Leaving key west was really cool seeing as we left in the day time. the bridges that take you over the ocean and through the keys are amazing.

Here are some pictures from a pit stop in Florida. A lady comes to the rest area every day to feed ALL the animals there, and she has been doing this for over 25 years she said. I was feeding the squirrel peanuts, he was pretty tame!

This time we set the GPS to toll roads/quickest route instead of going through the middle of Miami, it was a much faster trip this time LOL.  We made it to around Brunswick Georgia around 9pm. We went about 577 miles!

Day 5

We left Brunswick about 10am to try and make it home. Around Charlotte the weather got pretty crummy. My boots had sprung a leak from the rain that we had gone through and my toes were about ready to fall off. I swear it was snowing around charlotte last night lol! We decided to go ahead and stop around Yadkinville, NC. We only went about 400 miles.

Before we left the hotel, It seems as though I had a fan?! anyone loose any pirate panties?!!!

Here are some kittens that were sitting behind a chicken place looking cute.

Day 6

We left Mooresville, NC around 10 am and made it home around 1pm!!!! 223 miles! yayyy!!!!

here is the map of where we went.

Here is where we have been on motorcycles!!!!

We slept in this morning… till all of 8am LOL We took a stroll down to the “beach” (all of the beaches here are private beaches that you cant get on unless you stayed at the Marriott or something lol).

Here are some pictures of the “beach” a couple of blocks down from our hotel.

After seeing the beach, we decided to go for a bike ride around the island. We decided to stop at the East Martello museum and see what it was all about. The museum was pretty cool, it was an old civil war fort. In some of these pictures you can see the old cannon mounts. There is also an airport right behind the museum.

In the museum there was a doll named Robert… and.. there is a whole story about him, apparently he is haunted. here is a pic and the local legend about him (it pertains to later in the days events too!).

“The story of Robert the Haunted Doll is well known to students of the macabre and paranormal devotees around the world. Images of his bizarre little face — a face that can call to mind any number of notable characters, from Curious George the monkey to Michael Jackson and even Elijah Wood’s famous “Frodo.” But one thing is for certain, those who have a close encounter with this particular little Florida treasure won’t ever forget it.

Although stories of haunted dolls are as old as children’s playthings, the story of Robert is notable due to the number of people who claim to have witnessed the evil doll at work or who claim to have been victimized by him in one way or another.

The dark story of Robert the Haunted Doll began near the turn of the century when the family of eccentric Key West artist Robert Eugene Otto took up residence in the famous Artist’s House in the heart of the city. Affluent and well-travelled, the Ottos found the easy and unhurried lifestyle of the Florida Keys most agreeable. They settled in with their young son and a large staff to wait on their every need.

Local legend holds that the Ottos were stern people who held their son to rigid expectations and expected strict obedience from their staff. It is said that the Ottos took on a Jamaican woman as a nurse for young “Gene,” as they called him, and it was she who spent the long hours with him while his parents travelled the States and other parts of the globe. But the idyllic relationship was not to last, and the story is told that the nurse got on the bad side of Mrs. Otto and was promptly dismissed. But before she left the household she gave a gift to her favorite charge — a hand-sewn stuffed doll, made in the likeness of young Gene. A slightly imperfect replica who Gene took to immediately.

The doll was christened with Gene’s first name, Robert, and from the moment he received him from his Jamaican nurse, Gene never let the doll out of his sight. It went everywhere with him and was often seen accompanying the boy on day trips into town, both neat little gentlemen in pressed white sailor suits sitting perched among the Otto servants or straggling along behind Mrs. Otto as she shopped.

At meal times Robert sat in his own little chair beside Gene who would sneak little bits of food to Robert out of the sight of his parents. At bath time Robert would assume his spot on a dry towel while Gene soaked and played with wooden ships and corks in his nightly ritual. And when it came time to settle in for the night, Robert was tucked neatly in beside the drowsing boy ready to accompany him even into his dreams.

Soon, however, the relationship between Gene and his doll took on a troubling aspect. Gene could often be heard playing joyfully in his toy room one moment and then, after a solemn silence, the sound of low conversation would trickle down to the servants’ ears, first in Gene’s boyish voice and then in an entirely different tone. Sometimes Gene’s voice would sound agitated, but the responding voice only sounded insistent, and it was these moments that began to trouble first the servants and then Mrs. Otto most. On occasion the concerned mother would burst in upon her child and, oddly and unexpectedly, find her son cowering in a corner of the room, and the doll perched in a chair or on the bed, seemingly glaring down at the boy.

