Friends Old And New

We started the day yesterday by driving into Northport with the cargo trailer to pick up woven wire cattle panels that Travis and Terry both needed for gardening projects from Tractor Supply. The panels were 16 feet long by 40 inches wide, and the trailer is only 14 feet long, but I had looked at the panels earlier in the week and knew that they were flexible enough that we would be able to bend them a bit, and sure enough, it was no problem to fit four of them into the back of the trailer. Then we stopped at Lowe’s to pick up some 2x4s Travis needed and followed them back to their place and unloaded the wood and two of the panels.

I told you that the big storm that came through a few weeks ago wiped out much of Travis and Geli’s gardens, but through a lot of hard work and a bit of luck, they were able to salvage more than any of us expected. This is absolutely a labor of love for them and we are always so proud of their accomplishments. Look at the size of these sunflowers!

We went back home, parked the trailer and unhooked it, and had an hour or so to kill before we needed to go back into town. We have many wonderful memories of our years as fulltime RVers, and some of the best memories are of the wonderful friends we made on the road. Two of those friends were Nelson (Coop) and Penny Cooper, who came to several of our Gypsy Journal rallies. They were always on hand to help move tables and set up chairs and anything else Terry needed doing to make the rally run smoothly.

We haven’t seen them in many years, so when Coop e-mailed me earlier in the week saying they would be passing through town and wondering if we could get together for a late lunch, I told him we would love to. We met them at the Southern Ale House in Tuscaloosa, and after a round of hugs, we sat down at a table and spent the next couple of hours enjoying good food and wonderful conversation with our old friends. We had not eaten at this place before, but it was highly recommended and I was pleased with the food and the service. The time always flies when you’re doing something like that, and all too soon it was time to say goodbye to Coop and Penny. We look forward to seeing them again if they come through our area in their travels.

From the restaurant, we stopped at Tractor Supply and then Lowe’s again because I was looking for a sprayer tank to put in the back of the Kawasaki Mule to be able to spray some grass and weed killer on the driveway and the road leading back to the barn in preparation for using the tractor’s box blade to pull up the gravel that has been compressed down into the mud, and then add more gravel to get things back in shape. Though both companies’ websites showed they had the type I wanted, neither had them in stock, and I was told I would have to order one online. If I’m going to do that, I will just order it from Amazon for less money and get points back on my Amazon Visa card.

When we got home we discovered we had a new friend. Getting out of the truck, Terry noticed this turtle under the drip line of the eave at the front of the house. He’s a pretty good sized critter, and she assured him that he was welcome to stay as long as he wanted and we would be happy to provide him a safe new home. You can’t have too many friends, whether they are two-legged or four-legged.

Be sure to enter our latest Free Drawing. This week’s prize is an audiobook of Titanic 1912: The original news reporting of the sinking of the Titanic by Ken Rossignol, including first-hand accounts of survivors as told to reporters who met the ship bringing them from where they were saved from lifeboats. The surviving crew describes the crucial moments after the ship hit the iceberg and a crewman testifies just three days after the sinking that the ship had a fire in its coal bunkers from the time it set sail.

To enter, click on this Free Drawing link or the tab at the top of this page and enter your name (first and last) in the comments section at the bottom of that page (not this one). Only one entry per person per drawing please, and you must enter with your real name. To prevent spam or multiple entries, the names of cartoon or movie characters are not allowed. The winner will be drawn Sunday evening. Note: Due to the high shipping cost of printed books and Amazon restrictions on e-books and audiobooks to foreign countries, only entries with US addresses and e-mail addresses are allowed.

And finally, here’s a chuckle to start your day from the collection of funny signs we see in our travels and that our readers share with us.

Thought For The Day – Well, well, well, if it isn’t the consequences of my own actions.