2015-21-03 Chris Golden/Jimmy Fortune/Ronnie McDowell and T.Graham Brown

We attended a concert last night featuring the performers at the Immanuel Baptist Church in Pace, FL and what a crowd stomping time everyone had.  I think the church is arranging for the music programs to be relocated from the Living Church in Chumuckla, FL to them. They are larger and can hold more people. Plus, they are right downtown Pace. Chumuckla is about ten miles out of town.

First up was Chris Golden, who is an accomplished gospel song writer and singer  He had been a drummer for the Oak Ridge Boys for several years and had been featured on Hee Haw as well as other features with his brother Rusty.  He grew up and lives in the Nashville area. He was accompanied  by his niece who played the fiddle for him.I was unable to record her name however she was very good for a young (teenage) girl.
                                                                       

Chris Golden

Next up was Jimmy Fortune. We saw  Jimmy  perform, solo, twice at the Bluegrass Festival at Rhodehaver Boys Ranch in Palatka, FL. Jimmy had been a part of The Statler Brothers and was one of their prime song writers . He wrote  several songs that became number one hits. Among those he sang was "Elizabeth", "Flowers on the Wall" " I believe", "Too much on  My Heart"" On the Other Side", How Great Thou Art". as well as number one songs the Brothers had recorded. He had several standing ovations. He was later called to the stage to accompany Ronnie McDowell and later T.Graham Brown.   Jimmy said he was one of nine siblings and he has seven children in his family. He has a tremendous voice that easily covers all ranges. Jimmy played tribute to all veterans.
                                                                                 

Jimmy Fortune

Ronnie McDowell begin the second half of the program.with several gospel songs that included those recorded by Elvis Presley.  He has the voice to emulate Elvis and is quite good at it. He said he couldn't sing his favorite song of "Older women make Better lovers","You're gonna Ruin my Bad Reputation" and "All Tied Up" because of the crowd of older church women in the crowd. He presented his son, Tyler Dean who sang a song. We last saw Ronnie at the "Farmer's Opry House in Chumuckla a year or so ago.

Ronnie was presented an award by the Commander, Purple Heart Association of America  for his three Purple Hearts awarded  to him for duty in Vietnam. The presenter was a recently retired Escambia County Chief of Police and Warren Cook, a retired Escambia County Policeman. For his finalie he joined with Jimmy Fortune and Chris Golden with "American Trilogy as a tribute to all veterans.
                                                                                 

Ronnie & Tyler

Ronnie McDowell

                                                                 Tyler Dean McDowell

Ronnie, Sheriff & Wayne Orr

Purple Heart Plaque Presentation

Ronnie, Chris & Jimmy

Last but certainly  not  least was our new friend T.Graham Brown .We originally met him and his wife, Sheila at the "Farmers Opry House" along with Ronnie. We became instant friends and we shared parts  of our lives about experiencing the same things.  Time was short so we weren't able to spend any time with them last night. T. Graham sang some of his favorite Gospel songs and shared parts of the "darker side" of his  life and his experience finding GOD. Among his (and our)favorites were "Wine Into Water",  "Which Way to Pray", " I Believe ( a new song )"," Old Rugged Cross", "Forever Changed" and "People Get Ready". T. Graham was just himself the entire performance, sharing some humorous experiences. He is a humble, non assuming, grateful son of GOD who has found his way to peace, sobriety and serenity. I was able to give him a personal gift that resembles those traits and love, brotherhood and friendship. It has the power  from GOD for them.. HOWEVER, you must keep it in your pocket at all times for it to work. Hope to see you and Sheila soon.  
                                                                               

Sheila Brown and Anita James

T.Graham Brown

 

2015-02-15 RV Rally in Sarasota and Disney's Epcot

Our second trip this year was to Sarasota, FL to attend the FMCA Rally and then go to Palatka, FL for the Bluegrass Festival.

Out trip down to Sarasota was much like any of the others. Taking  Interstate 10 East  to Interstate 75 we got off at Wesley Chapel and joined a fellow RV'er from our club at "The Begining Points" RV Park. Dinner later with all of the gang was at "Cody's Steak House " in Wesley Chapel. What an experience that was. We had a "stack" of deep fried onions and some of the largest "Back Ribs we've ever eaten. Delicious was the description.