Eventually, the disruption to the household left the playroom and the nursery and it became evident to all who lived in the household that something just wasn’t right about the little doll and the odd hold it seemed to have over the youngest resident.

More troubling were the inexplicable events that began to occur — glassware and silverware thrown about the dining room, servants locked out while on their nightly rounds, clothing torn up and bedding in rooms long unused disturbed and crumpled on the ground. Most troubling, other beloved toys belonging to young Gene began to turn up mutilated and brutalized while deep in the night there was the sound of giggling.

Of course, young Gene was blamed for committing mischief and was soundly disciplined by his parents. On each occasion the boy took the punishment but not without first pleading and insisting each time that “Robert did it!” Although his parents never believed this, it didn’t take much protesting to convince the servants, and the staff turnover at the Otto house was understandably high. At one point, concerned relatives attempted to intervene and on the recommendation of a great aunt, Robert the Doll was taken from young Gene and sent to live in a box in the Otto attic. One night later the aunt was found dead in her bed, the victim, it was believed, of a stroke, but immediately following her untimely demise, Robert once again took up his place at Gene’s side.

Gene Otto never left the family house and when his parents finally died he was left there to live unhindered, with Robert by his side. Unlike most mature men of his age, Gene never put away this particular childhood relic — later it would be suggested by some close to him that the doll would not allow Gene to abandon it in such a way. As Gene got used to life “alone” at the Artist House, Key West began to talk — and not about the living resident they knew to be there.

Stories abounded of the sounds of giggling and maniacal laughter coming from “the Turret Room” — the Victorian corner of the house that Gene had inhabited as a boy. This had now become Robert’s domain, or so it was said, and everything there — the furnishings, the curtains, the “tolerated” toys that Robert had not destroyed all were left as they had been in Gene’s childhood.

Servants were kept sporadically and even the most stout hearted of them didn’t stay for very long at the Artist House. Finally, the staff dwindled altogether to a couple that came in for a few hours a day; while the wife cooked Gene’s meals the husband would tend to minor chores around the house. But both would be long gone before sunset, and neither would venture into the Turret Room or near that end of the house no matter how they were threatened or cajoled.

Soon, the needs of manhood (at least temporarily) over rode the attachment to childhood and to Robert the Doll when Gene Otto took a wife. The marriage was troubled from the start, not the least because Gene insisted on Robert accompanying the couple everywhere, having a place at their dinner table, and even, amazingly, that he assume his place in his favorite little chair beside the newlyweds’ bed. Not surprisingly the marriage went sour quickly and ultimately Mrs. Otto went insane and died of undisclosed causes. She is said to haunt the Artist House to this day.

Eventually, Gene Otto followed her in death and for a time Robert the Doll was left alone in the huge house. When new owners bought the house to restore it to its place as a Key West showcase, Robert was committed once again to an attic box. But this is said to have pleased him no more than it did the first time it was tried, and the nights became unbearable for the new owners who reportedly found Robert in all manner of places, in all manner of predicaments. When the doll was found giggling and holding a kitchen knife at the foot of the new owners’ bed, there wasn’t any Gene Otto to blame it on. The new owners left in a hurry and Robert the Haunted Doll was moved to his new home at the East Martello Museum in Key West, where he is well guarded.

Still, tourists who visit the Artist House today say Robert is not necessarily “attached” to his new home, as they have reported the sounds of giggling and small scampering feet in the empty rooms where the tour guides feared to take them. Sometimes children on their way to school pass the Artist House and flee in terror from the face of Robert peering down from the Turret Room windows. Doors are still found unlocked, windows left slightly open in the areas that Gene and Robert frequented all their lives.

But his displeasure at being a display item at the East Martello Museum seems unceasing. Visitors are chilled by the sight of him. One woman was disturbed to find that the expression on the doll changed right before her eyes. “One minute he was smiling, then he was frowning and mad,” she said.

Other visitors who try to take a photo of the famous doll have been disappointed to find black frames instead of photos. Digital cameras are useless and the lighting in the area where Robert now “lives” is consistently bad, despite the museum’s repeated attempts to provide more illumination. Of course, “Robert did it” is still the motto when things go bump in the night, and no member of the museum staff wants to be the last to leave at night.

Each October, Robert the Doll goes to stay in a glass display case at the Custom House in Key West. Museum curators say that this is the best chance to “meet” Robert and that anyone stopping by should not fail to introduce him or herself to the doll. Stories from those who failed to show this little courtesy are numerous, such as the woman from Orlando who reports that Robert, or something like him, followed her home after a Custom House visit. She reported that the silhouette of the doll was repeatedly seen in her bedroom window and throughout the ordeal of that night there seemed to be no electricity in her bedroom, although lights remained on in other parts of the house.

