Mt. Dora rolls up the streets early! The Frog and Monkey was where we were planning on having dinner but it closed at 8:00 PM.

Fortunately, we found the Palm Tree Grille willing to serve us at almost 9:00 PM.

They served us a wonderful turkey and Applewood bacon croissants with sweet potato fries and we topped it all off with a piece of Key Lime pie for dessert. Al and I ordered up a bottle of Prosecco to have with our meal and here we are toasting Kristy's birthday again.

HE'S AT IT AGAIN!

2012-01-10T22:38:00.000-05:00

My wonderful husband is often discovering bargains which he brings home. Usually, these discoveries are made whilst he is running or biking which makes it difficult to bring the items home.

Just picture his discovery, during a morning run, of a perfectly good fire pit discarded for the trash collector. He successfully rolled it in front of himself, whilst running, to get it back home.

A similar scenario occurred when he found a child's scooter left for the trash man.

The latest discovery was made as we began our New Year's Day bike ride. A woman just put out a child's bike to sell. Al stopped, pulled out a $20 and bought the bike.

On our way back home from the bike ride, we stop so he can get the bike. It has to be walked about 3/4 of a mile to our house. It was a good deal, in like-new condition and the grandkids will love it!

THE NEW YEAR

2012-01-08T11:39:00.000-05:00

We celebrated NYE at Kathy and Mike's with a Beer and Brats Bash served with side dishes of a homemade trivia game (the girls won) and Trivial Pursuit (the boys won). We ended the Pursuit just in time for the ball to drop in Times Square signaling the arrival of 2012.

The next day the gang met up for a bike ride on the Pinellas Trail to Dunedin for lunch.

Connie, on the right, who is recovering nicely from knee surgery, and Stu joined us at Jolli Mon's for lunch.

Mike, Kathy, Al and Cyn at the other table.

HOLIDAY VISITORS

2012-01-06T08:06:00.001-05:00

Graham, Kristy, Payton and Brady flew in on Christmas Day for their annual holiday visit.

Our weather was pretty nice so we got to do lots outside. The turtle park, biking to feed the ducks old bread and a trip to the Primate Rescue center were the highlights.

Payton even did a good job holding on when the alligator decided it wanted down!

Hot tubbin' boys

Gaia and her boys, Payton and Brady

Al's delicious homemade meals, as well as dinners at Frenchy's and Marlin Darlin, keep 'em coming back!

MORE HOLIDAY LIGHTS

2011-12-26T07:24:00.001-05:00

A neighborhood not too far from us decorates for the season. Most every household participates so it is quite the sight to see.

Rosemary and John joined us on a bike ride through this neighborhood. Seeing the displays from a bike seat vs. a car seat gives an up close view.

Afterwards, we all came back to our house for some food and a rousing game of dominos.

HOLIDAY LIGHTS

2011-12-23T10:13:00.000-05:00

Al, the SnowSharks faithful Outside Events Coordinator, organized a trip to the Botanical Gardens to view the annual Holiday Lights displays.

The lighted animals are always a big hit

as are Florida fauna.

Both sides of the bridge were lit.

A favorite this year were lights appearing to be snow falling.

Rosemary and John joined us.

I loved this koi pond mosaic in the garden.

SEGWAY EXCURSION

2011-12-20T03:15:00.000-05:00

Al and I did a fun thing last week. We took a Segway tour of Clearwater.

We got to ride along the newly remodeled North Beach Beach Walk then up and over the big Clearwater bridge.

It was a beautiful day with a gorgeous view!

FONDUE CELEBRATION OF THE HOLIDAY SEASON

2011-12-18T03:35:00.002-05:00

The gang joined us for two different kinds of cheese fondue and chocolate fondue.

We had the house and table decorated to the nines. It was beautiful and the food, delicious, to share with great friends.

HOLIDAY BOAT PARADE

2011-12-10T21:49:00.000-05:00

Ski club friends, Saray and Lou, invited us to their lovely home in Treasure Island for the annual Treasure Island Holiday boat parade and a potluck.

The weather was beautiful this year unlike the cold and fog we experienced the last two years.

One of our favorite people, Helen, was there with her go-girl blinking lighted glasses. Helen is Saray's mother. We want to be as active and vibrant as she is when we grow up!

Here are a couple of the decorated boats. The iPhone camera doesn't do them justice.

Here's my favorite.

BACK STAGE TOUR

2011-12-07T17:40:00.000-05:00

Al and I took a behind the scenes tour of the American Stage Theatre - our most beloved St. Pete theatre. It was quite interesting and added an understanding we didn't have before. Theatre is hard work, done on a shoestring.

Boxes and

racks of shoes and boots

Clothing from every decade.

If they don't have it, they make it or make it fit.

Underwear, panty hose, accessories

More underthings

Tools for making the right sizes

Drawings of the costumes

Fun wall paper in the office area

The lights over head. The mesh "floor" can be walked on!

See the theatre seats?

Sound proofing material for our listening pleasure

PRETTY GIRL

2011-12-06T06:49:00.000-05:00

This beautiful short tail hawk has been hunting around our community. The song birds were not happy to have her in their tree. Al and I watched her for about 10 minutes as she kept a watchful eye for some delicious little treat.

THANKSGIVING IN INDY

2011-12-01T07:00:00.006-05:00

Good friends, Kathy and Gary Collings, invited us to their home for Thanksgiving and their annual holiday season celebration on the Monument Circle in Indianapolis.

The first evening at their home they treated us to their infamous cheese fondue.

It was just as promoted.....delicious. This photo makes it seem like Gary was the chef but the meal was all Kathy!

Thanksgiving Thursday we had the traditional Collings dinner shared with Dayne, their youngest son. Al, Kathy, Gary and Dayne played some Hearts games. (Al showed them how Hearts is REALLY played!) And of course, there was lots of football.

Friday we did a little Holiday shopping at Keystone at the Crossing. Loved the improvements they made to this mall since we lived there! Then we stopped for a surprise visit to see Windy City Miata Club friends, Linda Anderson and her partner, Don. That was a fun surprise!

Friday evening we got to join Kathy and Gary's oldest son, Graig, his wife,Krista, their kids and Dayne and his date, Sheila,

atop the America One building in the Skyline Club, overlooking Monument Circle, in downtown Indianapolis

for a gourmet buffet dinner and Chocolate Martinis - YummO!

At 7:00 the lights on the "tree" came on and the building's lights that were the US flag became a Christmas tree.

Then came the fireworks show on the building across from us.

What a great visit we had with our wonderful friends! If the weather was like Florida, we'd move back to Indy in a heartbeat! Love, love love this city!

FISHER, HUNTER, GATHERER, CHEF

2011-11-30T07:00:00.001-05:00

My boyfriend took our mutual friend, Stu, fishing for grouper. They had great luck and caught their limit for the day.

Howard, Al, Denny and Stu

Stu caught the biggest one of the day.

Needless to say, we ate grouper for dinner that night and it was delish!

SRMC CRUISE

2011-11-29T07:20:00.001-05:00

Three days after returning home from Germany, just enough time to do the laundry and comfort Trixie Marie, we left out of Tampa on a seven day cruise aboard the NCL Star

with our Sun Riders Miata Club.

Rosemary and John organized this Miata-less event for the club again this year.

The ports we stopped at were Roatan, Belize City, Costa Maya and Cozumel. Al and I used this trip to rest, recoup and be pampered. We did go ashore at a couple of stops but weren't off the ship for long as we wanted to sit in the sun in our favorite spot onboard and read, eat and nap.

How cute is this little crab!?

THE REST OF THE STORY IN ENGLAND AND FRANCE

2011-11-27T11:21:00.000-05:00

We planned a leisurely drive along the southern English coast back to our Dover B&B. We stayed at a cute little farm B&B, nestled in the city of Rye, complete with horses and farm fowl.

The next day we drove on to Canterbury. We just loved this town, quaint, historic but somehow modern at the same time. Thank you Mr. Wadden for introducing us to the Canterbury Tales in Senior English oh, so many years ago!

Canterbury Cathedral

The Arch Bishop of Canterbury resides on the grounds at the Canterbury Cathedral.

A crazy house in Canterbury.

The crazy building's door.

After leaving England and successfully crossing the Channel again, we headed towards Nancy in France. We started looking for a place to stay but struck out at several places before stumbling on this B&B in a VERY small town.

