Dec 2, 2012 - Pittsboro Christmas Parade

The Christmas season is underway! It was a beautiful day for a parade, with clear skies and temperature in the 60's. We walked from our house uptown to the see the Pittsboro Christmas Parade. It started at 3:00 pm and lasted nearly an hour and a half. Marching school bands, local police, sheriff and deputies, old cars, tractors, fire trucks, and floats from local farms, churches, and vendors traveled west from the Food Lion parking lot on East Street, around the old courthouse, and west on West Street to the Sheriff's Office. Local folks...

Nov 24, 2012 - Carolina Tiger Rescue

Today, my mom and I went to Carolina Tiger Rescue in Pittsboro for a tour. Our tour started with an overview of the organization by our guide Julie - originally, it was used for breeding to protect species from extinction; now it was primarily focused on rescuing wild cats from private owners and giving them a happy life. The first cats we saw were the caracals, two females and a male. One of the females was sleeping in her box and the other was sleeping next to it. The male was walking around a bit, leaving his scent on the fence to make...

Nov 24, 2012 - Ben's Bath Time

We have always told Ben, our parrot, that he had to have a bath on Saturday. It seems that he knows when it's Saturday. He will start dipping his head in his water dish and throwing water over himself, the cage, the floor, the wall.... So, John takes him out and puts him in the kitchen sink for a shower. Then it's time for the hair dryer. Ben must like the warm air blowing over him, as he usually stands still(see the photos). On a warm day, we will put his small cage outside in the sun so he can finish drying in the fresh air. Today,...

Oct 9, 2012 - From Mountains to Home

When we left the Crabtree Falls Campground, it was still foggy, but not nearly as dense as last night! The fog soon started lifting and we saw turkeys, squirrels, and other birds along the parkway. We stopped at the Glassmine Falls as the sun began breaking through the clouds. We finally got off the parkway onto Hwy.694 South into Asheville, NC. We visited the Lake Powhatan Campground in the Pisgah National Forest. That's a nice campground! We may camp there sometime, using our Senior Pass discount card. We drove on to Hendersonville and...

Aug 17, 2012 - Jeremy's Graduation Party

Jeremy Timmons' parents and sister planned and successfully pulled off a surprise graduation party for him at the S&T Soda Shoppe in Pittsboro. The event was attended by many friends and family. Jeremy recently graduated from UNC-Greensboro with a degree in kinesiology. He is currently working at S&T's while plans for employment in his field develop. John and Sally have three children and six grandchildren. Jeremy is the oldest of the grandchildren and therefore the first to graduate from college. Note: Please enjoy the photos, posted in...

Feb 25, 2012 - Clam Bake at Hearne Beach

Dennis and Ann (John's brother and his wife) invited friends and family to their house for a clam bake. They prepared their back deck with a sandy beach section and a board announced Hearne Beach. A family friend painted several beach scenes with palms and a lighthouse for the event. One beach scene painting was mounted beside the back door. Oysters were steamed over coals and served as appetizers. Ann also made a huge pot of chili for those who couldn't eat seafood or wanted some for an appetizer. Ann's cousin, Jane, prepared the clam...

Dec 26, 2011 - Travel Home

After breakfast, it was time to pack up and head home. We said our good-byes with hugs and kisses and headed out. We all had had a good time. It's a five-hour trip back to Pittsboro, so we were eager to get on the road. For John Jr. and his family, it's a two-hour trip home to Virginia Beach. Thank you, Lord, for my wonderful family. Although we saw a lot of Christmas decorations on our trip, none stood out as much as a Santa's helicopter made with hay bales. (See photo.) I hope we will see more manger scenes next year.

Nov 16, 2011 - Sweet home, North Carolina!

Wednesday, November 16 This was a rainy and cool day. I stayed in the coach almost the entire day, except for a brief walk around the campground between rain showers. John took some photos of the area. I worked on the Web journal and took naps. ------ Thursday, November 17 Due to my cold and the cold rain, we decided to head home today. We drove through Pigeon Forge and Sevierville to I-40 East and into North Carolina. Wow...that welcome sign was sweet to see. We had been gone for 3 1/2 months and we were glad to be back in the state. At...

Sep 24, 2011 - White Pines Preserve

Yesterday, we started our plan to do monthly hikes from Joe Miller's book, 100 Classic Hikes in NC. This month, we tackled hikes 35 and 44. We started with White Pines Nature Preserve, south of Pittsboro. From the parking lot, we hiked the Gilbert Yager Trail to add a little distance to this hike. Then we turned right onto White Pines Trail and then right again onto the River Trail until we reached the Deep River. We followed the River Trail to where the Deep and Rocky Rivers meet then turned left to continue along the River Trail along the...

Apr 5, 2011 - Home for a day

Tuesday and Wednesday were filled with doctor appointments and preparations for our next trip. We will head to Charleston, SC, tomorrow (April 7). Sally's oncology appointment went very well. The doctor was happy with her blood test results. She has another six-month break before she sees him again in the fall. We continue to thank God for her healing.

Dec 4, 2010 - Pittsboro, NC

Now we are back in Pittsboro. The motor home is parked at the home of a friend. We are home for the month, until we leave to go to Corolla on the Outer Banks for Christmas. Our son and his wife have a house at Corolla and they have invited the family there to celebrate Christmas.

Apr 26, 2010 - First Leg of our Journey West, Myrtle Beach, SC

We left our home in Pittsboro, NC, on April 26, 2010, headed to Myrtle Beach, SC, for the first stop on our journey across this great nation. We left our two daughters with a to-do list to handle our affairs at home so that we could travel without worry. We made sure that our son in Virginia Beach, VA, would be available via cell phone, email, and text messaging to handle all technical questions. We arrived in Myrtle Beach just in time for the spring "explosion" of cotton balls from the cottonwood trees. One day we walked on the new...