Rockport 35 RV Park Picture Album

I've just discovered yet another Google tool (this blog is one Google tool) which has some pretty amazing capabilities and which you might find useful.

It's a photo album of all the pictures posted on this blog! It's so good, in fact, that it posts some of the pictures multiple times–Marv is pictured five times for a reason not yet clear to me.

Just click on the picture below and it will take you there! Once there, click on a few things to do a little exploring. Especially, you might want to go over on the right side and click "View All" right after the words "People in This Album."

Rockport 35 RV Park

The Last Rose of Summer

’Tis the last rose of summer
Left blooming alone;
All her lovely companions
Are faded and gone;
No flower of her kindred,
No rosebud is nigh,
To reflect back her blushes,
To give sigh for sigh.

by Thomas Moore (1779–1852)

He wrote the poem. Pat Williams grew the rose.

Fall Beauty in Iowa

No, this isn't Vermont or New Hampshire. It's Iowa! The NE corner of Iowa was missed by the last glacier so is very hilly. That means lots of woods, crooked roads, and funny shaped fields. It also means pretty foliage in the Fall!


Each year, we try to hit the peak season and go on a "leaf drive." This year, the day was October 10, Pat's birthday. This picture was taken a few miles west of Guttenburg, which is on the Mississippi River. It's one of the best "calendar pictures" I've ever taken.

A Few Updates From The Park . . . .

Lucille is looking and doing WONDERFULLY!
She'll be home here at the park--probably by November 1! YEAH!!

Winter folk have begun arriving...
we're working hard to accomodate all the long rigs!

These comments are from Allison, on October 17. Thanks for the info, Allison!

The Little Person in Our Life

Not so much that I knew you were dying to see a picture of Molly, but that Pat would keep asking, "Why isn't there a picture of Molly on the site?"





















So wait no longer; here she is! As you can see, she's been eating fairly well during her five months!

If you've recently stumbled onto this site, Molly is our (Pat and Keith) great-granddaughter and lives in Owatonna, MN.

Lucille: Getting Out and Getting Up

Lucille has been diligent in her rehabilitation and it is paying off!

Here's a note from Allison, dated September 27:

We had a wonderful soup 'n' Salad dinner last night—as usual, the cooks outdid themselves!

Lucille Carlson was present—and looking great. Hopefully, you'll receive a picture from Dick, soon. (I did; it's to the right.)

She is doing stairs now and has a month to improve on that—then, hopefully, home to The Park. Yeah!

It's great to see that she is getting up in the world and has gotten out to the park. Certainly we look forward to seeing her when we arrive in December—and to getting a good, relaxing, back rub from Dick!

Can Retirees Take Vacation?

I certainly hope so, as Pat and I did just that. We were in Minnesota September 19-27, prompted mainly by my need to attend a refresher course for flight instructors. (I passed and am now "legit" for another two years.)

Form Cedar Rapids, we went to the Twin Cities area. Pat enjoyed being with her sister while a was in school. Then from there, northward to Duluth where we enjoyed the hospitality of my cousin who lives about 40 miles south of Duluth.

We whizzed past Shoreview (Isn't that where Bill and Hazel live?) but didn't stop. I figured Bill would be out walkin Heidi anyway.

And then blew past Hugo, home of Tom and Julee. They were probably still at the lake, catching fish after fish after fish. But we needed to get to their neighboring town, Forest Lake, to catch Pat's brother before lunch. We didn't.

My cousin suggested that we take a harbor tour of Duluth harbor. It was interesting!


As a sidelight, nearly 50 years ago a spent a winter in Duluth. I was still in the USAF and was based there for nearly a year. One morning it was -42*, the coldest I've ever experienced.

Duluth has changed a lot in the last half-century. But it still gets very, very, cold there!

All of this is to attempt to give an excuse for the lateness in updating the blog, which I'm finally getting to today as the NASCAR race is in progress.