Our host spoke no English and my French was pretty rusty but we got along ok. Our room was a HUGE en suite with modern appointments. I asked about a place nearby to eat dinner and she said we could eat at her table in about an hour. OMG! Al and I were thrilled! And she did not disappoint! We were served a delicious 3 course meal that tasted like heaven. I can still taste it!

Al even got to have some of his favorite digestive, Eau de Vie, after dessert!

And breakfast the next morning was just perfectly French!

I hated to leave but we had a plane to catch in Stuttgart.

I took a picture of the town sign in honor of my mother, Nancy!

AFTER THE BIKE AND BARGE TRIP, ENGLAND!

2011-11-21T18:07:00.003-05:00

We rented a car in Stuttgart and drove to England, crossing the English Channel at Calais, France.

It was evening time when we got to Dover which makes for interesting driving in a left hand drive car on the left hand side of the road in the dark. But with us both being vigilant about the driving and constantly saying "stay left" we found a wonderful B&B, The Castle B&B, with a great pub just around the corner.

So, while we grabbed a bite of dinner, Al talked with one, of many swimmers, who had swum the English Channel and signed their accomplishment on the walls and ceiling of this pub. This gal is on her 13th completion and is looking to do 15 crossings.

After resting up, we skeedattled off to Askerswell to visit our friends, Patsy and Peter at their new home, Little Chewton.

Askerswell is a quaint English village just off the English Channel. The village has one pub and one church. No shopping. No grocery.

This is our barkeep, Tim, at the Spyway Inn.

Al captured some beautiful photos of the seaside and countryside.

Peter and Patsy head off to the seaside each Sunday to pay their respects and grab a coffee on Hive Beach.

After a wonderful exploration of nearby castle, National Trust properties and seaside towns, we left our delightful hosts, heading towards Dover and the ferry back across the Channel to France.

BIKE AND BARGE TRIP 2011

2011-11-03T09:44:00.000-04:00

One week after returning from IL, we set off to Germany with Kathy and Mike, John and Rosemary for a Bike and Barge trip.

Pizza in a bag eaten in Mainz

We flew into Frankfurt and rode a bus to our barge departure city of Mainz. The first two days we acclimated to the time change and got to explore the town of Mainz.

Each day we cycled 30-35 miles on wonderful bike trails (Boy, does Europe know how to do bike routes!). Our barge took us on 3 rivers; the Rhine, the Mosel and the Saar.

The sweep and our barge on the left

The en suite accommodations on the barge were very nice with plenty of space to move about. All meals were included and our host/chef made the most wonderful meals for us!

The view out of our room's porthole!

The bike and barge trip ended in Stuttgart just in time for Oktoberfest - a crazy, beer guzzling, drunken crush of people (think: state fair with an emphasis on alcohol consumption).

Here is a link to the photo show Al created of our Bike and Barge trip.

EMMA'S 4TH BIRTHDAY TRIP

2011-11-02T11:48:00.000-04:00

We flew to IL for Emma's 4th birthday trip. We decided to stay more than the usual 4 days since the weather in early September can still be nice which allows us to do some outside activities with our kids and kiddletts. Payton was home an extra day from kindergarten due to the hot weather and no a/c in his school so, that worked out perfectly.

Emma and Payton love going to the "Froggy Hotel" one night so we booked a room at the Aurora Hampton Inn where the frog slide is.

We bought a special hotel package that included a day at the big water park in Yorkville as a surprise.

After we checked into the hotel, we headed back into the car for the drive to the water park. Both Payton and Emma were quite disappointed and confused as to why we weren't going straight to the Hampton's frog slide and pool. We had fun making them close their eyes and giving false clues as to where we were going.

On our way out of the water park, as promised, they got to have a sugar laden slushy as a treat!

Here is the birthday girl at home in her new birthday cowgirl boots. Now, who doesn't love pink cowgirl boots?!

Happy 4th Birthday, Miss E!

AND FINALLY....

2011-10-30T00:22:00.003-04:00

So, now it is time to get back home after 5 weeks of traveling. Al planned a scenic drive back to Florida so we could take in some of the beautiful country out west.

Idaho's Craters of the Moon lava flow

Joining point of the continental railroad

Eating dinner at our favorite Salt Lake City restaurant,

Log Haven

Touring Stampin' Up (Cyn's card making supplier)

Arches National Park and its neighbor Canyonlands National Park - Utah

A place Al has always wanted to visit

The UFO museum in Roswell NM

WOW! This was our favorite cave. Even better than Mammouth Cave in KY!

Stayed for the nightly bat flight from the opening of Carlsbad Cavern. Way cool!

Toured the LBJ Library and Museum

Toured the GHB Library

Ate b-b-q at this Austin, TX legendary restaurant

Read all about it

One of the fire pits. Yumm-O!

After being gone for 5 weeks, we were glad to be back at home. Trixie Marie was glad to have us back as well!

On to the next Excursion!

THE SECOND EVENT

2011-10-27T10:34:00.004-04:00

We left their home for a short drive to Stanley, ID where we connected with Idaho Raft Journey's, our outfitter for the second event of Al's birthday trip, a week long white water rafting and camping trip on the Middle Fork of the Salmon River (Can you believe I agreed to this???) Al's brother David and his wife, Joyce joined us. We had a great time!!! The water, food and accommodations were fabulous (Can you believe I wrote this?)!!!! We'd do it again in a heartbeat! (Are those white coats I see???)

Our comfy tent

Joyce and David

Al fly fishing for trout

The guides fixing lunch then

lasagna for dinner.

The hand washing station

The loo

One of my best moments after climbing 1500 ft! Our camp is on the river behind us!

All geared up

We invite you to view the slideshows Al put together of his trip. Happy 60th Birthday, Babe! http://s202.photobucket.com/albums/aa200/hobie88903/

AL'S 60th BIRTHDAY EXTRAVAGANZA CONTINUES

2011-10-27T10:12:00.002-04:00

Next, we drove west through NE stopping at historic Chimney Rock.

and had a wonderful stay at The Hanlon House, a B&B in Scottsbluff, NE.

Check out this beautiful French breakfast we enjoyed on the front porch!

Then driving through WY (through the Teton National Park and Yellowstone) stopping in Yellowstone to admire

Old Faithful

and

colourful sulfer pots

then on into ID where we met up with Karen and David Miller (neighbors and friends from Columbus, OH days) for a 3 day visit to their get-away" home in Driggs, ID, just a short drive from Grand Targee Ski Resort in the Tetons. While there, we rode the ski lift up the mountain

and hiked back down, rode our bikes into their cute little town for breakfast and generally chilled out whilst enjoying their wonderful hospitality! It was so fun to see that after all these years living apart, we just picked up right where we left off.

RAGBRAI

2011-10-26T13:08:00.000-04:00

Al's birthday extravaganza was to be a double event that would take us on a 5,000 mile tour of the US.

The first event took place in Iowa. It is called RAGBRAI (Register's Annual Great Bike Ride Across Iowa). Started in 1972, 10,000+ bikers from the US and around the world converge at a starting point on Iowa's eastern border and begins with the ceremonial tire dipping into the Missouri River. This year the river was out of its banks, flooding the area around the starting town of Glenwood.

Al and Graham rode 500+ miles across Iowa during the week long RAGBRAI. Whilst they were riding, I was enjoying myself at a hotel, at Linda (my college roommate) and John's and at Gordon (my brother) and Mary's (my sister of love). The adventure ended in Davenport on the western Iowa border on the Mississippi River again with the ceremonial tire dipping in the Mississippi River.

Here are a few photos of their trip.

Graham doin' the Missouri River dip.

Al doin' the Missouri River dip.

Eating on the road was an adventure in and of itself. Maid-Rites are an Iowa favorite. Mr. Pork Chop was a regular stop for Al and Graham. They learned "consume too much food and get a belly ache", so they often split a meal.

On day three, the ride ended for the day in Boone, where my college roommate, Linda, and her husband live. Day three was also the day the guys rode the "Karras" Loop which added extra mileage to make 100 miles ridden in one day. To get to Linda's house they had to ride a additional 3 miles more. It was worth it to have a home cooked meal, a shower, air conditioning and a real bed. In this clip the guys are arriving at Linda's where I met up with them.

Roomies

Al met up with a childhood friend, Denny, who rode the RAGBRAI route for a bit.

Denny and Al

On the last day of the ride, just outside of Davenport, Kristy and Payton surprised the guys by being on the sidelines cheering them on to the finish line.

OK........

