Victoria Justice and Big Time Rush Concert

The concert was amazing!!!!!!!!!!

Kendal, Logan, James, and Carlos lined up in that order. On top is the amazing Victoria Justice. They both have come so far in their career. It was my first concert and the best one I have ever seen YET!!! Well, at least I hope YET!!! There were two guest stars:Jackson Guthy and Olivia Summerland! Anyway, at one point BTR came out into the aisle, and as they were running by, Logan, the second boy in line,  grabbed my hand!! I was so happy, I cried for 15mins. I love saying and typing the " word " mins! :)) I am very excited to go to another concert sometime when we are home! Later, after the show, I went up to the stage and picked up souvenir confetti for my friends! 

Our Free Tacos!

Thanks to the Rangers scoring in the 5th inning the other night, we're eating free tacos for lunch today:))) The tacos turned out to be really good! I, (Bridget), ate two tacos  and mommy and daddy only ate one;)  YUMMMMMMM!!!!!!!!! After that we went to the JFK memorial plaza and the museum on the 6th floor of the old book building. That is the building that they think the shots came from that killed the president, but after what I learned today, I think there is more to it. I had headphones for the tour so I liked it. We learned a lot but it was very sad. I wonder what it would be like today if he wasn't killed.:(

A few notes

The last blog Bridget sent deserves a little detail. The place in called"Serious Pizza". There motto is "death to false pizza"! The crust is thin and crispy... Yum

My slice was on a pizza pan, not a plate so you get an idea of its real size. The pizza in the box was somebody's 30" take out! It was awesome watching them toss and spin the dough!!! None of us had ever seen pizzas that big :))

Off to the concert!

Enjoying the pool

 

Mommy's "serious" slice!

Then pizza before the BTR Victoria Justice concert !!!!!! I am soooooo excited!!!! daddy got a buzz cut today too- Texas style:)))

Ranger game

Go Rangers!!! Or, should we be routing for the Reds??!! Lol!

Figured it out!

I think I figured out how to see comments posted by those of you reading this. I saw Joe's and Jessica's. I didn't go back and reply to all of them, but I did to Jess's most recent and it worked. I didn't realize I had to sign into my own blog to see comments and post replies.....so keep them coming!

Happy 45th Birthday Joe!!!

Happy one week birthday Celeste!

Cruisin' Through Arkansas

Hi Ya'll

We left Memphis at about 1:00pm yesterday. We had to charge the AC in the camper.... Blowing nice and cold now! We decided to forgo Hot Springs- renovations taking place that limit hours of Visitor Center so by the time we got there the visit would have been too short to be worth the extra drive. So we forged on, listening to local music channels...classic country- Johnny Cash, Clint Black, Garth brooks, Glen Campbell, etc. Gotta blast the country when you're driving through Arkansas! Saw a few armadillo road kills :((

Made it to Hope, birthplace of president Clinton and pulled into an RV park for the night. No sooner had  we jumped in the pool when the lifeguard told us it was closed for a private party! :((

So we made the best of it. Cooked salmon on the grill and played Yahtzee. Then there was a knock on our door. It was the lifeguard telling us the party was over and he was " locking up", but if we were real quiet we could use the pool and lock up ourselves when we were done. What a nice guy!!

Needless to say, we were practically the only RV there last night, so I'm sure he assumed the risk was small. I think he felt bad for Bridget when he'd had to ask us to leave because of the party. She had been totally bummed. Anyway, all's well that ends well! We stayed up til 11:00 swimming... Our latest night yet! Lol!

Stocked up on propane and Coleman fuel at Walmart then hit the road early this morning for Dallas. We cruise at about 57 mph and now that the weather is hot makes sense to get the driving in early in the day. 

Going to the Rangers/Reds game tonight!!

PS: We saw the Rev Jesse Jackson at the Peabody hotel yesterday. It was funny because it was just before 11:00, and when he emerged from the elevator folks were already anticipating the ducks. He just smiled and waved and said "fooled you!"..... Then of course he blessed us all :))

Passing the time watching Yogi Bear and Smurfs :))

Peabody Hotel

We saw the ducks march!.....well, run from the elevator, down the red carpet to the fountain. They've been doing it every day at 11:00am and 5pm since 1930!!!. They live on the hotel rooftop in Duck Palace. The ducks are released back into the wild after they serve. Every three months new ducks are trained for the job. Quite a sight and a gorgeous old hotel. Right now we're sipping bloody Mary's at the bar!

More later :))

Stunt kite

Perfect spot to fly the stunt kite!!

The

Marching of the ducks

Metal museum

After Gus's, which was the best fried chicken we've ever had, we stopped at the Ornamental Metal Museum. It is a museum and gallery with a shop for apprentices. They work with steel, copper, silver, acrylics, stainless, aluminum, you name it. There are sculptures all over the property and you can see us pictured with steel cat tails, an aluminum flower, the "ice-cream cone coot"- at least that is what that sculpture reminded me of!!( a story from my childhood) and a " friendship bridge" made by a German artist. It was a neat place.... And air- conditioned!!!! Over 100 degrees here today!

Back to the camper to read in the AC and maybe a cold shower!!!

