Thankful for MANY things…Having known an Angel on earth…..

Dennis and I have very heavy hearts today after hearing news from our daughter, Chris, that a dear friend has lost her long battle with breast cancer at 38 years old…Sandi Thurman McCool, you were an Angel on earth, sent by God, and now have been called back…God probably needed someone to keep a close eye on all of this group from above…(and you WELL KNOW, our dear Angel, how hard this group is to keep a close eye on )….Sandi and Chris came to visit us in our camper in February, 2008 at Rockport, TX….What fun we all had…what memories.

…..YOU WILL BE MISSED, DEAR FRIEND……

  

And so, it puts things into perspective for us…and are thankful for so many things this Thanksgiving Day .  Dennis and I wish you all blessings to you and yours this this day of thanks.   I also want to welcome Jenny Johnson and Lauren Miller aboard the GMC for our Winter trip.  I hope you are of strong constitution, as our toilet issue continues to be a little “sketchy”..but it still WORKS so far.  Something about the waste ball seal (we need a new one???)…sounds like something you’d find in the Arctic Ocean to me.

We  had a little excitement the other night…Lots of red on the radar coming at us…We are on that little blue lake in the center …to the right of the monster storm…just great.

 

 

 

 

The wind blew lots, and we gave a thought about going to the little block bathroom just outside our door, next to us. But, by the time our thought process was complete, (brain cells are lazy as you get older), the storm was upon us, and we rode it out in the Hiker…It was a little windy (understatement), and rained sideways..but we held firm and lived to be stupid another day.

 

..I’m thinkin’ this is a Heron, but he isn’t very blue…..              Look close and see the 2 turtles on this log….

COULD SOMEONE PLEASE TELL ME WHAT MAKES THESE HOLES IN THE GROUND AROUND OUR SITE..

OR IF I NEED TO CURTAIL MY WALKS AND CALL THE GAME WARDEN??

We  I am planning a  yummy Thanksgiving dinner for two..I am trying to be traditional, somewhat, without making too much work for my lazy self…

Hey!…I got crockpot chicken (I really wanted turkey thighs, but there were none to be had), stuffing, mashed taters, the stuff to make green bean casserole….oh, yes, and for desert we have some delicious sugar free frosted oatmeal cookies …BOOYA!!!  This oughta be pretty easy…(I guess it’s not really “traditional” home cooked, but it’s how I roll today..slowly…)

Our weather here today is 70 degrees…and Dennis has the toilet on the kitchen floor again..Something about a toilet as a Thanksgiving centerpiece goes against my grain…He discovered he put the seal on upside down last time he worked on it…but…we are still in need of that Arctic seal eventually…..Hopefully “la pooper” will be back in the “throneroom” by dinner time..

So, on this day of reflection and thanks,  The Cave Dwellers would like to wish everyone a Blessed Thanksgiving..Hug your family tightly, keep them close… and make every darn  damn minute count…

“In the night of death, hope sees a star, and listening love can hear the rustle of a wing.” ~Robert Ingersoll

Lovin’ these Army Corp Mississippi campgrounds….

  Above header are the new Cave Dwelling’s diggs until this Sunday. We are about 15 miles North of Meridian, MS, near Collinsville, MS and situated on Lake Okatibbee.  Our site backs right up to the lake and the weather has been 75 degrees.

We have had an evening visitor….

…I believe this could be an Egret, but if it isn’t, I’m sure Birdlady of Blogland  will give you the correct name…The way I see things is..it’s a bird, it’s white, could be an Egret.  He was having great success with dinner right behind our campfire, and paid no attention to me rudely watching him eat.

Yesterday, we went into Meridian and did our laundry..and I must say it was one of the cleanest Laundromats we have ever been in.   Even though McGuyver could NOT believe I did this, I brought the camera in the laundry to get a photo of this sign…

 

 

It was number 2 that got my attention…”INSERT appropriate number of coins or debit card”… Debit card??.Is is just me, or is this something new..? Using debit cards to wash and dry laundry is very telling of where our country is at…It use to be that the debit card was used to BUY a washer and dryer, not OPERATE one…I must be getting old.

 

 

 

We took our walk around the two loops of Twiltley Branch campground and got some photos of the dense swampland we are tucked into.  And, yes, they do have alligators in this lake, though I haven’t seen one ….yet.  If I were an Egret, “ I would watch my step” while finding dinner.  That Egret could BE dinner.!

When we drove into the campground, a sign was posted saying, “Alligators exhist in this lake.  Fish or swim at your own risk.” 10-4,    A-OK,    Gotcha!