2011-10-25T14:13:00.000-04:00

Time to catch up again! We have had one BUSY July through October. Don't worry, I'll take it slowly and gently so you don't get overwhelmed!

We left home July 19th, driving PEARL, for Al's 60th Birthday Extravaganza. The first stop was in Macon, GA where we stopped to tour this magnificent old home,

eat at a Macon Institution,

where we actually ate a red coney dog. Yummmm......

ANNIVERSARY

2011-07-17T10:02:00.002-04:00

Today, Al and Cyn celebrate their 4th anniversary of life post-accident.

They are remembering Rosie. They are also remembering the family members who are mourning the loss of their beloved sister, wife, mother and grandmother with Rosie's death on this day.

And finally, they are remembering John Houts, the man who drove his car while high on cocaine causing the death of Rosie and the injuries to Al and Cyn. They can't imagine having to live with the knowledge of having caused these events. No little boy sees his future adulthood being filled with such tragedy.

Today, they are both completely healed physically, and for Cyn, this year has been her best yet! Their life is sooo good!

CROWN TASTING

2011-07-16T18:33:00.001-04:00

We had the crew over for a Crown Royal tasting and appetizers. We bought the traditional purple bagged Deluxe Crown, Black Crown and Reserve Crown. There was a $5 difference between the Deluxe and Black. The Reserve was twice the price of the Deluxe.

Which Crown will win?

Here is the appetizer buffet.

From left: Mike and Kathy, John and Rosemary, Connie and Stu. The tasters unanimously declared Black Crown the winner and this idea, a hit!

DIEHARD YANKEE FAN!

2011-07-09T15:37:00.001-04:00

Graham got his dad this Yankee jersey with "1951 (Al's birth year!!) Mickey Mantle" on it. Today, you could find him curled up with the jersey, watching the Yankees play the Tampa Bay Rays in Yankee Stadium, while Derek Jeter made his 3000th hit, a homer, as a player for the Yankees. The DYNASTY continues! That's not a tear, is it, Al???

WHEW!!!

2011-06-29T15:20:00.000-04:00

Saturday night the crew had its first Annual Pizza-Off. Each couple brought a homemade pizza.

This is Rosemary's Middle Eastern entry we had as an appetizer.

The hosts also offered a salad bar.

Here is Al's Canadian Bacon, Shallot and Swiss entry.

Stu, Connie and Mike (in the background).

Kathy is preparing her veggie entry for serving.

Here are Connie's entries Pepperoni; Bacon and Onion; Chicken, Garlic and Olive oil

Our hosts, Rosemary and John, who also prepared the salad bar, offered us Mint Chocolate Chip ice cream for dessert.

Fun night!

NEXT......

2011-06-28T11:57:00.000-04:00

We no more got home from Tennessee on June 5th and it was time to head north again for our family's 4th Annual Family Excursion to the Outer Banks.

Graham, Alyssa and their families flew into Norfolk, VA from Chicago. We surprised them by meeting the plane.

After picking up the HUGE rental van, we drove to Kill Devil Hills, NC to the house we rented for a week. It had 3 king bedrooms, a 4 bunk bedroom, 2 sofa beds and 5 bathrooms. Plenty of room for the 9 of us.

Andrew, Emma, Alyssa, Kristy, Cyn, Brady, Graham, Payton

The house was located just across the street from the beach and Atlantic Ocean access. So, having beach time was convenient with only a short walk back to the house for lunches, pool time, hot tubbing and rests/naps, if needed.

My boys, Brady, Graham and Mr. P

Hot Tubbin'

One day we went to the Wright Brothers National Memorial operated by the National Park Service. Alyssa was chosen to assist the Park Ranger during his talk about the first flight.

There was a kid friendly play area where the kids could climb on a model of the Kitty Hawk.

After dinner one evening the dads took the older kids go-carting. Not sure who had more fun........

Check out Kristy's blog for more photos of our trip.

Gaia and Brady

PLAYING CATCH-UP!

2011-06-26T16:16:00.001-04:00

Good grief, I've been negligent about posting on this blog! I do have a good excuse........I've been busy.

I have been working HARD at creating a website for our Sun Riders Miata Club. It is now up and running but I have a few more features to add to it. Right now I am letting it be so members can get use to the basics of it. It has been launched for 3 months now. You can take a peek at it using the link in "GOTTA GO HERE" on our blog.

OK, enough with the excuses here's what's been happenin':

We and our crew bought a "Golden Ray's" baseball package again this year. Our first game was on May 3rd. The boys looked pretty pathetic until towards the end of the game when they pull the game out of the tank to win it. How come hot dogs taste so good at a ballgame??

May 31 Al and I headed for Tennessee to attend the 2011 Zoomin' Miata event in Johnson City. Rosemary and John drove up with us, too. The first night we stayed at one of our favorite B&Bs, Emma's, in St. Mary's, Georgia. The drive up is gorgeous along the Atlantic and includes a short ferry ride.

On the ferry with Rosemary and John

During the Miata event, Al drove ROOBEE on the Bristol Motor Speedway. We got to go 65-70 mph on this banked track. Al said that speed was all he wanted.

ROOBEE Zoomin'

Al standing on the banked track at BMS.

Good Miata friends, Kathy and Gary, were also in attendance at this event. It was WONDERFUL to catch up with them.......just like the old times with WCMC!

Al competed in a Corn Hole competition. No trophy for that but he did win a prize in the Photo Rally with his picture of a church.

On our way back home, we stayed at Page House, a beautiful B&B, in Dublin, Georgia.

John and Rosemary and CrystalBlue

Al and Cyn at Page House B&B

WEDNESDAY NIGHT DATE

2011-05-14T13:34:00.000-04:00

Every Wednesday night Al and I spend the evening with our crew at Finley's having dinner and playing trivia for bar cash. Our favorite host, Nate, has taken an announcing job with a AAA baseball club in Bloomington/Normal. Of course, we wish him the best but will sure miss his entertaining humor and hosting style!

PIZZA AND SUNSET ON THE BEACH

2011-05-13T13:29:00.000-04:00

We drove to the beach Sunday night for Al's delicious homemade pizza and a glorious sunset over the Gulf of Mexico. It certainly doesn't get any better than this!

BETH AND TYLER'S WEDDING

2011-05-13T13:25:00.000-04:00

Congratulations Beth and Tyler! We wish you a happy life together.

Al's BVI TRIP 2011

2011-05-11T07:31:00.001-04:00

Al and his WCMC buddies, Sal, Uvy and Jim, went on their annual BVI trip in April.

Al put together this slide show on his new iMac. Nice job, babe!

MAN vs. FISH

2011-04-10T03:45:00.000-04:00

Al went spear fishing whilst diving and more fishing off the boat with one of his buddies from the ski club. He got three fish underwater and several more that had to be thrown back in due to a ban on keeping Grouper.

After the hunt, the buddy's wife cooked up the catch of the day and a big feast was had.

Hauling in the grouper

I spent the day scrapbooking. Nothing was killed in the process.

PAYTON'S 5TH BIRTHDAY TRIP

2011-03-18T13:21:00.000-04:00

We headed up to Naperville to celebrate Payton's 5th birthday. We had a great time seeing him at his party with all his family there to cheer him on as he opened his gifts, blew out candles

and bit into the very clever cake his mother, Kristy, made for him.

Is it just wrong for Granpa Al and Papa to take over their 5 year old grandson's "Sorry" game

whilst guzzling beer in front of a two year old?

Al and I had plenty of snuggle time with Brady, too.

Even had a dusting of snow.

Emma was sick during the early part of our visit so we had to wait until later in our trip to see her after she "welled up".

THE BEST OF FRIENDS

2011-03-13T09:44:00.000-04:00

Our wonderful Miata friends, Kathy and Gary Collings from Zionsville, IN, came for a visit at the end of February. We had a great time catching up, crossing an item off their bucket list and playing dominoes.

We drove to Titusville so Gary and Kathy could put a check mark next to "See a Shuttle Launch" on their bucket list. The traffic was horrific and the three hour drive took 5 hours over and 7 hours back home. But we all were glad for the successful, on-time launch as we viewed it from a private home on the intra-coastal waterway just across from the launch site.

Al and Gary, poolside, waiting for the shuttle launch.

Cyn and Kathy

Nice crib, huh!!!

And they're off! I just love all that noise! Where do I sign up for the next trip? I wanna go!

The boys kicked the girl's buttuchis but we still had fun!

Come on back real soon, kids!!!