Robert the Doll welcomes you to the Customs House each October where he waits in his glass case, perhaps sucking on peppermints that the Custom House staff place beside him to keep him content. Although the Museum and Customs House don’t advertise it, Robert is always in the market for a new home with a nice family and a child who will love him as if her were a REAL boy.

Could this be you?”

The rest of the museum was an art museum. Some art was done by local artists, and some by school children.

This is Fred, the museum’s cat. He is 27 years old and deaf… but, he loves to get his chin scratched! :0)

On the way out of the museum, we decided to finish up our tour of the island.. Going down the road not even a couple of blocks away, Rick got another flat tire, but the front one this time. I say it’s because he said Robert the doll was stupid, but he says he pinched a bead LOL! We stopped by a Yamaha store to get the tube fixed, but they had no mechanic on duty. So we got the tube and headed to the local electric scooter/car/thingy shop (Sunshine Rentals) where they let us use some of their tools to fix the bike. If you ever make it to the Keys, make sure to stop by and check them out, they have some neat looking electric car thingies! BTW, Anthony, the guy helping in the picture says it was Robert’s doings LOL!

Getting tired of messing with the bikes, we decided to park them and head down Duval St. On our walk I happened to see something about sunset boat rides and the woman in the shop sucked me in :0) We reserved a spot on the glass bottom boat at sunset…. To kill some time before the boat ride, we stopped at the local Hard Rock Cafe. I had never been to one before, so I thought it was completely awesome!!!  Some of the B.A.D.D.(bikers against drunk driving) bikers were there trying to rally off a really awesome motorcycle. Here are some pictures.

Here are some pictures of Duval Street

After exploring Duval Street, It was time to get on our boat. It was really awesome!! The boat took us a little over six miles off shore to a reef where we saw nurse sharks, eels, Wahoo’s, barracudas, dory fish, sting rays, jelly fish, little striped fish, and parrot fish and more!!! In one of the pictures you’ll see buoy 13, that buoy means that you are entering the Bermuda triangle!!!

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after the boat ride, we decided that we were far away from the hotel, so we hitched a ride with the bicycle cart dudes!!! It was pretty cool! I think we wore him out though hehehe!

once back at the hotel we played in the pool and hot tub…

That’s about all for today. We are leaving tomorrow at 8am or so. We are going to try and make it past Savannah, Georgia. Here are a couple more pics Rick got of me when i wasn’t paying attention!

Day 1

We left Man, WV around 9 am and headed towards Gilbert to follow rt 52 into Bluefield. We made good time until we hit the interstate. Rick had put a brand new Pirelli back tire on his bike before we left… Well, that tire wound up going flat.. :0(

No sooner than we pulled off the road a Virginia state trooper stopped us and told us that we either needed to speed it up, or go get someone to help us… Sooooo, we sped it up. Rick made it about four blocks down the road when the tire started smoking, bike was a’ jerkin, and then it came off the rim.

I took off up the road to a truck stop where I rounded up someone with a pick up truck to help us… Only to find that the garage he took us to and dropped us at couldn’t help us…. Sooooo.. There was an Aussi preacher Christian dude there at the truck stop who decided that he could help us (thank goodness He took us to the local motorcycle shop where we got a new back tire. Here are some pics of the kitties at the shop!

Princess Kitty

Big Momma

Here is the useless Pirelli tire… Boooo…

and the new tire.. Dunlop… Yayyyyy….

The first day we went over 600 miles and stopped around 11pm twenty minutes from the Florida border.

Day 2

We left the hotel in Georgia around nine am. It was a pretty interesting day. We rode all day at a pretty constant speed, until we came up on a police chase (the suspect crashed the car) that had the interstate at a stand still. We decided that after we saw motorcycles splitting the lanes, that we would give it a go…. LOL.. we rode through traffic for what seemed like thirty minutes when we finally came to the wreck. Guess the spike strips got him, hehehe….

Later on towards the evening we were smack in the middle of Miami.. Andddddd it was horrible.. Drema, if you are reading this, i can relate on the “my ass is bleeding” thing LMAO!!!!  Traffic was bumper to bumper, people not knowing where they wanted to turn, or where that gas pedal was, or something. I think I saw rubber necking at its worst… I thought people just forgot how to accelerate at red lights but come to find out they were gawking at a fire truck on the side of the road. shew…

So after I calmed myself down from the horrible traffic mess.. We were on to the bridge that takes you through the keys…. It was awesome, but, i bet its even more awesome in the day light lol. Along the way, I saw a crocodile crossing sign.. I was hoping i would find a gator so I could take a picture (re dead kangaroo in NM) , but i had no luck.

