Myrtle Beach, SC

Over the last week, we've shared our beautiful oceanside resort with more than 900 horses! And we loved it! The event was the 23rd Annual American Heart Association Rideathon. Riders collected pledges, just like in a walkathon, then spent four days here in Myrtle Beach riding their horses on the beach to raise money for the AHA. We knew this would be something special when the long, long lines of horse trailers started arriving. The check-in system was very efficient; every horse went through a "Coggins inspection" to verify its health and vaccination history while the owners got their site assignments.

They came from everywhere--we saw plates from Texas, New York, Colorado, Wyoming, as well as lots from the Carolinas and neighboring states--and as they set up their portable corrals and started exercising the horses, you could feel the excitement spread across the campground.

We were surrounded by horses! (See us? That's the B.A.T. in center frame above.) The dogs were surprisingly calm about it all, only getting a little excited when they were outside next to a nickering neighbor. The group hosted a lot of entertainment and other events, and we were made to feel fully welcome to join right in at country music concerts, karaoke events and more.

But the best part was watching them ride on the 20+ mile stretch of beach. It's a relatively rare treat for both man and beast---to walk, trot and even gallop along the ocean surf in the company of hundreds of other horsemen. The sight is something we won't soon forget.

Myrtle Beach, SC

Just arrived, so no pics yet, but Myrtle Beach looks like fun! We decided to settle in here for a couple of weeks. That will give us time to do some beachcombing, check out the local entertainment scene, and enjoy the indoor heated pool that's within sight of our spot here.

Virginia Beach, VA

We've become part of a mini-caravan! We met Judy in Luray at the RVing Women rally, joined her and a few of the other gals again the next weekend at Pocahontas State Park in Chesterfield, then found she was headed to Virginia Beach to visit her son. So we made arrangements to rendezvous again!

Judy is a solo full-timer who knows this area fairly well, so she became our guide for a visit to the Virginia Beach Aquarium. We got a late start today, so we're going back tomorrow to see more. The weather has turned cool, but we still hope to see a day warm enough to do a harbor cruise before we leave VA Beach on Saturday. No destination planned as yet...just south! Judy, on the other hand, will be heading back toward her home base in northern Virginia. But we'll stay in touch and hope for another opportunity to meet on the road.

Luray, VA

An auspicious omen for our arrival in Virginia...the most beautiful, full arc rainbow I've ever seen. Couldn't even get it all in the picture! While in Luray, we visited the caverns. We've done Mammoth and Carlsbad, but never been in caves where we literally stepped around stalagmites in our path and had to remember not to touch them as we moved by. Almost all the formations were really up close--not as huge as in the bigger caves, but a lot more accessible.

We were getting ready to leave Luray on Saturday morning, the 23rd, when I spotted a crowd of women around a campfire a few sites down. Curious (you never see 20 or 25 women together at a campsite), I went down and introduced myself and asked if they were a club. Turns out it was the MidAtlantic Chapter of RVing Women, having their fall rally. They invited us to join in, so we stayed an extra night. We learned how to play Mexican Train dominoes, then went to a potluck dinner, where two accordian players and a harmonica player led a sing-along. We had a great time. We were planning on heading down to Virginia Beach on Sunday, when a few of the gals told us they were going to be camping in Richmond the next weekend. So...we stopped in Richmond for a while! The drive down through the Blue Ridge Mountains was spectacular.

Hershey, PA

It's the sweetest place on Earth! It's true, the town smells like chocolate when the wind is right. Here in Derry Township (though the Post Office is named Hershey, the town has never officially changed its name), the main street is named Chocolate Drive and the street lamps are shaped like the famous kisses. There are no tours of the actual factory anymore, but you can tour a mockup at Chocolate World, so of course, we did!

Our plans to head for New England for the fall colors had to change when I was summoned to jury duty. But we headed east anyway, and have found that the Allegheny Mountains are beautiful this time of year. We'll be in Lancaster for a day or two, then we're off to Virginia and the Shenandoah Valley for a week. It's perfect fall weather in this part of the world, cool and sunny...most days, anyway.

Skokie, IL

We stayed in Illinois a lot longer than orginally planned--I was called to jury duty in late September, so our plans to head to New England for fall colors are on hold. But it meant we had more time to spend with friends and family there. JoAnn and Irene have a new pug puppy...now, get this right, to say her name properly, throw your head back like Marlon Brando and yell, "STELL-LLA"! She's shown here in the Halloween sweater her Aunt Cory picked out for her!

And of course, we visited with our godsons--growing like weeds, they are. We made our annual trip to Magic Waters in Rockford, where they each got tattoos...the kind that last about four days. That's Jim on the left, Joe on the right.

La Pine, OR

The snow was still blocking the road to the top of Paulina Peak the Sunday we drove out to visit "the highest flush toilet in Oregon," but we had a great day, anyway. Dad and I climbed up the obsidian field to look down over the valley while Cory and Mom stayed in the car down below. It was a steep climb, and just between us, I was considerably more winded than he was.

Our stay in LaPine extended several weeks longer than we orginally planned, while we waited for an appointment to repair our trailer's bedroom slide in Bend. But with those beautiful Cascade Mountains surrounding us, the thick, tall Ponderosa and jack pine forests all around, and our ongoing double-deck pinochle tournament with the folks to entertain us in the evenings, we had plenty of reasons to enjoy our stay.

One of our favorite haunts turned out to be a restaurant that recently opened in LaPine, Angel's Thai. Yup, we're big fans of Thai food...and Angel's serves the best we've ever tasted. It's run by two sisters (neither one is named Angel), one who cooks and one who manages the front. If you're in the area, make sure you try the Yum Nua (beef salad)--and trust us, save room for dessert. For weeks, we saw "mango and sticky rice" written on the board as the dessert special, but we didn't try it until we were leaving LaPine and the sisters gave us a serving to go as a good-bye gift. When delays on our repair took an extra day, we went back just to have more!