Beautiful and Scenic West Virginia

This morning we drove around this area for some nice photo opportunities.  Our first stop was at the New River Gorge visitors center.  Here are some pictures from that area.  The New River Gorge Bridge was completed in 1977 and is an engineering marvel.  The span of the arch is 1700' and it is 876' from the river to the bottom of the arch.  One day in October of each year they close the bridge to vehicular traffic and allow pedestrians including those wanting to parachute from the bridge to the river.

The gorge looking east from the visitors center

 

The visitors center had some information about the coal mining history of this region.

 

Then we took a drive around the mountains to get a few glimpses of the bridge.

 

And this was Phyllis' great picture

Along the way we saw some rock climbers on the bluffs.  You might have to zoom in to the center of this shot but there is a man about half way up-or-down?

 

Then it was off for some pictures of waterfalls that Jo and I saw yesterday on our way into the campground.  This one was on the side of the road and flows into New River.

This is Kanawha Falls on the Kanawha River.  There is a man-made weir just above these falls and for some reason above that dam and the lake it creates the river name changes to New River that flows through the New River Gorge.

West Virginia

Arrived a little after 1:00 today at our campground for the next week and Phyllis arrived around 3:00.  It is good to have her with us for the weekend.  The trip today was very interesting and scenic.  There were some sights that aren't too far from our campground so we will make a trip back to take pictures.  There were several waterfalls and one picturesque bridge.

Almost there

Tonight we are near Ashland, KY in a new-to-us campground.  Tomorrow will be a short trip to our campground for the next week near Summersville Lake in Mt Nebo, WV.  We have heard from Phyllis and she is driving down tomorrow so she can spend Friday evening and Saturday with us before having to head back to her home on Sunday.

Our GWF is hanging in there with us, yea!

"Pop's day" trip

What started out as a trip to the mountains of West Virginia has turned out to be a special version of Father's Day.  Phyllis has decided to join us at our campground near Mt Nebo, WV for the weekend.  Jo and I will stay there for the next week but it will be good to see her again and get some hugs.

Tonight we are in a favorite campground that we have found for our trips in an easterly direction.  It is a city park (Lynnville, IN) that is "easy in and easy out" from our route on I-64.  It's also only $18 per night and except for weekends, when the locals fill it up, there is usually no problem in getting a site.

YAHOO!!! 100% done

This morning our contractor came back to install the coat rack behind the kitchen door.

He also installed Jo's paper towel holder plus a couple of wire racks on the doors under the sink.  This completes our kitchen make-over and we couldn't be happier with the outcome.  All the fellows from Aarow Building that have worked on our project have been super nice, talented, and professional.

We head out tomorrow for some time in West Virginia.  We are so happy that Phyllis is going to join us for the Father's Day weekend.

3 times

I told Jo that we have bought our house three times.  The original purchase was in 1977.  In 1995-96 we changed the shape of our house by enlarging the living room, adding the carport and the covered deck.  That cost was a little less than the original purchase price.  Now since last December we have stabilized the foundation, repaired cracks in the walls, put new flooring in my office and now a brand new kitchen for a total that slightly exceeds the original purchase.  All is good however as the appraised value for our property is much more than three times the original purchase price.  Yes it's all good and we are happy.

The display begins

With most of the cabinets finished Jo started to move things back into a final position.  The wall shelves are where the 50+ state collection is located.  The plus is because of some extra cups like New Orleans, Canada, Panama, and other travel related locations.

 and then some of her cherished dishes

99 and 44/100 percent done

Today we got most of the glass doors in the upper cabinets and the remaining finish work on the wall tile.  One of the glass doors cracked during the install so that will be replaced and another was cut wrong and needs to be re-sized and reinstalled.  That will be taken care of this weekend. Here are a few that are in place and looking good.

One of the last items to be installed is this shelf above the bedroom and kitchen entry doorways.  It will be used to display some of Jo's antiques such as these two toasters and apple peeler.

The kitchen clock was also installed so Jo knows when it is time for supper.

nothing today

The store where our contractor got the grout ran out of the color that was started in our tile so today was a no-work day.  Tomorrow could be the day that our kitchen re-build is finished.  Beside the finishing of the tile grout there are only a few items to  be completed plus the glass company is coming tomorrow to install the glass doors in the display cabinets along top.  JoAnn is already enjoying her new arrangement and just cant wait to totally reestablish and utilize all her new cabinet and counter top spaces.

one step closer

Today was a big day of grouting the tile with a few other finishing things.  The final kitchen cabinet was installed as a stand-alone base cabinet between the counter and the patio door.  This will provide some additional storage as well as a counter top for service to the dining room table if needed.

