2003 Summer Gulf Shores State Park

The summer of, 2003 I rode to Gulf Shores Alabama with my son and his family. 

My son pulled his pop-up camper with his truck to Gulf Shores State Park

20115 State Hwy 135 Gulf Shore, Al 36542 251-948-7275

We parked the truck and camper on the lake on Gator Road. It cost $27.00 per day for four people and $2 for each person over age 6.

Every day we would go down to the state park, public beach and swim and sometimes we would swim in the state park public swimming pool.

At night, we all slept in the camper, my son, and his wife slept on the left side of the camper. My granddaughter and I slept on the right side of the camper and my grandson slept on the table that made into a bed. 

We had a canopy where we put our bicycles, coolers, food that did not have to be refrigerator. We had a cloths line to hang up all the wet cloths and a laundry room to wash and dry cloth. 

There were bathrooms with showers and toilets. 

Our camper did not have these facilities. 

We would use these facilities after swimming and in the morning to get ready.

We would ride our bikes up to the Beach pavilion, which is a facility on the beach that has a unique roof design. 

The pavilion is equipped with picnic tables, bathhouse, and a snack bar. It has two large fireplaces and a boardwalk to get to the beach.

Church actives were going on the week that we were there and the kids took part in the actives everyday.

We visited the Gulf State Park's Nature Center where we saw several exhibits and live animals(snakes, turtles, bats,possums) representing some of the wildlife that can be seen in the park. 
http://www.alapark.com/Gulf-State-Park-Nature-Center

The kids and I rode our bikes, sometimes my son and his wife came along.

Once, while I was riding my bike I put the brakes on too quick and my back wheel went straight up in the air. Another time,when I was riding my bicycle it slid off the edge of the sidewalk. We rode many miles taking various paths and we saw many different types of animals. 

We went to the Navel Museum in Pensacola, FL 
http://www.navalaviationmuseum.org

We went to the Tanger Outlet Shops in Foley, Alabama, where there are over 120 stores.
http://www.tangeroutlet.com/foley 

Address: 2601 S. McKenzle Street Foley, Al 36535 251-943-9303.

We had a week of fun.

1969~ Summer 1969 Killeen, Texas

A new adventure for the family was a trip to Killeen Texas. 

A total of thirteen people traveling in a pickup truck with a camper shell attached to the top of the bed of the truck.

These, included the mother, father their eight children, two grandchildren and a son-in-law. 

The family was taking their daughter and their granddaughter to be with her husband who was station in the army at Fort Hood

The truck was full of everything the family needed to make the trip, food, & clothing.

The daughter had brought several boxes with her.

A full size mattress was placed on the bed of the truck. The father and son-in-law took turns driving only stopping to eat and to use the restrooms.  

The women took care of the children and food. 

Killeen is a city in Bell County Texas, southwest of Waco. Killeen is a ranching, village and is a cotton region, which houses Fort Hood Military Base. 

It is 759 miles, which will take about twelve hours. The family left late in the afternoon which meant driving all night. 

The family had been riding for hours and when it became too dark to see, they all fell asleep on the mattress. 

The father was doing the driving but he felt himself drift off to sleep.

The father was awakened by the honking of a loud horn by someone letting him know he was swaying on the interstate. He was so frighten that he stayed awake the rest of the night. 

There was no video games during this time and the kids had to make up things to do. 

The kids would look at the tags of the cars and trucks to see what state they were from.

Another fun thing was reading billboards. 

Texas is a big state and when the father said we are in Texas the family rejoiced but needless to say they still had to ride several more hours.

The family did not care much for the flat state of Texas with it’s Oil Wells everywhere.

After several long hours on the road the family finally arrived at the home of the son-in-law. 

He lived in a three bedroom trailer outside of the army base. 

The kids could not wait to get out of the truck and stretch their legs.

The food and clothing had to be unloaded and taken inside.

The kids played outside until dark when the mosquitos started to bite. 

That night the smaller kids slept on the floor. The mother and father had one bedroom to sleep in. The two couples with their six months old babies also had a bedroom to sleep in.

