Trip to Raleigh - Start of a Hectic Week

(Raleigh State Fairgrounds, NC) Hi 72 Lo 58 -- Tuesday night Mom Alberta had us over for dinner our last night in town. Sharon and Jimmy also joined us. We love her shrimp and rice, so she was nice enough to make it for us. (Click on pictures to enlarge.)

She also made skillet-seared green beans, corn fritters, and southern cornbread.

Jimmy and Sharon

Mom Alberta and Jim

Everything was so yummy! Thanks Mom, we had a great time.

On Wednesday we had a very smooth 140-mile trip from Havelock to Raleigh. The new brakes on the RV worked great. Jim said he now feels much more relaxed while towing. We arrived at the NC State Fairgrounds RV Park around 1pm. The park has around 100 full hookup sites and it's about 3/4 full. They've added 50 sites since we were here two years ago. There's no bath house or any other amenities, but it suits our needs, being nice and open with good utilities.

Our site

Some views around the park.

After we got set up we relaxed a couple hours before heading out to meet some special friends for dinner. We lived in Raleigh 14 years after retiring from the military, and it's where we started our full time life. During most of that time we had standing Friday night dinner dates with our five closest friends, Jeff, Bobbie, Gary, Cyndi, and Jerry. They all agreed to meet tonight Wednesday night because Jeff and Gary had to leave on a trip on Thursday. It was so great to see them all again. It's been about two years since we last saw all of them. We had a great time, and it felt just like old times.

It didn't take long for our social calendar to fill up for the week. We have many friends in the area who we'll be seeing. It started with a visit Thursday morning from Merrilly and Budd. They're full timers who used to live in this area, and we've known them for over five years. Their RV is in Washington state, and they flew here to meet their four-week old grandson. Budd reads our blog and when he found out we were here he contacted us for a visit. We went to lunch with them and visited awhile, catching up on travels.

Merrilly and Budd

Thursday evening I met us with Neta, one of my co-workers from a job I had in Raleigh in the 90's. She's still working, and we try to meet up whenever we're in town. We met at a local K & W Cafeteria and had a nice two-hour dinner. It was great to see her again.

I crocheted another little panda. When I did the first one I didn't have the right kind of eyes for him. He ended up looking like he's wearing goggles. Since we were at Havelock for almost a month I mail ordered some "eyes" of various sizes. They came from China, so I had plenty of time for them to get to me.

Here's the new on on the left, and "goggles" is on the right.








It's going to be a busy week. We'll see you in a few days.