Found a New Media for My Mandalas

For several years I have been looking for a new media to make my mandalas. Recently, I med Judy who was a classmate of Lance. Turns out she teaches pine needle basket making. It fascinated me...the rest is history.

We went down to visit them again and she spent four hours guiding me and giving me tips. Here is my first effort -- it is a little crude -- but I loved doing it.

Hilton Head -- Another Famous Place Especially Among Golfers

The fun thing about checking out the golf courses Lance will be photographing is I go along and see the sights. Hilton Head is an Island that boasts 26 golf courses. Some quite famous.

They had a chapel that was very beautiful.

And, a tree house for kids and adults to play on.

Lots of wildlife on Hilton Head...wild turkeys and deers were plentiful.

Fresh seafood is also plentiful on Hilton Head. I wonder if this a shrimp boat?

We had lunch at Montana's Restaurant & Grizzly Bar in Bluffton SC not too far from Hilton Head. Not only was their food great it was a good price too. They had laminated maps of the states on their tables. We never did find Washington!

It also boasts a famous lighthouse -- The Harbour Town Lighthouse in Sea Pines. People were quite skeptical when Sea Pines founder, Charles Fraser, built the lighthouse. They thought he was out of his mind. As it turned out it is one of the most popular landmarks in Hilton Head.

We had lunch at Montana's Restaurant & Grizzly Bar. Not only was the food great it was a good price too. They have laminated maps of the states on their tables. Never did find Washington.

Georgia State of Mind

We finally moved to Hardeeville SC. It is just about 10 miles from Savannah GA. Turns out to be a perfect place for Lance. There are golf courses to the right, golf courses to the left, probably golf courses up too!!!

As we found in Florida, there is water, water everywhere. It mostly is swamp which accounts for the bugs. As my friend, Karyn, says you could not live in Floria without air conditioning and bug spray. Appears to be the same in Georgia and South Carolina.

One of the most famous landmarks in Savannah is the Talmadge Bridge. Every time we talked to anyone about directions...this bridge was always mentioned. Now we know why.

We Have Two Beautiful Great-Granddaughters

We would like to introduce you to our two beautiful great granddaughters -- Alana, 3 years old and Ava, 8 months old, in this picture in December. They are Ben (Martin's son) and Jenesse's daughters. It is the one thing we missed being on the road...seeing them and all of you.

On Our Way to Innisbrook Golf Resort

We took our motorhome into Freightliner here in Jacksonville to have the regular maintenance done. Then we met Karyn and Jim Jacobs for a very pleasant lunch. Lance got a call -- no it was not about telling us the motorhome was done. It was telling us they had an accident with the motorhome. "Stuff happens" as Lance said to the apologetic Service Rep.

When we saw it we were actually relieved. It was not near as bad as we were picturing. It had scratches all the way up the back corner on the passenger side, the dryer exhaust was damaged and the slideout topper awning was pulled apart.

Karyn & Jim offered to have us spend the night with them and then head on down to the Tampa area for a photo shoot at Innisbrook Golf Resort's four golf courses. It was on our way so it could not have been a better timing. Otherwise we would have had to "camp out" in the Freightliner parking lot until they fixed things. What might have been a difficult evening turned into a very pleasant one visiting with Karyn and Jim, eating some very delicious salmon and salad and even a swim in their pool.

The weirdness did not stop. On the way to Innisbrook our Tom Tom battery died -- and we got lost. Oh, well I had a new battery. We just had not put it in yet. We thoroughly enjoyed Innisbrook though. The suite we were provided was fabulous and the weather cooperated with sunshine every day for Lance's photoshoot. Our suite was on the edge of Copperhead Golf Course where the pro tour Transitions Tournament was held. Also, there were some qualifying games for the PGA Open while we were there.

This copperhead was just outside our window.

And, that is Lance playing golf and taking pictures.



Go get 'em Lance

Teri and Bill Head Up the East Coast

We said Goodbye to Teri & Bill -- Happy Trails....

Ripley's Believe It or Not

While Teri & Bill took the trolley tour again to stop at some of places of interest to them plus the marker for the Old Spanish Trail we went to Ripley's Believe it or Not. While they had the oddities of the world, they also had some most amazing things.

This is the world's smallest domino set.

A "painting" made out of toast.

Petrified Peanuts

This is carved out of a single piece of jade.

This is made out of over 2000 semi-precious jewels such as jade, quartz and malachite.
This is a bone structure that took 40 craftsman 3 months to complete.
A pagota made of matchsticks

A manatee made of soda cans.

Balls within a ball carved in a secret way.

Coralee's Sister Comes to NAS JAX to Visit

Teri & Bill Sherwood were on a four month trip and were able to come stop and visit with us. We were able to get them into the NAS RV park which made it very convenient for us. We decided to take them to St. Augustine and take the trolley tour. It was also the eastern end of the Old Spanish Trail they had been following.

Scarlett O'Hara's Restaurant



Henry Morrison Flagler is a name you hear a lot in St. Augustine. He was a tycoon into real estate, oil and the railroad. He was partners with John D. Rockefeller. Many buildings in St. Augustine were built by Flagler.





Here is an old drug store in St. Augustine.

This is St. Augustine's "skyscraper" - the Wacovia bank building.

The troller tour led us to the Fountain of Youth and, is that, is that, Ponce de Leon himself????

Well, everything in St. Augustine is not old, huh!