Monday, March 26, 2012

Family Visit-Expect the Unexpected with Us!!!

Wow I am behind in my posts to say the least. We arrived in Hendersonville, NC early Tuesday afternoon-to my cousin Patricia's (and husband Steve's) home where my aunt Kay lives. Of course the minute she heard the rig turn the corner she was out waving on the lawn. That first hug felt like a warm soft homemade quilt and was so full of love and emotion. Today she turns 85 years old, she sure doesn't look or act it. 
Aunt Kay and I


To just offer a wee bit of history-she is my dad's sister (he passed suddenly at the age of 57) had only one brother (my dad who was the oldest of the family) and she had 7 younger sisters. And my gram passed away suddenly when she was 13 and my dad was 14. My gram was also 8 months pregnant at the time. She is the only surviving Aunt-the others are all gone. She met me when I was very little but I have no recollection of ever meeting her-so this was one very special visit in my heart. Needless to say I had a lot of historical questions and she had all the answers. I would just sit and drink her in at times. The visit was a great success and it was hard to leave. I had never met her children-and Patricia is a darling as is her husband-and I met their daughter and grandchildren also.
Aunt Kay and her beautiful daughter Pat

Aunt Kay and her great grandson Samuel

Alicia (Pat's daughter) with her daughter Ameila


Darling Ameila

Handsome Samuel
While in the area we visited the Biltmore Estate..what a place that was. 
Very very interesting estate...a lot of History there for sure. The Vanderbilts sure knew how to build a home. We got to tour the total inside which was very very interesting. At one time they had upwards of 40 servants who were treated very well.
On Friday:
We said our sad goodbyes to Aunt Kay and Family, and motored onto Shelby NC to visit with friends Cathy and Brent. We have been having a blast ever since. They hosted a party on Saturday evening and it was great fun. What a great bunch of people-I think I got to bed at 3:30am. Sunday morning we had a big breakfast with C&B and another friend who spent the night ..Gary. Gary is a corporate pilot for a big corporation. He took us on a tour of the hangers and planes that he flies. Rick was mighty impressed..we then all went to Gary's for a wonderful supper.
Global by Bombardier-Gary and Rick

Nice private Plane

Checking things out under the plane

A sofa in the plane-makes into a bed

Co-Pilot
Pilot :)

Gary and Rick

Look Honey a sofa in case I have too many cocktails





Needless to say we were quite impressed! Gary has a wonderful life/Job and has travelled the globe. Tomorrow he leaves for Germany. Now thats the way to live.


Hey folks meet McDuff-when I was in the breeding showing and raising of golden retrievers McDuff is from two of my special show stock. Josie and Mac..McDuff lives with our friends Cathy and Brent in NC-he will be 14 this Nov.10th. What a boy-he has been everything from a hospital sitter, and a certified therapy dog to a teacher. He helped children who were at risk of failing the grade 1 school year due to the lack of reading skills-he performed a one on one in a non judgemental environment with each child to help build confidence. What an amazing boy and how proud he has made us his breeders, and Cathy and Brent his owners, and he has proven to us what a wonderful blood line we produced and perfected. Mind you he has had very special owners, who worked with him and trained him.


Mr. Wonderful-McDuff

So as you can all see we have been busy. It has been a wonderful past few months of travelling and visiting. I have been staying in touch with you all reading your blogs. Some of you are home, some are on their way home and some are packing up to get ready to head home. We will be doing the same. We plan to be home in NB by the 3rd week in April.


Thanks for stopping by, I know this has been a long blog-but I had quite a bit to cram into it-and for that I apologize. 


Be safe out there and remember


"Home is where you Park it"

12 comments:

  1. nice post highlighting all the visiting..hope you managed to have a few cocktails and a nap on the sofa, in the plane?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Never apologize! We love hearing about your adventures.
    Glad you had a nice visit with your aunt and family. That had to be special!

    ReplyDelete
  3. We LOVE your Aunt Kay !!

    She is such a sweet heart !!

    Glad you are having fun, and staying safe ...

    Take care ... TnT

    ReplyDelete
  4. Nice plane! Now if all air travel could be that nice, I might consider flying again.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Wow...you will never cease to amaze me! You managed to pack in a months worth in less than a week.

    I am so happy for you when I read this blog, you have been given so much love and fun this winter.....you both truly deserve it.....remember last fall :( But now all is good and even great....You rock girl!!

    The RV ife is perfect for you, Rick and the kids! Keep on rolling mi amiga!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Gotta love meeting up with all the family and great visits along the way, just keep on travelling safely and enjoy.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Everything you did this week was all fun and memorable.

    Be Safe and Enjoy!

    It's about time.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Great blog. Loved reading about your family and seeing those darling little ones. That plane is great - I might fly again if I could go that way!! McDuff is beautiful. My daughter got to pick her Golden boy just this past weekend. She will be going to training school with him and training him as her service dog. Goldens are such sweet dogs.

    ReplyDelete
  9. What a lovely lady your Aunt Kay is. I hope you got lots of your questions answered and learned even more about your dad.
    You did have a wonderful week with family and friends. Lots of memories! Enjoy your week. ~wheresweaver

    ReplyDelete
  10. Jumpin'! You have family everywhere.
    Gotta love those "RVs in the sky".
    My wife's company has two or three, but none in Europe! The head knobs here still have to fly commercial.
    You'll need to have a long rest when you get back to N.B.
    Somehow though I don't think that will happen.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Always great seeing family. The Biltmore is a magical place at Christmas, to see it at night lit up with all the decorations.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Wow, wow and wow! What an experience you had with the airplanes. I'd like that tour myself. See you are in NC, while we are in VA. Are ypu planning to make a drop-in on Campobello Island? We'd be home Saturday. The Prov.Park will still be closed, but there is room in other places. Let us know if you decide to come!

    ReplyDelete