Country Time Acres Blog

To travel by water is a new experience for us. I am still a land lover!

Life is a journey filled with many wonderful experiences. Often Terry and I have talked about taking a cruise but, would end up talking ourselves out of it. It didn’t seem to make sense to travel by boat when we have a perfectly good motorhome sitting in the back yard. As for going out of the country, well the US has 50 beautiful states to explore.  My sister, Alfreda was planning a cruise to Bermuda so once again the topic came up. This time we decided to be adventurious and book the trip. Many people like the idea of paying one price and having most activities  and food covered and let someone else do the driving. For me, the thought of the open sea wasn’t appealing. After all, once you leave port it’s about 700 miles of nothing but, water.  It can be a bit stressful for first timers, going through the process of getting on the boat. I found that most things were on a schedule that didn’t seem to fit into my schedule. I didn’t like the fact that things were only offered once and many things cost additional money. I had planned to take some classes at the gym, spinning was $12.00 and the boot camp was $60.00 for 4 half hour classes.  Terry and I didn’t want to dress up and have dinner with a table full of strangers (we liked being alone) so we ate at the buffet every day. The food was good but, the variety didn’t change much and by the end of 5 days we were tired of it, especially all the sugar free drinks and dessert. If you want to drink soda you had to purchase a drink package.  Although the whole boat thing wasn’t my thing, I must say that Bermuda is a beautiful island.  The water is so clear, unlike the polluted waters of the US. The highlite of our trip was swimming with the dolphins and a beautiful ride along the beach on horseback. Unfortunately, aside from laying on the beach the island’s biggest draw is high end shopping, something I have no interest in. There are no parks for hiking and the narrow roads make it dangerous to ride bikes. The trip was wonderful but, I have no desire to return. As we say, been there, done that.

Spending time with kids is great!

This week was the start of this year’s “I Love Horses” reading program. Tuesday I paid a visit to the Kent County Library in Dover, Delaware. I had a very attentive audience of eight children who heard interesting facts about horses. Then I read them two stories. The fun begins with our question and answer time to see who was really listening. Afterwards, I asked them to pose for a picture with  me. Thursday night I attended Literacy Night at the Lake Forest North Elementary School in Felton, Delaware. My table displayed a nice section of horse books as well as grooming supplies and samples of my stamped cards for the “Stampin’  for Camp Lenape”  project. I talked with about a hundred or so children and their folks. Hopefully some of them will attend summer camps or attend our fundraiser for Camp Lenape in October.  I plan to make a lot  more visits with children this year, spreading the word about the great things horses bring to our lives.  Thank you for visiting. We are sorry, but the comment box for this post is full.

Off the shores of Lake Michigan there is a place that has become one of the most popular places in Michigan to visit. You can only get there by ferry and once you reach the dock you will discover there are no automobiles. Cars were banned from the island in 1898. Visitors must walk, bicycle or travel by horse. Yes, I said horse. The Mackinac Island Carriage Tours is the oldest and largest horse and buggy livery in the world. The island is home to more than 600 horses. It also hosts several well known festivals. The Lilac Festival was started in1949 and features a Grand parade where all the floats are horse drawn. The annual Fudge Festival celebrates the islands sweetest souvenir and is the most popular fudge in America. There are many sites on the island which include Fort Mackinac, The Dixie Saloon, Mill Creek and Old Mackinac Point Lighthouse. At Jacks Livery, Terry and I rented a carriage and our guide, Dorie took us around the island. We had never driven a carriage before, it’s that easy.  Enjoy shopping downtown and stroll through the State Parks. If you are ever in Michigan this is one tourist spot you won’t want to miss!  Did you visit?  Leave a comment!

Country Time Creations will be at the Delaware Horse Expo March 27, 10 at the Delaware State Fair grounds in Harrington, Delaware. Plan to stop by, lots of new jewelry and show specials.

Time spent with children is always time well spent! Jowana Lamb with 5 year old Tadeo Calisto and brother, 8 year old Pedro of Ecuador.

