Friday, September 13, 2013

Living LARGE in a small space

Most, if not all of you know we have been living in our Casita since May of 2012. Most of you also know that our total square footage is approximately 98 Sq. Feet! We have one drawer, one closet for two people and a bossy westie. Our refrigerator is 4 cubic ft. Which also contains a small freezer compartment...big enough for several pints of Ben and Jerry's. Fortunately, our "TV" or tow vehicle is a stretch Nissan Pathfinder which we pack out pretty heavily😊. Paul has 3 cupboards in the camper for his clothing. The cupboards are all around 3 sides of MiniPearl. There are a total of 4 other cupboards which house food, canned goods, coffee and tea and dishes. The one drawer has knives, forks, spoons and miscellaneous cutlery...ie:  Can opener, cork screw etc. I have a crock full of spoons , spatulas and tongs and a magnetic knife holder also.
That's my new tea cozy from Maine above...
 
 
That's an old metal tray which has tons of souvenir magnets sticking to it
 
 
This is a new erasable magnet board I bought at Target to hold more of our magnets. We enjoy looking at them and marveling at all the places we have been!
 
 
This is our one closet....oh my goodness.... we sure can cram a ton of stuff in here. Talk about living LARGE. Found these three drawer cloth cabinets at Target. Finally, I have an easy way to access my clothes. One drawer for undies, one for pajamas, two for tops and two for bottoms....I feel luxurious!!!
And yes, that is tp, also houses our TV, DVD player and misc storage along with the first aid kit.
No, I am not ready to stop our journey....I am loving it!
Tally ho,
Cathy
 

 

Tuesday, September 10, 2013

THAT'S A WHOLE LOTTA CORN....

We have been traveling through America's heartland.....OHIO.....INDIANA......ILLINOIS.......and IOWA.

HERE'S

 
This could be a photo of any of these states! Never saw so much corn!!!
But wait....there's more...
 
 
 
 
 
America must be full of corn. Literally.
We did see other interesting, uplifting and edifying along the way.
 
 
 
 
 
 
Paul's boyhood home in Vandalia, Ohio
 
 
Picnic with family
 
 
more family fun
 
 
And more FAMILY! Hooray!!!
 
We had a great time in Dayton and made some very good memories. Thanks to all our Lafferty family we love you all.
We stopped for three days in Indianapolis area.
 
 
 
Stopped to see yet another covered bridge.
 
 
amazing!
 
We were number one on the list for this housing.....
Now, they are privately owned, still beautiful though. Fort Benjamin Harrison is no longer. We visited it as an Indiana state park. Very nice.
 
 
Next we headed west to Springfield, Illinois to rub shoulders with the Lincoln family!
YOU MUST VISIT THE LINCOLN MUSEUM....have seen none to compare. What a wonderful time we had. 5 Stars
 
 
Paul got to hob nob with generals McClellan (L) and Grant but they offered him no refreshment....
 
 
Another must see is the Lincoln tomb
 
 
stunning
 
 
 
 
 
"Now he belongs to the ages"
 
 
We are in Iowa. Amana colonies and German cooking....out of this world. Paul sure did enjoy his wurst!
 
Tally ho,
Cathy

Monday, August 26, 2013

I forgot to tell you....


Cannot believe I forgot to tell you about the wonderful place we stayed while in Bennington Vermont.
 
 
Pine Hollow Campground
Probably the prettiest, well maintained campground we have ever stayed . Our campsite was right by this beautiful little lake with a lighted fountain. The grass was like a carpet. There were no bugs. The bathrooms were spotless. Five stars folks.
Bennington is cool. We visited the town last year too. Did the Grandma Moses gallery and ate at the famous Blue Benn Diner. This year we visited the old church and cemetery where Robert Frost is buried. We also visited his home. We went back to the Blue Benn for lunch, toured a covered bridge museum and drove through a covered bridge or two.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Old tombstone
 
 
lots of neat old tombstones
 
 
"I had a lovers quarrel with the world"
 
 
lots of Patriot graves marked by the DAR
 
 
 
 
Vermont is famous for covered bridges.
 
