Whew!

We've had a busy two weeks.  After we left Cedar Point, we headed back to Korkie's Campground for a few days before we took off again (minus the RV!) to visit Dan's family and attend his niece's wedding in PA.

We met up with some good friends (Linda, Steve, Paulie and Kork) for dinner at Shane's Rib Shack in Raleigh and shared a good meal and great laughs.  It ended all too quickly!

We were also able to have a Mexican Fiesta with son Brandon, DIL Amanda and Kork. Chicken tacos, my sister Barbara's famous bean dip, homemade pico and guacamole were on the menu..  Oh yeah - we had a few adult beverages too. 

Crazy guys!  Note the leftover pink napkin (from my Mom's birthday party) that Dan is wearing.

Tricia, Kork, and DIL Amanda

Fun times!

After dinner, we played a game, laughed as Amanda punched the punching bag, and had a fireball eating contest!



One, two, PUNCH!!



I'll bite your ear off!!

So many laughs!!

Here we go with the fireballs!!

Look Ma - can you beat me? 

Glad I had a drink close by!  Those things are H-O-T!!

We left the RV at Kork's and headed up to PA the Sunday before Thanksgiving.  We were only going to be there a week (5 days at Dan's Mom's farm and 2 days at the wedding) so felt it was best not to take the RV that distance for such a short time. It also gave us the opportunity to stay at the hotel where the wedding was to take place and gave us extra time with Dan's family.

Dan's Mom had 15 people for Thanksgiving dinner and boy, did she prepare a spread.  I was her "sous chef" that day and was glad to help.  No pictures of the food but suffice it to say, our bellies were full.

Friday we headed to Williamsport, PA for the wedding of Sarah and Dave.  It was a gorgeous wedding, the food (and cake) were yummy and the DJ kept the party hopping.

The bride and groom

Parents of the Bride - Dan's brother Tim and SIL Ann

Dan's sister Colleen and BIL Doug

Dan's Mom and her "gentlemen friend". ;-)

Dan's great nephew and ring bearer - Hunter

Dan's three nieces - Jessi, Emma, and Sarah

Caden and Aunt Emma

We said our goodbyes to everyone on Sunday and said "see you in the summer".  The drive back to Korkie's Campground was a l-o-n-g one and it was good to get back home.  We are heading south this week and will meet up with Gin and Syl, Bill and Nancy, Bruce and Laura and will also get to see two of my sisters (and hopefully my BIL Bruce)!  Can't wait!!

Surprise!

Some of you know that for the past two months, we've been meandering around NC passing time so that we could get back to Cedar Point to have a surprise birthday party for my wonderful mother.  We arrived at Cedar Point on Wednesday but the party wasn't until Saturday night so we had to lay low until then!  Between much coordination with my Dad (who called everytime my Mom left the house!), we managed to stay invisible! 

We got settled at our site (37) and chatted a bit with Julie (campground host).  She has a million stories to tell and is a real hoot!  Dan and I noticed some firewood at an empty campsite and the two of us plus Julie went over to snag it.  About an hour later, we were walking around the campground and Julie rolls up on her golf cart.  "Um - hate to tell you guys this but I had a report from a camper that he had left his firewood at his campsite and then left to go get his tent and supplies and when he came back, the firewood was gone! 
Just play dumb and keep mum!"  But, being the good citizens that we are, we went over to the other camper and fessed up.  Julie ended up returning her pieces too.  The camper was really cool about it and actually told us to keep some of the wood.  It was quite funny and we got a chuckle out of it!. 

The weather was gorgeous on Thursday and we took the kayak out on the White Oak River.   It was a nice paddle/troll and we enjoyed soaking up the sun.

Love this picture!  All of the birds taking flight as we approached!

One lone bird left!

Swansboro in the distance.

Abandoned house on this island. 

Saturday was busy as my sisters, their husbands, and kids got into town.  My sister Elaine had told my Mom that she was coming in town to take her out to dinner for her birthday.  Everyone else was meeting at the campground and then we would head to Kathryn's Martini Bar and Bistro in Emerald Isle for the BIG SURPRISE DINNER!!  We had some time to kill and went walking on the trail near the campground.

