Wednesday, May 29, 2019



#3 2019 Trip to Alaska

          As I said already, we took a fast trip across the lower 48 and hit the border on the scheduled day we were supposed to.  Once through the border without International incidents, we headed for the big mall in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. I had a good time there although we only went through ¼ of the whole mall. Since I have posted pictures from the mall on other blogs, I will only post a couple here.
Outside Dragon Fruit

Inside Dragon Fruit
This is a Dragon Fruit we found in a giant Chinese grocery store.  One of my many mottos is:  If it doesn’t crawl off the table, I’ll eat it.  Becky looked up the information about the weird, yet beautiful fruit.  Couple of things I found noteworthy were that they were grown in Asia and Florida. Who knew?  Another thing is if its juice is mixed with a certain fruit juice (which one now escapes me, but it doesn’t matter since I don’t intend to mix it with ANY juice.) you could suffer from anaphylactic shock.  Possibly leading to death.  That might put a slight damper on the trip for the rest of the group. Other than death, it is supposed to be good for you.


          This picture is of Mary Read, aka Becky Morris and Captain Morgan, aka Jim Morris. They had just out sailed Johnny Depp and we were off to celebrate victory with a meal at Bubba Gump’s Seafood. Coconut Shrimp, Popcorn Shrimp, Boiled Shrimp.  Well, you know.

Until later,

Dolores

Thursday, May 23, 2019


Post #2 2019 trip to Alaska


          Before I start posting on our day-by-day journey, I’d like to tell you what brought this adventure about.
          Somewhere around the end of the 1990’s, Richard and I drove to Alaska in our motorhome following his brother, Howard and his wife Mary Jane.  We LOVED the beautiful scenery and pristine waters of the whole state.   Many times Richard and I agreed had our kids been younger (they were teenagers by then) they would have grown up in Alaska. Since that time, we’ve made several trips back to the beautiful state.  One of Alaska’s mottos is the Land That God Forgot.  I don’t think He forgot it, He just knew He got it right the first time.
          On my Bucket List, I have several things left to accomplish: Receive the Nobel Prize in Literature for a book titled How to Kill Your Husband and Get Away with It. Just to ease everyone’s mind, Richard is well aware of the plotting of this book and even helped me with the research.  (More on this later.)
          Another item on my BL is to work on a campaign for my grandson Drew when he runs for governor of the Great State of Florida.  I vote by absentee ballot because I am usually absentee during the elections.  So, Drew comes over to my house and he and I talk about whom we should vote for.  His reasoning is usually pretty sound and occasionally profound.  But, I won’t discuss politics on my blog.
          And, as usual, I digress.  The item we are working on now is living in Alaska for ONE YEAR.  We have rented a house in Fairbanks and one in Homer.  We invited some friends, some family to come up and stay with us for 7 to 10 days.  Our calendar for the summer filled quickly.  However, nobody was interested in coming to Alaska during the winter months.  Most were afraid they might turn into ice cubes.
          Anyway, a couple of years ago, I reconnected with an old school friend around the time of our 50th reunion. During the next few years we were able to get together and meet each other’s spouse.  James Morris, who also goes by Jim and Jimmy, and I went to Franklin Jr. High and graduated from King High School (both in the Tampa area) in 1967. 
          Jim and Becky left with us from our house and we all spent the next two weeks in Lincolnton enjoying bluegrass and gospel music at Little Roy and Lizzy Long bluegrass festival.  Then Mother’s Day weekend we attended the Jeff and Sheri Easter’s Homecoming.  Becky and I went to the Easter’s house after the concerts and to help a dear friend of mine, Peggy Fauscett.  Not that Peggy needed any help. She does most of the cooking before she leaves home and warms it before time to eat. Since I normally only see Peggy once a year, I enjoy visiting with her while we are waiting for the crowd to arrive and munch down all her delicious vittles.
Peggy Fauscett


