Passing through the little town of Sesser, Illinois, I spotted the Statue of Liberty and she was enjoying some ice cream.
We had a nice trip with beautiful scenery and 3 hours later we arrived at the World Shooting Complex in Sparta, Illinois and set up our rolling home.
Rio Drifter and Tennessee Tall were there to great us with drinks and o'derv's. By afternoon several shooters started arriving and they all congregated around Rio and Tennessee's RV for more eating and drinking.
Oh my, I know what kind of week this is going to be!
On Wed. August 26th several of our friends arrived in their RV's. I had one of my favorite recipes in the oven. It is called "White Chicken Chili" and my Italian girlfriend Laura gave me the recipe years ago. It is always a big hit. I also made one of my favorite cornbread recipes and that was a big hit as well.
I gave our friends their delicious stuffed Focaccia bread that Kirchhoff's had baked for me. They loved their gift and I forgot to get a picture of these beautiful breads.
On Thursday, Aug. 27th, I headed out for a brisk 4 mile walk with Susan. She walks a 15 minute mile. I usually do a 17 minute mile so her pace was good for me.
There are also several huge fishing lakes on the range. Although it may hard to see, there is steam coming off the lake.
After breakfast I jumped on my bicycle and headed to Walmart for a few items. It was a nice 15 mile round trip. If I am going to enjoy myself this week, I am going to have to burn lots of calories.
Each afternoon before dinner, we had "Happy Hour". I like fattening alcoholic drinks. So each day I made a different drink for the ladies and even some of the men decided to try them. Men sort of think of them as "girlie" drinks. When I bought them out to the ladies and they saw them, well all of a sudden they decided they weren't "girlie" drinks after all and wanted one.
I wish I would have taken a picture, but I was too busy. I made a Pina Colada, but I had my spin on this drink and called it an Almond Joy. Besides the rum and cream of coconut, I added a scoop of coconut ice cream into the blender along with ice. When I poured it in the glasses, I added a dollop of whipped cream, sprinkled shredded coconut on the top of the whipped cream and grated some dark chocolate on top of that and garnished it with a chocolate covered almond! Oh my gosh, it was heaven and it made everyone "JOY-ful".
That evening we had dinner at Tennessee and Rio's RV. Everyone brought a covered dish and it was a fantastic smorgasbord. I made a big pot of Cowboy Beans and some of the other dishes folks brought were Mexican Chicken Fiesta, Mexican Chicken Lasagna and other goodies.
This is Hanna, she has a parrot mouth and missing teeth so her tongue permanently hangs out. She is a cutie pie and loves to travel.
On Friday, August 28th, Susan and I did another 4 mile brisk walk.
Heading out for their first day of competition is Lefty Rhodes, Cash, Tennessee Tall, Rio Drifter, Titus and Digger John.
Us gals jumped into Fannie's Ford Flex, a huge vehicle that sits 8 ladies comfy and we headed out to lunch at The Pioneers Cabin. Fannie (who's shooting alias is "Fannie Kicker") and Terri (who's shooting alias is "Ginger Ale") do shoot, but at this match they just wanted to kick back and relax.
The Pioneers Cabin is a quaint, rustic and cozy log home restaurant. Their slogan is "A Taste of the Good Ol' Days".
This was a log home kit and it was put up by the family and friends of Dan and Mary Valerius and soon "The Pioneers Cabin" was open for business.
It is decorated with antiques and it has a huge and beautiful stone fireplace and I forgot to take a picture. They are open for breakfast, lunch and dinner from Thursday through Sunday.
Meals are served family style and range from fried cod and catfish, fried shrimp, chicken fried steak, chicken and dumplings, ham, pork roast, meatloaf and all kinds of vegetables.
Desserts were all homemade from pies, cakes, bread puddings and ice creams.
Our lunch was fantastic and the service very good. I think Ginger needed a nap after such a delicious meal.
We got back to the range and started getting the Happy Hour ready as our cowboys would be finishing up soon.
Besides several delicious oderv's, I fixed my "girlie" drinks for the ladies and a few of the fellas. I made cream sickles. Besides the alcohol and triple sec, I added a scoop of vanilla ice cream and orange sherbet and topped the drink off with whipped cream. It tasted like the cream sickles we had as kids, only this was better since it was the adult version.
For dinner we headed to the event center. The theme was carnival food and games. Ralph and I have never had a corn dog. Can you believe that? Anyway it was delicious.
On Saturday, August 29th I headed out with my walk with Susan. I am really enjoying the 15 minute mile compared to my 17 minute mile that I do.
I have been so busy with the ladies that I have not had a chance to see Ralph shoot. So I rode my bike to the range just in time to see him shoot the last stage.
Well here was this afternoon's Happy Hour and I made frozen watermellon margaritas for everyone.
This is Zoey, a beautiful and kind female German Shepherd. She is so quiet and obedient. She belongs to Fannie and Titus from Missouri. We stayed in their driveway for a bit back in June so I got to spend some time with Zoey.
