Friends and Family in the Southeast!

We were very fortunate to be able to visit with friends and family while we were in Georgia doing our Golf Hosting at The Creek at Hard Labor State Park.  During the two months in the southeast we were able to drive over to South Carolina twice to visit with Aunts and Cousins, drive down to the Panhandle of Florida to see a friend we having seen in over 30 years, and make a trip down to Titusville and Orlando to see brothers from both of our families.  Seeing all of our friends and family was icing on the cake for this trip and made it all the more special.

 

Ann O Connor and Pat 

 Seeing Ann after 30+ years was like see her a few days ago...we picked up right where we left off and Ann is still the gracious host, full of fun, and is still one of he most giving people we know!

Ann and George like two peas in a pod!  How does she put up with George?

 

Chas and Pat on the beach in Titusville

Chas, Sharon, and Pat at Plant City!  You know the strawberries are great when you travel 400 miles to have strawberry shortcake and buy $50.00 worth of Strawberry butter and jam!  It was nice of Chas and Sharon to put us up for a few days at their winter home in Titusville. 

Friends Steve and Mini  Lowery, Dick and Karen and Pat and George sitting down for a quick meal at a BBQ place in Orlando -- as you can see the weather was warm, George has a windbreaker on because he is lazy!   Since Dick and Karen spend the winter in Orlando, we thought we would barge in on them and enjoy the sun!

Pat, Mildred and David

We took a weekend trip back to South Carolina to see Pat's Aunt Betty and her cousins: Mildred Clark, David Rease, and Arthur Wells Rease.  It was a whirlwind trip to the Charleston and Columbia area but we got to see and visit with all of them for a few hours.

When you visit Mildred and Gene you will get to eat!  We met Bobby Ray, Gene and Mildred plus their daughter Sharon's family while we were in Summerville (just outside of Charleston).

Pat and Arthur Wells

While we were visiting Arthur Wells and Melaine before we headed back to our motor home in Georgia we were surprised with SNOW!  What is that all about?

 

If you haven't noticed gas prices are going up so we try to visit as many family and friends as we can when we are within a couple hundred miles...stretched that a little far with the two trips to Florida but it was all worth it.  As we drive back to Colorado for George's maintenance treatments we have memories to last a life time.  Don't know when we will be back to these backyards but for now --- Priceless!

Our trip back will start with a quick stop in Nashville, visiting with  Pat's sister then we will make a beeline for Colorado.  Don't know for sure what we will be up to after George's treatments but we will keep you posted.  We only know it will be exciting and it will be fun. 

 

Enjoy life, Stay healthy, and live life like there is no tomorrow!!

The Creek at Hard Labor

We arrived at The Creek at Hard Labor State Park Dec 31st and have spent the last two months as volunteer Golf Hosts working and playing at this beautiful golf course nestled in the woods of north central Georgia, about 50 miles from downtown Atlanta and 100 miles from Augusta, Georgia just off  I-20.  When we volunteered to drive 1400 miles to play golf we had no idea what we would be doing other than helping out and playing golf.  It has been quite an experience and another adventure to add to our ever expanding adventures of traveling this great land.  We "work" about 5 minutes in the morning positioning golf carts for guests and washing them down and returning them to the cart barn when the golfers completed their rounds.  Of course those of you who know us, also know that we had to stay busy so in addition to playing golf whenever we wanted to venture out on this demanding but beautiful golf course we found other ways to keep busy.  We did everything from raking sand traps to raking pine needles, from filling divots on the course to filling sand containers on the golf carts, we also helped out by power washing the clubhouse, cleaned the cart barn,  built a sandbox, and a host of other minor tasks.  However, our most enjoyable memory will be the people we met at The Creek, everyone we met made us feel like family.  Sally, one of the nicest and hardest working volunteers we met, shared her muscadine jelly, gave us great advice where to eat and shared her knowledge of the local area. Pat found out if you sit in a rocker on the clubhouse porch for a few  minutes someone will sit down beside you and start a conversation - kind of made us feel like we have known them most of our life.  If you ever get down to Georgia and you have some time; stop in at The Creek --- it is worth a side trip and you will be greeted in the tradition of real southern hospitality.

 

 

The Creek at Hard Labor

 

Pat "working" ??? Notice that it is not always warm in Georgia.

Chuck and Pat -  Chuck was our answer guy.  He was the first person in the clubhouse in the morning and became our sounding board whenever we had questions. 

Mark hard at work, the plastic wall in the background was because the clubhouse was undergoing renovation as we prepared to leave.  We don't think we ever met a person like Mark, he would always tell us how much he appreciated what we were doing and thank us for every minor task we did around the course and clubhouse. 

 

The par 4 - 14 hole - the signature hole at The Creek. All 18 holes were beautiful and challenging but this was especially picturesque.

 

We are on our back to Colorado but our two months at The Creek will be one of our most memorable backyard adventures.  As we continue our travels around this beautiful country, we will return to The Creek, if only to play a round of golf with some of the great people we met during our stay. As we have found throughout our travels it is the people you meet that you remember the most and it really is what make this country great.