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Monday, March 27, 2006

Talent Show

The Talent Show was a HOOT! We all had the best time. The audience sure seemed to enjoy themselves, too. I've put a few pictures here, but there are more at our website, http://community.webshots.com/user/guiler85/0, if you're interested. Randy also took a video of me singing. It's not great quality (the video, NOT me!!), but you'll get the idea. You can see that at http://www.dropshots.com/guiler85.

Judy was a HUGE hit as Phyllis Diller. She was very funny. The Hee Haw Honies were great, too. I had fun singing a Patsy Cline tune and folks seemed to enjoy it. Randy was the best stagehand ever.

We will miss these folks next year. Most everyone comes back year after year, but we plan to head west, so we'll have to hear about all the fun from Ray & Judy.

Hope you enjoy the pictures!

Waiting for the show to start!! Posted by Picasa

The stagehands - Randy & friend Posted by Picasa

Judy as Phyllis Diller Posted by Picasa

Hee Haw Honies Posted by Picasa

Terry as Patsy Cline Posted by Picasa

Thursday, March 23, 2006

More down time

Not much happening here. We've spent another week just enjoying the sunshine and time with friends. Randy's been golfing and I have spent my time chatting with the girls, cross-stitching and reading. I'm also trying to walk for 30 minutes each day - I have GOT to combat all this eating we've been doing!

Our great weather finally broke today. The rain and chilly weather came! The temperature is only going to be in the mid-60s over the next several days. I know, I know -- none of you up north feels sorry for us. I guess mid-60s is still better than snow, huh?

The campground is gearing up for the end of the season. We've got the Talent Show this Saturday. The show consists of the "The Tonight Show" and "An Evening at the Grand Ol' Froggy." Randy is a stage hand and I will be appearing as Patsy Cline, singing, "Walkin' After Midnight." We will definitely have pictures to share of this event - it promises to be a hoot! Our friend, Judy, is appearing as Phyllis Diller on "The Tonight Show" and as one of the Hee Haw Honies during "An Evening at the Grand Ol' Froggy." Her husband, Ray, will be Ed McMahon. Can't wait . . .

This month has gone awfully fast. It's hard to believe there's just little more than a week left until the end of the season. Lots of folks are getting ready to leave, and some have already started for home. There are several "For Sale" signs on rigs around the park. I guess some people are either giving up RVing or buying new ones.

I'll be posting pictures of the show on Sunday. They should be really good. Until then, take care of one another. We'll be seeing you soon.

Friday, March 17, 2006

Making new friends

One of the guys in the park celebrated his 60th birthday this week. So ten of us went to the Branch Ranch restaurant (yes, again!) and helped Ken enjoy being 60! We even sang "Happy Birthday" to him. He was surprised because he thought we were just going out to dinner for the fun of it. It was great to see his face when the waitress brought out his cake and we sang to him.

We have been quite lazy since we've been in Florida. Just enjoying the beautiful weather, reading, cross-stitching, napping in the sun out on the patio, chatting with friends, and eating, eating, eating!

Hope all is well in your world. Maybe we'll have something more exciting to share next week!

Celebrating Ken's birthday Posted by Picasa

Ken and his cake Posted by Picasa

Sunday, March 12, 2006

Casino Day at Frog Creek

Each year Frog Creek Campground holds a fundraising charity event with the proceeds going to the St. Petersburg Children's Hospital. Last year it was a silent auction with the campers bidding on items donated by locale businesses and beautiful handmade items made by fellow campers.

This year the theme was Casino Day. The clubhouse was transformed into a casino, with poker tables, black jack tables, dice tables and a roulette table. There was a bake sale outside with all kinds of homemade goodies made by Frog Creek campers. You could buy lunch, too - sloppy joes, hot dogs, sodas, chips - and all of the proceeds went to the children's hospital. The owners of Frog Creek graciously donated all of the lunch items, so that meant that there was NO overhead for the bake sale or lunch! The kids got ALL of the money raised from both of those functions.

Inside the clubhouse, folks were having a ball. They had to buy chips with real U.S. money and gamble with that. They could buy all the chips they wanted. With their winnings, they would be able to bid on auction items at the end of the day. We also had four handmade items up for raffle and a 50/50 raffle. Everyone had a great time.

The best news came at the end of the day when we found out that we had raised over $3000 for the children!! Isn't that fantastic!?!?!! And it was all done by the campers in our campground. Even though we had invited the two surrounding campgrounds to join us, we didn't see any unknown faces.
It was wonderful to be part of such an event.

Going to meet up with Barb & Roy, folks we met in Livingston, tomorrow for lunch. Looking forward to seeing them again. Insurance adjuster is supposed to come on Tuesday to look at the RV damage. Not sure what's happening the rest of the week, but I figure we'll come up with something. Take care!

Casino Day at Frog Creek Campground Posted by Picasa

Bake sale fundraiser Posted by Picasa

Thursday, March 09, 2006

Strawberry Festival - Day Two

Day Two at the festival was even better than Day One! It was an absolutely gorgeous day, weatherwise - sunny with a slight breeze and in the mid-70s. Couldn't ask for better. We started off with a strawberry shortcake, which we made ourselves. We could pile on the strawberries as high as we wanted and then top it off with a big glob of whipped cream. YUMMY!

Then it was off to get seated for the Lonestar concert. We had great seats, just off to the left of the stage, but close enough to see really well. Was able to get a few good pictures. We had see Lonestar in 2004 in Nashville at Fan Fair, but they are played a couple of songs. Yesterday they played for about an hour and a half. Their keyboardist, Dean, seems to have the most personality of the group. He hammed it up good.

