Norris Family Blog

Rides

We took a ride to Columbia in the 97 Mustang convertible and the kids couldn't keep their heads up because of the wind. LoL Everything was OK though when we stopped at Sonic for burgers and ice cream.

We also took a ride around the farm and let Daisy run along. Kyle wanted to ride on a 4 wheeler, so I took him with me. He sat in front of me and that's his blond hair in the bottom of the picture. Stacey rode another 4 wheeler while Julie rode in the Mule with Linda. I was amazed at how quickly the hay has jumped up since the first cutting on Memorial Day.

We stopped and let the kids throw rocks in the creek or look for creek glass to put in Linda's jar. They had on flip flop shoes, so it didn't matter if they were in the water or wandering up and down the gravel bar.

Posted by Dave at 5:30 PM
Categories: Cars, Current Events, Farm

4th of July, Lake, Birthday

Julie and Kyle had been staying with us all week, so Pauline and Brent came over Thursday evening. Friday, the 4th, we let the kids play in the kiddie pool in our yard, then we all went to the park in Burkesville. Julie and Kyle hit the inflatable slide the first thing. They made trips up and down, up and down, until they had enough.

We ate 'fair food' under the pavilion, then listened to some home town people competing in a talent contest.

The "Road Crew" band took over and played for about an hour and a half. Then they quit playing just in time for the fireworks, so we walked about 50 yards to Brent's Traverse, pulled out our lawn chairs and sat back and enjoyed the fireworks show.

We had prepared well for the 4th on Dale Hollow Lake. We had hoagies made up, chips and plenty of drinks because the few restaurants are always crowded on the 4th. We took two vehicles to the lake to aid in parking the truck and trailer. Usually the lower parking lot is full, the roadsides are filled, the middle lot is sometimes full and if you are walking it's a long haul uphill when fetching your vehicle after boating. Pauline drove their Traverse to pick Brent up after he parked the truck and trailer, then returned to the lower lot with him and parked. That was a much shorter walk.

It is hard to tell it from the pictures, but there were boats everywhere on the lake, more than I had seen in the last few years. We managed to get a spot in our favorite cove though, and we spent a large chunk of time there swimming and eating, until about 1 PM.

We moved around the lake taking our time to check out where lots of the houseboats were parked and just seeing how many camping spots were taken. The kids laid down and took naps during the ride.

We found another quiet place in Galton Hollow and even let Julie ski. She has really made progress, this time holding the rope without it being attached to the skis was the next step in her learning curve. Brent and I worked with Kyle a little bit too. We had him in the water and putting the skis on, learning to turn over and to move around on his own with the skis. We never tried to pull him with the boat, but Brent would get him setting straight in the water, then I would tug on the rope pulling Kyle 20 feet or so to the boat. It gives him a feel for being pulled through the water and it won't be so scary when we actually let him try. We pulled off the lake about 7 PM. The water was rough most of the day from all of the boat traffic, but it had still been a decent day on the lake swimming and riding around.

This morning, Brent cooked breakfast and later we had a lunch of chicken breasts with fried potatoes and peppers, all cooked on the grill. Pauline and Brent took their kids and Poco and went home about 4 PM.

Posted by Dave at 7:30 PM
Categories: Boating, Current Events, Farm

Week In Indiana

Monday afternoon, Stacey, Linda and I drove the Malibu to IN. Our first stop was at Lowe's in Anderson. We talked with an appliance salesman and determined that if we bought a new washer, dryer and refrigerator that Lowe's would deliver the appliances on Thursday. We purchased the appliances and then drove to Chesterfield, bought groceries and a pizza at Pizza King, then to the Daleville house.
Tuesday I had to drive to Muncie, go to the UAW Legal Services, pick up papers and then to the Delaware County Courthouse. Pay the Auditor, pay the recorder and then both the Daleville houses were in our names. Then I went to the Health Department to get a death certificate, then to Anderson to the Health Department to get a death certificate, then to the BMV to find out that I was unable to transfer the car title because I live in KY. In the evening, we went to Kim & Kenny's house to eat with them. Kenny had fresh tenderloins he had cooked in his new deep fryer ready when Kim came home from work. Hoadly was there too and ate with us. Kim showed us her garden and we talked about how they could repair a roof on their out door shelter house.

Wednesday, we worked on getting some of the stuff out of the way in the basement and sorting out the junk. We went to Pendleton and stopped at the Dairy Bar for sandwiches which we took to Nana's house. We ate with her and talked for about 3 hours.