Metal museum

Graceland

Sent a few shots of Graceland....beautiful day. Elvis's home was comfortable... very 60's and 70's decor- lots of green shag, carpeted kitchen, Bridget is pictured in the family TV room- and check out the retro  swing set- just like my Gram's! Clearly a place he loved to spend time with family and friends. He was a very generous man-donating regularly to a variety of charities and just helping people- no questions asked when they needed it. He had very humble beginnings. Elvis was an avid reader and a huge Monty Python fan!! He did not drink alcohol. His favorite beverage was diet dr pepper :)

Elvis had a twin brother who died at birth. He was always nervous and uptight about performing until he got on stage, then he just let it fly. We learned a lot today about a truly gifted man who loved family, god and country. Peace out for now while we eat Gus's Famous fried chicken!!!

Tom Sawyer RV park

Arrived at 5:00 pm in West Memphis, Arkansas and set up camp on the mighty Mississippi! There is no swimming and its easy to see why... Strong current!!! There is lots of river traffic- barges, tugs, ducks, logs and various debris....

Bridget set up the cabana/tent all by herself!!! You can see her wielding the hammer after she pounded in the last stake in the pics we sent earlier :)))

It is 90 plus degrees but there is a nice breeze and a wonderful shade tree on our site, that I am also using to hang wet bathing suits and towels. They never had a chance to dry after yesterday's torrential downpours!

We plan to relax here tonight. Maybe take the bikes for a ride. Tomorrow we'll visit the sights downtown. Our neighbors in Nashville are from Memphis so they gave us some tips on places to go besides Graceland. A"Metal" museum and Rendezvous Ribs restaurant for Mark and "March of the Ducks" from rooftop to lobby at the Peabody Hotel for Bridget! We"ll see!!!

More soon....

xoxo

Our campsite on the river

The mighty Mississippi

A bit more....

Howdy y'all,

As Bridget said, typing on the same post as the pics is giving us trouble. If you backspace to erase a letter, and any part of the photo is on the same line, it erases the photo. Not very user friendly!! So from now on we are going to publish pics as we take them and do the written part at the end of the day.

The caves were cool! There is (so far) over 400 miles of cave and we are still discovering. The Mammoth caves supplied over 50% of the salt peter for gun powder during the war of 1812. Slaves worked in the caves for 12 hour shifts around the clock. At one point we were guided by only an oil lamp to show how it looked and felt in the caves before more modern forms of lighting. Numerous animals have adapted to the environment and most live at the water table level. Scorpions and fish with no eyes ( don't need 'em if you can't see anyway!) and translucent skin so you can see their organs were an amazing sight. The caves average 2-8 million years in age. There are Native American etchings on the cave walls in spots dating back about 2000 yrs. Modern discovery occurred early 1800's and tours started in 1816. Mammoth caves became a national park in 1941.

As Bridget mentioned we emerged to a downpour so spent the time waiting for the rain to stop perusing the Visitor center films and exhibits. Very intriguing place. Glad we made the trip. It's about a

1-1/2 drive from Nashville... More later :))

Mammoth caves

Today we went to mammoth cave national park! When we came out of the cave it was very warm and very WET!!! We were soaked like crazy. While we were drying off, we looked at the museum. We only have pics of the cave on our flash camera because we couldn't take them on the I pad. On our way back we saw a buck and a cute little turtle crossing the street! Afterward, we went to a nice and friendly dinner. The food was pretty good!

P.S. From now on we are going to post the pictures of our day first and on a separate post is where the  typing about the pictures is going to go. This is because we keep loosing the pictures we take. Enjoy our solution! 

                                                                                               Love,                                                        

                                                                                                   Bridget:) <3

Mammoth caves national park

We

We

A day in Nashville

We started the day by visiting the country music hall of fame. Fun place with audio headphones that allow for a very interactive experience. Bridget was amazed by the endless display of gold and platinum record albums!

Next we went to the Wildhorse saloon for lunch. We had yummy pale ale, fried pickles and BLT's made with roasted golden delicious apples on toasted nine grain bread. Hit the spot!

For the afternoon we are hitting the waterpark next to our campground to cool off with the rest of the masses! We have a nice shady spot for our camper so once the sun goes down a bit a good book and a lounge chair sounds about right. Bridget is going to try to catch dinner in the lake. She caught enough for a snack last night...and she ate every last morsel! :)))

Arriving at Great Smokies

Happy Anniversary mommy and daddy!!! 

This is our campsite at Elkmont. The river is running down the mountain just across the path... Such a soothing sound. We had a bike ride to get the lay of the land, then cooked dinner. Now we are having a campfire. Tomorrow we are getting up at 6:00 to bike Cade's Cove. It's an 11 mile loop closed to motor vehicles until 10am each morning. There are historical sites to visit along the way and it's the best time of day to get glimpses of wildlife. There is no cell/ Internet service here, so we have to post these when we make a trip to town. Just in case it's a day or two, here is a shout out to Amanda to have a safe and exciting trip west for your Wild Cave tour and a happy birthday to Gretchen!!!

This is the sign that was at the exit of our Shenandoah campground. Love it!!! So far the people have been wonderful. Miss you all!! 

P.S. Good luck Leslie!!! We are thinking of you:).