They were not kidding when they said the mosquitos swarm like flies and they are big as elephants in the state of Texas.

The next day the family spent a relaxing day swimming in the lake near Belton.

That afternoon the women went shopping checking out all the small shops nearby.

The next day the family loaded into the truck with everyone except one daughter and one granddaughter which they left behind.

They started their twelve hour journey home. No one fell asleep.

The family had a great trip, even though they rode hundreds of miles in the back of a pickup truck and they were bitten by mosquitoes.

Their, father almost wrecked the truck on the interstate. Taking a trip to the big state of Texas. 

All this did not matter to the family because it was a family vacation. So much like the Vacation movies that Chevy Chase made. 

2016 ~ February 15 Monday, Taking Classes at the Apple Store

2016 ~ February 15, Spent day at Apple Store taking Classes

Taking five classes at the Apple Store

8-9 AM dentist Appointment 

We went through the drive through at McDonald's for breakfast. 

I ordered egg, sausage, cheese burritos

My husband ordered egg, bacon, bagel.

We arrived a little after 10AM to begin my classes

I had five one hour classes

My husband dropped me off and he went to see the Ophthalmology

10-11 AM Workshop Appointment: Stay Connected 

11-12 PM Workshop Appointment: Sketch, Draw, and Paint with iPad

I ate lunch at Barnes & Noble of Taco Soup, oyster crackers and cookie.

12:45-1:45PM Workshop Appointment: Create Great-Looking Documents with Pages for iPhone and iPad

2:45-3:45 PM Workshop Appointment: Explore Apple TV

3:45-4:45 PM Workshop Appointment: Perfect Your Photos on Mac

We stopped at Cracker Barrel in Athens for Dinner.

I ordered Pinto beans, turnip greens, onion, chow-chow, cornbread & ice tea.

My husband ordered a big breakfast. 

We came home dressed for bed and was watching the X-Files on TV when my husband got a call-out at work around 8:30PM.

   

At work two of the pumps were not doing the job. Three plumbers were called in to fix the problem. 

I did my CBS, while I waited for my husband to finish the job

We stopped for gas on the way home.
We arrived home around 12:00 by that time the rain had moved out.

1989~ My Hysterectomy Adventure!

Summer of 1989, I took five weeks off from work to have a Hysterectomy.

My doctor had found a fibroid in my uterus it was the size of a grapefruit.

He sent the fibroid off and said it was not cancer.

He also said that I could not do any heavy lifting or driving for 5 to 6 weeks after the surgery.

I remember checking in at the Hospital in Muscle Shoals where I was prepped for surgery.

I hate knives and the thought of being cut is terrifying so needless to say I was very nervous about the upcoming surgery.

When my nurse came in she said are you nervous about the surgery? I said yes.

Then the nurse said, “I am going to give you a shot it will relax you.”

The surgery went well and they had me up walking the next day. 

During the surgery, my abdomen was filled with air.

My stomach looked & felt like a balloon ready to pop.

They gave me an enema to relieve the gas, but it did not work.

The nurse said that I needed to walk to relieve the gas.

I walked up and down the halls of the hospital but found no relief.

Finally, I went to the restroom and found relief, it sounded like the air coming from a hot air balloon or a stack of whoopee Cushions.

I was released from the hospital and my middle son came to the hospital to pick me up.

I had a prescription that needed to be filled so we stopped at Kmart’s Pharmacy in Muscle Shoals.

The prescription was for the pain it was Tylenol with codeine.

The doctors wanted me to walk so I walked inside K-mart with my son to get the prescription filled.

A week after I came home from the hospital my daughter-in-law said we are going to the Birmingham Zoo do you want to go? We can rent a wheelchair to push you around.

I had been cooped up in the house for a week since my stay in the hospital and I was ready to get out.

It takes about two and a half hours to drive to the Birmingham Zoo, when we arrived we purchased tickets and rented a wheelchair.

I was still very sore from the surgery, and as I was pushed into the wheelchair I could feel every bump and pothole that we hit.

It made me appreciate people who have to ride in wheelchairs all the time, especially rented ones with no extra padding.

