7/31/2010 A Family Reunion

WARNING! WARNING! WARNING! WARNING!

THIS POST IS LONG…PREPARE YOURSELF.

After working the morning, and we’ve got some stories about that, we spent the afternoon and evening with my Dad’s side of the family.

First work. People never fail to amaze me and if the truth be told, disgust me.

Bob was doing litter patrol with his trusty bucket and handy grabber in the kids playground. Let me set the scene for you.

There’s a “fence” around the playground made of some type of plastic or fabric that is attached to wire fencing to give it stability, oh wait, I’ll go take a picture of it right now so you know what I’m talkin’ about. Be back in a minute. (Just so you know, I REALLY AM going out to take the picture)

The purpose of this is to keep the playground cordoned off so that cars won’t park in this area and it does double duty around the playground equipment area by keeping the mulch which is in place to give the ground a soft cushion, from blowing away. So now you know what kind of fence I’m talking about and why it’s there.

So Bob is in this area and he looks up and across the playground and he sees a mom and dad and three kids with all the paraphernalia, complete with wagon, that goes with taking three little kids to the beach for the day. The dad is stepping on the fence, mashing it to the ground, so that him and his family can take a shortcut instead of walking around an extra 100 feet! Bob stood there dumbfounded. Flabbergasted. Shocked at what he was seeing. Maybe shocked is going a bit far after what we’ve seen this summer, nothing shocks us anymore. Anyway, after it registers with Bob that what he thinks he’s seeing is actually happening he called out to the guy as he was walking towards them.

BOB: “Excuse me, please don’t step on the fence like that.”

The guys had the audacity to reply…..

#1 Jerk: “Why not, its falling down anyway.”

BOB: “It’s falling down because you are stepping on it.”

#1 Jerk: With a shrug of his shoulders,he says, “So.”

I think it took all Bob had not to knock this jerk’s lights out. What are these parents teaching their kids? Go ahead kids, if it saves you 100 steps its ok to ruin the property of others, even if that property is there for YOUR enjoyment! Why??? How did it get this way???

So that was HIS incident, I had one of my own.

I was doing the reservation cards this morning and as I was riding down the street on the golf cart I was stopped by two guys. They proceeded to tell me that a couple that had just arrived didn’t park all the way on the hard surface but more in the sand/grassy area and when they tried to open their slide, well it couldn’t go out all the way because their canopy was up. (Not the RV awning, a standalone canopy) It seems the new arrival must have hit a few traffic jams on his way here from New York and wasn’t in the best of moods. When he couldn’t get his slide out he proceeded to take it upon himself to move his neighbors canopy and other belongings they had in the yard. This didn’t sit well with the people who were already here because of the new arrivals attitude and instead of knocking on the door and asking them to move their things he just did it himself.

I looked at the situation and had to agree with the fellows that it wasn’t the best parking job I’ve ever seen and that yes had the new arrival parked on the hard surface he would have had plenty of room to open his slide and all of this could have been prevented. The lady of the new couple showed up then from her walk and I told her that the RV would have to be moved. Now this is the kind you drive so its only a matter of unplugging the electric cord,(sewer line wasn’t hooked up yet) backing up 10-15 feet and pulling forward keeping all tires on the hard surface. Problem fixed. Or so I thought.

After being assured she would tell her husband that the RV had to be moved over a foot or so I went on my way. I checked to see if any more campers left and went to clear the now empty sites with the check-in booth. When I arrived Lynne said the husband of the new arrivals had come to see her and that she told him his space was whatever was between the electric box on his site and electric box on the site to his right and that he was waiting for me at his site. Jay, who works in the booth also, hopped on the cart with me and off we went.

The man kept telling me that he paid for the site between THIS electric box and THAT electric box. It was the principle of it now and since the legs of his neighbors canopy fell over this property boundary he wanted them to take the canopy down! After all, its the principle of the thing now! What the…….??????