We caravan-ed the rest of the way to Sarasota so we would be able to park alongside each other when we got there. That makes it easier to socialize when at day's end. The weather was rainy when we arrived but cleared up for the rally and was beautiful except for the temperature. Chilly for Florida. It lingered in the low to mid sixties the entire time. Nights called for a blanket. Better than up North though. They are experiencing below zero temps and lots of snow on top of what they already had.

We replaced the satellite dish system  to a Winegard and Direct TV system. The installed King-Dome Satellite System just  had  too many interface problems with DISH TV and we were tired of it. The system works as advertised and what a nice relief it is. Everything is automatic as soon as you turn it on. No more trying to manually find the satellite and get it tuned in. Turn it on and it takes over.

Leaving there we decided to make a stop near Walt Disney World and do a little "tourist" visiting. Epcot was the choice of destination. Tickets were $100 each. We failed to stop at a visitors center and buy discount tickets. Oh well! We couldn't believe the crowd until it struck us that the day was a holiday--All Presidents Day.There were thousands of children and of course the thousands of people from other countries. The amount of time waiting in line was horrendous.  One took two hours. After that we learned how to just cut in and act like a tourist.

There has been a lot added since the last time either of us were here. I last visited in 1975 when I brought my family down while I attended a conference with Martin Marietta Corporation-a defense contract company that makes one of our deadly air launched guided missiles.(Tomahawk). Anita's last visit was about 8 years ago.

Some of the attractions haven't changed since last visit.  "Living with the Land" project was the same but  updated. It's an interesting tour of how the scientist are developing alternate ways to grow and produce crops. We enjoyed the movie presentation of China with the surround screens. That type of movie  has always fascinated me. The Chinese Acrobats, "Jeweled Dragon Acrobats" were quite good and enjoyable as was the "Voices of Liberty"--- Acapella Singing group.

As always we met a young lady and promised we would post her photo on the blog. Say hello to Shanshan Cui.from Zheng Zhou. She was an usher at the Chinese Exibit.and a very friendly young lady.

                                                            The Chinese Acrobats

Post 10-17-2014 Tidewater Community College Roper Center Thomas Jefferson Presentation

Anita James added 2 new photos. on 10/17/2014

6 hrs · Chesapeake, VA · 

Oh what a delightful evening we had with Presidents Thomas Jefferson and Teddy Roosevelt in the person of Clay Jenkinson. It was so entertaining but more informative, insightful and inspirational than anything I've seen in years (maybe ever). Jefferson and Roosevelt were polar opposites but both so necessary and vital for this country. We need them again!

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Post 10-10-2014 Chesapeake, VA

Post 10-10-2014 Chesapeake, VA

Sorry for the delay in updating everyone. We arrived in Chesapeake on the 20th of Sept and have been quite busy since.

First off,  I had a CT Scan for the cancer in my left lung (and elsewhere) followed by a visit to my Oncologist. He wasn't happy with the reading so he is having me undergo a PET Scan to see if my cancer has grown or if it's just scar tissue from my last episode in Jan 2013. I can only pray it's scar tissue. I'll keep you informed.

Also had a Carotid Aorta test for the weak and dizzy spells I had in Alaska in trying to pinpoint what it may be. The test results was  normal so I now am scheduled to visit a cardiac specialist later this month. Keep me in your thoughts and prayers and  thank you ahead of time.

Visiting with my son   was a fantastic delight. It's always a pleasure seeing him. We took him with us to visit my sister and  it was just wonderful being able to share with both of them our journey. We gave them the  gifts we brought back from Alaska. Dinner was on us at the Rancho Grande , yep, Mexican. They produce superb meals at a reasonable price and have been there 20 years or more.

We spent some time with Bill and Judy Greene, longtime friends. Bill has a bit of dementia and Judy has incurable cancer.  Bill is a retired Navy Master Chief Petty Officer.   We also had lunch with a WWII friend who is now 95 years old. John Peter Powell is a retired Navy Commander who served aboard battleships during the war. 

Next we visited with our NASCAR friends at the Krossroads Restaurant ,one of our gathering places since Katherine's closed  a year or so ago. We brought them some gifts from Alaska as a token of our friendship. I think they will enjoy using the Ulu Knife and board(or get ticked when they cut their finger with it). 

