We were in the Nashville, TN area about Christmas time in 2012, but when
the weather report turned to SNOW & ICE, we left quite briskly to avoid it.
At least we were there long enough to attend the Grand Old Opry show and tour
its Auditorium/Museum, and to see some of the Christmas lights. We got to Cartersville, GA (about an hour from Atlanta, GA), but the
rain & FOG kept us there for almost an entire week. When we left Cartersville, we made
arrangements to see our nephew, Austin Hemmer (Ron & Laurie’s son), it was short but sweet visit with him and
he graciously made time for us to have lunch with him. He is a busy lawyer, and we gave him such a
short notice. We were able to get one more
STATE CAPITAL tour in at Atlanta. (We just need to do Atlanta again...more to
see, and this time give Austin a better notice for an extended visit).
We were so ready for sunshine & so drove way down to Clermont, FL near
Orlando. Toured the Epcot Center, and
the Animal Kingdom, & the Kennedy Space Center. Everyone needs to go to Kennedy Space
Center…it will WOW you, on a personal basis liked it better than Disneyworld.
Our time in Venice, FL as was so
beautiful there…especially Sarasota & Longboat Keys area. We had a reservation for one month at Ft Myers,
FL., which we had set up in August, as at that time we were not sure how
driving into an RV site without a reservation would work. It seems the Snow-Bird Season here is slower
than the hot summer months. Basically
10-20 days’ notice to about any RV Park is not a problem, or any of the other
states we drove thru to get to FL. Good
for us as then we can bargain hunt, yet don’t have to be at a certain place at
a certain time either. It gives us time
to really enjoy each area we like as long as we want, and to get a heads up on
certain historical sites that are more important to tour or that we favor more,
and rest along the way to enjoy ourselves and not be rushed.
While in the Ft Myers area, we saw Manatee
in the Wild, (some mother’s with their babies swimming right by the). And
the Edison-Ford Winter Estate. Thomas Edison & Henry Ford had
acquired a friendship in about 1911, and when Edison built a winter home with a
Laboratory, seemed logical to the two fella’s that Ford should too. So their houses are next to each other, and
they share the beauty of an Ocean site back yard area. Thomas Edison’s Laboratory looks like he just
left it & in the middle of some kind of project. And the Edison Museum was large, and held many
of the items he invented, and it was knowledgeable too. The furniture in the winter homes were exact
or replicas.
Gary’s sister, Beckie Beeners & her hubby Keith joined us when we
toured the Edison-Ford Winter Estate and we took them to the same site to see
the Manatees and got to see more baby ones this time. We learned the Manatee
are an endangered species, and part of the eco system, because they are bottom
feeders and clean up the waterways. One
of the reasons we stayed in Ft Myers, is because Beckie & Keith have been
staying a couple months in the Naples area.
So we ventured to Naples to meet some of their Sioux Falls friends who
live in Naples now, and to see their tourist sites also. We spent our Valentine Day/Evening with them
also, & their gracious friends, and enjoyed eating Fresh Fish meals.
Ft Myers and Naples have beautiful
beaches, and you can Island hop too. Sanibel Island was the best, as the ocean
waves are at your feet & you just bend over to scoop up a variety of seashells,
other Islands we toured never compared to Sanibel. Per<Pine Island, Captiva, and Marco Island>
When we left Ft Myers we drove south to
Key West, where we could have drove over some 30-40 causeways (highways over the waterways). About halfway over them, I was ready to
stop. However, causeways are an amazing
‘Highway to the Seas’ drive to Key West.
Key West had the best of the best SUNSETS right on the harbor area
& in a city park called MALLORY SQUARE.
It was here we not only enjoyed a SUNSET like no other (better than my Golden Wall Sunsets of Cedar
Resort in Chamberlain), because when this Sunset ‘ Was Done’, everyone stood up and CHEERED’. And I got it all on my Video Camera, was an
awesome feeling and sight.