“Ok, sir, let me get this straight, its the principle of the situation now and I know that because you’ve said it 23 times so far. You agree that you need to move your RV over, you also agree that you have no plans to sit in your lawn chairs on THIS side of your RV, here next to your sewer hose. You also want your neighbors to take down the canopy that shades their picnic table because the legs of said canopy happen to cross this boundary line that you’ve obviously set in stone, by oh,…7 inches. Now again, because its the principle of it, it will make you happy if you put a damper on your neighbors vacation by making them take their shade away. Do I have this right sir?”

“Yes, its the principle of the thing!”

I had to tell the neighbors to take the canopy down and it killed me. I wanted to walk up to this new arrival and….and….how do I put this…I wanted to slap this jerk senseless. I mean really, what was the point? You are on vacation for heaven’s sake, why look for or make trouble? Does it make you a big man to do this? Eighteen days from now will the legs of that canopy that was 7 inches on your side of this all important (in your mind only) property line going to make a difference in your life? If not, then don’t sweat it. It’s not important. Let the principle of the thing be damned!

I just can’t believe some of the people we run into.

So, on to fun things now.

The lilies in the flowers that Bob gave me for my birthday have opened and they are just beautiful.

A little after one we headed to Harbeson, Delaware. It’s not all that far from here about a half hour. The clan on my dad’s side is getting together because his sister, my aunt, Maryanne and her husband Whitey are here from Atlanta, Georgia. We’ll see cousins we haven’t seen since before we went on the road almost four years ago.

Not the whole clan got together, for instance, my brother Billy and his wife Michelle and their children and grandchildren are all in Florida this week. My Uncle Bobby’s children and grandchildren aren’t here either and Maryanne’s daughter and family aren’t here. (Missed you Beth!) So no, it wasn’t everyone but a good number anyway.

(Top Row fr L: Bob (we call him the “tan one”) Dad, Uncle Bobby, Uncle Kenny, Uncle Whitey, Next Row: Me,cousin Sean, Aunt Maryanne, Next Row: Aunt Patty (actually, she’s my age but technically my aunt by marriage since she married my Uncle Bobby who is only two years older than me) Mom, Bottom row: Cousin Casey, his wife Jackie, 2nd cousin Abby and cousin Timmy.)

Now I’m done with this Aunt and Uncle thing because they are all pretty close to my age and we hang together and party together so formality goes out the window.

The brothers and sister.

It wasn’t long after we arrived that Casey started making his “famous” Clams Casino.

I think he’s happy with how they turned out. I saw how many everyone was eating and they certainly seemed to be enjoyed by those who like them.

Meanwhile, Mom was showing pictures of her great grandchildren to Jackie.

I ventured outside and took this picture of Timmy and cut the top of his head off but I think it turned out pretty good anyway. I just have the handsomest cousins!

Tim manned the grill for awhile.

Little feet trying to fill big shoes,..er,….flip flops.

Our sweet Abby, owner of the little feet above.

Bob and Kenny kickin’ back on the deck.

Uncles make the best playmates, wouldn’t you agree?

MEAT,,,,I smell MEAT!

Abby and her daddy.

A man and his dog….one of them.

Ahhhh,,,tummies are full.

Casey,,,,you missed it buddy! Good try, you’ve got to be two feet off the ground at least!

Bobby and Patty….

Jackie deep in thought. Hmmmm….hamburger or hot dog????

…..and this one saying, “I got dibs on anything that hits the ground!”

“I can’t see anything Abby”…..

While we were all together we celebrated Kenny’s upcoming birthday on the 2nd.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY KENNY!

So this was a meeting of the Rhoads clan,,,,minus 20 or so immediate members.

Another fun day!

7/30/10 We Did Something Today, Big. Huge!

We did something HUGE today! Life changing! (kinda, sorta) Thrilling! Excitement to the MAX!