Come to find out, deer’s are endangered species in the keys… Wish  WV could give them some!!! So anyway, apparently according to the sign “speed kills deer” and they dropped the speed limit from 65mph on a straight flat road, to 35mph.. It must not have helped much, cause the tractor trailer in front of us smooshed one lol…

So we made it to the hotel around ten pm this evening and are ready to crash for the night. Here are some pics until later.

I decided to post some pictures of my new house since everyone has been asking to see it.

These are the pictures I took the first time I walked through the house and fell in love.

Living room and liquor wall.

Kitchen

Laundry room.

Garage.

These are some pictures that I took today.

Junie on the kitchen cabinets. I have no idea how she got up there!

Kitchen

Roo’s dining room.

Laundry room.

The living room. Fuzzy is in the floor in front of the sliding glass doors.

My bedroom. Kit Kat is on the bed.

Guest bathroom.

Guest bedroom.

Computer room. Silvia is asleep in her mansion and Hairy is on the cat tree.

Stay tuned for updates on the house. I have a lot of projects for the house I’d like to start soon!

We went, we saw, and we conquered at Lake Erie for the second annual Geopalooza!

Rick and I towed the Hybrid Metro to the event this year. The van averaged around 15mpg on the way there and back!

We took the Xbox 360 and the Super Nintendo and hooked them up in the van!

We took a lot of stuff this year since we had so much room!

Here is the first great sign that we saw! (metro parks)

driving.. driving.. and driving some more!

Finally at the campground!!!!

Exploring the first day.. Went to the “beach” and site seeing!

The next day people started showing up and filling the camp ground with metro’s!

Setting the metro up for people to see!

The next day (Saturday) was the big meet.. METROPALOOZA!!!!

A big thanks to Johnny’s wife!

The food was great!

Some pictures of everyone that was there!

There was some great entertainment from one of the local tribes.

These were taken at the palooza.. The lake was cold!

Me enjoying the show! (and taking pictures LOL)

The final night.. Big party!!!!

Me and Mona getting into the Soco!

And last but not least. A BIG thank you to “Johnny Mullet” for putting this thing together! Can’t wait till next year!

Here is the photo album view of all the pictures I took during the trip incase I missed any!

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Just wanted to share with everyone some pictures of my animals that you hear me mention through out my blogs, aka “my babies”

This is my weenie dog “Roo” – short for Scamper- Roonie

This is my oldest kitty, June.

This is Kit Kat, she is almost as old a Junie (11).

This is Hairy. He is 4. He had a rough life. When i rescued him, someone had cut off his right ear and his tail.

This is Fuzzy, he is 2. I rescued him around town. He was so skinny and dirty, he was pitiful. Now, he is the most loving cat I have!

This is my ferret, Silvia! She is so funny to watch. She chases the cats and dog around like she’s a big cat or something! She is also obsessed with pink!

These are my guinea pigs who have now relocated to my brother’s house in SC. The white one is Mister Piggy, the brown one is Cadburry.

I also have some fishes, but they are hard to see in the pictures LOL. I am looking for a new home for Hairy and Fuzzy at the moment, four cats are a lot to deal with when you’re not home much.

Last year Rick and I took our motorcycles to Lake Eerie for the “Geopalooza”. It rained almost the entire trip, but, we still had a lot of fun with the Ecomodder people!

A little about the group in my own words. The majority of the members on Ecomodder are all about trying to get the best mpg and use out of their vehicles. There were electric metro’s, metro’s that got over 100 miles a gallon, and many more various types at the palooza.

Here are some pictures of last years get together.

This was right before we left for Lake Eerie at my old storage building.

This was at our camp site at Lake Pymatuning on the Pa/Oh border.

These pictures are from the get together. It looks like metro’s are taking over!!!

Everyone eating and having fun!

Here are some more pictures of Lake Pymatuning.

Those are all of the pictures I have from last years meet due to all of the rain. I will have plenty of pictures this year as we are taking the van and towing the metro. For those who don’t know about Rick’s metro here is his site CliCCCCKKKKkkk . The metro went from a Geo Metro XFI hatchback to a convertible that got 118mpg, now it’s electric with 7 batteries in the back!

Here is the van that we will be driving up in.

Rick has put extra batteries, new comfy seats, Super Nintendo, refrigerator, and all kinds of stuff in the van. This will be our leisurely trip for the year!!