After the concert, it was time to eat again (of course!). We headed to Branch Ranch, a family style restaurant Ray & Judy introduced us to last year. The food is to die for! And, probably if you ate there too often, you would die of clogged arteries! Just good, down home, southern cooking. So much food you have to bring home doggy bags.

What more can you ask for? Good friends, good food, and beautiful weather. We sure are blessed. Grateful that God has allowed us this time to enjoy being together and seeing so much of this phenomenal country while making new friends. We miss you all at home and send our love. More later.

Randy, Judy & Ray waiting for the show to start Posted by Picasa

Concert crowd shot Posted by Picasa

Keyboardist Dean just having fun - he seems to have the most personality of them all! Posted by Picasa

Lonestar Posted by Picasa

Wednesday, March 08, 2006

Strawberry Festival - Day One

What a great day we had yesterday! And, we get to do it again today!! We went to the Italian restaurant, Manolo's, in Zephyrhills for the "early bird" special. Yes, we go to early bird specials - and there's NOTHING WRONG WITH THAT!! We got a great meal and then headed over to the festival to see Willie Nelson.

The concert was okay, but Willie's getting old (he's 70!). Sorry, Mommy & Daddy. But, the place was packed. This was the only concert to sell out at the festival. It was also pretty darn cold. The wind was blowing and we were in the bleachers, so we were high enough up, not too high, but high enough, that we caught the wind pretty good.

Today we are seeing Lonestar and getting one of those HUGE strawberry shortcakes the festival is famous for. Then, it's off to the Branch Ranch restaurant for another fantastic meal. Gotta do a lot of walking at the festival to make up for all the food we're eating!

We'll have more pictures for you tonight!

Manolo's Restaurant in Zephyrhills Posted by Picasa

Looking forward to our meal at Manolo's Posted by Picasa

Aren't we just too cute???  Posted by Picasa

Monday, March 06, 2006

Playing Shuffleboard

Okay, so I'm officially retired - I played shuffleboard today! I subbed for Judy 'cause she subbed for Ray. One of the campers coordinated a shuffleboard league this year and Judy and Ray have been playing in it since the beginning. I have to admit it was fun! And it is harder than it looks, let me tell you!!!! Unfortunately, I didn't do very well and our team lost, but I gave it my best shot.

Randy's out playing golf with a few of the guys today. He's not back yet, so I hope he's having fun. He hasn't played golf in FOREVER! Luckily all the guys just play for fun.

Guess we really are old fogies now, huh? That's okay, we're having a blast! Wish you were here with us.

Shuffleboard at Frog Creek Posted by Picasa

Getting set up to play Posted by Picasa

Judy making her move Posted by Picasa

Sunday, March 05, 2006

Finally out and about!

We finally got out and took a drive today. We'd been sticking close to home 'cause we were waiting for the RV technician to stop by. Unfortunately, we'd had a slight mishap upon arrival last Wednesday. While, being guided into our site, we hit a low hanging branch of the tree directly beside the side. It ripped into the roof of the RV, scratched the upper side of it and broke one of the running light lenses. On the positive side, the damage seems slight and most of it is on the roof where it can't be seen by most people!

Anyway, first thing Thursday we called the mobile RV technician who services many of the RVs in this park. He came out and said that he would have his body man come take a look at the damage. Well, we're still waiting for him to show up! We've called a couple of more times and will give him until tomorrow, but then we're calling someone else. There's always something exciting going on!

Today has been another gorgeous day - sunny, a slight breeze and upper 70s! You can really get used to this weather! And it's supposed to continue all week! Yippee!! We took a drive and ended up at Lake Manatee State Park. We had brought Blackie with us, so we took a little hike (emphasis on "little!") around the park. There is also camping at this park and it looks really nice. Definitely put that on the list of possible campgrounds!

Here's a couple of pictures from the day. I included one of the church we attend when we are here. Hope all is well in your world. We're looking forward to attending the Strawberry Festival on Tuesday and Wednesday of this week. Best darn strawberry shortcakes in the world!! We'll also see Willie Nelson in concert on Tuesday and Lonestar on Wednesday. Going with Ray & Judy, so we know it's gonna be fun!

Palm View Bible Church Posted by Picasa

Lake Manatee State Park Posted by Picasa

Blackie making new friends at the park Posted by Picasa

Wednesday, March 01, 2006

Palmetto, Florida

We got to Frog Creek Campground about 2:30 this afternoon. I was surprised at how excited I was to get here! But, we have good memories from last year, so I guess that's why.

We hit a major traffic jam about an hour and a half north of Palmetto. There was an accident of some kind and traffic just stopped. We were so bummed! To be so close and know we had to just sit was yucky! We did a detour around the accident and then just headed on down the road. What should have been a five hour trip ended up being closer to seven hours!

We had a nice reception when we got here, though. It seems we were being looked for! How nice is that? On the down side, Judy had to take Ray to the ER today because he was in so much pain. They thought it was his back as he has been experiencing some major back pain lately. But, after some tests, it was found that he has two kidney stones! So, he spent the day in the ER and now has to see a doctor ASAP. I just hate it for him - never have had kidney stones, but understand them to be excruciating. If you think of it, pray for Ray to feel better quickly. Thanks.

It was 80 degrees when we got here! I'm already working on my trucker's tan!!
It's great to be set up and know we'll be here for a little while. Gonna do some cleaning, inside and out, over the next couple of days so we can start playing next week. Hope to get some good pictures to share.

Take care. Will "talk" again soon.