AL IN VAIL

2011-02-19T18:57:00.000-05:00

Al was Co-Leader for our Ski Club's trip to Vail this year. Two of our friends, Ron Neal and Nathan Robe joined him on the trip. Momma stayed home where it was warm!

Al and his new friend

All ready for the trip down the mountain.

SUPER BOWL

2011-02-08T00:20:00.001-05:00

Kathy and Mike had the gang (minus Al since he's off skiing in Colorado!) over for a Super Bowl party. My team, Da Bears, were not playing this year so I rooted for the Steelers.

Everybody brought something to share and our hosts ordered pizza from our favorite place, Charlie and Millie's. I made cookies for the dessert.

Rosemary and Connie are sampling the festive eats!

Stu, John and Mike are enjoying the game in the solarium.

At least one of us is thrilled with the game's outcome. Go on with your happy dance, Rosemary!

CANDLEMAS

2011-02-07T10:55:00.001-05:00

After Trivia at Finley's Irish Pub on February 2nd, we had the gang over to celebrate Candlemas.

February 2 is one of the great cross-quarter days that make up the wheel of the year. It falls midway between the winter solstice and the spring equinox and in many traditions is considered the beginning of spring. Candlemas occurs 40 days after Christmas.

Additionally, Candlemas is one of the traditional times for taking down holiday decorations (Twelfth Night, on January 6th, is the other). Our decorations were still up so we invited our friends to select an ornament or decoration to remove and place it into a basket to symbolically begin the removal of our decorations which Al and I (OK, mostly Al) completed the next day.

Certain foods are traditional for Candlemas, including crepes, pancakes and cakes, all grain-based foods. Pancakes and crepes are considered symbols of the sun because of their round shape and golden color.

Some of the gang gathered around Al as he made crepes for our dessert - Crepes Suzette.

Mike and Stu wait patiently on the screen porch for dessert to arrive.

Al topped his crepes with homemade ice cream. Everyone thought they were delish!

WEOTTABABYEETSABOY!

2011-01-28T19:00:00.000-05:00

Our newest grandchild is named Brady Graham. We got to spend the week with him and his new family just after he was born. Here are some photos of him!

Pre-Bears/Greenbay game smiles. Nice outfits!

Gaia and Granpa Al with the kiddlets!

HOT OFF THE PRESS

2011-01-18T17:06:00.002-05:00

We are grandparents again to a boy child! Thank you, Graham and Kristy. He's so new we don't even know his name yet!

VISITORS

2011-01-17T12:22:00.000-05:00

Emma Chudzick and her parental units are here to visit.

Emma is creating in my Stamp Studio

THE HOLIDAYS - PART 2

2011-01-07T16:58:00.001-05:00

On the 21st, John and Rosemary joined us on a night bike ride through a nearby neighborhood that was decorated to the hilt with outdoor lights,

On the 23rd, we went on a holiday walk through the Botanical gardens with Kathy and Mike, John and Rosemary. Here are some of the displays.

After the walk we went to dinner at one of our favorite restaurants, Marlin Darlin'! Thankfully, they served us that evening! Almost all of Pinellas county had either low or no water pressure. Marlin Darlin' was feeling the effects of this water issue and closed their doors to customers right after we had arrived for our 8 PM reservation.

Friday, the 24th, we had the crew over for cheese and chocolate fondue and "The Christmas Story" movie. Al made 3 fondues - a traditional Swiss, a Cheddar Beer and a chocolate. The dippers were bread, apples, cauliflower, broccoli, red peppers, carrots, strawberries, bananas and black bean brownies (we poured the chocolate over these - OMG!!!!) We washed all of this down with some lovely Prosecco!

The boys - Al, Stu, Mike and John

The girls - Connie, Kathy and Rosemary

We had such fun with our fondue party, we ran out and bought two new pots for our next party!

Finally, Saturday we all went to John and Rosemary's for dinner. Al took a smoked turkey, yum-O!

THE HOLIDAYS - PART 1

2010-12-25T10:18:00.001-05:00

We started our holiday partying with a visit to the Orlando Gaylord Palms Hotel to see "Ice", featuring over 2 million pounds of ice sculpture displays, ice slides and 9 degrees. Below, we are at a musical performance. The hotel was beautifully decorated.

We liked this sand sculpture!

The theme this year for "Ice" was " 'Twas the Night Before Christmas.

All of this is coloured ice sculptures!

"Snow" was the other experience at the Gaylord Palms. It featured man-made snow with a tube slide, snowball target range and some carnival-type games. We Floridians prefer to visit these items (ice and snow) in a controlled environment verses the actual natural occurrences. Kathy and Mike joined us for this nice overnight. We enjoyed ourselves but all agreed it was a one time event.

Next, the crew went on a 25 mile bike ride with the Pinellas County Sheriff's department. We had a beautiful day for a ride.

Then, Al and I attended 3 holiday shows at American Stage Theatre, went on a holiday boat cruise and potluck with our ski club and had dinner followed by karaoke with the SunRider's Miata club.

All of this fun happened in the first half of December!

GONE CRAZY, AGAIN

2010-12-21T13:02:00.000-05:00

This year I have gone absolutely crazy decorating for the holidays! I am sooo happy to be alive and I want to celebrate that fact this season as well as every day of every year!!

Each room in the house, including the bathrooms, has some sort of decoration in it. We have 8 trees; a small table top tree, a tree with older family ornaments, 3 spiral trees

a Snowman tree,

a Santa tree,

and an angel tree.

My friend, Patty - seamstress extraordinaire - made chair covers for me with old school-looking fabric we picked out together.

I just love the way they look! She helped me pick colours that would also coordinate with our living room furniture fabric so it looks festive throughout the room.

NOVEMBER 19-22, 2010

2010-12-16T11:51:00.000-05:00

Al and I were missing the kids and kiddlets, so we flew up to IL for a quick visit. We timed it so we could ride over to Dubuque, IA for the Brown/Schlitzer Family get-together hosted by Al's sister, Twila. All the Brown cousins (Beth, Luke, Cole, Lindsay, Taylor, Graham and Alyssa) were there including Beth's fiance, Tyler and Luke's girlfriend, Jackie. Al's mom, Lois, and Twila's in-laws, Barb and Marvin, were also there.

The boy cousins suited up for a paintball fight. The littlest cousins paid a visit to the dairy barn to feed the calves and see all the cats.

My boys, Graham and Andrew, with the kiddlets, cows and cats.
Cousin Beth reading to Payton and Emma

My girls, Kristy and Alyssa with Al's mom, Lois.

Twila, et. al, made a wonderful feast. Each family contributed to the meal. I made 3 pies (lemon, pumpkin cream and USS Missouri Buttermilk) with Alyssa's help on the crusts! She taught me how to make the crust using a food processor. WOW!!! Does that ever make a difference. No more store bought crusts for me!

NOVEMBER 13, 2010

2010-12-15T17:05:00.001-05:00

Al and I celebrated our 39th Engagement Anniversary at one of our favorite downtown St. Pete restaurants, Cafe Alma. I surprised Al with tickets to Mannheim Steamroller's Holiday show.

NOVEMBER 4-7, 2010

2010-12-14T16:09:00.003-05:00

Rosemary and John organized a weekend cruise for the SunRider's Miata Club. Our ship, which cleared the Sunshine Skyway Bridge by only 2 feet, sailed from Tampa to Cozumel.

Al and I loved getting away for a mini-excursion. We also love cruising so this was a great get-a-way for us. Loved the fact we just drove to the pier parking lot, walked our bag - yes, one bag!!! - over to the ship and began the eating and drinking!!

The six of us played miniture golf. We all stayed onboard during the stop in Cozumel. Loved the quiet ship!
Al and I can clean up pretty well. Here we are dressed for the formal night.
Connie and Stu are on the left at one of the three tables members of the SunRiders Miata club occupied for our evening meals.

You didn't really think Al could sit still and read ALL weekend, did you?!

KAYAKING AND NITE TIME SKI SHOW

2010-12-13T07:37:00.003-05:00

On our friends, Nancy and David, organized a kayaking trip at Weedon Island. It was a great 3 mile paddle. The majority of the trip was spent inside the mangroves. We saw lots of wild life including a racoon family and my favorite water bird, the rosate spoonbill.