And I can’t tell you yet. I know, I know, that’s mean and I shouldn’t have done that but I just want to shout from the rooftops this great news and I can’t. Not until every detail is ironed out. Not until we reach that point of no return. Trust me, as soon as it all comes together, you’ll be the first to know! I can hear you now….when, WHEN????? Not yet. Not next week even. I’ll probably not be able to share this news for a month. Its killing me already. (I know one particular reader who is sitting back with a big smile singing, neener, neener, neener, I know what it is. Well, BH, you are the only one that knows and you know why I had to tell you!)

We are still enjoying low humidity but we understand its going to come back and come back with a vengeance. Oh boy.

Tonight’s sunset was very nice and I kinda went nuts takin’ pics so if you just can’t take lookin’ at yet another sunset…well, move on to the next post. But I think you’ll be glad you stuck around, nice pictures if I do say so myself.

Now wasn’t that worth sticking around for?

7/29/10 Nothing to Write About

We got up.

We lived our day.

We went to bed.

Not a darn thing worth writing about. It happens.

7/28/2010 No Internet!

This is no fun. We have no Internet until August 4th. For the last three years or more we have had a Verizon Air Card for our Internet access. We are allowed 5G’s of data usage. We have never gone over this amount until the last three months. We only found that out because Verizon called us.

So we are at our peak for the month and don’t dare use the Internet because they charge you a fortune for overages. We know…..now!

Why is our usage up so much? We don’t have a clue! We aren’t doing anything differently, if anything we are even on our computers less than usual. We don’t download movies, we don’t watch TV via the computer,,,,we just don’t know.

We are investigating and will get to the bottom of this. So here I am, writing the blog and no way to upload it….until the 4th of August. That also means no email, no surfing the web, the reading the blogs I follow and,….and…..NO FACEBOOK! (GASP!)

We hate being without our Internet. Its like being out of beer and Pepsi’s, its like having no car/truck, its like rain for 17 days straight, or heaven forbid, it’s like being without CHOCOLATE (!) in a nutshell,,,,it sucks!

I was supposed to spend the day at the beach with Elaine today but she had to change her plans and called me last night to let me know.

Bob had plans to go surf fishing with Diane and KK and KK’s nephews so I dropped him off this morning and just came back to the house. I spent my day cleaning up around here, reading and sitting out in the sun.

I got an early start on dinner by late afternoon and had the sliced squash and zucchini all dipped in milk and egg and bread crumbs ready for frying at dinnertime. I love it when I’m on top of my game!

Around 4:30 Bob called for me to pick him up and when I walked out on the deck they were all eating pizza. So much for my dinner. Really it was no big deal, what I had done would certainly wait in the fridge until tomorrow.

We miss our Internet!

7/27/2010 Crabs with Old Neighbors

I worked today and spent approximately 7 hours outside sitting at the picnic table or in my beach chair reading while waiting for customers who needed ice. It was just too nice to be indoors. I think Bob even put in an hour over what was necessary because it was just so nice to be outside in the sunshine, moderate temps and low humidity. Truly a perfect day.

After work we beat feet to meet up with our old neighbors Diane and KK. They are down here for a week at the beach in a house they rented. Diane’s mom is here for a few days too so we were thrilled when they invited us over for crabs, shrimp, clams, corn on the cob and tomatoes out of their garden. We feasted!

It was so good to see these old friends of ours. Bob and Louise share something special so he is always very happy to see her.

She is one special lady.

We enjoyed hours of catching up with everyone’s lives and families and we spent several hours on the deck of this house in the cool evening air. Again, perfection.

Did you ever burn your bottom lip on the corn on the cob? Whew, I did a job on mine. I guess the corn was hotter than what I thought because when we got home my bottom lip was swollen and red and it hurt! But the corn was oh so good!

Another day in paradise and what a day it was!

7/26/2010 I Wonder……

I wonder if Mick Jagger got up this morning and said to himself, “Today is the day that me, Sandra Bullock and Snookie all share a birthday”. Nah, I don’t think he did either.