Riding in a Wheelchair

At the Birmingham Zoo, we saw the African elephants throwing dirt onto their backs. We saw giraffes eating leaves from very tall trees. We visit the cages of the Siberian tiger, the roaring lions, the cheetah, the Black Panthers, Snow leopards, and the Jaguar.

We visited Monkey Island which housed hundreds of monkeys.

We saw a family of Gorilla with the mother feeding her young.

We went into the reptile house and saw rattle Snakes, copperheads, coral snakes, Boas, Anaconda, dragon monsters, chameleons, helmet lizards, Iguanas, and many different species of frogs.

Our next stop was to see the Roman God Vulcan atop Red Mountain, he overlooks the city of Birmingham. The Vulcan is 56 feet tall and there is an elevator that takes you to an overlook encircling the statue. 

I had a wonderful time at the Birmingham Zoo & The Vulcan but was sore the next day and I had to take several Tylenol with codeine for pain.

A few weeks later I rode to the Space and Rocket Center with my son and his wife. 

This trip was also fun but I had to take Tylenol with codeine because my stomach had not completely healed from the surgery. 

I spent my time sunbathing on my back porch during the day.

I spent time at the Birmingham Zoo, at the Vulcan, and at the Space and Rocket Center with family.

I went back to the doctor for my six-week check-up and the doctor said I could go back to work.

I was ready to head back to work and it was wonderful to be able to sit behind the steering wheel of my own car.

🎢1972-1997 Opryland Theme Park

Opryland Theme Parked opened June 30,1972 and the park closed December 31,1997 

Our family would visit Opryland Theme Park at least once or even twice a year, until the park closed in 1997.

When we first started going to Opryland the boys were too small to ride the big roller coasters.

We would ride the Flume Zoom a log ride that would seat up to six people in Hill Country. No one wanted to sit up front because they would get wet.

In Big Hill Country we would hop aboard the Thunder Switch train and ride to El Paso Station to the American west. 

Sometimes we would take the New Orleans Sky ride which travel from one side of the park to the other.

We spent the majority of the time at Opryland Theme park watching Country Music Shows

As the kids got older they would ride the timber topper coaster. In 1979 the coaster was renamed the Rock n’ Roller coaster. This coaster shot out of the station into a single loop, climbing into a double loop and back to the station with a quick stop. There was always long lines for this ride.

The boys always enjoyed driving the antique cars called the tin Lizzies. The car would hold up to four people and the boys always wanted to be the driver so sometime we would ride in separate cars or ride over and over so each could get a chance to be the driver. The tin Lizzie was on a track so no matter what kind of driver you were you were always coming back to the station safely. 

The kids also enjoyed the little deuce cope it was an enclosed float ride. The lakeside area was home to the kiddy rides and the old millstream where we would get into a boat that took us around the lake it was on a track. 

The barnstormer was a Bio Airplane sky ride and it was next to the old millstream. 

In the state fair was the petting zoo where the kids could pet and feed the animals. 

We also enjoyed The Tennessee Waltz swing, which was my favorite. 

The kids love the bumper cars where they could run into each other. 

There were endless carnival games for the kids to play and I always tried to steer them away from this area because it cost more money. 

The Wall-Bash cannon ball was one of the kid’s favorite coasters. 

It flipped over twice. 

We would always get soaking wet on the Grizzly River Country.

This ride was a large raft that seated up to twenty people. It went down the raging river passing several waterfalls twisting and turning.

Water was coming at you from all sides as you were carried down the raging river. 

In 1984 the Scream n’ Delta Demon Coaster was added in the New Orleans area. It was an intamin wheeled bobsled coaster. 

In 1989, the Chaos was added in the Grizzly River area and it was a Vekoma Steel coaster. 

In 1995, the hangman was added in the American west. 

We rode every roller coaster repeatedly, screaming, holding up our hands, in delight with every ride.

There was a building called the Angle Inn that was builds on a slant and as we walked through it, we felt like we were going to tip over.

Throughout the park there were people performing country music shows.

Along the lake we would visit Country Music USA where various country singers would sing and dance for one hour. 

