Back in Hershey, PA

We're back in Hershey, PA at our old stomping grounds. We probably will not do too much posting over the next couple of weeks as we will be here in Hershey working on the final touches for the CHAP Homeschool Convention on Mary 8 & 9. Enjoy your springtime where ever you are! We'll be back in touch when we have something to add to the blog.

Reunion with Josh, Vicky, and Briar

We visited with Josh and Vicky the day before Easter. They are working on remodeling their home hence the pink walls in the background - that is what they found when they removed the paneling from the walls of the dining room. They also removed the wall between the kitchen and dining room. They have much more energy than we do. They make us so proud - both are hard workers.




Homer had so much fun running and playing with Briar again. Doug had to make Homer rest after a while - after all, he is an old man compared to Briar.




Josh stopped in at our motorhome. Homer shows he remembered how he is allowed to climb up into Joshua's lap!

Air and Space Museum

We camped at Bull Run Regional Park in Centerville, VA for a few days while we visited my brother and also took the time to visit the Smithsonian Air & Space Museum new annex at Dulles Airport.



These are photos of the Space Shuttle, Enterprise.




They had one of the retired Concords here, too. I was disappointed. I wanted to the see the inside.



This photo below brought us full-circle. It is the Blackbird and we saw one of these at the Pima Air Museum in Tucson, AZ last fall. Here they would not let you get close. At Pima, we walked under it and even climbed up into one of its bays.



This is Doug standing by a P-47. His dad flew one of these in World War II.


Below is the whole Enola Gay. I said that because years ago its nose was in the Smithsonian's Air and Space on the Mall, but they removed it, put it in storage for many years, and now the whole plane is on display here at the Smithsonian's Air & Space at Dulles. The Enola Gay is the plane that dropped the atomic bombs on Japan.

Leaving Gatlinburg, TN

It is Palm Sunday and we just returned from church. It was a beautiful Palm Sunday service with a musical program "He's Alive." We really like this church here and hate to leave. We also love this area, too, which is quite funny because it is so congested with tourists and we don't usually go for that. I think it is the fact that the attractions are all family oriented with almost no "adult only" type of entertainment. Therefore the folks who are here are very much like-minded. Last night when trying to take our bike ride through the campground, there were so many kids riding their bikes and running around that it was like ants. It is so good to hear their laughter and play - especially after spending the winter with the majority of the folks being older than us!

Tomorrow we head up I-81. It is a 7 hour drive to Winchester, VA - our goal for the night if the weather holds out. There is the white four-letter word (S N O W) in the possible forecast for Tuesday so we want to try to make to Winchester in one day. We've done it many times in the past so it shouldn't be a problem. In Winchester, we need to get the tires rotated on the Lexus on Tuesday and then we will head on up to Hershey.

Have a great day and come back again.....

Gatinlinburg TN

We visited Gatlinburg. It is such a pretty town with steep mountains on all sides. Like Pigeon Forge it is very commercialized on the main streeet area. We try to stay away from there except to do some training time for Homer. It is a good place to walk with him and work on his attentiveness!









A lady stopped us in Gatlinburg to pet Homer and she was a local resident. She told us about the Craft Loop which was a few miles east of town. We spent the afternoon cruising through the valley loop of artist's shops and studios. It was such a beautiful sunny day and perfect in every way. One of the shops was a mountain dulcimer maker. Here he is with my new music instrument! Now I have a challenge - Turn this left-brained person into a right-brained person! Ha! Doug is currently strumming away on MY dulcimer picking tunes that just flow out of his head while I am still picking at the first song in the beginners book. I think this is going to be a long journey to the right brain!

Pigeon Forge, TN #2

We heard about Dixie Stampede from some friends. We bit the bullet and paid the $46 person and went to see it. It was tremendous! You start out in the Carriage Room where there is an hour-long mountain music concert of beautiful hymns and blue grass.


These three guys were the show and they were great.


The banjo player has been the national banjo champion for 9 years. He was good!




After the blue grass concert in the Carriage Room, we were ushered into the arena and seated at tables. The meal was huge: creamy vegetable soup, biscuit, pork roast, a cornish hen, corn on the cob, a baked potato, and an apple turnover. All this was served and eaten without any utensils! Lots of napkins and a huge moist wipe! It was good family fun: trick riding, races on horseback, funny skits, pig races, etc.