Friday, July 29

Up at 6 a.m., so we could get on the road to the grape festival about two hours northwest. Sis arrived at camp before we left so she could follow us to the campground in a town a few miles from the town where the festival was held.

We arrived before lunch. It was a hot day, but not intolerable at the shaded campground, situated along the lake. Once the camper was set up, we had a sandwich lunch, and then Mother, Sis, and I enjoyed relaxing in lawn chairs outdoors. The scenery at this campground is lovely.

I grabbed my camera when a barge, pushed by a tugboat, came through the lock at the nearby dam. There is something so appealing about those white tugboats...so deceptively cute while being powerful workhorses of the river.

A railroad track runs along the bank across the lake, upon which trains traveled several times a day and night, blaring their warning horns no matter the hour. I was often awakened by them during our two-night stay. Still, it was fascinating to watch the trains roll through when we relaxed outdoors.

Nature abounds at the campground, with geese upending themselves in the lake, looking for food on the lake bottom, turtles crawing onto dead logs to bask in the sun, and fish breaking the surface of the lake in an attempt to catch bugs floating there.

Later, Mother went indoors to rest in the camper air conditioning, while Hubbie, Sis, and I went to the town where the festival was scheduled to begin in the evening. We toured three of the four wineries, where we sampled several sweet wines, and bought bottles of our favorites, including Splendid Red, processed with Splenda, and a new variety called Moscato. We really, really like this one, and I bought four bottles of it. We also like the wines made with fruits other than grapes, like a delicious blackberry variety that one of the wineries offered.

Then we stopped by the park, where festival booths were being set up. There I bought
ten cartons of sweet seedless grapes...a variety called Reliance, which are small pink grapes, and one called Venus, which are small, deep purple ones.

Last year, we were disappointed that Reliance grapes were not available. We were told by the vendor that the success of that variety depends on weather conditions. Last year was wet, so the grapes failed, while there is an abundance of them this year, thanks to a dry spring.

We also stopped by a grocery store to look for Vidalia onions. Didn't find those, but I picked up a carton of strawberries to go with the grapes, peaches, cantaloupe and watermelon to have for Saturday and Sunday beakfasts, along with raisin bread and Mother's homemade banana bread.

Back home, we had a supper of barbecue pork sandwiches, with coleslaw, baked beans, and sliced tomatoes. Afterward, played several games of Skipbo, with Sis and Hubbie winning all of them.

By 10 p.m., we were all plenty ready for bed. It had been a long, but enjoyable day.