Here is what the metro looks like now.

This was at a car show in Logan, WV on the fourth of July.

and a picture from Rick’s site.

We left Batesville, Indiana around nine am and headed for the Creation Museum in Petersburg, Kentucky; we got there in about four hours.

I’m not going to say too much about the museum due to so many people getting offended so easily, but it was definitely a place to go if you want to learn more about what other people believe.

We left the museum pretty quick and headed for home. I was very happy to see the Welcome to Wild and Wonderful WV sign!!!

We went through about five minutes of rain just outside of Charleston, but that didn’t slow us down very much. I got home around 5 pm to find a big welcome home party at my house!

7000 miles and 17 days later, we made it to Cali and back!

We headed out of the hotel at 11 am and hit the road to head for Cincinnati, Ohio (It’s about the only place around the creation museum to stay.) We passed through Illinois pretty early in the day, here are some “flash” pictures.

We stopped to get fuel and saw a really cool looking diner.. So, of course we stopped there LOL!

When we got near Springfield Illinois we saw a bunch of signs for the Abe Lincoln home and museum. We decided to stop by there and check it out. I got some really cool stuff from the gift store. They had a lot of replica stuff, like money, The Gettysburg Address, old money, etc. These pictures are of a replica of the neighborhood Lincoln lived in.

Here is Abe Lincoln’s house and the Dean’s house. Read the info on the Dean’s house if you can.. It’s a three hundred dollar house!!!

(Abes’ house)

After we watched a video and tour of the houses, we headed for Cincinati. Here is one of the state signs!!

That’s about all for now. I’ll post another blog when I get home tomorrow! Last one for the Cali or Bust blog!!!!

g’night

BTW, I am feeling better today. I have horrible allergies in my ripe old age now!!! I think I was allergic to the cotton wood trees?

Yesterday was pretty good. The KOA that we stayed at was awesome, I miss the log cabin already! I was trying to soak up every last minute I could at the cabin before we left! LOL!

We ate breakfast at the Ponderosa Restaurant on the campground; believe it or not, we had buffalo sausage links (they weren’t bad)!! After breakfast, we took off to Mount Rushmore. We didn’t pay to go in, we found some spots on the side of the road to take pictures. We went to Crazy Horse next, that is one massive work in progress. The nose on the face alone seems to be as big as Mount Rushmore all together!!! This picture might be able to help you understand the size of this monument, the guard gates in the picture are over 1/4 of a mile away!!!! The next picture is zoomed in as far as the camera would go!

Next up was Wall Drug, I thought that place was pretty neat.  There were people everywhere (yuck), a million different kind of shops to see, and just when you thought you had seen it all; you discover there is a “back yard” with dinosaurs and jackalopes and what not LOL!!! Here is a little map from Wall Drug’s website to give you a little idea of what there was.

I also got some souvenirs from there (yep, I’m bringing a jackalope home HEHEHEHE)

When we left Wall Drug, we headed to Amanda’s house in Nebraska, it was like 490 miles from there.. I didn’t think we were going to make it, but we did. We got there at like 12am! Amanda  (A.K.A. HyoHotMama) is a friend that I met from the ACD forum. She has the same bike that I have – I mean same color and everything – other than hers is two years older than mine. She let us crash at her house and hang out with her family, it was a good time.. She even made us home made spaghetti and crepes and eggs and everything! She has a dog named Ginger that absolutely loved us (I think she liked Rick a little more cause he rough housed with her LOL), I would have took her home in a heart beat!!!!  And incase you don’t know her, she served our country in the Navy!!!! This is Amanda.

We left Amanda’s house around noon today and decided to head for home, which was 940miles away; however, about 200 miles in, we decided to head towards Kentucky to the Creation Museum LOL.  We didn’t make it too far after that though, I started feeling really bad. My throat is so sore and swollen it hurts to even touch my neck. I don’t know what is going on but it hurts.. I’m going to try to make it a couple more days to get home to my doctor (don’t worry, I’ll be ok!!!) So Rick being the concerned caring person he is decided to find a nice hotel to stop at. Here are some pictures of my first Jacuzzi room hotel!!!!!!

That’s about all for today.. I’m going to go to bed early and get some rest.

Tomorrow we are heading to the creation museum, it’s about 511 miles from here.

The next day we are coming home, we will only be about 245 miles from home at the museum! That will probably put us home by 3 or 4pm.

By the way, for those interested.. We are at 6000 miles today!! by the time we get home we will probably be at 7,000 all together!!! We should have signed up with Iron Butt, we would have all kinds of stuff!!!!

Goodnight for now!