After Happy Hour, everyone got duded up and headed to the Awards Banquet. Everyone really gets dressed up in beautiful western cowboy duds.
We were soon enjoying our a delicious dinner with our friends. There was ham, turkey, sweet potatoes, corn and green beans.
These gals were the best! It was lots of fun and laughs all week long. From left to right is Theresa, me, DeVita, Tennessee, Fannie, Susan, Ginger, Lynn and Bo.
Well the awards came and went and unfortunately Ralph did not place. He came in 4th, so their was no buckle for Lefty Rhodes. He shot 245 rounds and had 3 misses. The other shooters were a bit faster, but that is okay, he had fun and so did I!
On Sunday, August 30th, all our shooter friends were heading home. They are still workin folks, so I had fixed a breakfast casserole and Bloody Mary's for them.
Folks added Mimosa's and other goodies to the table. Wow, what a feast it was. Unfortunately because I was so busy, I did not get any pictures.
It was a nice send off for our friends and it was sad to see everyone go. Ralph and I did something mean though. As they pulled away, we went out to the road and with smiles on our faces, we waved goodbye and said, "Sorry you have to work!" Shame on us!
Ralph and I chilled out the rest of the day and relaxed.
On Monday, August 31st, we packed up and hit the trail. We will be heading east for about 800 miles. 2 years ago I promised my dear friends Larry and Sheila that we would come back for their 25th Wedding Anniversary. I was their Maid of Honor and Ralph was one of the ushers.
.
Until next time................Happy Trails to all our friends!
On Wed. August 26th several of our friends arrived in their RV's. I had one of my favorite recipes in the oven. It is called "White Chicken Chili" and my Italian girlfriend Laura gave me the recipe years ago. It is always a big hit. I also made one of my favorite cornbread recipes and that was a big hit as well.
I gave our friends their delicious stuffed Focaccia bread that Kirchhoff's had baked for me. They loved their gift and I forgot to get a picture of these beautiful breads.
On Thursday, Aug. 27th, I headed out for a brisk 4 mile walk with Susan. She walks a 15 minute mile. I usually do a 17 minute mile so her pace was good for me.
There are also several huge fishing lakes on the range. Although it may hard to see, there is steam coming off the lake.
After breakfast I jumped on my bicycle and headed to Walmart for a few items. It was a nice 15 mile round trip. If I am going to enjoy myself this week, I am going to have to burn lots of calories.
Each afternoon before dinner, we had "Happy Hour". I like fattening alcoholic drinks. So each day I made a different drink for the ladies and even some of the men decided to try them. Men sort of think of them as "girlie" drinks. When I bought them out to the ladies and they saw them, well all of a sudden they decided they weren't "girlie" drinks after all and wanted one.
I wish I would have taken a picture, but I was too busy. I made a Pina Colada, but I had my spin on this drink and called it an Almond Joy. Besides the rum and cream of coconut, I added a scoop of coconut ice cream into the blender along with ice. When I poured it in the glasses, I added a dollop of whipped cream, sprinkled shredded coconut on the top of the whipped cream and grated some dark chocolate on top of that and garnished it with a chocolate covered almond! Oh my gosh, it was heaven and it made everyone "JOY-ful".
That evening we had dinner at Tennessee and Rio's RV. Everyone brought a covered dish and it was a fantastic smorgasbord. I made a big pot of Cowboy Beans and some of the other dishes folks brought were Mexican Chicken Fiesta, Mexican Chicken Lasagna and other goodies.
This is Hanna, she has a parrot mouth and missing teeth so her tongue permanently hangs out. She is a cutie pie and loves to travel.
On Friday, August 28th, Susan and I did another 4 mile brisk walk.
Heading out for their first day of competition is Lefty Rhodes, Cash, Tennessee Tall, Rio Drifter, Titus and Digger John.
Tennessee and Rio brought their golf cart to get around. They are from Florida.
I jumped on my bike and brought Ralph his water jug and an energy bar. This cowgirl shooter was on his posse and I feel bad I did not get this cowgirls name posing with Lefty.
Us gals jumped into Fannie's Ford Flex, a huge vehicle that sits 8 ladies comfy and we headed out to lunch at The Pioneers Cabin. Fannie (who's shooting alias is "Fannie Kicker") and Terri (who's shooting alias is "Ginger Ale") do shoot, but at this match they just wanted to kick back and relax.
The Pioneers Cabin is a quaint, rustic and cozy log home restaurant. Their slogan is "A Taste of the Good Ol' Days".
This was a log home kit and it was put up by the family and friends of Dan and Mary Valerius and soon "The Pioneers Cabin" was open for business.
Meals are served family style and range from fried cod and catfish, fried shrimp, chicken fried steak, chicken and dumplings, ham, pork roast, meatloaf and all kinds of vegetables.