 

The rails on the wall behind this cabinet will provide shelving for Jo's 50 State cup/mug collection.

wall tile

Yesterday I had one picture with our back-splash tile in place.  Today it was two young men working all day to both finish that back-splash and to extend the wall tile to visually extend our kitchen and add to the lightening effect.

This first picture is the wall from our counter to the patio door.  The bare spot without tile is where a stand-alone base cabinet will be installed to add to the kitchen storage area and expand the kitchen.

This photo is of our kitchen entry and bedroom door area with the wall tile covering the old dark paneling.

 

We're loving it!

Tomorrow the tile will be grouted and a shelf built above these bedroom and kitchen doorways.  After the grout is done the outlet and switch cover plates will be reinstalled and we are done with our kitchen.  Thursday or Friday of this week they are supposed to come and install the glass doors on the display cabinets along the top.

It has been a disruption of normal activities but it has been a real pleasure to work with our contractor, Aarow Building of Columbia, MO.

Let there be light

Today there were major improvements in our kitchen remodel.  First and foremost was the installation of our light fixtures as will be shown in the following pictures.

 fixtures installed but not turned on

  center of the room fixture

 over the counter fixture

 both fixtures turned on make good light

 now with the under cabinet lighting on, WOW

 And then we turn on the display cabinet lighting, double WOW

 

 We have the start of our back splash tile, more to come tomorrow after grouting

  

Tomorrow should get more wall tile installed  and then on either Thursday or Friday we are supposed to get the glass doors installed in the display cabinets.

Back at the roost

The wandering Martins are back in their roosting grounds at the ol' Martin Manor.  We got home a little before lunch time so got all backed in and settled before we had a bite of lunch.

We are home now until June 11 when we head out on our next adventure.  In the meantime we hope that our new kitchen can be completed before we head out again.  We will post here when there are any new items or progress to show in pictures.

Nice day

It has been a very nice day with a short drive from Little Rock to Ozark and then met up with sisters Vena and Wilma for a trip to the cemeteries.

Little Rock

It was a relative short drive today but that is just the way we like it.  The original plan was to drive from Texarkana, TX to Ozark, MO today but that was going to be at least a 7 hour drive so we broke it up to this short day and another short drive tomorrow.

We should get to Ozark a little before or right at noon time.  Our sister Vena arrives around 1:00 and we plan to then drive to Humansville to visit the cemetery as well as Green Lawn in Springfield.  We will take Wilma with us also, especially to visit Green Lawn.

back on the move heading homeward

When we arrived our welcoming committee was the deer herd which was very nice.  After a few days of very little movement by either Jo or myself, this morning these folks showed up to let us know that we needed to show some movement/life or they would swoop in.

 

There was a flock of 15-20 of these turkey buzzards that hopped through the campground this morning picking up crumbs under the picnic tables.

This evening we are in Texarkana, TX and Arkansas is just a stones throw away.  Tomorrow will be a short drive to Little Rock and then on to Springfield.

serious BBQ

This afternoon our neighbor in the park fired off his smoker and this picture shows just how serious he really is.  There's room in that thing for two whole hogs but don't know what he has intentions to do this evening.  If it is brisket which is Texan for BBQ he could be going to smoke it all night long.  He has a pickup bed full of split hickory (it looks like).  When they came in yesterday there was one pickup pulling the RV and another pulling this smoker plus a car full of grand kids, three.

Enjoying the quiet ...

... but missing our deer. ;-(  We haven't seen any since the last report.  We still try to keep our eyes searching and hoping for more sightings.  Without the deer to report on there hasn't been much else of noteworthy news.  We are enjoying the quiet and no-hassle time with some good temperatures.  It has mostly been in the mid to upper 60s at night and upper 80s in the afternoon.  It has been a bit breezy with winds 15-25 mph and gusts to 30.

Watching tonight's evening news we are reminded that one year ago today we were in a campground in the southeast corner of Oklahoma City when the big tornado destroyed Moore, OK.  The local newscasters that afternoon were showing the projected path and we were directly ahead of that prediction.  We jumped into the truck and drove to a point that we felt was out of that path, which was true.  We listened to the radio discussion of the storms path of destruction and when the word came that the twister had lifted it was just a few miles from our campsite.  From today's news broadcast we see that the town of Moore is rebuilding but it will be a long time before they can get back to something normal.

just chill'n

The campground has been a bit more active this weekend with the local or near-local folks coming for the weekend of fishing and relaxing.  No deer sightings this morning but then I didn't get up until almost 6:30 so they may have already gone by or they may have changed their routine due to the additional campers in the area.

enjoying our time here

The original plan was to just relax and enjoy the quiet time in this nice campground.  So far we are according to plan.