Rocking around the clock was the 50’s area where songs were performed from the 50’s era.  

We would visit the Roy Acuff’s museum that housed many of his musical instruments. There was a museum for Minnie Pearl, Roy Acuff’s theater, Nashville Network Studio, WSM Radio Broadcasting booth, and the Grand Old Opry house.

There was a large boat ride called General Jackson. There was a kennel for your pets, restrooms, and telephones throughout the park.

There were gift shops: Jewels and Gems, The music Box, Ragin Cajun Shirt Shop. 

There was Professors Bloodgood’s photography, Emporiums, Hill Country Arts and Crafts Shop. 

There were many food places throughout the park: Chubby’s drive-in, Julio Pizza, Zack’s frozen yogurt, Mrs. Winery Chicken and biscuits, Grizzly kitchen, Chos Concessions, Seafood Wharf, Café Mardi Gras, La Fudgeries, Country Kettles, Ruby’s Country Kitchen, Funnel Cakes and old fashion ice cream. 

Opryland USA 

2802 Opryland Drive

Nashville, Tennessee 37214

615-889-6611

1989 the cost to get into Opryland theme park was $18.95, for children younger than three was no cost.

One trip to Opryland was with two of my sisters, and my sisters friend, in my sisters Mustang.

It was a wild and crazy ride; I was slung from one side of the car to the other side.

It felt like we were in a Race Car or riding up and down a roller coaster. 

We went to Opryland Theme Park with our church group many times.

We took my dad’s blue van several times because it would hold several people. 

One year we went with Nina, Billy Michelle, Shana, OL, Ann, Chris, and Craig Wallace.

We were all going to Opryland Theme Park and the Nashville Speedway. 

We all stayed in a Nashville Motel that had an outdoor swimming  pool.

Before the Nashville Speedway race we all enjoyed riding the large roller coaster that was in the park near the speedway

Before Opryland closed it had a Christmas theme with ice-skating, and it was beautifully decorated for the Christmas Holidays.

1974 ~ Summer Savannah, Georgia

One of our family trips was a trip to Savannah Georgia. My sister’s husband was stationed at Fort Stewart.

The trip took a little over nine hours. We only stopped to eat and to use the restroom.

The boys played with their toy soldiers and hot wheel cars on the ride.

After the long ride the kids were ready to get out and visit their cousins.

When we arrived my sister had dinner ready. We ate and sat back to watch some TV, while the kids enjoyed playing outside.

We spent the next day on a public beach that faced the Daufuskie Island Resort in South Carolina. 

It was a beautiful day, a bit windy, over cast and hot.

The kids enjoyed building sand castles and darting in and out of the Atlantic Ocean.

The kids stopped long enough to grab a bite of the picnic lunch that we had brought.

The sun was hiding his face behind the clouds but sending out those hot rays.

We forgot to use sunscreen and we all got blistered.

That night we rubbed everyone down with white vinegar. The white vinegar was soothing to the sunburn and at least we could get a good night sleep.

The next day we rode to the Military Base and to Historic Down Savannah. 

We saw hundreds of old houses nestled under giant like oaks hanging with live Spanish moss. The Spanish moss is known as “ The Hostess City of the South.”  

We went to the one level Oglethorpe Mall,built in 1969, with 1,000,000 square feet. 

It housed Belk, JC Penny, Sears, and Maas Brothers (Now Macy's). In 1974, this was a huge mall.

Regency Square Mall back home opened in 1978, so to see a mall was a new adventure for us.

Savannah was a beautiful historic city and the weather while we were there was very accommodating. 

We spent the next few days inside playing Rook, Harts, & Spades.

The kids played inside and watched TV.

We had a great visit connecting with relatives. We enjoyed the beach, and visiting historic Savannah.

We said good-by to our relatives and began our trip home. 

🍀🍀🍀We were lucky growing up!!!

We were very lucky growing up when it came to visiting grandparents because both our grandparent's maternal & paternal lived within blocks of each other. 

Neither were rich in material things but both were loaded in love. 

Our maternal grandmother was a great cook and one of my favorite sweets was her Sweet Potato Kisses.