And the Blue Benn Is famous for delicious food!
 
 
 
Old First Church where Robert Frost is buried.
 
Had beautiful weather and a very good time.
Tally ho,
Cathy

Sunday, August 25, 2013

TIMES THREE


My mother told me that most events happen in threes. Usually the unfortunate or traumatic type of events, that is. So when I share with you the amazing statistic that until yesterday we had not suffered any catastrophes inside our sweet MiniPearl....that is as of yesterday. THIS MORNING....before 9 AM, Fiona threw up, not once, but twice, a cup of tea spilled inside the microwave...then proceeded to run down shelving, into a tray full of clean mugs, onto that shelf, then onto the floor....AND a carton of eggs fell out of the refrigerator breaking only three....
 
This is the scene of the three events.
 
 
 
Paul is one heck of a carpet cleaning man! He saved the day...
ALL THREE TIMES
 
 
I just stay out of the way....can you see my tan line? First time in my whole life I have had one. Starting to actually look like a gypsy on the outside while feeling like one on the inside!
 
Now things are back to normal.
Thank you for listening.

Tally ho,
Cathy

Tuesday, August 20, 2013

TAKING IT EASY

One of our goals this second year of adventure is to stay a bit longer in a place. One incentive for this is less mileage=less gas ! Another incentive is family and friends, and finally, location. We are hanging out at Miller's Campground in Waynesville, Ohio for all the above reasons. The rates are very reasonable, good strong wi fi, lots of Paul's kin close by.... did I mention IKEA is a short 20 miles from here???
Our set up is quite comfy. We have the instant screen room and also the Coleman instant tent for storage. Amazing design on those tents. Even Paul and I can set up or take down these beauties in less than 5 minutes! Gotta love Coleman.
 
 
We paid a visit to Paul's childhood home and were pleased to see the farmhouse remained and looked wonderful.

 
Enjoyed a family picnic/fishing get together. Loren and Greg Schulte on the right, Cindy and Bob's son and dtr-in-law.
 
Here's Paul with some of his family, sister Cindy and hubby Bob had just left...
 
Here's Cindy with niece Ashley, her hubby David, and that's Paul behind Cindy with their baby brother Tim in the far back!
 
 
The youngest member of the family...Gabe, he is one adorable, good natured, wanna squeeze him 'til he pops little boy. He kept us entertained. That's his grandmother, Lily, Tim's wife behind Gabe.
 
 
Paul and his baby brother Tim.
 
We'll be here for a little while longer, then it's off towards Indianapolis !
Tally ho
Cathy

Monday, August 5, 2013

WESTWARD!

 
Love those free nights at Wal-mart!
We leave Bar Harbor and spend a night in one of the prettiest Wal-Mart parking lots we have ever seen. Deep inside the Green Mountains...peaceful, quiet, did I mention free??? We are in Gorham NH.
Next stop is Little River State Park close to Stowe, VT. Little River is the busiest state park in Vermont, probably because it is located very close to the busiest tourist attraction in Vermont.......
 
 
 
On advice from our Canada friends, Marla and Brian, we made sure we paid a visit. We really enjoyed our time here.
 
 
 
Had to wait 45 minutes for our tour, so we got in line for ice cream, the line was long. The ice cream was very good.
 
 
Clever quotes were all over, we enjoyed reading them as we ate our hot fudge sundae.
 
 
Soon, it was our turn for a tour. Cost: $6 per person.
 
 
 
Our new family motto!
 
Stowe is a big ski location. Lots of good places to eat and a shopping Mecca! The weather was overcast and rainy and a whole lot cooler...highs in the low 70s and in the 40s at night! Bliss!!!
 
 
The Trapp Family Inn.
 
 
The view
 

We ate lunch here

 
 
Dinner.......here
 
 
 
 
His, fish stew
 
 
Mine, a café cut sirloin....not as good as it looks 😡
 
 
All in all, I would say we enjoyed our time in the area and want to return in the fall some day!
 
Tally ho,
Cathy