Little Miss Holly Wood

Some things just strike you a certain way… and they seem funny to you. This shot struck me as a perfect Little Miss Holly Wood photo. What do you think? Obviously Bri didn’t have the same feelings about the name. Then she wasn’t sure about the '”Movie Star” reference either. Go figure!

A Day of Fun for Us!

This has ready been a busy week at the Resort. Nothing hard…. just very busy. So Today… Fathers Day was a great day to have off and just do fun things for us! Me and Bri went on 2 Golf cart rides all around the resort. One in the morning and one in the evening. We went all along the outskirts of the woods to collect wild flowers for Mom-mom. Got quite a few varieties. Took lots of pictures along the way. Later, we all went up and played mini golf.

Bri got 2 one in ones at 6 feet away!

Then we went down to the lake for a nice paddleboat ride all around the lake! Just a wonderful relaxing day… doing what we wanted to do and just having fun! Today ended with a nice little campfire and roasting marshmallows. Quite the perfect day. Even got to see a little wildlife… we were hoping to see some deer but no luck today. We did see lots of birds and squirrels and a couple of rabbits. Since the campgrounds back in the woods is almost deserted we thought it might entice some of the animals to drop by for a quick peek! Oh, that’s just Teddy… he would not bother anybody!

Trees

A famous poet/author once used the phrase, “I don’t think I’ll ever find anything as lovely as a tree”. And this is the same way I feel, at least most of the time…. but on rare occasions… there’s always exceptions to that belief. Trees can be truly scary. Those exceptions are somewhat emphasized by the fact that we are all influenced by movies… and than our imaginations start to run away with themselves. Well you decide for yourself. One tree… okay… two trees… gets you thinking…. three trees… now that’s a bit on the edge… four or more trees… that is over the edge. Scary stories aside…add a gloomy sky and landscape… well… that’s what horror movies are made of. But you be the judge. Now creepy is one thing… horror inducing images are quite another. Some say that you can imagine things just because it reminds you of something else… some things “are” too much like something else and you don’t really seem to need much imagination on your part to conjure up things that you hope aren’t really there. Well… here again… you be the judge. Take a nice walk into the woods… alone. Listen to the noises that surround you… everywhere. The shadows that seem to move in the corner of your sight. Unknown sounds that always happen just where you are not looking. Then as you crest another hill… there it is… right in front of you… looming towards you… Holy ----! You stop in your tracks… your heart stops too. It must be time to head back. Head back right now! But things don’t seem to be getting any better. Every turn brings a new sight of something to be twisted into more horrible images. Imagination is a powerful thing especially when feed by flash backs to those movies that kept you awake at night. But this is no dream… but perhaps a nightmare of sorts. Imagination runs wild… and if unchecked can pretty much conjure up all sorts of images… things that are not real and aren’t there. They’re here…. watching you… ready for you to get too close. okay… time to leave. I’m ready to get home and watch …. watch … some Disney movies! You walk calmly on your way… and than there’s another tree. A twisted reality that meets unleashed imagination. The woods can be a scary place. But do yourself a favor… leave your imagination at home. A trail of bread crumbs might be a good idea too. So enjoy your walk.

Just don’t think of this walk as possibly being your last. Now….See what days of relentless rain can do to your physic well being. Wouldn’t you have a funny feeling about these trees too? Maybe I’ll see ya in the woods… but not theses woods! What happened to the wild flowers… the birds…. the funny furry little animals. I know… they have all been scarred and have gone somewhere else.

Knows All…. Tells All !

In this ever changing world that presents more and more challenges… sometimes answers are more difficult to come by. Too many choices, too many options, just too many decisions to all of life’s questions. Than it hit me… years ago… in my youth… okay… many years ago in my youth… the source for all the answers that everyone turned to was that good old “8” ball. Just ask your question, flip it over, and the answer was revealed. While this was a relatively quick and easy procedure… sometimes the answers were sometimes vague or uncertain. So if you really wanted more detailed responses to your questions… you needed something more capable of reaching deep into the great unknown universe of the all powerful and all knowing …. “Ouija” … the “Mystifying Oracle”. Yes – No… Day – Night… Ying- Yang… Good – Bad… any message from beyond was at your beckoned call. Detailed and forbidding… you didn’t always get the answer you wanted… but always got an answer to guide you through life’s tough decisions. True Love, jobs, what game to play next… do girls really have cooties… it was all there for the asking… and Ouija had the answers. Insight into the all knowing and wisdom of the great Ouija. What do women want… what do they think? Ouija would know the answers. What more could you ask for? So where is Ouija now… when you really need her? Well… that guy with the “8” ball doesn’t have a clue I’m sure. Perhaps this is the next treasure we all need to search for… yes… Ouija! If only I had a Ouija to tell me where to find Ouija. It’s all getting to be a bit puzzling. Help me Ouija… help me!

( yes… too much work… not enough play… not enough exciting things it do on the mountain… and way too much rain… so I ask you (Ouija’s not around)… what else do I have to do?

The First Day of Raining

On the first day of raining my true love gave to me…

a raincoat with a waterproof hat,

on the second day of raining my true love gave to me…

two rubber boots and…

a raincoat with a waterproof hat,

…………….

…………….

…………….

