RV SURFING IN THE DENTY DINGY

          Have you heard of couch surfing?  Where friends stay with friends and park themselves on the couch for a visit for a night or two?  Well, I have a new one for you, I call it “driveway surfing” for our RVr types.  It has several advantages for both the hosts and the surfers: close proximity to have coffee together in the morning and late nite adult beverages (without driving home) and/or games, easy access for changing clothes for activities, and ease of care for the “kids”, our animals. Many times we can’t stay with friends because of logistical or covenant restrictions, but it is so much more fun to be in closer proximity.  We love carrying our spare room with us. We call it our “condo on wheels” or the Denty Dingy We enjoy driveway surfing and thank all our friends and family for those delightful opportunities!

KOA on the Swannanoa River, next to Black Mountain

        From Ohio we went to Black Mountain, Durham, Wilmington, Myrtle Beach, Savannah, Brunswick and the Golden Isles (St. Simons Island and Jekyl Island) and then headed back to Black Mountain and Raleigh/Durham, before we are heading home by way of Cartersville, just outside of Atlanta.  If you see Flat Stanley and Flat Stacie, we are carrying them with us for a project for Taylor who is in Girl Scouts and they are in some of our pictures. There was so much we did in the past six weeks, it is just too numerous to cover it all, so I will touch on the highlights.  

OOOPS!!!

Had one major problem though:  I thought I would transfer 500 pictures from my phone to my laptop, and bam.... more than 400 of them disappeared... oh well, I am just not that much of a computer techie after all.

The highlights of North Carolina were:

The autumn colors were just beginning to show up in the mountains and we were thrilled for the cooler temperatures!

Celebrated the 10th Anniversary Howl-In with our friends at Full Moon Farm Wolfdog Rescue

• Visited with our friend Pattiy Torno at the River Arts District in Asheville
• Found a new favorite restaurant: The Trailhead in Black Mountain and Glynn discovered Nitro Stout beer at Pisgah Brewing Company.

Glynn & Alex

In Durham, we surfed in my sister-in-law, Lori’s driveway and we enjoyed spending time with my nephew, Alex. Went to his first track meet, to a UNC Tarheel/Virginia Tech game (48-34), and went to see “War Horse” the play (the stagecraft and puppetry were magnificent!).

UNC Chapel Hill w/Lori, Susan, Allen & Alex - Go Tarheels!

We had a great visit with my brother Rick and my sister-in-law Brenda, a group of their friends and her brother’s family, while they created a feast of pulled pork, Brunswick stew and slaw. Rick is a great cook and they made a fantastic brunch for us before we left. Everyone is so busy with work and school schedules and we are always glad to get to spend time with these two and their beautiful three cat kids!

(Background at the Swannanoa River, Sparky & Patchouli at Red Top Mtn. St. Park, Chester & Sparky top R,
Bottom L-R, Talisker, Nico, Miss C (Caol Ila))  All are very special Angels in our lives!

We did another driveway surf with our friends Allen and Susan in Wilmington, NC.  We had a fun beach time! Glynn got to go fishing (not catching) with Allen, while Susan and I drove over to Wrightsville Beach (haven’t been there for 25 years). We had a beautiful boat ride, got to see the Intercoastal Waterway, the ocean, Figure 8 Island and had nice visit with them and Chester, Sparky’s new dog friend. 

Marcy & Mike

Some Georgia highlights were: 

Some of the Denty Family

Visiting in Savannah with my friend, Marcy and her husband Mike (later Glynn and I took a historical trolley tour of Savannah)

Glynn’s brother, Ralph & his wife Sandy hosted a Denty family get- together with Laura & Brent, Jamie & Bob, Eric, Amy, & Sam

  

We had a wonderful visit with my artists Debbie (my MudMama & Sista) and Terry Craig. I got to play with and be surrounded by art. They loaned us their Miata convertible so we could run around the Golden Isles, and we had a funtabulous good time! 

A couple of my AMTA Sistas, Pat & Tanya, at the convention

          The Georgia visit was short but sweet, and we headed back to the mountains for another quick visit and then on to Durham so I could attend the American Massage Therapy Association’s National Convention in Raleigh.  It was a full schedule that week, where I had to get up at 6am every morning for 8am classes (ugh!).  But it was well worth it and we all had fun while researching and preparing to host the AMTA National Convention in Ft. Worth next year! (Not to mention dancing our butts off!)

          It is finally time to head home, so we stopped in Cartersville, GA, just outside of Atlanta, to visit cousin Krista and her family.  We had a beautiful campsite at Red Top Mountain State Park and were only scheduled to stay one night.  But the engine light came on when we left Durham and sure enough, the truck would not start the morning after we had dinner with Krista.  Good Sam RV Club helped us out again, and Glynn spent the day at the Chevy dealer for a malfunctioning glow plug and fuel filter housing unit, all covered by warranty. Meanwhile, I spent a lovely autumn day with Sparky and Patchouli at the state park.

          Now it is the last week before we get home... and I cannot wait!  We are in Huntsville, Alabama at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center today and will head home tomorrow. 

          I don’t think I’ll be a full-time RVr any time soon. I have been ready to be home for several weeks, even though we are having the time of our lives!  And the next surfing I intend to do will be in our own driveway... hopefully by October 15th!

          One more blog to go after we get home, then this Sassy Ornery Sister On Sabbatical better get her butt back to work!  Later on down the highway; we are on the home stretch now!