The Fabric of Our Lives

Well, its no longer cold - in fact, Alabama is having a heat wave. Time to pull up stakes (or at least pack the leveling blocks) and head to Indiana and some cooler temps. Its curtains for gulf living for a while! 

Talking about curtains....we finished another project! We found these cute curtains for crazy cheap at a Ross' and (with some help from a local seamstress here in the park) we hemmed them to the right length AND even added backing.  And then - 

Hmmm, that's not the right photo. That's dough for....

homemade noodles! 

Nope, that's a sticky bun from Warehouse Bakery.

Also, not the right photo. That's a beignet from Fish River Grill. Jeesh, you would think all we do is eat when we're at the gulf...

Ah hah! Here's the right photo. Do you spot something missing from this window?

 Yup, the valance! We removed the old valances and blinds from the two living room windows. Once we had some curtains to fit the windows - 

we ordered curtain tracks from, well, Curtain-Tracks. 

That's where the Airstream and vintage trailer crowd gets their replacement tracks from. The company has reasonable prices and good, sturdy (aka metal) products. 

We ordered ceiling curtain track kits, which came with instructions and ALL THE PARTS. Since we have long overhead cabinets above each window, installation was as simple as putting up the tracks, screwing the brackets into the cabinets, and hanging the curtains.

Since our windows are so big, we actually installed two tracks on each side. One track has sheers....

And the other track has blackout curtains. We went back and forth about whether to do two sets of curtains on each window, but we are glad we did. Now we just have to decide - do we want to continue to have valances in the bedroom? Or change over to curtains? Hmmmm... 

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Mardi Gras - Alabama Style!

Oh look, its another post! Although we're pretty sure nobody is reading anymore. Mardi Gras for us started with an entire CASE of coconut moon pies.

Oh yes, they make coconut moon pies - so good, all of our crew begs for bites.

We also picked up a king cake from Rouse's  and then, finally, finally made a real Mardi Gras parade. This one was in Foley, which is one of the smaller parades in the area. Enjoy!

Next post - we promise to stop just posting pictures and actually catch back up on life stuff!

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We Need A Bigger Boat!

So we may have gotten a little lazy about this whole blogging thing....

"A little?"

All right, Crockett, you have a point. So, in a sad (and probably futile) attempt to catch this blog up, we're throwing up some photo heavy posts. 

Um, that came out wrong...

Moving on! These first photos are from our trip to see replicas of two very famous tall ships, the Niña and the Pinta. The Columbus Foundation sails these two ships into different ports throughout the year. Both ships are caravels and are surprisingly tiny - even though the "new" Pinta was built slightly larger than the original. 

Enjoy!

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Getting a Handle On RV Repairs

 In Louisiana, in the middle of dealing with the storm, this happened. Since  everyone keeps asking for more pictures of the crew, we will let them help tell the rest of this story.

"Woah, mom! Easy on the RV!!"

 That's right, I go to leave  - and the handle came off in my hand. I examine the handle, hoping it was just a loose bolt or something, but nope, the metal has actually sheered off! The Biker, thinking quickly, dives out the front passenger door and lockes our entrance door from the outside with his keys. 

 "Um, guys? Could you please fix this door? I am getting tired of having to go in and out the front cab just for a walk!"

 Relax, Crockett. Winnebago sends parts in two days - even for 1999 Itascas. Thank you, Winnebago! 

 The Biker pulls out his trusty drill, lines up a few holes, and voila!

 We have a door handle again!

 "Good job! This means more walks, right?"

 This also means we can use the screen door on again!

 "Um, Mom? It's January and 40 degrees. Why is this door open?!?"

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Um, How Do You Say Kosciusko County?

Yup, we're in Indiana! We found ourselves facing a midwest heat wave, so we flew through Missouri and Illinois, then headed northeast to Kosciusko county in Indiana.  It's good to have relatives who have hookups!

 Crockett is also happy to have cooler weather - and grass!

So, what've we done the past week? Well, we've done a lot of riding,

 and, of course, we grabbed lunch at Penguin Point, a small local chain.

 We also popped over to North Webster for that Hoosier specialty,

 elephant ears!

North Webster's businesses all went for a 'Camelot' theme back in the day. This leftover castle was once the bank. 

Somebody bought this old church and converted it to a residence,

complete with aliens!

This is the Dixie, Indiana's oldest paddleboat. She was launched in 1929 and has been cruising North Webster lake ever since!

We had to check out the well-known Amish bakery, Rise' n Roll. They might be known for their doughnuts, but their sticky buns are insanely good. 

We also walked around Warsaw for a bit. Warsaw's courthouse is gorgeous, 

and of course, it has a marker commemorating Andrzej Tadeusz Bonawentura 

Digression! Kościuszko was a Polish-Lithuanian who was a friend of Thomas Jefferson, and a military architect who designed defenses for the Continental army.  A few years later, Kościuszko led an unsuccessful Polish revolt against Russia. His will requested his money be used to free and educate U.S. slaves, but sadly, this never happened.

There is a memorial on the courthouse grounds honoring local citizens who made the ultimate sacrifice.

While we were looking at the names, we noticed something heartbreaking in the list of Civil War soldiers. Kirkpatrick was a popular name at the time, but these men were still probably from the same family.

We enjoyed our ride back, winding through the Indiana countryside,

and some great riding roads. Well, they would be great if Indiana would do just a little more maintenance.

Kosciusko County is known for its many lakes, which were formed when the glaciers melted 14,000 years. 

Another digression! Probably the most popular, and hard to catch, fish in this area is a musky (Esox masquinongy), A musky is a large and fairly aggressive fish, and yes, they do bite!

When we were in Syracuse, we made sure to snap a picture of the Down Under Bar and Grill. Well, we took a picture of the bar's location - it's actually underground!

Of course, you can't cruise through small towns without spotting random armaments, 

and a random tank or two!

This is Ligonier, known for its downtown murals,

and  a few assorted statues.

This is the Solomon Mier Bed and Breakfast. Solomon Meir was a Jew who founded many of the town's businesses and who built this esquisite Queen Anne. Did you spot the buggy?

Another statue, This is Oliver Cromwell, standing tall in Cromwell, Indiana. 

We also took a day and went  to Shipshewana,  well known for their Amish businesses and farms.

The Amish do not like to have their photos taken, so we just took pictures of the photos of buggies and farms.

Shipshewana's big claim to fame is it's enormous flea market - 15 acres! It's not free, but parking is only $3.00.

We fortified ourselves with breakfast at the flea market's restaurant, then started shopping. We ended up walking for hours.

Can we talk about how cute this couple is? 

Yoder also has a large meat and cheese store, but lucky for us, we had no more room on the motorcycle!

We did find room after that breakfast for a fried pie, though - delicious!

It's been a fun week!

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