So after twelve days of raining my true love gave to me…

a twelve person life boat

eleven snack food bars

ten life boat jackets

nine bags of jerky

eight jugs of water

seven prayers for saying

six sets of oars

five sig…nal flares

four D cell batteries

three handy flashlights

two rubber boots

and a raincoat with a waterproof hat!

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Rain,rain, rain…. I’m ready to run… for some fun in the Sun!

“Ready to Run” … but that’s another song all to it’s self.

and….Yes… I have too much time on my hands.

And the moral of the story…well…

My True Love Really Loves Me!

and

one person doesn’t get a snack food bar

two don’t get a life jacket

three don’t get any jerky

four don’t get any water

and five ….well… five ain’t got a prayer.

soooooo… don’t be the last to get into the boat!

Such is Life…. later.

Tid-Bit of Wisdom!

Just a little something that I kept to reflect back on. Before leaving Florida, we ate a at Chinese restaurant and I got the following Tid-Bit of Wisdom in my fortune cookie. Keeping in mind we spent the last 8 months in Florida – 3 months in the Keys … and we are now spending 6 months in the mountains of Virginia. Rather intuitive… I think! Except for the whole bean sprout thing… I hate bean sprouts… nor do I wish or want to learn Chinese… a few words in Spanish is hard enough. Adios!

Brandi & the Girls Visit

This past weekend Brandi came down and brought the girls…. Kayla, Brianna, and Lizzy. It was a short visit… she drove down Saturday & back Sunday evening. Brianna is staying with us at least until July 4th and maybe until Labor Day. We all had a great two days together around the campground… Mt Airy on Sunday… and back to the campground for the pools. We all went to the pools … great time together.

Fire in the Sky

Fire in the Sky…. Lightening. Being up on top of the mountain… about 3000 feet above the valley below… only puts you that much closer to the clouds and the storm. Thunder & lightening… loud, thunderous, fast, sharp, and sometimes terrifyingly beautiful. We have been fairly lucky in that most of the severe storms pass safely nearby and go on their way, but every once in a while one passes directly overhead … which is to say… not as far overhead as I would like. Yesterday was one such storm. Not as bad as it could have been, but bad enough. Lightening struck nearby and the main resort complex lost 3 computers, routing systems, and the wi-fi internet system. Fortunately that was all the damage and no one was hurt. So while it may be pretty from afar… it’s too dangerous when it’s too close. This year we are down in a little valley rather than up on the crest of the hill… but than again… the top of the mountain is still… the top of the mountain. Today … three separate storms passed by, each with thunder, lightening, and heavy rains followed by clear skies… than another storm. Such is life on top of the Mountain…. but the beautiful cooler days make it all worth while. Just don’t forget the raincoat! …. just in case! Later… really means later… when the wi-fi internet is repaired in a couple of days.

Having Fun with Guests

We are again this year having fun doing Activities here at Lake Ridge Resort in Virginia.

Schools are finally starting to let out and the resort is getting busy. It’s so much more fun to enjoy activities with lots of guests. Sometimes it’s a tough gig when you are up against two pools, two waterslides, paddleboats, kayaks, mini-golf and the game room which has 26 arcade games, four pool tables, air hokey, ping pong, and a new state of the art “jute box” at plays from a mass storage computer memory that stores 5000 songs ( no Cd’s).

Some of the new activities like the rubber duck races has gone over huge! Guests buy a little rubber duck from the office. They bring their ducks to the waterslides… we have 10 races and two ultimate winners that get their choice of a free night of camping, water park passes, arcade tokens, or pizza and sodas. After the races they get to keep their ducks… which is one of the 300 different kinds of ducks to choose from. Pirate ducks, princess ducks, Mardi Gras ducks, redneck ducks, dog & cat ducks, zoo animal ducks, luau ducks, beach ducks, biker ducks… well… the list is almost endless.

Another big hit is the Hayride… this year we added music to the hayride and it’s a big hit! This week was our Mardi Gras weekend. Played Blues Brothers music… got everyone to sing, clap, and sway to the music… and when we see other campers… scream and shout… waving arms… and throwing out beads. Did I mention that I was the self appointed King of the Mardi Gras… yep… it was a unanimous… one vote… one King… done deal!

Lots of fun by the pools too. Bubble-time with the small kids, and the new T-Shirt contest. The kids gather by the pool… I give them all a Lake Ridge T-Shirt… they jump into the kiddie pool and put the T-shirt on… the first one to get the shirt on wins! Did I mention that the shirts are wet and frozen solid when I give them to the kids… didn’t tell them either… surprise!

So with schools letting out and guests coming in, it really is turning into the fun zone! We have 35 different organized activities that we rotate from week to week and Shelly Crafts room is picking up. Mardi Gras shirts and masks were a big hit this past weekend.

So the summer season is kicking into high gear.

Fun… fun…fun… it’s great to see everyone having a good fun time! The scenery is beautiful up here on the mountain the weather is warm in the daytime and cool at night…. just perfect.

And finally…. and I sincerely hope… finally… the rainy season has ended. Fun in the Sun is here again… so we run and play and sing again… and enjoy the warmth of spring again… happy days are here again!

Well…. the sun is starting to come up and today is our day off…. Brandi and the girls are here and we can have a fun time with them. If you’d like to see a little of what we are doing… visit the Resort Activity Blog at www.ResortActivities.blogspot.com .

Have a fun day!