After the paddle, we stopped for lunch at the Crab Shack. From left to right are David and Nancy, Helen and Al, Mike, Cyn and Al.
In the evening, Nancy and David, organized a trip to the Tampa Water Ski Club's Halloween performance on Tower Lake. We took our UK friends, Peter and Patsy, who had just arrived for their annual holiday in Clearwater Beach.

PEER PRESSURE

2010-12-12T15:40:00.007-05:00

My girls have been blogging like crazy. Now, I'm feeling guilty for not keeping up with my blog. So, sit back, get something warm to drink (I know you all reading this are just freezing!!), and I'll catch you up with us.

Holy, Moly...... I have to start at the end of October to get all caught up. Better do this over a few days or y'all will have bedsores from sitting at the computer to read all this! OK, here goes.........

Friends, Patsy and Peter - now from Askerswell, Dorset, England, came to Clearwater for some R&R after their moving adventure from Epsom -outside of London. We tried to get together as much as possible whist they were here.

We had them over several times to our house. One evening we had a potluck weiner roast over an open fire on our patio with friends Rosemary and John, Connie and Stu, and Kathy and Mike.

Peter and John
Stu, Connie, Mike

Kathy, Mike and Al

Peter, Patsy, Cyn and Al

John, Rosemary, Stu and Connie

DAY TRIPPIN'

2010-11-02T07:07:00.006-04:00

Al and I planned a little day trip to Sarasota for our crew. We had ordered a replacement patio chair and wanted to pick it up so, we decided to make a day trip out of being in the Sarasota area.

John and Mable Ringling built a unique home on the water, naming it Ca' d' Zan. The Ringling Circus made Sarasota their winter home where new acts were practiced, equipment repairs were made and the animals were kept.

The front of the house.
The back patio with a wonderful water view and landing for guests arriving by boat.

Mable was very fond of roses and had a huge rose garden. Cyn found one of her grandmother, Kay's, favorite varieties, Tropicana, amongst the many roses in the garden.

John and Mable were avid art collectors. They built an art museum to house their collection. Al liked the turtle fountain in the piazza.

Mable only lived two years after the house was built.

We ended our day on Anna Maria Island at the Sand Bar Restaurant. Our table was in the sand. Sunset was gorgeous! We missed winning a bottle of champagne for guessing the exact time of sunset by 10 seconds.

Our crew: Left to right - John and Rosemary, Mike and Kathy, Cyn and Al

AL'S GOT THE CRABS

2010-10-25T13:31:00.005-04:00

Well, I (Al) have officially gone stone crabbing.... Chad, my dive instructor, did a good job of picking out bridges down by Treasure Island and Blind Pass. The bridges were smaller and off the beaten track, so boat traffic above us was a non issue while we hunted for the crabs.

We dove in 6-12 feet of water with visibility at about 12". They said these were pretty good conditions...I thought it was a bit murky. I dove with one of Chad's buddies. He was good instructor and quite good at getting the crabs. I would say he got 3/4 of the gallon we harvested.

I did get a (1) crab, but alas, it was too small to keep. I think I passed over a few because it took me a bit to identify exactly what we looking for. The crabs really burrow into the sand/muck at the bottom. Most of the ones I found, Steve came and got out...not a problem for me.

I wasn't bothered by the current, but one of our divers was freaked out by it, so crabbing is not for everyone. We had a meal of our catch back at Chad's dive store which was nice.

I'm probably not going again...I like better visibility when I dive. The stone crab meat is delish so I will just buy it from those who like to hunt for them!

"Gotta try things at least once" is my motto!

DECORATING FOR HALLOWEEN

2010-10-14T12:54:00.008-04:00

At our house, we are gearing up for the 3 months of holidays! Last weekend we put out some Halloween decorations. Even Trixie Marie is dressed in her Black Cat costume!

Ghosts are flying high at our front door and

on the kitchen counter top!

Jack - O - Lanterns await visitors on the entry stairway.They and bats light up the kitchen.
And can be found on the window ledge.

My walking buddy, Patty is a wonderful seamstress and quilter! I had the idea for chair covers and she brought the idea to life! Love that!

Love the retro fabric prints! It is like being a kid again to have these prints around.
Al's fountain became a cauldron for boiling skulls.
Halloween is yet another holiday when one can decorate a tree!

MORE FUN!!!

2010-10-13T15:39:00.005-04:00

Here we are enjoying a picnic dinner and outdoor concert in Seminole Park with our friends!

Rosemary, John and Al
Mike, Kathy and Connie

Nancy and David

HAVING SUCH FUN!!!

2010-10-13T14:48:00.005-04:00

We just can't seem to quit having so much fun! Here is what we have been up to lately.......

SunRiders Miata Club friends, Kathy and Mike Lloyd,
organized this activity in Ft. Myers.

Friends, John and Rosemary, were there, too!

The ticket to this event included an overnight at a Marriott across from the train depot. Very convenient!

The next day Al and I drove up to Sarasota to plan another Miata Club event to the John and Mabel Ringling estate and museums. We also contacted friends, Diane and Dave Tomer, who live in Osprey, and got together with them to catch up and to go out to dinner. We know Dave and Diane from when we lived in Ohio and were Hobie sailors together at Alum Creek and Myrtle Beach.

The Tampa Bay Rays made it into the first round of play-off games. Game 1 was at home. Al and I volunteered to work a concession stand at the Trop. A portion of the proceeds went to Lakewood HS's business club. We did get to watch about an inning and a half.

Below are Al, John, and Chris - John's son-in-law and teacher at Lakewood.

THE ANSWER IS YES!

2010-10-10T13:17:00.004-04:00

The moral of this is just get on the dang boat and quit being a dinosaur!

OCTOBER 2010

2010-10-10T12:09:00.003-04:00

We are celebrating our 4th year of Retirement. Gotta love happy, healthy and having gobs of fun! This is what that looks like...........

AL'S DES MOINES VISIT

2010-08-29T15:21:00.004-04:00

Al flew up to Des Moines to pay a visit to his mom, Lois. One afternoon they went to his brother, David's and wife, Joyce's house for lunch.
Al was pleased to see how well his mom looked since the death of her husband, JC, last December. Lois has also been doing some traveling in addition to her local activities with the church and friends.

HAPPY 38TH!

2010-08-29T14:59:00.003-04:00

August 26th was our 38th Anniversary! We celebrated the day at one of our favorite restaurants, Le Bouchon! Here we are toasting our great marriage with Kir Royals!

This is Chef Christian and our favorite waitstaff at the end of a long, busy night!

Martyne, a frequent chanteuse, performed to a packed house this evening, just adding wonderful song to our fabulous meal.

THE WOO HOO FACTOR

2010-08-26T09:18:00.003-04:00

Aren't families just wonderful!!!

SMILE!

MY ALYSSA, THE COMEDIENNE

2010-08-24T15:49:00.003-04:00

OMG!!! You have to go to Alyssa's blog (http://www.thechudzicks.blogspot.com/) to see her version of our 3rd Annual Family Excursion to Table Rock Lake in Missouri.

I'd forgotten she took such good pictures of the most important events of the trip! I can still smell that bacon!

BIRTHDAY BOY

2010-08-19T09:53:00.005-04:00

August 18th was Al's birthday. In celebration, we spent the day sailing on the Intra Coastal after he did his morning swim, bike ride to the beach and run on the beach.

We had nice wind and even flew a couple of hulls. For lunch, we stopped at a little sand island and ate our picnic meal.

Wednesday night is Trivia night at a local Irish Pub called Finley's. So we met up with our gang (Left around the table: Kathy, Al, Mike, John, Cyn and Rosemary)
Yea!! Everyone is finally back in town!! - to have dinner and play trivia. The whole bar sang "Happy Birthday" to Al. I believe the DJ was quite surprised to learn Al is 59!! Of course, 59 is now the new 39, anyway!!

HUNTER - GATHERER

2010-08-17T17:28:00.002-04:00

Al went on his first spear fishing dive on Sunday. They did 2 dives in the Gulf at 70-80' deep. The water temp was in the high 80's and visibility was 30-40'. So good conditions.

He had "rookie" luck and got "hog" fishes with his first two shots, then 1 missed shot and hit fish #4, but the fish got off the shaft before Al could get him onto the stringer. It was fun and he's looking forward to going again. FYI, the minimum length for shooting "hogs" is 12". They are very tasty.

WE FOUND IT!!!!

2010-08-16T19:31:00.005-04:00

Friends, Kathy and Mike, just bought a new home and had us over for an inaugural dip in their new pool.