Today I made a visit to the Ronald MacDoanld House  for the A.I. DuPont Hospital for Children in Wilmington, Delaware. It was a quite morning, many of the patients had gone home. That is a good thing for the families. I got to visit with several children, two were from Ecuador, three were from Egypt and a few more were from Delaware. Some families are a long way from home. I got to take a tour of the house this time. It is a very nice place. This house will hold 50 families. Each gets only one room and the family may bring as many family members as they like. Imagine a room with three adults and two or three children. This is the case with 8 year old Pedro and 5 year old Tadeo from Ecuador. They also share the room with a two month old baby brother while their 7 year old brother is in the hospital. Their stay will be about 3 months. The important thing is that they keep their family together. The facility has a wonderful media room which looks like a small movie theater, complete with pop corn and snacks. There are several lounge areas and playrooms. Each family does their own cooking and laundry. This facility is run by 14 paid employees and the rest are volunteers. The walls are covered with beautiful paintings, artwork and quilts. A family will pay $15.00 per night to stay there.It is a house to be proud of. Donations of time, money and items on their wish list are greatly appreciated. learn More at Nemours, click on “The Nemours Story” to learn more about how you can help .

 Did you visit?  Leave a comment!

Dogwood Canyon Nature Park is a great place to spend the day.

Fall, cool breezes, falling leaves of red, gold and orange, a beautiful time for a horseback ride. Located in Lampe, Missouri the Dogwood Canyon Nature Park is 2,200 acres of Ozark paradise. Privately owned, the park offers a variety of activities such as private guided jeep tours, trout fishing, fly casting clinics, log cabins, biking, hiking and  horseback riding. They also have a two hour  wildlife tram tour that takes you to waterfalls and into the Arkansas border to see deer, elk, Texas longhore and herds of American bison. Our one hour ride took us through the Ozark Mountains. Fall is a beautiful time to ride. My only complaint is of course, the saddle. My horse literally rocked me down the mountain and my tailbones were really sore! To bad they don’t have saddles like my Bob Marshall, treeless saddle. If they did, I could ride all day! Learn more at Dogwood Canyon.  Did you visit?  Leave a comment!!

Terry and I after our helicopter ride.

My first time up was a piece of cake. I am ready to do it again!

One of the most exciting things we did while in Branson, Missouri was take a helicopter ride. I have never flown and am not comfortable with heights. A few years ago Terry tried to get me to fly but, it rained the morning we were to go up. Terry has only flown once in a copter and with Jenna living in california I really needed to get over my fear of flying. This helicopter was a small 4 passenger and the front doors were off. It was a bit chilly the afternoon we took our flight. The only thing I was a bit uncomfortable with was when the copter turns it leans. But, I never felt like I was going to fall out and I really enjoyed the view. The flight only lasted 3 minutes for $40.00 each! But, for now that was a long enough ride.  I highly recommend Adveture Helicopter Tours!

Did you visit?  Leave a comment!!

A beautiful view from the hill top at Branson, Missouri.

Well, Terry and I have talked about it for a few years and we finally did it. We took a trip to Branson, Missouri and what a great time we had! When they say there is something for everyone, well, that just about says it all. From Delaware it is about a two day drive in the motorhome. We passed through St. Louis, Missouri at night and the Gateway Arch was indeed a beautiful sight. When in Branson, we stayed at the  Musicland Kampground which is located right on the main strip, so we were able to walk to a lot of shows and stores. The sites were very reasonable, only $33.00 a night!  This city makes great use of it’s theaters, often sharing them with more than one performer. This means you can see more than one show a day and we took advantage of that. There is a show for everyone. During our 5 day stay here is what we attended,  the Presley Jubilee, Broadway, the Star Spangled Celebration, Yakov  (the Russian comedian),the Dixie Stampede, the Shanghai Circus, and the Showboat-Branson Belle. We did a few other things that will be mentioned in other stories. Our favorite place to eat was Montana Mike’s,  they had great food and service.  There were a few shows we didn’t get to see but, are worth mentioning, Kirby & Bambi  (illusionist) , the Dutton’s (from America’s Got Talent), Roy Rogers & Dale Evans Happy Trails Theater and the Shephard of the Hills.  There is one thing that I thought strange, with all the cowboys and country music, there was only one western wear store. Needless to say, I didn’t do much shopping! The nice thing about the city is that it is spread out and everything goes in a circle, so if you get lost, keep going and you will probably end up where you started. There is also very little traffic problems. On the way home we stopped to see one of Terry’s Amish friends who moved to Missouri. Owen and his wife, are now farmers. They live way off the beaten path but, are very happy running their own farm . We had a wonderful visit and learned a little about farming. Maybe this will come in handy next year when we expand our garden! For more of our adventure, read on…….

For great horse frames, handbags, t-shirts, jewelry and horse figures galore, shop Country Time Creations, a horse lovers store! Did you visit?  Leave a comment!