Yesterday was a shopping trip into Temple and Belton.  The RV supply store didn't have the light bulbs that we need so will have to go back next week for that.  We did stop at a boot store and I was able to replace a pair of mine that were worn out.  Then it was on to Wall-Mart for some groceries and a few other things.  At home we don't go to Wall-Mart because we have other stores that we like better but while on the road we know we can find what we are looking for there.

I almost missed our deer herd this morning.  I turned to look out the windows this morning a little before 7:00 and saw the last four walk off into the distance.

Before we left home I had made all of the reservations needed for a trip in June.  Today I finished up the same for July.  Our travels continue.

Dear deer

We were disappointed yesterday evening when our deer herd didn't show up just before sundown.

BUT, they did come back this morning around 7ish.  There were 7-8 just wandering along and grazing in our front and back yard right up to the trailer.  A little farther away was a doe and a newborn fawn.  It couldn't have been too old as it was the smallest that I have ever seen in the wild.

Our campsite

These were taken just a few minutes ago.

The view from our front door

a couple of the lake, apparently low water level

 

our campsite from our covered table

 

this evenings guests

Right after we had our supper we saw a herd of deer in our front yard.  At one time we counted 8 and some walked around our campsite and I took these pics with my phone through our dining room window so not real great.

Now set for several days

Today we made it to Belton Lake and the Cedar Ridge COE campground near Temple, TX.  We will be here for the next ten days.  We don't have big plans for excursions around this area but may see what we can find.  The main goal for this trip is just to relax and enjoy.

It rained most of last night but by 9:00 this morning it was down to just a light shower.  We had to wait until 9:00 in order to get a propane bottle filled but it was just as well with the rain that eased up around that time.  To do the hitching and unhooking for departure I didn't make Jo use the yellow rain suit but instead I just put on a light jacket and was fine.  On our drive by 10:00 I was able to turn off the windshield wipers and a little later we had more sunshine than clouds.

We are now all set up with both satellite and over-the-air TV, good water and electric connection.  I have a fast internet connection for my computer and a good signal for our cell phone.  We are good.

Stay tuned as pictures will follow.

A new to us route

Today's drive was from Alma, AR, near Fort Smith, to Shreveport, LA.

I thought we would be heading down US-71 all the way as we have traveled in the past.  Ms Navi took us around Fort Smith into Oklahoma and then south down US-259 to I-20 then back East to Shreveport.  She is programmed to take us on the quickest route and I believe that is what she did.  As I remember rte 71 is full of small towns with 35mph speed limits so probably take more time than the rte 259 which was mostly through rural and forested country with speed limit of 65 mph most of the way.  Except for some road construction before getting out of Fort Smith the rest of the trip was fairly good roadways and a nice drive.

We drove through light showers most of the way with wipers on intermittent but our GWF was on duty when we arrived at our campground and we were able to set up in the dry.

Tomorrow we head to Belton Lake near Temple, TX for a 10 day stay.

back rolling down the highway

We left the Martin Manor around 7:45 am this morning and are now in Alma, AR.  This is our 5th time in this KOA campground either on our way south or returning from the same direction.

Looking at weather.com to see what we might expect, a few days ago, they were forecasting 100% rain for our trip today and for tomorrow's trip when we head to Shreveport, LA.  We did get that 100% today as just after we turned south from Joplin we had six drops on the windshield.  After that our GWF took over and it was just cloudy, but hot.  It has taken about an hour to cool the trailer down to a comfortable level.

It has been a good feeling to be "on the road again."

gradually getting re-established

Jo's gradually finding places to put things and get beck to a functioning kitchen.  With a functioning dishwasher, sink, range, and vent over the range it was nice today as we produced another of Jo's lunch time soup concoctions.  Jo tried out her new dishwasher for some of her cup collections that just needed the dust of years rinsed off.  It is so quiet that we didn't believe that it was working at first.  Actually, at first, it wasn't working because I needed to turn on the water inlet supply but then after that it was still so quiet it was amazing.

Our good contractor had a heavy cardboard covering over our hardwood floors to protect them from the construction activities and yesterday they removed that so we can see the good contrast of the floor color to the cabinet and counter-top color.