Today marks another year. Fifty seven today and what a birthday it was. Yeah, I had to work today in the camp store and it was my long day which means 11 hours but it was a good day just the same.

I started my day out with a dozen emails wishing me a Happy Birthday and my phone rang quite a bit complete with two serenades. One quite nice, from my forever friend Elaine and the other….oh well let me tell you about the other. Six singers and not one could carry a tune in a bucket! That’s ok,,,they tried and I appreciated the effort. That one was from another forever friend, LaVon and her friends. Dozens of “Happy Birthday, hope you have a great day” showed up on my Facebook page and then there was my favorite from Ronnie. “Happy Birthday to my 4th favorite step cousin”.

Bob really surprised me! We have just exchanged cards for years because we are at a point if we want something we just go get it. We just don’t see the need to have to try to think of something to buy, go shopping, get the wrapping done and all that stuff. Neither one of us needs or wants the hassle. Today, while at work in the store, a florist stopped in with a bouquet of flowers for me! I was so not expecting that!

I ended the evening the with a beautiful full moon!

Everyone should have a birthday like this!!!

7/25/2010 So Long Friends….Hello Storm!

Audrey and Ed picked us up at 9:15 this morning so that we could go out for breakfast before they hit the road to head back to western Maryland.

We went to Seaside Grill, a beach staple that has been around for as long as I can remember. We were seated right away and we noticed that we came at just the right time because a waiting line soon formed.

We were served quickly and efficiently and left to enjoy our meal.

When we were done they dropped us off at our rig and then headed to their own to finish up packing up and hooking up, ready for the road.

They came to say so long and after hugs and handshakes and lots of “this weekend was so much fun” we bid our friends safe travels.

Aud and Ed, can’t wait to get together with you guys again!

We had been hearing all afternoon a storm was brewing. We got our awning down in time this time but there were some that were not so lucky.

This storm came fast and it came hard! So many were caught by surprise.

One minute it looked like this,,,,

…..and then it looked like this…..

Then the wind came.

People were scrambling to get awnings up, get chairs put away and clothes/towels off clotheslines and windows up in vehicles. We watched tents just be blown away. We watched awnings just tear right off and the frames that hold them just pull off of the sides of the rigs. It lasted about 15 minutes and it looked like a war zone when it was over.

Somebody spread a half a loaf of bread right behind our rig which brought out the seagulls.

What a day!

7/24/2010 Oh, What Fun a Day!

First things first. Happy Birthday Gail! Yep, girlfriend, its that time of year again. That time when we have to remember all over again how old YOUNG we are. I was just getting used to saying 56 and now I have to get used to 57. Of course you’ll be used to it much faster than me because you ARE 57 as of today and I’m STILL 56. And I’ll still be 56 tomorrow and here you’ll be able to say YOUR next birthday you’ll be 58. Not ME, my next birthday I’ll be 57. Oh I just love the two day difference in our birthdays. And I really love it that YOURS is the 24th and mine is the 26th and its not the other way around. Hope you have a wonderful day my friend!

I stepped outside at 7:45 this morning, clipboard and pen in hand, and a wall of stifling HOT air hit me like a wall. Oh, I am so glad I put those reservation cards out last night. I can’t imagine having to do that in this heat with this already blazing sun. I did two rows of looking to see who vacated their campsites and decided right then and there that there was no way I was going to do my normal walk of the campground streets and went for the keys to the buggy.

I wasn’t too surprised to find that of the 54 campers that were leaving today that half of them were already gone and half of those remaining were already tearing down camp and preparing to hit the road. One of my co-workers told me that she heard the campers pulling out at six this morning. Can’t say I blame them.

As soon as I saw that Ed and Audrey’s site that they were moving to was empty I went to their place to say hello and to let them know they could move at any time. This was at ten and I woke them up. Hey I didn’t know they sat at the water’s edge till three!