Entertainment wise, we enjoyed a Bluegrass Gospel Concert in Lanex, VA  at the Rockahop Campgrounds over the weekend before we arrived home  and then went to a another Bluegrass Concert here in Chesapeake at the Ruitan Club in the Hickory subdivision . They have excellent concerts there every month. We  have been a member of the Tidewater Bluegrass Music Association  (TBMA) for several years. 

 We also drove to Dover, Delaware for the NASCAR Sprint Race. Getting there was no problem, but after arriving we spent two hours waiting to get parked and get our tickets. They were on lap 50 by the time we got seated. Then our radio transponder wouldn't work for some reason. We'll have to get it repaired or replaced when we go to Martinsville NASCAR later this month. The sun was bright and blinding as well as very warm, the race was a bit boring, so we left early hoping to beat the crowd. ALAS, we couldn't find any handicap transportation and had to walk the 3/4 mile to the truck. Not easy for a disabled person. Don't think we'll do that again. I don't need the problem.

Post 9-17-2014 Champaign, IL,and Cinncinniti, OH

Post 9-17-2014 Champaign, IL

Got here today after a long day of driving yesterday. We are running out of time to vacation and get back to Chesapeake for the doctor appointments. We covered around 500 miles and that's darn good in a motor home. We spent the night in a Walmart Shopping center again and it was just great. 

The night before we stayed in a small RV site in a small park in Llewellen, NE. Scraped the bus going through the park  because of a narrow lane through the park. Oh well,  just another(&*&^%$) scratch to get repaired at Tiffin Plant after we get back to Alabama. 

Along the way we must have seen millions of acres of wheat growing in the fields. In fact, that's all we saw for over 700 miles or so. We did pass through an area where they were growing Sugar Cane and there were a few grinding/processing plants with monsterous silos for storage awaiting the trains. Nebraska lived up to the part where all you can see are wheat fields as far as you can see.

We couldn't believe the number of trains we saw. Seems as though they were only 15 minutes apart and with two tracks in most places they were going both directions. Mostly coal cars going East and empty ones going West. In Llewellen, they ran all night long, no let up at all. And of course, they just had to blow the whistle as they passed by. 

Artist sculpture on highway

Rhonda and Dottie, sisters and Nita's cousins, met us at the Walmart parking lot here in Champaign and we went to Cracker Barrell for a very long lunch.  And what a wonderful visit we had.  (Dottie and I were best friends from baby's until I moved to Alabama at the age of 15.  We never had a cross word, much less an argument.  We were too busy having fun.)  Afterwards, we came back to the bus and did some "shopping".  

Dottie

Rhonda

Three Peas in one pod!

                                                     Love these two gals, they're the best!

Our waitress. 

A young lawyer who is assigned to the  JAG (Judge Advocate General) Staff for recruiting overheard Nita, Rhonda and Dottie talking about Jakes (Perkins) desire to study law and came to the table, introduced himself and gave everyone his calling/business card and provided information about his program and suggested Jake contact him. He was quite the gentleman. 

                                                   Tunde T. Adepegba

Today, (18) we drove to /cinncinniti and met up with an old friend from VP-10 days. John S. "Duke" delaney was my radioman on flight crew in VP-10. He and I roomed together in Iceland and when we flew into Stavenger, Norway and when we had to double up in other cities such as, Oerland, Tronheim  and Bergen, Norway, Copenhagen and Aalberg,  Denmark. He has been such a close friend for all these years (since 1960). He's like a brother to me. I had some extra VP-10 hats and Polo shirts, so I gave him one of each since he was never able to attend any of our squadron reunions. 

Duke Delaney & Jesse James                                                              Nita & Duke

Duke was one of the last "Combat Air Crewmen " in the navy. He flew out planes that had turrets installed from WWII. He had been in the Navy for about 7 years when I joined the squadron. he is a good artist and he painted the logo on our plane. The "Grumbling Goose" serves us well for the three years we flew her. 

Duke Delaney & Jesse James

What a super meeting we had talking about old times and who is still among us from those days. I do look forward to seing him again some day but it will have to be in the near future. Duke is 80 now and has lost his lifetime friend and wife Cora just this year. Over 60 years together. GOD bless you Duke. Hang in there.
Later we drove to Ashland, KY for the night. We'll continue our trip tomorrow.