Fall Run: Ohio to Alabama

    As we wrapped up our time Ohio, the temperatures got lower and lower.  

  Thank goodness for indoor pools and hot tubs to warm up in! :)

   Before we hit the road again, we met some doTERRA friends of ours at the greatest barn restaurant.  The pizza was divine!  I got a picture of the barn, and pretty much didn't pick up my phone again.  Oops pics would've been nice!

  We left early the next morning, in order to make our 5 hour drive day as easy as possible......

  We got stuck in a bit of a traffic jam, and Dale needed a potty break.

  He asked if I could slide in for a minute.  Ummm, ok???????  This thing is HUGE but I can hold the break like nobody's business.........

  I was supposed to just idle, but soon after he left, the traffic jam let up and all the cars moved way ahead of us. 

  OF COURSE THEY DID!

  I hit the gas and off we drove. I hear Dale in the bathroom yell, "WHAT IN THE WORLD?"

  Things were going great, all 5 seconds I went forward, then a car darted in front of me, so I braked......

  Ummm, turns out these brakes are waaaaaaaay touchier than the old ones, and the slown down was a *bit* abrupt.

  The kids screamed. 

What? I stopped us in time didn't I?

  Traffic went back to a standstill and my family rejoiced when daddy took the drivers seat again.  ;)🤣 ;)

  As we made our route to Alabama and booked RV parks along the way, Dale mentioned we were going to be close to some friends of ours in Kentucky.

  We got WAY back, like 20 years, before Dale and I were married.  They were our first grown up, married friends! ;)  

  We hung out, BBQ'd burgers and then went to church and lunch with them the next day.

  Even though SO much time has passed since we then, we literally picked up where we left off, as if no time had passed at all. .....

Love how God brings His children together to support each other in this journey called LIFE! :)

  We changed out of our church clothes and headed down to Alabama.

  Paxton was hanging around up front and asked for my camera.  He said he had a good shot from above and he did.  Photog in the making?

  I am much happier in the passenger seat with my reading buddy, then I was driving even for a minute!!! :)

  We arrived at our new RV park right at dusk.....we could already tell we were going to LOVE this one! 
   
​  We got all set up, and after a quick supper, we tucked everyone in for a good night's sleep.

  Check out these views! Slideshow:

  Monday morning dawned like THIS...................

  It was so beautiful we did school OUTSIDE!

  We don't mind quiet home days, so we laid low a few days to regroup before a busy class schedule.

  We made Sophie a new bandana, hung out by the fire, went fishing, the kids played up on some HUGE rocks on the hillside.  The photo you see in the slideshow below of Ty and Destiny holding hands is what we call a "Get Along Walk".  Let's just say Dale had had enough of the bickering.  ;)

  Rosie's Mexican restaurant has taken the NUMBER ONE SPOT for the best Mexican in all of our travels.  We ate there twice and would've gone 2 more times, had time allowed.  The chips, the salsa, the sizzling mexican butter.....

 DROOL WORTHY!

Slideshow:

  The next night, we made chili cheese dogs over the fire and watched the sun go down.

  Avery begged us to tell not so spooky stories by the fire!  I don't like scary or gory, so we found this website of suspenseful but funny stories.

  This one, was by FAR, the favorite of the evening!

   "Years ago, a man inherited a house from his great uncle who died in the war. The house sat on a hill outside of town in the next state and rumors were told that it was haunted. The man traveled to the town to inspect the house and found that it was a wonderful old mansion in great condition, but very, very old. So, he decided to move in and enjoy his inheritance.

  A couple weeks after he moved in, late at night, the phone rang. When he answered it, a voice said, "I am the Vinder Viper. I will be there in 2 weeks!" and then it hung up before he could say anything. This really shook the man. The next day, he searched the Internet under 'snakes' for 'vinder viper' but found nothing.

  A week past with no concerns and again, late one night, the phone rang. "I am the Vinder Viper. I will be there in 1 week!" and hung up. This made the man quite nervous, not knowing what a vinder viper was. He asked around the town, and no one had ever heard of any such viper.
​
  Four days later, late at night, the phone rang. "I am the Vinder Viper. I will be there in 2 days!" The man is getting much more concerned now.

  The next night, the phone rang. "I am the Vinder Viper. I will be there tomorrow!" Needless to say, the man is just plain scared now.

  The next evening, the phone rang. "I am the Vinder Viper. I will be there in 1 hour!" The man tries to leave, but his car battery is dead.

  Nearly an hour later, the phone rang. "I am the Vinder Viper. I will be there in 2 minutes!" The man runs around locking all the windows and doors and calls 911. The police are on their way.

  Soon, there was a knock at the door. The man opened the door a crack and asked, "Is that the police?"

  'No, I am the vinder viper. I come every month to vash and vipe your vindows,' said the little German man." 🤣

Day 2 dawned like this. Sigh.  These views make me happy!

"You can walk in a dream while you are awake: Just walk in the misty morning....."💕

  We had 3 different classes at the most darling happy coffee shop you ever did see.....

  Angel's Island Coffee

  We have 2 new builders here, Caroline and Angel, and several other local members of Team Dorothy.  It was SUCH a fun week of classes and getting to see everyone.

 If you are in the Huntsville area, go check out Angel's coffee shop, she makes her own chai and it's AMAAZING!  And, she holds essential oil classes there once a month or so.

​Slideshow:

  We got to hang out with them one afternoon and ate some AMAZING Fijian lamb.  Darren and Angel both originate from there.....

  We had such a lovely time!

   We had a free day after a morning class, and it was so sunny and lovely out, the kids BEGGED to go swimming in the lake......  

  Um, children?  It's October. 

  Can we rent kayaks instead?! 

  Good plan!

  We rented two, 2 person, kayaks and Destiny insisted on a petal (paddle?) boat.  You know, the kind with petals like a bike.   

  Dale and I ended up with, the majority of the time, due to its extreme bulkiness and difficult manueverability.  Haha, gotta love it!

  We had a great time!

Row row row your kayak.....

​Slideshow:

  Before we left, Angel recommended a local donut shop that started in an airstream trailer, but once they got featured on Diners, Drive Ins and Dives, they had to get a store front.

  We ate hot off the press donuts TWICE in one day...once for breakfast and then once for snack.  TERRIBLE I know, but if you had tasted them, you would've done the same I bet.  ;)

  Round one we tried honey cinnamon sugar, and funnel cakes.

  Round two, cinnamon bun, andes mint and apple cider.  

  They were all lovely and the hottest tiny little donuts, that ABSOLUTELY melted in your mouth.  

  Our Alabama adventure, continues in Birmingham!  We have class here on Monday and hope to explore the area for a bit before moving on to Missouri next month......

  Hugs, T