Desserts were all homemade from pies, cakes, bread puddings and ice creams.
Oops, caught myself taking a picture of this nice horse collar mirror.
It was a hard decision, everything looked so good!
Rustic flower pot bread. They are actually baked in real clay flower pots. It was incredibly delicious!
The following two desserts are not mine but I had a bite! They were so beautiful, I had to take a picture.
A vegetable serving of carrot cake.
Fannie, me, Theresa, Ginger and Lynn. (Some of us had too much sugar)
We got back to the range and started getting the Happy Hour ready as our cowboys would be finishing up soon.
Besides several delicious oderv's, I fixed my "girlie" drinks for the ladies and a few of the fellas. I made cream sickles. Besides the alcohol and triple sec, I added a scoop of vanilla ice cream and orange sherbet and topped the drink off with whipped cream. It tasted like the cream sickles we had as kids, only this was better since it was the adult version.
For dinner we headed to the event center. The theme was carnival food and games. Ralph and I have never had a corn dog. Can you believe that? Anyway it was delicious.
And we enjoyed every bite!
This is mine! Cookies and Cream ice cream and so good!
"And Their Off". The pigs had batteries in them and they would vibrate and this would cause them to go down the track.
I should have taken better pictures, but in front of Ralph there is a catapult and you place a bean bag frog on the catapult and use a mallet to hit the lever of the catapult and the bean bag frog flies through the air where you hope it will land in one of the flower pots.
You can see the blurry frog as it is flying through the air.
You have five tries. On the 5th try, Ralph's frog made it into the flower pot. When I tried it, I did it in 2 tries! (I am not bragging!) We each won a bottle of wine.
We did not try this one but it looked like fun. As the horse moved, you shot at the targets with an air BB rifle.
On Saturday, August 29th I headed out with my walk with Susan. I am really enjoying the 15 minute mile compared to my 17 minute mile that I do.
I have been so busy with the ladies that I have not had a chance to see Ralph shoot. So I rode my bike to the range just in time to see him shoot the last stage.
Well here was this afternoon's Happy Hour and I made frozen watermellon margaritas for everyone.
She is probably dreaming of Rin Tin Tin and Bullet.
After Happy Hour, everyone got duded up and headed to the Awards Banquet. Everyone really gets dressed up in beautiful western cowboy duds.
Our table - Susan, John, Cash, Ginger, Fannie, Titus and Ralph
These gals were the best! It was lots of fun and laughs all week long. From left to right is Theresa, me, DeVita, Tennessee, Fannie, Susan, Ginger, Lynn and Bo.
And now with our handsome cowboys - John and Susan, Cash and Ginger, Me and Ralph, Fannie and Titus.
Then there was dessert! All kinds of cheesecake.
Ralph loves red velvet.
I love anything pumpkin and this was the best pumpkin cheese cake I ever had. Look closely and you can see the spices. I was very "pumpkinie".
I "ooohed" and "aaahed" with every delicious bite!
Well the awards came and went and unfortunately Ralph did not place. He came in 4th, so their was no buckle for Lefty Rhodes. He shot 245 rounds and had 3 misses. The other shooters were a bit faster, but that is okay, he had fun and so did I!
On Sunday, August 30th, all our shooter friends were heading home. They are still workin folks, so I had fixed a breakfast casserole and Bloody Mary's for them.
Folks added Mimosa's and other goodies to the table. Wow, what a feast it was. Unfortunately because I was so busy, I did not get any pictures.
It was a nice send off for our friends and it was sad to see everyone go. Ralph and I did something mean though. As they pulled away, we went out to the road and with smiles on our faces, we waved goodbye and said, "Sorry you have to work!" Shame on us!
Ralph and I chilled out the rest of the day and relaxed.
On Monday, August 31st, we packed up and hit the trail. We will be heading east for about 800 miles. 2 years ago I promised my dear friends Larry and Sheila that we would come back for their 25th Wedding Anniversary. I was their Maid of Honor and Ralph was one of the ushers.
Passing through Louisville, KY.
I was amused by this square cloud.
That night we ducked into a Cracker Barrel in Nitro, KY. Most Cracker Barrels allow RV-er's to stay the night and of course we either have dinner or breakfast there. Tonight however we had leftovers from all our delicious meals we had this past week.
On Tuesday, Sept. 1st we walked in Cracker Barrel shortly after they opened at 6:00 a.m. We were their first customers. We have always enjoyed Cracker Barrel and I always thank them for having a place to park for the night for us RV-ing folks.
Even though it was foggy, it still was a beautiful sunrise as we headed east.
Our 825 mile trip from Sparta Illinois to Frederick, MD. is almost over. It was a nice trip.
Until next time................Happy Trails to all our friends!
Maryland--!!!!! I knew it must be something special to get you back to Maryland! I received the quilt book and I LOVED it--some of those quilts take my breath away!!! Thank you so much for thinking of me Angie!
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