Afterwards, we went to Charlie and Millie's Pizza. And there it was!!! We have been looking and looking for thin (and we mean THIN!!!) crust pizza for 7 years and we finally found it! Their sauce was tasty and the pizza had plenty of cheese. Yum-yum!

KIMBERLING CITY AND TABLE ROCK LAKE

2010-08-14T09:51:00.004-04:00

We have made it to Kimberling City on Table Rock Lake, meeting up with Graham and Alyssa and their families.

Our 3 bedroom, 3 bath condo awaits us. We notice right away that the inside temperature is 90 degrees and the a/c breaker is tripped. We turn the breaker back on and the temperature to 63. The fan is blowing but no cooling is occurring. So, we call the rental company. Our pal, David, says to set the thermostat at 78 degrees and see if that helps (Andrew says, "Yeah, right.. )

So, we go to lunch for an hour. When we got back, the breaker tripped again and now it is 94 degrees in there. We notice in the guest book that someone staying there earlier in July complained the a/c didn't work. We call our pal back and he says to set the thermostat at 76 degrees.

OK, that did it. Al and Alyssa drove off to find other accommodations for us. In the end our pal told us we just needed to pack up and go back home. There was nothing he could or would do for us. I called the credit card company, disputed the condo rental charges. The kids moved into a 2 bedroom, 2 bath condo and Al and I into a motel-like room at The Kimberling City Inn.

At the new place, a covered dock storage was available for Andrew and Alyssa's boat. Bonus! And the a/c worked just fine. Now, we are settled in for a week of relaxing, boating, skiing and wake boarding!

PAYTON AGE 4

EMMA AGE 2
THE WHOLE GANG!

LITTLE ROCK

2010-08-13T10:08:00.006-04:00

Today we are heading to Little Rock, AR to tour the Clinton Presidential Library. It is a very modern building right on the river. We had lunch in the restaurant, 42, inside the library. Delicious food!
Then we walked through the displays. There was a display about the blue dress debacle and the threatened impeachment. They didn't pretend like it didn't happen, unlike Watergate at Nixon's library.

I was just at our Chihuly Museum in St. Pete with the Sandpipers Walking Club. So, seeing this was a delight for me!

Just gorgeous!!!

After the library, we drove on to Searcy, AR where we met up with Graham, Kristy and Payton for dinner.

ONWARD TO MISSOURI

2010-08-13T09:42:00.005-04:00

The next day we drove to yet another funky place in Clarksdale, MS. that lies at the crossroads of routes 49 and 61 where legion has it Blues guitarist, Robert Johnson, sold his soul to the devil in order to become a guitar god.

Our accommodations for the night were at The Shack Up Inn. Bin #10 was our room. The bin was built inside of a cotton barn-like building.

In addition to the bins, a collection of cypress and tin sharecropper's shacks are available for overnight stays. Our room was nice and had a balcony for enjoying a cup of morning coffee outdoors. Here is the view from the balcony!

We had dinner at Abe's BBQ, touted to be fab, but we found it lacking. After dinner we stopped into "Ground Zero Blues Club" for music and dessert. Morgan Freeman co-owns the club.

OFF TO MISSOURI

2010-07-28T01:12:00.010-04:00

We are off, again!!!, this time on a road trip to Missouri for our 3rd Annual Family Excursion with the kids and kiddlets.

Today we drove the backroads of Florida, keeping as close to the Gulf of Mexico as we could. We followed it across the panhandle of FL (a very scenic route!), into Alabama where we caught a car ferry just outside of Gulf Shores for a 45 minute ride across Mobile Bay. We saw two different groups of people gathered for the oil disaster clean-up. Some of the beaches were closed as well.
Al had found a Mississippi Delta drive on the Budget Travel website so we used the travel guide as our tour leader for the next portion of the drive. Our drive took us to New Iberia, LA where we toured the National Trust Historic Site "Shadows on the Teche" a former sugarcane plantation.

Next we toured the Tabasco Plant on Avery Island, LA just a short drive from New Iberia.

We stayed the night in Breaux Bridge, LA

at a funky place called Bayou Cabins.

Dinner was at Cafe Des Amis. The food was wonderful and the band just fabulous. They played a mix of blues and zydeco music.

THE KEYS

2010-07-28T00:55:00.003-04:00

Shortly after returning home from the UK, we joined up with friends, Nancy and David, for a 5 day trip to the Keys. We stayed here and it was a nice, clean, older place.

They brought along their power boat so the two of them and Al could dive, snorkle and fish. The boat dock was right outside our rooms which made it very handy for taking the boat out for a ride.

We saw some lovely sunsets,
ate some wonderful meals and celebrated Nancy and David's anniversary while we were down in the Keys.

NARROW BOATING

2010-07-23T17:59:00.005-04:00

We met up with friends, Patsy and Peter - soon to be from Dorset!!! - in the town of Linslade. Here we picked up our Narrow Boat rental, Willow,

for a four day motor on the Grand Canal. At times, boats lined both sides of the canal.

Some folks live aboard their own private narrow boats. Many of the boats are very nicely decorated on the outside with paint and pots of plants.

We went through many mannual locks on our journey. Here I am cranking one open!

This is how the lock looked as we approached it.

All -in -all we had a wonderful weekend with our friends and ended our trip to the UK in a very relaxing way.

OUR TIME IN ENGLAND

2010-07-20T16:40:00.006-04:00

We started our 6 day visit by staying in Southport, Merseyside on the Irish Sea. We found a wonderful 5 star small hotel and claimed our room
before setting out on a National Trust tour to the boyhood homes of John Lennon and

Paul McCartney in Liverpool, just to the south of Southport.

We had excellent guides at each home. The National Trust tour is the only one that allows one to go inside the homes. We highly recommend it!!!

Back at the hotel, we enjoyed cocktails followed by a fabulous 3 course meal prepared by the chef-owner.

SCOTLAND DAY 10

2010-07-17T05:38:00.003-04:00

We ferried from Carron across Loch Linnhe and drove to Glasgow where we left friends, Kathy and Mike, to fly back home and Rosemary and John, to fly off to Paris to meet up with their daughter and her husband.

We picked up our hire car and headed out for 2 1/2 weeks of touring on our own, staying in many very nice B&Bs, seeing all the famous Scottish sights - no luck seeing Nessie, however! - and finally heading off to England to meet up with friends, Patsy and Peter.

SCOTLAND DAY 9

2010-07-16T21:03:00.005-04:00

Rainy and quite windy today. I opted not to ride as did everyone in our gang but Al. On our last cycling day we ferried across the Sound of Mull to Kilchoan on the Ardnamurchan Peninsula. Al rode from the ferry landing in Kilchoan to the light house at Ardnamurhan, where this view was spectacular,

then to the Ardnamurchan Natural History Center for lunch. He rode 9 more miles of challenging hills to the BEST B&B of the whole trip, Kilcamb Lodge (http://www.kilcamblodge.co.uk/)! Our group basically had the whole lodge to ourselves.

Our room was huge, had a body dryer (think hair dryer for your entire body) in our bath and we ate a wonderful evening meal. One of the best of the trip. One of our fabulous tour guides, Bill, gave a parting speech afterwards. Mike and Kathy, from our gang, are on the couch.

This biking trip is the fourth one we have taken through Bike Vermont. It has been a wonderful trip, just like all the others. They have a trip in Italy which is now on our bucket list!

SCOTLAND DAY 8

2010-07-16T20:48:00.004-04:00

We got to sleep in and have a late breakfast this morning. After breakfast we strolled Tobermory, toured a city museum and the Tobermory Scotch Whiskey brewery

and had lunch out of doors by the marina. This was the view at lunch!

In the afternoon, we rode our bikes around Loch Na Keal. It was nice and flat with sheep and cows sharing the rode with us. I dipped my toes into the Loch!

The gang during the best ride of the trip.

Also rode into the town of Salen. There we had a beer at the local pub before dinner at a cute Italian restaurant.

Our room in Tobermory is wonderful and has a great view of the Sound of Mull.

SCOTLAND DAY 7

2010-07-09T18:23:00.005-04:00

We were up at 5:45 AM to leave the hotels so we could catch the ferry to the Isle of Mull. There was a rockslide that knocked a train off it's tracks, leaving one train car dangling over the motorway our guides usually drive to reach the ferry. That meant a detour and a bit longer drive to the ferry.
The sun was out more and more the closer we got to the Isle of Mull and it had become a glorious day. We biked to a castle and had a guided tour of it.