Thursday morning, George O'Bryant came to the house with two guys to haul off some of the old appliances. I had called him Tuesday and told him we had 2 freezers, a washer and a dryer he could have for junk. It was all 4 of us could do to lift the upright freezer out of the basement. The smaller chest freezer, washer and dryer were easier. George didn't want to charge me, he said he would get money for junking out the motors and metal, but I gave each one a $20 bill for their help.

Shortly after noon, the Lowe's delivery driver called and said they would be there in 20 minutes. They showed up, took the doors off and rolled in the new refrigerator first. They replaced the doors on the fridge and the house, hooked up the ice maker's water line and turned it on. Next they took the washer and dryer down to the basement, set them on the blocks, hooked up the water line and vent and were out of there.

Friday, Linda organized the rest of the basement junk. I carried out the trash bags as she filled them. We sat the bags in the yard and later 'little' Al let Linda use their golf cart and we hauled the trash to a dumpster. We also rode around town and talked to some friends while we had the golf cart.

Saturday, we cut the top edge off a trash can and set it under the drain that was leaking in the basement. We went to 'big' Al's 50th Wedding Anniversary party. It started at 2 PM with a large meal, then live music and talk.

Sunday morning, we packed our stuff, shut off the water and AC unit, then drove to King Fish for lunch. The new bridge supports are being built right next to the current bridge. I'm guessing one bridge will be for north bound traffic and the other for south bound. Just a guess.

After eating, we drove to the farm and were surprised to see the little house was completely gone.

Posted by Dave at 11:00 PM
Categories: Current Events, Daleville

Friends @ DHL

Julie and Kyle are staying a few days with us while Brent runs a swim meet in Louisville and Pauline goes along. Some friends from IN had told us they were coming to the lake for nearly an entire week, so we made plans to meet with them. We took food and drinks and loaded those along with everything else we needed into the boat. Then filled it with gas and headed to the State Park Dock. Linda drove the boat off the trailer with the kids riding along and I parked the truck and trailer, then joined them. When we left the dock area, the weather did not look that great. It had rained for the last two days and the clouds were making it look like it might continue raining.

We rode over to the predefined meeting location and arrived about an hour before the designated time. That gave us enough time to let the kids swim and then have a picnic lunch before the others arrived.

By the time lunch was over, the clouds had cleared away and it was beginning to look like a nice day. Then the boats began pulling in and the people were happy to have the weather break for their vacations. At one point in the day, there were at least 45 people in the group according to a couple of the guys. I never took the time to count. LoL



We moved over to Pusley Creek and Donnie Cox asked Julie to ride along in the tube with his grand daughter to help give her confidence, since it was her first ride in a tube. Julie was more than happy to go along.

Julie even skied a little later, then about 6:30 PM we told everyone 'so long' and headed to the dock, where we pulled the boat out. Then towed it home and put it in the pole barn. What had started as a real 'iffy' day, turned into a great day on the lake with friends!

Posted by Dave at 8:00 PM
Categories: Boating, Current Events

Another Day Boating

Linda had to work at the school this week, so Stacey and I needed a new crew to go to the lake. Pauline and Brent volunteered for the position and both took a day off work to join us. We headed to the lake and rode towards Star Point. We were ahead of the scheduled meeting time, so Julie and Brent both took turns on the skis. Then we pulled in and anchored with some of our friends. A lot of the same people were still on the lake, but several had left to return home and had been replaced by new arrivals.

At one point, Lana and Franks' grandkids had joined our grandkids and were on the back of the boat. I asked them to all stand there for a minute while I took a picture.

I think they are the next generation of "cove dwellers" that are taking over from us! LoL

Posted by Dave at 9:00 PM
Categories: Boating, Current Events, Farm

Just Us At The Lake

Stacey, Linda and I went to the lake around 10 AM. After launching and running the boat while the water was smooth, we pulled into Jolly Creek and stopped in one of the side coves. We enjoyed the calm water and peaceful time. Around 12:30 PM we headed on over to Sunset Dock and went inside to eat lunch. They were swamped with boaters and campers and it took awhile to get seated and served. Not one of their best days.

After lunch we headed back towards a quieter part of the lake, but along the way, noticed a water spout over along the shore. We pulled up closer and saw a guy standing on top of the water spout with a hose running down to a jet ski. He could maneuver the platform across the lake with the jet ski following. Another guy was attempting to ride one but wasn't as skillful and kept crashing into the lake. Later at home, I found out those are called "flyboards".

After watching for a while we went on to Pusley Creek and anchored. We took turns laying around and swimming till it was time to head back to the State Park and take the boat out.

Once the boat was on the trailer, we pulled to the middle parking lot and wiped it down with Pledge, then tied down the cover and towed back to the farm.