For lighting in the kitchen we have ordered a new chandelier for the center of the room and a new fixture for over the lunch counter.  Neither one has been received so the following pictures are what we are working with for now.  When we return from this trip those light fixtures should be here and after the back splash tile gets installed we can have a "welcome to our new kitchen" party, y'all come.

Until then we are off to Texas on Monday.

Our new kitchen from the doorway

and our current lighting fixtures

okay a bit more progress

Jo now has a sink that drains, yea!  A lot of finish trim is being installed today so all is looking good/better.  Also the door/drawer pulls are installed so that helps.  This might be the situation until we return at the end of the month.  It's good to have our kitchen back, most of it anyway.  After our trip the back splash tile will be installed and all the lighting hooked up to complete our project.

Our contractor, Aarow Building, has been just great to work with and accommodating to our wants and desires.

Yea! progress

Lots of activity today.  The counter tops were scheduled to be installed so our contractor sent one of his young men to be here and to do several items that could be finished.  The granite arrived a little after 8:00 and was finished/installed before 11:00, it is beautiful.  With the counter top came the stainless sink and the installation of our faucet.  We now have water in the kitchen but the drain connection will not be completed until tomorrow.  Jo can at least get water into a tub but will still have to take it to a toilet to empty.  We also now have a vent over the stove so that is good thing.  Tomorrow they plan to finish the drain plumbing under the sink and some trim around the toe-kick of our cabinets.  The back splash tile will be installed after we get back from this next trip that starts on Monday.

Here are a few pictures from today's progress.

the wine rack was added today

 

 The 60/40 SS sink and new faucet

 

our beautiful granite

In the wine rack  picture you will notice that one door is not attached to the upper cabinet.  These doors were supposed to get glass panels inserted in the maple frames but in reality the frames just blocked out too much of the display area on the shelves.  We are going to remove all of these upper doors and have some plate glass doors being made to replace them.  These upper cabinets will also get some led accent lighting installed to show off Jo's glassware on display.  There will also be some led lighting under the cabinets to light the counter space.

Check back Monday the  12th for some information about our next RV adventure.

Happy Easter to all

We wish everyone a very nice Easter Sunday!

It is a beautiful day here at the old Martin Manor with plenty of sunshine and a cool breeze.  Our kitchen work is almost at a standstill.  I say almost because Jo is working hard at putting things back into the cabinets that are available to her.  With the different arrangement of spaces she is having to figure out what is going to go where.  When I need something I'll just have to ask.  The upper cabinet on the right end is not available yet because there is a wine rack to be installed to the right side of it and that door is not connected to facilitate that attachment.

We anxiously await the counter top installation and hope that progress will allow us to make our planned May trip to central Texas.  It would be good to get away from the hassles of our remodeling for a just a little while.  If we can get the counter top, sink, and wine rack installed then all that would be left would be the back splash.

last work for awhile

No picture progress today but lots of things got done.  The drywall cracks in the living room are finished and today the final coat of paint was applied and looking good so we now are able to put that room back like it was.  Several things in the kitchen were finalized but now we have to wait until the granite counter tops are cut and installed before we can continue with backsplash tile and final trim.  They say it could be two weeks so we will make do without a kitchen sink and dishwasher.  We are able to make use of the stove, new microwave, and fridge.  We will be able to start filling the new cabinets except for a couple that need to be left open for the final touches.  Jo has already emptied a couple of boxes that we used to store things.

hump day week two

Making progress without too much to show.  The drywall repairs have been completed and a coat of primer paint is on.  That took most of the day today.  Then the microwave was installed and the dishwasher set in place.  The microwave is usable but the dishwasher is connected to power and water only with no drain until the sink is set in place.  We also selected and ordered new light fixtures for both the center of the kitchen light and the one for over the counter.

the dishwasher

 the microwave

week two, day two

Nothing to show in a picture today.  This morning our contractor was back to finish the drywall repair in the living room cracks so they can start painting tomorrow.

The stone company came also to measure for our granite counter tops.  That was an extremely interesting procedure (for an engineer) as he used a laser surveying instrument to draw an exact plan that the stone will be cut by.  He used pins set along the tops of the installed base cabinets for the laser to reflect off of and create an exact plan on a computer screen.

That will be all the activity for today and tomorrow our new dishwasher and over-the-range microwave will be delivered.

start of week two

This morning one man from our contractor came to work on the drywall repairs around the upper cabinets and the cracks in our living room.  The man that came is the father of the company owner.  It used to be his company until a few years ago when he sold it to his son but then continues to work for the company.  Everyone associated with this company, that have been working on our renovation, has been great to work with.  He finished the drywall touch up and then installed the outlets and light switches so we could turn all the electric breakers back on.