My massage for today was scheduled at 4:00 PM so I quit riding early so I could arrive in Tobermory in time. Tobermory is a gorgous, quaint, colourful seaside town. We spent the night at the Western Isles Hotel.
(http://www.westernisleshotel.co.uk/)

Al, again, rode all the mileage plus the optional mileage.

SCOTLAND DAY 6

2010-07-09T18:07:00.005-04:00

Rain, rain, rain. I could not psych myself up to ride my bike in it - can't see the road because my glasses fog up - so I rode in the van all day. Al, of course rode all the mileage plus the extra optional mileage!

I was scheduled for a massage in the nearby town, Aberfeldy. Tonight we are staying at a new hotel, The Kenmore Hotel (http://www.kenmorehotel.co.uk/?__utma=1.1655243052.1278707807.1278707807.1278713472.2&__utmb=1&__utmc=1&__utmx=-&__utmz=1.1278707807.1.1.utmccn%253D(direct)%257Cutmcsr%253D(direct)%257Cutmcmd%253D(none)&__utmv=-&__utmk=148856632)

At tonight's dinner we had that delicious Sticky Toffee Pudding for dessert and a local singer and guitarist, Ewen Sutherland - no relation to the restaurant from Day One of our visit - played and sang for us traditional Scottish songs and told us interesting stories!

SCOTLAND DAY 5

2010-07-09T16:38:00.005-04:00

Off on the bikes after some fine tuning of their fit. Rode 32 miles with only one difficult (for me!) hill. Toured a castle (Scotland is just full of them!) after lunch.

The gang on the roof of the castle. Below is the support van.

Gorgeous, gorgeous countryside!

I rode back to the Ballathie House in the van because I had an early massage scheduled. The rest of the gang finished up the day's ride. Al had a massage tonight, too.

Rain all day.

SCOTLAND DAY 4

2010-07-09T16:27:00.005-04:00

The Bike Vermont staff picked us and the Kots up at our hotel for the next leg of our journey. Friends Kathy and Mike Lloyd were already aboard the van. We drove 1 1/2 hours to the Ballhathie Manor House,
a lovely property in the country. (http://www.ballathiehousehotel.com/?__utma=1.1655243052.1278707807.1278707807.1278707807.1&__utmb=1&__utmc=1&__utmx=-&__utmz=1.1278707807.1.1.utmccn%3D(direct)%7Cutmcsr%3D(direct)%7Cutmcmd%3D(none)&__utmv=-&__utmk=134749938)

It has begun to rain.

Got fitted on our bikes, had lunch in the Manor House and had a bit of a pre-bike ride meeting. Then we went on a 13 mile tune-up ride. I followed the ride with a nice hot shower and a massage.

SCOTLAND DAY 3

2010-07-05T15:25:00.009-04:00

Rode the "City Sightseeing, Glasgow" bus again today since the tickets are good for two days! We got off the bus at George Square - named for King George III. A statue of the king was to go in this square but the Glaswegians were pissed off at him for loosing the American Colonies which put a halt to the huge trade relationship Glasgow had with the colonies. So, they put up a statue of Sir Walter Scott here instead.

Back onto the bus so we could travel to the Peoples Palace and Winter Gardens. Since the 1940s, it has been the museum of social history for the city of Glasgow, and tells the story of the people and the city from 1750 to the present day. The collections and displays reflect the changing face of the city and the different experiences of Glaswegians at home, work and leisure. Current displays include glimpses of typical Glasgow social history such as life in a 'single end' (a one-room tenement home), going to 'The Steamie' (the communal laundry), nights out at 'The Dancing' in the famous Barrowland Ballroom.

The Victoria Fountain outside of this museum.

Back on the bus again to head for a quaint pub, The Horse's Head Tavern, for lunch. Had a bit of a walk......OK we were turned around......

then got back on the bus (loving the bus!!!) to go see the Mackinosh House at the Hunterean Art Gallery. Love, love, love the decor of this house!!!!

Now guess what we did........Yep, back on the bus to the stop outside our hotel. Dinner was at "Sisters" right across the side street from our hotel. Yumm-O food! Who says UK food is boring?????

SCOTLAND DAY 2

2010-07-05T14:28:00.009-04:00

Slept for 14 hours which felt fantastic!! Met the Kots for breakfast in our hotel and afterwards hopped on the "City Sightseeing, Glasgow" double decker red bus at the bus stop just outside the hotel.

Initially, we just rode the bus, listening to the tour narration, to see where all the bus went and to plan which stops we wanted to visit.

Our first stop became the lunch stop. At the Willow Tea Room, designed by Charles Rennie Mackintosh (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Rennie_Mackintosh), we had a delicious lunch!

The famous interiors of this tea room were created in 1903 by Mackintosh for his patron, Kate Cranston. The "Room Deluxe" has fabulous mirrored friezes, leaded glass doors and silver furniture (http://www.willowtearooms.co.uk/sauchiehall.htm).

We walked back to the Glasgow School of Art for our previously scheduled tour. Charles Mackintosh and his wife were students here. Charles designed the building that houses the art school.

Walking, again, we headed for "The Tennament House", a National Trust property, maintained, as is, from the year 1932. It was the home of Agnes Toward was an ordinary Glasgow lady who worked as a shorthand typist. She moved into the first floor flat with her widowed mother, a seamstress, in 1911 and stayed on after her mother’s death until 1965.

Besides installing electricity in 1960, she made very few changes to her house, and she kept all kinds of things that most people throw away.

The house is a treasure trove of Scottish social history. Agnes kept her Victorian furniture, held on to old letters and household bills, wartime ration books, recipes, photographs and newspaper cuttings. You can read more about and see photos of the flat at http://www.nts.org.uk/Property/59/Details/

Dinner this evening was at Bukharah, an Indian restaurant, across the street from our hotel.

SCOTLAND DAY 1

2010-07-05T14:18:00.008-04:00

We traveled to Glasgow, Scotland on June 2. After landing in Glasgow, we hopped on a city bus riding it to the Sandyford Hotel on Sauchiehall Street, just off city center.

Once settled into the hotel, we found a phone store and bought a UK phone, had lunch at the Glasgow School of Art and made reservations for a tour of the school for the next day.

Then we got back on the city bus and went to the Burrell Art Museum and
then to the Kelvingrove Civic and Art Museum,
just down from our hotel. The Kelvingrove is the largest civic museum and art gallery in the UK .

Jet lag was setting in pretty well by 5 pm. We caught up with neighbors and friends, Rosemary and John Kot, and went to dinner at a wonderful restaurant, Sutherland's, within walking distance of our hotel. Here I discovered Sticky Toffee Pudding, a brilliant dessert! We could barely keep our eyes open through dinner so, we hit the sack at 7:30 pm, exhausted.

THE CHUDZICK'S VISIT

2010-07-05T13:42:00.003-04:00

Alyssa, Andrew and Emma came for a visit right after we got home from SC. Andrew stayed for 4 days. Alyssa and Emma stayed for 7 days.

We tried to do as many activities on their wish list as was possible. Alyssa and Andrew also got to have an evening to themselves while we enjoyed Emma's company.

You can see some of the pictures of their visit here http://www.thechudzicks.blogspot.com/

WHA' HAPPENED TO US???

2010-07-03T08:14:00.006-04:00

Good grief! I haven't posted to my blog since April (I just love stating the obvious)! But I will catch you up on our happenings starting today. It will be a gentle catch up, so I don't overwhelm you because, as you know, we haven't sat still since April!

Mr. went on his annual sailing trip to the British Virgin Islands with guys from the Windy City Miata Club.

Also joining him on the trip was our friend, Ron Neal.

Al got to do lots of SCUBA diving and even did a night dive, something new for him.

As you see in the posting from April, I went bike riding with friends while he was gone. I also went to two stamp camps (using rubber stamps to make greeting cards), walked regularly with my walking buddy, Patty and enjoyed my time alone (no, I am not interested in making a habit of being without him!!)

The day after Al got home from the BVIs, we took off for South Carolina with friends, Connie and Stu, from our SunRiders Miata Club. We attended a regional Miata event in the Myrtle Beach area.

We just love ferries!

En route, we stayed at a wonderful B&B in St. Mary's, FL. Great name, too!

FUN

2010-04-22T10:06:00.003-04:00

This past weekend I went bike riding with friends, Kathy and Mike Lloyd, to Mt. Dora.
This was our lunch stop on Saturday in Tavares, a town next to Mt. Dora.

