We took a little trip up to the northeast part of the state for Memorial Day. Part of the trip was for planting flowers and visiting John's family. But part of the trip was to help Uncle Walter and Beth initiate the pool for the 2006 season. Uncle Walter had cranked the Heatmore up to full blast to warm the 33,000 gallons of water in the pool. Yep, the temperature is 80 degrees. Boy! Was it cold when first entering; but after a moment or two, it seemed to warm right up. Thank Goodness!
Uncle Walter and Beth had some friends over, too. Check out the huge umbrella at the shallow end of the pool. We spent some time in the shade.
Here is a view of the pool from the shallow end.
We had fun swimming and playing in the water. What a gorgeous day for the official initiation of the pool! We had a scrumptious dinner of ribs, asparagus from Fritz's garden, macaroni salad and excellent chocolate chip cookies for dessert.
Uncle Walter, the pool boy, testing the chemicals in the pool the next morning.
We returned home to find new blossoms on the Cape Primrose. Very pretty!
We drove past the Anderson Circle Farm on our way to the Old Fort Harrod State Park. South of ACF is the Dean Farm; south of the Dean Farm is a huge recreational area: The Anderson-Dean Park. Participants were playing soccer and baseball. There also was a huge playground with many children playing on the slides, swings and merry-go-rounds. We had visited the Anderson Circle Farm last fall.
ACF
# posted by Martha @ 2:19 PM
We were invited to Bardstown, Kentucky, the second oldest city in Kentucky, to tour the Civil War Museum, Old Bardstown Village and the Wildlife/Natural History Museum. The invitation was to the grandparents to celebrate Mother's/Father's Day.
We arrived a day early to do some 'touristy' things on our own. We parked near the town 'square' - a 'round-about', actually - only to find the Old Nelson County Jail. Some 'kind' woman happened along and made me be part of the picture, too.
This monument was dedicated to John Fitch, the inventor of the steamboat. A native of Connecticut, he came to Kentucky as a land surveyor. His successful invention operated on the Delaware River in New Jersey.
The Civil War Museum is next door to the Old Bardstown Village.
The next day...
Noah and Kaitlyn looking out the church window; Grandpa and Noah. 
We had our own personal tour guide through the museum. Jim's friend, Eric, was our tour guide through Old Bardstown Village.
After a fine lunch, we took a little trip to Harrodsburg, the first permanent English settlement west of the Allegheny Mountains. We stopped at the Old Fort Harrod State Park.
There we saw the Lincoln Marriage Temple that houses the cabin in which Thomas Lincoln and Nancy Hanks were wed. 
All in all, it was a very pleasant trip.
# posted by Martha @ 7:35 PM
A lovely Mother's Day present from Christine and Bob.
The Cape Primrose is a relative of African Violets. This plant has a number of small stalks with buds nestled down in the plant. They will be beautiful when they bloom!
The irises are outdoing themselves this year. John's spiraea is in the midst of them. 
Along with the marigolds are the beginnings, I hope, of coneflowers. Supposedly, they are indigenous to this area. 
Marigolds in a basket.
A good rainy day project...John took his trailer apart, repainted the steel supports, replaced the bottom, cut six inches off the bottom of the side boards before replacing them and painted the boards. Voila! Good as new.
Mother's Day weekend is traditionally TOSRV, Tour of the Scioto River Valley, weekend - a bicycle ride from Columbus to Portsmouth on Saturday, then back to Columbus on Sunday; for a total of 210 miles. Cincinnati bicyclists, not to be outdone, make this a four day event by riding 100 miles from Monroe to Columbus on Friday; then making the return trip to Monroe on Monday for a total of 400 some miles. We have had traditional weather to accompany the ride: drizzle with temperatures in the upper 40's and low 50's.
Happy Mother's Day!
# posted by Martha @ 12:23 PM
The Florida Safari is a six day bicycle event that takes place in northern Florida. 
Here we are: all loaded up and ready to go. We have our recumbents loaded on the back. 
We stopped south of Atlanta at the High Falls State Park. High Falls was at one time a thriving city until the railroad passed it by. Now there is a beautiful campground and a few local stores. We got a 'senior' discount on our campsite that we spent on ice cream!
We had a 'couple' of visitors at our campsite. "Feed me, feed me," they said.We arrived at Live Oak, Florida early Friday afternoon. We were able to put the motor home in a centrally located spot. Here are friends from South Carolina with whom we visited. 
We rode our 'bents from Live Oak Saturday and Sunday, two warm and humid days. On each 40 mile route, we had one rest stop with snacks. Monday morning, after a delicious breakfast, we drove up to Cherry Lake to continue our biking adventures.After arriving in Cherry Lake, we rode about 12 miles into the town of Madison for an excellent lunch at a newly re-opened restaurant called Food for Thought. 
Here we are at the Cherry Lake 4-H Campground.
Tuesday morning was very foggy for the first hour or so of the ride. We rode the 40ish mile route. Wednesday, there were threats of thundershowers that actually did materialize for most of the afternoon. We rode our own 20ish mile route, so that we could be back and showered before the storms hit. Wednesday evening, the traditional barbecue dinner/picnic was held in a large shelter. The rains had stopped, but everything was quite wet. Thursday morning, while the bikers rode back to Live Oak, we began our journey home.
Here is a view of the pool from the shallow end. 
