Rainin’, Readin', & Jammin’

(Betty’s RV Park, Abbeville, LA) Hi 78° F Low 57° F

We woke up this morning to rain and thunder.  We like it when it’s raining in the morning and during the night also.  Every once in a while we don’t mind if it rains all day, as long as it doesn’t rain too hard or the wind is very strong.

We had already planned to make vegetable soup today because the forecast was calling for rain.  We used stew beef and Manda sausage with the vegetables. First we sautéed the stew beef and the sausage, then added the vegetables and seasonings.  We brought it all to a boil then lowered the heat and let it simmer for a few hours.

It thundered and rained all morning, sometimes fairly hard.  It finally stopped around noon or shortly afterwards.  The sun came out and started drying things out a bit. 

At around three pm or so, I went out to the covered deck to read a book out in the fresh air since it unexpectedly turned out to be a really nice afternoon.  We had been expecting rain off and on all day. 

I finished Enigma and started on No Easy Day by Mark Owen.  Lisa is still reading Stillwatch by Mary Higgins Clark.

 

 

Our site is right next to the covered and open decks, which are attached to the office.  Lisa joined me a little later and Happy Hour started a little while after that. 

A few new campers arrived today so Betty had everyone introduce themselves and talk a little about our backgrounds.  Anytime new folks arrive we go through this routine.  It’s fascinating hearing the different stories about who they are, where they came from, and how they got to this point in their lives.

Every once in a while either Lisa or I would come back into the RV to check on and stir the soup, and freshen or refill our drinks.  Boy, the inside of the Land Yacht really smelled good, and the soup tasted better each time we sampled it.

One of the couples staying here play musical instruments and one of the new campers does as well.  During the week that we have been here, there have been several musicians staying at Betty’s RV Park.  There have been a few impromptu jam sessions and they’ve been great.  Tonight was another opportunity for music and they were once again great and very entertaining.

In this picture from left to right are Betty (RV park owner); a lady who sang harmony (from California); one of the new arrivals (from Canada) on guitar; and the couple on the right on the harmonica and guitar, respectively, are a married couple (from Iowa).  The guy on the guitar also plays the Mountain (or Appalachian) Dulcimer.  He was practicing with it earlier and I really liked the way it sounded. Even though, as he explained, he is just learning.



Mountain or Appalachian dulcimer

According to Wikipedia “the Appalachian dulcimer (or mountain dulcimer) is a fretted string instrument of the zither family, typically with three or four strings. Its origins are in the Appalachian region of the United States. The body extends the length of the fingerboard, and its fretting is generally diatonic.”  Although I read several articles on the instrument don’t ask me to explain anything about it except that I like the sound of it.

 

 

Happy hour was winding down so we retired to the RV.  I caught the last 4 innings of the Cincinnati Reds vs. the New York Mets baseball game. The Reds lost 4-3.  I’m getting warmed up for baseball season so I don’t have very serious withdrawal symptoms from the college basketball season ending on Monday night.

Tomorrow will be all about the NCAA semifinals. Florida plays Connecticut at 5:09 pm, Central time.  Kentucky plays Wisconsin at 7:49 pm.

Go Cats!

True to my word, I’ve been wearing a UK t-shirt and hat every day.  Gotta’ support the team.

Well, that’s about it for tonight.

Thanks for following along.