These aqua planes were landing on the lake in Tavares on Sunday morning, driving up the boat ramp and parking in the parking lot. A fun sight to see!

The Mt. Dora area is one of the few places in Florida that has a hill or two. Al was able to join us for the Saturday ride and dinner before returning back home to catch his plane for the BVI early Sunday morning.

We rode 30 miles on Saturday and 13 miles on Sunday. A nice tune up for our week long ride in Scotland coming up in June.

MORE VISITORS

2010-04-14T09:57:00.003-04:00

Long time friends, Nathan and Jaime Robe from Greenwood, IN, came to visit us for a couple of days.
Al and Nathan play with the scuba gear in our pool.

We spent lots of time catching up, showing them around and eating Al's delicious meals.

Now, they are off on the rest of their Florida road trip.

HAPPY SPRING!!!

2010-04-05T14:16:00.004-04:00

Sunday we had Fran and my walking buddy, Patty, over for brunch. Al fixed his famous egg souffle - which turned out quite beautifully - and bacon. I made my family's traditional Sunday morning coffee cake. We also had grapefruit juice mimosas and coffee. Quite yummy if I do say so.

In the afternoon, Al and I took ROOBEE on a spin to plan out a Sunrider Miata Club "Miatas for Breakfast" event that will take place next Saturday. What a great day for a drive, top down, along the beach!

We got back home with about 10 minutes to spare before we left to meet up with friends, Kathy and Mike, for dinner at a popular local restaurant, Salt Rock Grill. Al and I had eaten here only once prior to this and weren't very impressed. The food was just OK but over priced. The meal we ate this time was delicious and more reasonably priced. I had a fillet kabob that was melt in your mouth delicious and I rarely eat beef!!!

Our dinner reservations were for 8:30 but we didn't get seated until almost 9:15. We were quite stuffed and not ready to go to bed with such full stomachs but that doesn't happen very often and we really enjoyed the time with our friends!

GETTIN' CREATIVE

2010-04-05T12:07:00.002-04:00

I went to a stamp camp at Vickie's, my favorite Stampin' Up leader. The camp got me motivated to do some creative stamping of my own.

I made three different Easter cards. Payton and Emma received the first two. I couldn't decide which one to make for them so, I just did both cards.

This one I sent to other relatives. It is a variation of a card we made during the camp. I just used one of my unfinished camp cards to fill my need for an Easter card. Thanks for this design, Vickie!

I sure had fun getting out all the necessary supplies and my stamp studio looked like a bomb had gone off in it for a while. Good grief, is that glitter on my face?

THE OL' BOY STILL HAS IT

2010-04-03T21:28:00.004-04:00

Al says this week of skiing at Alta was the best he's ever had. The conditions were great and he got back into the swing of skiing quickly.

Here he is all suited up for a day of playing in the snow.

The view from the condo where he spent the week.

WHILE THE CAT'S AWAY...........

2010-04-02T10:37:00.008-04:00

Al left on March 25th to join up with our neighbor and friend, Allan, in Salt Lake City to ski for a week at Alta Ski Resort. Since then, I have been on a movie marathon that started with the discovery of the new Blockbuster Express movie rental stations located in our local Publix groceries. They are in direct competition with Red Box movie stations that have also come to town within the last year or so. Sometimes competition is such a good thing!

I got a coupon for a free movie for signing up online and so did Al. His coupon expired before he returns home from Utah so I used it, too. Publix had free movie coupons so I've used them, too. Plus, I turned in a Blockbuster online rental for a free one in the store and should get a new movie in the mail. Whew!!!!

I watched "Amelia," "Precious," (excellent!), "Burning Plain" (excellent!), "This is It" (excellent!!!!!! but such a loss of talent) :( , "The Taking of Pellam 123 (The 2009 remake - excellent!), "Lies and Illusions" (BARF!!Bad acting Christian Slater!!!!), "SevenPounds" (excellent!!! sign that donor card, y'all!), "Enchanted" (nice Disney fantasy. I'd buy this one for the kidletts.) "2012", "The Producers" (the 1968 version with Gene Wilder. The new version was better!), "Brothers" (war really does suck!) and the French film, "Coco before Chanel." My mother, the world famous movie lover, would be impressed with the number of films I am managing to watch while Al is gone.

I also had fun working in my stamp studio, having dinner and playing Qwirkle with Fran (Allan's wife) and their visiting friends, Jill and Guillio and going out to lunch and shopping with my walking buddy, Patty.

He came home just in time for some really nice 80 degree weather after having lots of snow in Utah.

VISITORS

2010-03-30T16:07:00.003-04:00

Friends, Jean and Ron Neal from Columbus, GA, visited us for a few days. We took them to Sunken Gardens and lunched in Gulfport. Al and I were dismayed to see all the frost damage sustained by the garden's lovely Florida flora as a result of this year's very cold winter.

Al and Ron went to the beach while Jean and I went shopping at my favorite beachy shop, Bay Mariner, and in John's Pass. She and I went to lunch at a little tea shop. For dinner, we all went to Al's and my favorite dinner restaurant, Marlin Darlin'.

We had a nice visit, played dominos and showed them around our area. Come back any time, Jean and Ron!!

SOMETIMES I JUST CAN'T BELIEVE IT!

2010-03-26T17:31:00.006-04:00

Al and I went to our beach in Indian Rocks for this year's Vernal Equinox sunset and to have our dinner on the beach. As I sat in my beach chair looking out at the Gulf of Mexico, I was overcome with the wonder of how I came to live in this marvelous place! I really don't think it gets any better than sharing

all this with someone you love!

ON THE MOVE - AGAIN!

2010-03-26T15:54:00.003-04:00

This adventure was a little closer to home! We met up with two couples, Rosemary and John (front left and right) and Mike and Kathy (back right) for a day of bike riding.We left from Dunedin, a town just north of us, for a bike ride, even farther north, to Tarpon Springs, the Sponge Capital of Florida. Tarpon was settled by Greek imigrants. We ate a wonderful lunch at "Mama's." I highly recommend having a meal at this restaurant. The lunch special is quite reasonable and includes baklava that rivals Al's famous recipe.

Here is the gang all suited up for the ride back to Dunedin with our bellies full of delicious Greek food.

Back in Dunedin, we stopped for a beer at Kathy and Mike's favorite haunt, The House of Beer.

MORE OF EGYPT

2010-03-21T08:56:00.010-04:00

One evening onboard our riverboat we had an Egyptian Night party. We were encouraged to come in costume. The dinner that evening was absolutely delicious!!
This is part of the Aswan Dam. There are now two dams and they produce a huge amount of hydro-electric for Egypt to sell to other countries. The cost of electricity to Egyptians is negligable.

Philae Temple which was moved when the dam flooded its original location.

Ramses II tomb in Abu Simbal.

This is the Esana Temple. It is unusual because the current street height is much higher than the entrance level to the temple. It was buried in sand and life went on right on top of it as though it wasn't even there.

Love the columns!!!

The ancient Egyptians also know how to do a mean obelisk, too!

What a great trip this was! We can highly recommend it and our tour company, Gate One. The end of February and first of March is a wonderful time to visit this country.

TEMPLES AND THE NILE

2010-03-20T13:24:00.011-04:00

Oh, my goodness! Could the Ancient Egyptian people ever do temples and pillars!!! We saw many temples all with wonderful carvings that told a story about the pharaohs who commissioned them and the Gods they worshiped.
This god is one of my favorites. His name is Horus, the god of the sky. He is usually seen portrayed as a falcon. The crown on his head represents Upper and Lower Egypt.

We spent a week of our trip cruising on the Nile. Our riverboat was very nice and we relaxed by the pool as the boat motored to the next stop.

One evening before dinner, we took a sail on a felucca sailboat.

The land at the edge of the Nile is so lush and green. Each year's flooding is so important for depositing the nutrient rich silt where farmers can grow their crops.

EGYPT CONTINUED

2010-03-20T13:07:00.009-04:00

We rode our luxurious bus to Memphis, the original capital of Egypt, to see a huge statue of Rames II, a beloved pharoah. They had this statue displayed laying down. There was also a sphinx here, too. It was in much better condition that the one we saw at Giza.

The step pyramid of Sakkara. Just a different design than the pyramids in Giza.

The inside of a tomb. Great artwork!!!

Now, we have to talk about the trash. It was unbelievable and everywhere!! Very disturbing for us to see, especially at the country's historic relics.