Jay, Barbara, Dan, Cathy, Bruce, and Ashleigh (Brandon and Amanda had not yet arrived!)

It was soon time for the surprise.  We were all speculating whether or not my Mom knew about the surprise party.....judging by this picture, I would say "heck no"!!!  She was soooooo surprised.

Me and my Dad

Ashleigh and her Nana acting cool.

Birthday Princess

I got a Kindle!

The food was delicious and we had a great time at dinner.  However, little did my Mom know, there was another surprise!  Some of her friends were at the house for cake and ice cream.



2nd surprise of the night!



Happy 75th Birthday Mom

When the family gets together, there are always tons of laughs.  We are all jokesters and tend to feed off of one another and can act quite silly!  My BIL Bruce gave Mom a case of crabs..... 

What do you get when a crab eats cake?

Brandon (cheesy grin!) and DIL Amanda - check out those plates of cake and ice cream.

Ashleigh is teaching everyone the cool face and signs!

Is the guy in this picture Amanda's husband or one of her 4th grade students?!!

Me and the "kids"!



Me and the sissy girls!

 It was a great weekend with family with many good memories!

Neuseway Campground - Kinston, NC

By the time my Mom reads this, she will know that I have told her a few fibs these past few weeks (more like months)!  But there was a very good reason for it....more on this in my next post!  Sherry - you saw this header before I actually posted it and can only assume it was a quirk with blogger!  Sorry for any confusion!

We needed to spend a few days somewhere before heading back to Cedar Point and had heard good things about Neuseway Campground.   The campground was easy to get to and, at $12 a night for full hook-ups, we figured we couldn't go wrong!    We pulled in and got settled quickly and then it was off on the pedal bikes to explore the area.  In addition to the campground, there are a few trails, three stocked ponds, a nature center, planetarium and museum.   The nature center, planetarium and museum are FREE.

Site 21

Both Monday and Tuesday mornings, we took the kayak out for a paddle (okay - we did use the trolling motor some!) on the Neuse.  The scenery was spectacular and we had the river to ourselves both days!  I was on the hunt for birds and we saw several red-tailed hawks, herons and a woodpecker. 

Captain of our vessel!



There's a teepee in the campground too!



Trolling up the Neuse - lunch is packed (see nose of boat)!

Our RV from the river.

Love those Cypress trees - this pic is for our Carolina Clan buddies!

Relaxing on the Neuse - such a great day!

There wasn't a good place for us to stop along the way for lunch so we ended up at the boat dock where 70 crosses the river.  Again, we had the place to ourselves (should we be wondering why we never see people out and about?!!) until one lone kayaker (from our campground) showed up about 5 minutes before we were getting ready to head back out on the water.  For those of you that are from the area, check out the water line markings from Hurricane Fran and Hurricane Floyd.  This really put the power of mother nature into perspective. 

We were thrilled that we were able to kayak both days and commented about how nice the weather was for November!

Dan and I both wanted to check out the Nature Center and I really wanted to go to the planetarium.  There was a school bus in the parking lot so we were a bit hesitant to go as we were afraid that the crowds would be crazy.  But, as luck would have it, we had both places all to ourselves (kids were at the playground)!  The guide put on a really nice show for us at the planetarium and I'm anxious to see if we can remember what we learned next time we are exploring the night sky!  Before the show started at the planetarium, being the big kids that we are, Dan and I played around in the museum.

Dan was much better at this life-sized Operation game than I was!

Woman on the Moon!

 It was then on to the Nature Center....

18 lb crab - this one is for you Elaine!

Sorry for the glare but the message is important!

Iguana looking at me.

Gar fish

Hmm.....sorry Artina but this guy is just not pretty!

More water markings from Hurricane Fran and Floyd. 

The Nature Center had quite a few more live animals including a snake exhibit and an underground cave that housed nocturnal animals and a few aquariums.  They also have a really cool cockatiel named Oliver.  We had the best time trying to get him to talk to us.  As soon as we moved away from him, he would chatter to us.  It was like he wouldn't perform in front of us but when we weren't paying attention to him, he would call out to us. 

We had a nice time at Neuseway and would definitely go back if we were in the area again.