The End of the 2010 Winter Escape

All good things must come to an end, and our winter escape is no exception. We left Bardstown, Kentucky on 2/24 at 9:30 AM, and arrived in Lincoln at 9:30 PM. Nickie drove 62 miles!!!!! WOW!!!!! I drove the rest of the 6,796.3 miles. The motor home used 1,171.2 gallons of gas at a cost of $ 3,048.47. It cost us about $ .45 per mile, and we achieved about 5.7 MPG. The map is highlighted to show roughly what route we took. It was good. Life is good. We thank God for the opportunity to have this adventure. Until next time.... bye bye for now.

Hanging with the Hopkins Family

Our main objective for going to Kentucky was to spend a little time with Kim, Mike and Summer. We had a cookout, played a bit, and watched a few movies together. It was a highlight of the trip.

Cox's Creek Baptist Church

While in Bardstown we visited the church where Kim was married on Sunday morning. It is a very cool little church on a hill, Summer went with us, and we got a chance to see Mike's parents.

Leaving Memphis on day 42 - (2/20/2010)

We met with my old boss and friend Mike Frey, and his wife Ginny for breakfast on Saturday morning before we headed farther north into snowey land toward Kentucky. We had a wonderful time catching up with Mike and Ginny.

Visit to ServiceMaster Corporate Offices-Memphis

Here are some shots of the "wall of fame" in front of the office. My name is on it, and there is a nice sculpture depicting "Servant Leadership". We were treated to lunch by Tony and Gary who helped a lot with the India operation. We also had a nice visit with Chris, Stacey and Randy McCall while in Memphis. My photographer got so involved with the visit and the joy of seeing them all that she {Nickie) forgot her job, so unfortunately there are no pictures of them. At any rate, I think my pony tail is longer than Randy's, even though he has been retired longer.

From Walmart in Georgia to Alabama

Here are some shots of the journey. The motorhome and matching car was my (Ed's) idea. Nickie liked the sun rises and sunsets.

The winner of the Picture Contest

Kimberly,

You got it right. It is the arm rest of an ourdoor bench. Huray for you!!yippee!!!

Can you Guess what this is??

Post your best guess!!

The Fun Continues

Day 37 Winter Escape

Canoeing again. The warmest day so far. Yipeee!!!! Notice that Nickie almost got left stranded on a rock in the water. haha

Happy Valentines Day

To Celebrate we went to First Baptist Church of Key Largo. We heard a good message aboout living and loving together. We had a good meal of boneless BBQ ribs, and fancy V-day trimings.

Canooing

i finally talked Nickie into taking a "walk on the wild side" and getting in the canoo. She thought it was cool after we got in it. It wasn't quite as scarey as she thought it would be. It was peaceful, and we saw Manatees and fish and a lot of cool houses and boats.

Days 35 & 36 Winter Escape

We visited John Penekamp Coral Reef State Park in Key Largo, not far from where we are staying. The next time we come here we will probably stay there for a while. It is very nice. Nice "mangrove board walk".

Cowboy Bill's Honky Tonk Saloon

My old Army buddy Richard "Rocko" Yates is the main DJ at Cowboy Bills, and we were very pleased to find him and spend a couple of hours watching him work. He is very good at what he does, and we were struck by his dedication and the amount of joy he gets out of doing it. This night he was spinnin' tunes, introducing drink specials, and announcing the winners and loosers in the ladies bull riding competition. The picture of us together is a little doctored. Rocko is about a foot taller than me, but I am standing on a step!!

Blue Lagoon Motel

While we were in Key West, we wanted to make sure we met up with my friend from the Army, so we got a room at the "Blue Lagoon" while we waited for him to start work at Cowboy Bill's Saloon. It turned out to be an OK hotel for the price in Key West. I was feeding the birds again outside our hotel, and Nickie took the picture of the Tiger in honor of Joshua's Chinese Zodiac sign.