There are quite a few fishing boats today…Wonder how hard it would be to pull a gator in…or who would want to!  This area is subject to some intense flooding….

Left..the sign in the tree…….Right, a 6’1” McGuyver reading the sign..puts in all in perspective, eh?

 

Left, this pile of firewood was a little overkill…Not to be outdone , Dennis dragged a WHOLE TREE up to our campsite and became Paul Bunyan.  As you can see, we have been able to have campfires every night…so far.

 

These woods offer up some very pretty flora nestled in between the towering pines..if you are brave enough to walk into the underbrush…I did my fastest photo shoot ever to get these pictures…and got the crap scared out of me when 4 turtles jumped from their log into the water behind me…All I could think was…GATOR!!!!

OK…Today is a big day for Dennis and myself   ……..Today is our 42nd wedding anniversary…We are celebrating with a toast by the campfire, and by living our dreams..

Just look at that happy young couple…We only knew each other 6 months before this day, 42 years ago…Since then, Dennis has quit using the Brylcreem, and I gave up the bangs..Other than that not much has changed…..well…

 

……there have been a few additions …

What once was just “us”…. is now ALL OF US!!!

 

“Newlyweds become oldyweds, and oldyweds are the reasons that families work.” ~Author Unknown

“Mama said there’d be days like this…”

  I am now going to give you a little hint and what McGuyver did today…

Yup….We had a flushing and leaking snafu….

You RV’ers know about that little “foot pedal”,the one we all push to flush our kybos..(that’s a Girl Scout Camp word for toilet).  Well,… ours started going “clunk” last night, and McGuyver also discovered a little dripping water on the floor behind it…

This does NOT bode well for our 5th day out on our Winter trip…That thing on the right is technically called a “shroud”…Seems like a pretty biblical name for something so NOT biblical.   This morning we rode into Grenada and found a hardware store.  Dennis figured we should get one of those disgusting “rubber rings” ..just in case this leak was MORE than a hose fitting problem…and we should be ready for any crap thing that may occur BEFORE he took the kybo from it’s designated area…and moved it out where he could work on it…my kitchen!

..Hey, I actually did help with this project!! I detected where the leak was probably coming from when I accidently stuck my hand up under the back of this scoopy carved out area…AND, I suggested re-oiling the rubber gasket on the flusher ball  thingy inside the bowl…(those were purely technical words I made up…).  Believe it or not, the flusher is now working smoothly, and McGuyver tightened up the hoses in the back……BUT, he was not content with the clamps that were initially used…So, as I type this, he is riding back into Grenada to get said gaskets..the ones he prefers..One can never be too careful , just in case you blow one ( get it??).
Last night we had a wonderful campfire as the sun was going down….and discovered we were not alone..


This dude was keeping watch..and I am assuming it was a Hawk.  He was quite a ways from us, but I could feel his eyes piercing the cooler and watching our beer and wine…I got this photo just before the sun dropped off the side of the earth…and then….he was gone.  Dinner last night was chicken thighs on the grill…potato salad and baked beans…(The baked beans are one of the reasons we needed to address our “kybo” issue ASAP!!)

…BEFORE GRILLING…..                                               …..AFTER GRILLING..YUMMO!
I had our little “home away from home” all cozy inside….


…I even brought a turkey along with us, in honor of Thanksgiving..He has no worries of becoming our dinner..His little skinny butt isn’t big enough to feed that Hawk, AND his main job is keeping his corky little butt in my wine.
We are leaving here tomorrow and driving East and closer to Alabama..There is an Army Corps campground called Twiltley Branch that we want to check out.  It is imperative that one gets a place to squat for the week of Thanksgiving, and they have a lot of “first come first serve” sites…..We’re just hopin’ we will be “first”….John and Bridget, FD5, are camped around Jackson, and invited us to spend Thanksgiving with them and their family, but we are pretty much loners, not driving near Jackson,  and will be here, skyping our kids most of the day…A huge thanks to FD5 and Bridget for the invite, though…how wonderful that they thought of us!!


….More photos of this fabulous campground…Above is the swimming beach…We highly recommend this place if you ever get close…OK, McGuyver is back from his shopping trip, and that means I am on call as “kybo repair assistant”..Boy, I can think of LOTS of things I would rather do today, but some days are diamonds, some days are black water…We will give you a full report from our next  location…I can hardly wait to see what breaks next.

“European toilet paper is made from the same material that Americans use for roofing, which is why Europeans tend to remain standing throughout soccer matches.”~Dave Barry