Key West is where Ernest Hemingway lived for a few years, his studio was part of his home and
we toured them both. The area of Key
West has been hit with hurricanes many times, but not this house. The architect was a ship captain too, &
he had the 16” thick Limestone Blocks dug out of the ground right under where
the house was built. You can see part of
house in the movie “License to Kill” with James Bond (or google it). Hemingway had
or liked cats, and a lot of them are still roaming this property today (6
toed cats he catered to the most). They even have a veterinarian come
in each Wed. to tend to them. Ready for a cute story of how practical
Hemingway was? He was married to a lady
that was the Editor of Vogue or such magazine, she took all the fans out of the
home and replaced them with beautiful chandeliers…obviously fans in the hot
humid air of FL would be a must. Then
one time when Hemingway was gone to the East part of USA on business, she had a
pool installed for approximately $20,000, (lots of money
for 1930’s) it was because they had to dig into the coral beds. His wife tried to surprise him, only it
turned out she was ‘The ONE WHO WAS SURPRISED’.
He told her how ridiculous it was to spend money that way, so he gave ’Her
His Last Penny’, which he had installed into the cement edge of the pool. He divorced her then he lived in Cuba and Ketchum,
Idaho after that. After his wife,
Pauline, died, Hemingway did return to the home in winter months to avoid the
Idaho winters. In Key West you can walk along beautiful Waterfront &
Boardwalk areas.
From Key West (yes we had to drive back over all of those 20-30 some bridges) we
drove to TALLAHASSEE to meet Josh Swank,
who was driving from Huron, SD to meet us there. The three of us toured Two
State Capitals, the old one is actually a Museum now…looks more like most State
Capitals that imitate the Presidential Capital with a dome. The new State Capital is more like our modern
churches, which are mostly metal or resin products…very little limestone or
granite or brick products.
At Tallahassee, FL there was a Mission
called San Luis, which transports you back to 1703. It is where the Appalachia
Indians and the newcomers from Spain lived together. There are people
demonstrating the way of pioneer life, per blacksmith, fire makers, basket
weavers, etc. etc. At the fort they have there is where the military people
lived, we (Josh-Gary & I) got to
do an Archery Practice. Now Grandpa and
Grandma understand why Samantha wanted an Archery Bow-Arrows for her Birthday
Last year. (However, it could be some of the new movies who inspired Sammie).
Next is Pensacola, FL…and because we
stayed at the RV Park on Gulf Breeze island, we again drove on causeways, and a
17 mile stretch of white sand/beaches.
Josh’s first question was ‘who wants to do a Sunrise on the white sand
beach’? Grandma Kay did, and Grandpa
Gary stayed in bed as he knew he could later view the beautiful photos and
videos we had acquired. While Josh is still here we toured the National Naval
Aviation Museum, which was established close to 1955 at 8500 square foot, was
so well appreciated by the public, and in several phases through the years it
is currently a 291,000 square foot building full of historical planes, some have
been salvaged, and it gives you the knowledge of planes that take off on ships decks,
plus a background of Space ships. The
museum is considered to be the leading tourist attraction between Orlando and
& New Orleans, it is said to inspire the aviation careers for those in this
field. Pensacola is also home to the Blue
Angels, which we did see once from a distance only.
We also have a niece, Jennifer Theriot
(my sister, Marlene Mennenga’s daughter) & her family who live in
Pensacola. Jen is married to Donnie and they have a son, Daniel & a
daughter Angelle. We met Donnie’s
parents, who are very cordial & treat Jen like a daughter, and participate
in playful games with the grandkids. We
were lucky to attend one of Daniel’s baseball games, Daniel is a quite a
talented Pitcher. We believe he could
make a career of it, or at least vie for a scholarship in his future.
Onto New Orleans before heading home
to our SD family & friends. At this RV site they had a shuttle bus that
took us to the downtown French Quarters, & brought us back too. So we went almost every day when the weather
was good enough to walk around. A Horse
& Carriage tour was quite informative & enjoyable, and of course, I had
my video camera on to take it all in.
The St Louis Cathedral was
oh so ‘grand’, now we have seen many grand churches in our travels, but this
particular one had a balcony all around the church and paintings on the ceiling
above each balcony division, plus they had preserved more of the original Altar
area of the past than most of our updated churches have. In New Orleans the Louisiana State Museum
resides next to the Cathedral, and outside there are always musicians sharing
their talents, and people actually do dance in the street too…cute ones were
the children. We didn’t quite get the 2nd
building of the State Museum toured, as it was time to board the shuttle bus. The entire time we were at New Orleans, Kim
kept texting us to say that more snow was predicted for SD, so we stayed longer
than planned…just so much to see in New Orleans, so not a problem. Jen & Don have a condo right in the
French Quarters area…so maybe we can get some of our friends or relatives to
return with us next time.