          As I’ve written about before, Richard is very involved with the Homecoming which is held at the Lewis Family Homeplace. Jim was a lot of help with Richard getting the camping area ready.  Meanwhile, Becky and I worked hard at making sure no deals were missed in the local antique and boutique shops in the surrounding Georgia towns. 
          Richard and I dragged the Morris’s all over Lincoln County, introducing them to some of Lincolnton’s finest citizens.  We ate a couple of our evening meals with Walker and Carol Norman and then Little Roy and Bonnie Lewis.  At the local cafĂ©, we ate breakfast with Coroner turned Sheriff, Paul Revere.
          On Mother’s Day afternoon, Jim, Becky and their cat Hemi and Richard and I took off in our motorhomes for what I would call the fastest trip I’ve ever taken across the United States. Here are just a few of the pictures we took while in Lincolnton.

Nothin' Fancy

Bennett  Little Roy and
Bonnie's grandson

Becky, Jim, Richard, Me on Jeff Easter's Boat
Sunset cruise on Savannah Lakes

Lizzy's Brother, Lizzy

Ricky Scaggs
Sorry for the microphone in the way.



Until later,
Dolores

Tuesday, May 14, 2019


Ah! Summer Vacation

          Most of you know that for many years Richard and I have traveled the United States on summer vacations.  This year is no different except the extent of our happy journey.  We are going to stay in one of our favorite places for a whole year.
          NORTH TO ALASKA has taken on a whole new meaning.  Just a little introduction of main characters may be in order.  And, the answer to the most asked questions I’ve been faced with in the past few weeks.
          Traveling in their own motorhome with Richard and me is an old friend I graduated from high school with.  Jim (James Morris). We attended Franklin Jr. High, in Tampa, Florida and King High School in Temple Terrace, Florida.
Jim, Becky, Me, Richard
Notice the cute sign they put on
the back of their bus.
          My maiden name is Morton.  So Morris and Morton were always together in the same homeroom.  We had other classes together through the years, but for sure we started our day off in the same room.  I remember Jim as one of the most thoughtful, kindest, and funniest people I hung around with.
          Jim and his wife, Becky, have been married for 30+ years.  Becky and I instantly hit it off.  She and I start laughing as soon as we are together.  It started when she volunteered to carve the Thanksgiving turkey in our tiny motorhome.  I’d neglected to securely lock the lift-up counter space.  It fell and in a perfect BERTIE MOMENT, after a little slipping and sliding in failed attempts to catch it, the turkey splattered into the floor. We used the 10 second rule and rinsed it off.  It was pretty good.  I might scrub all my turkeys before carving them from now on. Becky reminds me of my cousin, Sandy.  I think the three of us could definitely strain something should we ever get together.
          Richard (my dear, loving husband of 44 years) is still the same, with no signs of changing.  He jokes in some of the ways Jim does, but when it is given back in the same manner, Richard doesn’t understand.  Let’s just say that sometimes he leaves his sense of humor in his back pocket.  For example, he had made it plain he did not wish to drive through Chicago.  So, Jim tells him over the CB (?) radio that we are getting on I-75, North to Chicago.  Richard was sputtering so much I thought he might choke.  Shortly, Jim came back with the true directions of I-24 to Nashville.
          Then there is me, Dolores J. Wilson.  I’m a wife, mother, grandmother of 9, and a published author of Women’s fiction, both happy and sad. I’m a crafter, and a cook who is excited about fixing all kinds of food for people who enjoy eating.  Unfortunately, my husband is not one of them. 
          Some of the questions I’ve been asked is why?  Because spending a year in Alaska to experience all the seasons and the Northern Lights has been on our Bucket List for years.  Richard is 75 and I’ll be 70 in a few weeks.  As Elvis sang, It’s Now or Never.  I’ll have more details in a later blog.
          Next: Are you crazy?  You’re going to freeze to death.  Well, my answer is that I thought my degree of craziness had been established years ago.  And I had no intention of freezing to death because I don’t plan on leaving the house if the temperature is below 50 degrees.
          I’m going to try to post a blog page at least 3 times a week.  Please leave your comments so I know who has read the daily post to Blame it on the Paste.

Until later,
Dolores
Post #1 2019