Years later, when I had a home of my own, I ask her for the Sweet Potato receipt.

You take a small potato boil it with the jacket on and cook until done.

Peel the potato mash it up and roll it out. 

Add powder sugar and peanut butter to the center. 

Take all ingredients and roll them into a ball and slice them into pieces.

Our maternal grandmother was also handy with a needle and thread.

Money was always tight at my maternal grandparents so, she made do with what she had.

She made everything she gave us for Christmas and birthdays. I remember one Christmas she made us sock monkeys and rag dolls.  

My memories of the tree she decorated at Christmas still bring a smile to my face. 

Her Christmas tree would light up any room with her bubbling lights, angel hair, icicles, stringed popcorn, and tiny trinkets.

Our maternal grandfather loved to smoke Prince Albert Tobacco.

We would watch as he took out those white papers and pour Prince Albert Tobacco inside and then he would roll them tightly, licking to seal the tobacco inside.

We would gladly walk to the store to buy him a can of  Prince Albert Tobacco because he always gave us a nickel for candy. 

On a hot day, we might use that nickel to buy a coke, a popsicle, or even a candy bar. 

Our maternal grandparent's yard was covered with white clover, weeds, and buttercups(in the spring).

We very seldom wore shoes when we were out of school. 

I remember one summer stomping around in the grass and having a good time when I stomped right onto a bee. 

I started to cry holding my foot when my grandfather came outside to see what was wrong.

He went back inside grabbed his tobacco, and a glass of water, and came back outside.

He placed me in his lap and began to make a cake with his Prince Albert tobacco which he placed on my foot. 

One of our maternal grandfather's pet peeves was the grandkids climbing up in his trees. 

He kept the limbs trimmed so, we could not reach them. 

Our maternal grandfather loves to tell scary stories about Bloody Bones. 

He would have you set on the edge of your seat, and all of a sudden he would say, "GOT YOU"!!

Our maternal grandfather grew a variety of fruit trees which we enjoyed eating. 

He would say, if you swallow any seeds, you would grow into a tree. 

We spit out every seed. 

Our maternal grandparents never had any indoor plumbing. There was an outhouse and the water came from an outside faucet. 
They never owned an automobile so they never learned to drive. 

My Maternal Grandmother rode to church with Mr. Ulman and I attended church with her many times. 

At Church, we sang old hymns while someone played the piano and someone else played an accord.

In our Sunday School Class we learned about Daniel being put in the Lion's Den for praying, Noah’s Ark, Jonah, the whale, and Jonah's disobedience to God. 

One Sunday night after services as we were riding home, the passenger door flew open, and out onto the pavement flew my cousin. 

We both had fallen asleep on the ride home and were leaning on the door. 

Our Aunt Willie lived on Penny Lane in Huntsville. 

She worked at Red Stone Arsenal.

Our dad would take the entire family to spend the day at Willies. 

Our maternal great-grandparents lived in Town Creek. 

Our maternal grandparents would take the train from Sheffield to Town Creek to visit her family.

Our dad took them several times.

Our great grandparents lived in an Old Military Dining Car.

On one end of the trailer was a large round table, encircled with bench seating. Many soldiers had dined at this table. 

A sofa, fold-out bed, a chair, and a coal heater stood in the middle of the trailer. 

Food was cooked in the kitchen area which was located at the opposite end of the trailer. 
They got their water from a well and they use an outhouse.

Since their home was so small we were sent outside to play, sometime grand-paw would come outside to play with us.

He said I can show you how to catch a worm that he called a Chicken Choker. 

He said, get a straw, poke the straw into a small hole, and wiggle the straw into a worm the worm will catch hold and you can pull him out of the ground.

It Worked!!!

I looked up the meaning of Chicken Choker. 

It is a long yellowish color worm with humps on it back 6 legs a hard head, brown with two-inch pinchers that would catch hold of the straw.

Chicken Chokers are larvae of tiger beetles that ambush predators of other insects, lying in wait in their burrows with their heads flush with the surface of the soil.  

It is said that chickens do more harm to the larvae(Chicken Chokers) than the grubs.