Usually we don’t let arriving campers in until noon. Not so today, if their site was open we let them in instead of sending them down to 3 R’s Road to wait until the proper time. Its just too hot to do that to anybody. Usually, campers start arriving as early as ten o’clock, not today, it seems everyone made note that the check time was one and abided by it. The one day they COULD have gotten in early, go figure.

By eleven most were gone and I just had a few stragglers. I had four that were just moving to other sites and all of their moves depended on one camper that was leaving the campground. Follow along now….Site # 330 was leaving for good. Site 217 was moving to 330. Site 305 was moving to 217. Site 294 was moving to 305 and site 286 was moving to 294. Got that? All the moves within the park were packed up and ready to move. All except site # 330. At eleven o’clock they hadn’t even started to pack up. the awning was still out, the bikes weren’t loaded to the bike rack, the baby pool still had water in it, towels were still on the makeshift line and there was no signs of life to be seen. I went to the check-in booth to get a Friendly Reminder paper that gently reminded campers that check out time was at noon. However, by the time I got back to their site prep activity had started. S-L-O-W-L-Y. Now all the other campers don’t know that the site they are moving to are waiting for their site to move, I have feeling they think they are just hanging around for whatever reason although I can’t imagine anyone doing that in this heat. As I ride the streets of the campground I can see them walking to their future site to see if they were open yet. It had to be aggravating I’m sure. Finally, at 11:50 the campers who are leaving for good….left! And the moves started. At noon I was satisfied that all sites were empty and I declared my day DONE!

Meanwhile, Bob was cutting grass weeds in sites that had been occupied for the last two weeks, trying to get them cut before the next campers came in. He came home soaking wet.

Our day was done, Ed and Audrey moved their rig and got set up on their site and around one, after everyone had a chance to shower and change clothes we met up at our place.

Audrey likes her beer. Plain and simple she likes her beer. When she walked in she was wearing these.

After making short order of catching up on the last two years since we’ve seen each other we decided that since none of us had eaten anything today we would go out for LINNER, a lunch/dinner combination since it was now 2:30 in the afternoon. Oh. My. Gosh! What a mistake that was! Traffic was unbelievable. Bob and I quickly remembered why we don’t go out on weekends. Out intent was to go to Rehoboth to Ruby Tuesday’s but as soon as we saw Outback we pulled in there. And not without problems I might add.

There was no way to access the parking lot from Route 1, the main corridor we were on. So we overshot the hidden entrance and had to find a place a turn around. Finally situated so that we could make a left turn, so that we could get to the entrance, we had to sit through three, count em’ three, green turning lights. These lights lasted long enough for two cars to get through safely. We finally got to the parking entrance which was….OUT BACK….as Bob pointed out.

There were very few lunch/dinner patrons at three o’clock in the afternoon so we were seated right away and cold beverages brought to us without delay. Let the feasting begin!

One of those large deep fried onions, a Tumbleweed, or a Bloomin’ Onion, I forget what Outback calls theirs, was the order for the day to start with. Mmmmm Mmmmm Good!

Dinner choices made, oven warmed bread delivered, onion already half eaten, waiting on salads and the steaks we all ordered we sat and talked and laughed and re-lived Yellowstone. What a great time we had.

A delicious dinner was had by all and it was time to go back out into the heat. I think it was even hotter!

Back into traffic we headed south towards the Inlet, anxious to get inside the park for the evening, no need to go out again. For anything! We parted ways for a bit and about an hour or so later Audrey and Ed returned to our place. We resumed where we left off, talking, laughing and making plans for a near future weekend. When we got “used to” the A/C we would go outside in the heat for a bit and sit under the awning. When we had enough of the heat, back inside we would go where the A/C felt oh so good.

Around eleven I looked over at Ed and saw this.

It wasn’t much later when we called it a night.

What an absolutely great time we had with these two. Just like back in Yellowstone.