Tomorrow the folks that are furnishing the granite counter tops are coming to do an accurate measurement of what is in place for them to fit over.  That slab of rock from the quarry needs to be measured twice and cut once.

end of the first week

Almost all of the base cabinets are set in place.  The only piece not set is a stand-alone base cabinet between the bar and the patio door.  This one will replace a desk that we had there and will provide some storage under the counter top.  The other item not installed is the wine rack which was supposed to be connected to the upper cabinets.  It has to be refinished to match the rest of our cabinetry.  We will have this weekend to work with the current condition and then next Tuesday the counter top folks are to come measure for our granite so they are sure to make it fit perfectly.  It will take one to two weeks for that to be cut before it can be installed.  The dishwasher and over-the-range microwave will be delivered next Wednesday.  After the counter top is installed we will have to pick out our back splash tile.

Here are today's progress photos

 This pantry is a new cabinet for us.  It is 15" deep and 36" wide from floor to ceiling.  Plus the above-the-fridge cabinet which is also an additional storage to what we had.

progress

progress was a bit slow today as guess what, our kitchen floor wasn't truly level. ;-(  With the base cabinets needing to support the granite counter top which will be a solid chunk of rock they needed to be level.  A bit of shimming took care of the differences and most of the base cabinets were installed.  Also our new pantry was installed which is next to the fridge.  The picture this evening does not show much because every afternoon before the guys, Randal and A.J., leave they bring their tools in from the carport and with the cabinets in place that takes up much of the remaining floor.

Here is the picture of some of the base cabinets.

looking good !

Today they hung most of the upper cabinets and they are looking good.  It takes time to align everything because our house isn't totally straight and level anymore.  The new cabinets look great and the guys are doing a super job in their installation.  We found a couple of "oops" to have to work around, which is normal in older home renovations.

taking care of the hidden stuff

Today we have the same two young men plus their boss.  They are running the electrical wiring as needed before the walls are covered.

By the way, our contractor is Aarow Building with shop and offices in Columbia, MO.  I found them on Angie's List with lots of good reviews and now from our experience we know those reviews were true.  From the previous work they have done for us and that being done now we are truly appreciative of their professional and can-do work ethic.

Jo and I moved a few things from the fridge out to the trailer so we can have our lunch there today.  We could just move there for the duration but as long as they let us have a pathway to our bedroom each evening we will not do that.  It's just too much fun to be able to watch the work being done.


Okay the folks just left, the wiring is done and drywall is in place covering the framing.

The cabinets were delivered and are in ...

in the dining room that is !!!!  because of the showers in the forecast.

 

This covers up our microwave and coffee pot so we are out for dinner this evening and probably for breakfast in the morning.

Day 1, oh my !

Today was demolition day and what a changed look it makes.  We had two nice young men working most of the day.  Jo and I had our 6 months blood workup at our doctors this morning at 8:00 and I called our contractor when we were done and they got here around 10:30.  They just now left for the day.

They put up a plastic curtain between their work and the rest of the house to help with the spread of dust.  They also put a floor mat down over our hardwood floors to protect them.  With the stove and sink removed meals will be a challenge until things are back in working order.  We did move the microwave and the coffee pot to the dining room area so they are available to us.

Here is the progress picture

what's happening

We are not on-the-go this month due to having our kitchen remodeled.  I thought I would use this blog to chronicle the change.

Last December we had our house foundation stabilized with piers being driven to rock and then the house jacked back up level.  Due to settlement over time with our foundation sitting on clay we had developed cracks in the drywall and doors that didn't open and shut.  Now that we are stable we hired a contractor to repair the wall cracks and realign the doors.  The doors are all done and working properly,  The cracks in the computer (my office) room have been repaired along with new flooring and new paint.  We also hired the same contractor to remodel our kitchen.  Jo has never been fond of all the very dark cabinetry.

Before we left on our March trip we had ordered the cabinets and now they are finished and our contractor is coming back on next Monday to begin the restoration.  Here are three pictures of our kitchen as a "before" documentation.

 

Over the past several days Jo and I have been clearing out the drawers and shelves.  I picked up some moving boxes to store "stuff" in and the only place to store them is Phyllis' room.  She said that she plans to get back home around Christmas time so I hope we can get it cleared out by then.  Here are a couple of pictures of that storage including the dining room area.

 

Now here is a picture of the kitchen after all that "stuff" has been moved.  Since this picture I have removed the towel rack from under the cabinet.

 

Stay tuned.