On the way home to SD we had planned to
go to Vicksburg, MS to tour the Civil War Site, but a flooded river up north
sent enough water that the barges in St Louis floated down and knocked out the
Vicksburg bridge. So our trip home was
now through the Kansas & Nebraska way.
Don’t know what happened to my mind, I completely forgot that we had a
niece, Myssi Gerber (my brother, Warren
& Deb’s daughter) living in Kansas, so I messed up and didn’t get to
visit with them. Sorry, Myssi, Brady,
Maddie & Aurora, you can bet that will never happen again. I sort of believe we had missed our SD family
and friends so much, couldn’t drive fast enough to get home to them. Besides State Capital’s we have intensions to
visit with as many of our ‘nieces,
nephews, and cousins & siblings’ as we travel…you could say that is
most of our bucket list.
The Shafer Easter Celebration
was held at Tammy & Russell’s house, and Gram Norma Shafer could be there
too. We did a Skype with her and the kids too. Norma was ‘so cute’ as she kept getting
closer and closer to Tammy’s computer screen as if she couldn’t see Gary, and I
thought she might be having troubles seeing us so I got closer, and she asked
me ‘to get away’. Norma got close to the
screen because she wanted to give Gary a ‘kiss’. Gosh it warmed our hearts and a tear of love
appears. It was at this time I could see
our daughters move away from the screen so we couldn’t see those happy tears,
and she told Gary he was so dark he looked like a Black Man. Now we all had a LOL moment. Yup and the big kids still have egg hunts
too.
So what was left of April, thru to the
end of September, we basically stayed in the Sioux Falls/Brandon & Mitchell
area, but did our usual camping and boating at Chamberlain (another home away from home).
In June we drove our Motorhome to Jessica Hemmer’s & Craig Harney’s
Wedding in Loveland, Colorado. We took our friend, Carol Krcil, with us, as
she has a son and family who live in the Denver area. The 12 Hemmer siblings were all in
attendance, so the Wedding Rehearsal was at Bruce and Denise’s house, & we
were all able to be together that afternoon & evening. Thanks Bruce &
Denise for entertaining us, it was so nice to all be together, and especially
to be with your children and grandchildren.
You are all blessed to have
those instant 3 grandkids of Craig’s too.
Also to reacquaint ourselves with Shannon & Tonia’s grandchildren
also. The Wedding the next day was an outdoor one for both the ceremony &
dance too, & at an area where you could see the mountains in the
background, plus the weather could not have been better. Got to spend more quality time with them this
time too. We all had a super time, and especially when we had a couple of
wedding `crashers’…Pam, Brenda &
Jay, & to see our brother, Denny dance almost all the dances was
very rewarding…too thanks Denny.
Summertime at Chamberlain’s Cedar
Resort campground is still an ongoing place we spend as much time there as we
can so our 4 daughters and their family can come and go often, thus why my
reference to ‘home away from home’. We always do our Hart Ranch Black Hills stay,
this time Bies’s (Tammy-Russell-Brianna)
decided to do vacation with us too, and so did Josh Swank. We also go to
Brandon’s RV Park, as 3 of our daughters live in that area along with being
closer to Gary’s Mom, Norma, who is in assisted living in the Tea area. In Sept
we had a Special Weekend with our 4 daughters so we could have Gram Norma with
us at the RV Park. We celebrated Dawn’s
Birthday and Our Wedding Anniversary at the same time. My sister, Sandy &
her hubby, Wayne were there to be with us.
My baby brother, Jim is a new
grandpa, so Jim and his daughter, Ally with her baby girl, Natally Rose,
stopped by to be with us too. Well Sandy
and I still had a new Hemmer baby to see, Dusty & Anna Walraven, son Baby
Leo (Dusty is the son of my baby sister,
JoAnn-hubby Don) live in the Sioux Falls area, and yes we got to see them
also. (2013 Four Hemmer babies were born in 2013…so now have 2 out of 4 off
our bucket list). It was a memorable
weekend for sure. SEPTEMBER 2013 TRAVELS...WATCH FOR MORE...NEXT POST by Kay Shafer
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