Life in the Bristolwood

Well, whilst we were out enjoying ourselves, we ended up near Niagara Falls one afternoon. And what should we see? Row upon row of power towers!!!!

Early yesterday morning, we began to pack everything up and make ready for our trip back to the Bristolwood.

While the kids were enjoying seeing lots of bands that weren’t *quite* as major as the ones appearing at the big tent every night, they had a fun time running around on rides and seeing the concerts with their friends.

It was with some sadness that we loaded up and got ready to head off for home. But *wait*! The fun wasn’t over….not yet!  One of the kids’ friends was going to have a little party, as she will soon be going off to college! The kids looked forward to this get-together with anticipation.

We got home at about 2:30, and the party was to begin at 4. We rushed things out of the camper and brought the perishables from the refrigerator, as we couldn’t find the adaptor for the electric plug to keep the camper electrified! (I found the plug in the laundry basket (???) this morning!) Michelle and I took quick showers and we were out the door once again.

The party was about 25 miles from our house, and we made a quick stop at the store to buy a card, as well as a bag of sweet treats. Then, we were on our way.

Mark and I dropped the kids off, then made our way to Dansville, where we stopped at Arby’s and ordered one baked butter and sour cream potato and a toasted Philly sub. It was, as always, yummy, and the poor Scottie brothers only watched in dismay as Mark and I gobbled our food and commented on how tasty it was!

Poor pups….but not for long! We swung on over to McDonald’s and pulled through the drive through.  Mark ordered the “regular”….IE, one double cheeseburger with no salt, no condiments, and no bun. And, as always, the order-taker asked if we really only wanted two hamburger patties with cheese on them? Yup! And, as always, the preparer set the lonely little patties on a bed of lovely green lettuce. If only they knew………

Yes, Angus being the elder of the two Scots, prefers to take his sustenance from a fork! Both Scotties devoured their patty with the  greatest of gusto!  Now, let me assure you that our boy Angus *never* EVER ate lettuce.  He considered lettuce “sissy food” for poodles or other less stately curs!

Last evening, Angus discovered that the lettuce that was sitting under those delightful burgers actually had some of the juice from the meat on them! Suddenly, Angus grew a *bit* more interested…..

 He picked up each piece of lettuce and chewed…..

 And chewed a little more. As soon as he was absolutely entirely sure that no meat juice remained on the lettuce, he would allow us to give Murphy the remains. Murphy, AKA , “Murphy the perforator” quickly swallowed the lettuce with reckless abandon. Who cares, after all, WHAT it tastes like….it all ends up in the (ahem) same place, after all!

Mark and I laughed as we watched the Scotties eat, then we caught sight of such a wonderful sight

Ah, yes, the wonderment of a hot air balloon! Even though I think I would not be inclined at all to fly in one,  there is still a magical feeling in seeing their brightly colored “bulbs” soaring in the winds that carry them about.  Dansville is famous for balloonists.

 And, what better than a hot air balloon? Another one! 

We watched the balloons for a bit, then took a small ride down country roads before heading back to pick up the kids.

And so, another lovely ending to a full day!

The Newsboys is a group that hails from “Down-under”.  If you have listened to Christian music, you have probably heard them. If you have little children that enjoy the Veggie Tales videos, you might have heard them sing “In the Belly of the Whale”!

This concert, I had already recovered from my “blond” moments and attended with my trusty old Olympus camera in hand. I was so excited that I finally remembered I *could* take pictures!

The Newsboys appeared in concert on Wednesday, the final day of Kingdom Bound. Earlier in the day,  I went to the park with the kids so they could ride some of the rides before the concerts started later.  Just after walking into the park, wondering how I was going to spend 3 hours in the sweltering heat, I ran into a dear friend and past roommate with her son!

Laurie told me that her son had spent money to bring himself and his mom to Kingdom Bound….When we had to leave the park to go back to the campground for dinner, I kept thinking I wished there was some way we could bless Laurie and Nate.  Before leaving, I told Laurie we would be seated way down in the front so please look for us. Well, she did, and as the concert started, she and Nate were given chairs to sit with us!  Nate *loves* the Newsboys, so he was thrilled to be getting such a good view!

Here are some random photos I took of the concert.

Laurie told us after the concert that Nate had wanted to camp, so they were going to see if they might find a place to pitch a tent. Well, back at our campground, there were literally hundreds of tents pitched all over! We told them they could stay on our site, as we had so much room on the grounds.  They followed us back to the campground and decided since it was so late (midnight) they would fold the seats in their van and sleep in there instead.

The next morning, I ran to the store before everyone was up and I was able to make breakfast for everyone. It was such a special time, as Laurie and I had not seen one another in years. We had so much fun!

As I was preparing breakfast, Laurie called for me to look….I had taken my Fuchsia plant along with us. (so silly I know) The plant had nearly no flowers on it, as I had placed it in too shady a spot on the front porch. About a week before we left, I placed the plant in a much brighter spot, and it was overflowing in beautiful flowers! Since it needs more frequent watering than most other plants, I saw no option other than to take it! Well, as I was bustling about, a little hummingbird appeared from nowhere and was visiting the Fuchsia plant!  I was too busy to stop and try to photograph the little hummer, but thought I would surely do it on Friday.

I did sit for a few hours Friday morning at the picnic table, camera in hand. The little hummer never made an appearance! So,  we were able to bless Laurie in several ways with her little visit.

Although I felt a sadness at the close of Kingdom Bound, I also felt so blessed and happy that the day ended with a wonderful concert, and a visit with my friend.

Toby Mac is a “funky white boy” that loves to rap.  Actually, I was told that Toby is turning more Hip Hop…

I have heard some Toby Mac songs and because he has a strong message, I always enjoyed listening to his music. He is a Christian artist that is sold out to Jesus, and he has no qualms about preaching this. The only problem I saw with this concert is that it would be more “youth” oriented.  HA! I had NO idea!

 This young man appeared on the stage along with three backup singers and the band.  I have never seen any performer that was more riveting, nor entertaining! I felt as though I was sitting on the edge of my seat throughout the concert.

 Each concert, there was a person doing deaf interpretation. If one began to watch the interpreter, one could be swept away by the beautiul, graceful moves of interpretation! (the interpreter is on the left side of the stage in this photo) At one point in the concert, Toby Mac went over behind the interpreter, and began doing sign language!

During this concert, the dance moves and gymnastic moves were so spectacularly performed….completely in the middle of singing. No one appeared “breathless” which just seemed too unreal! How anyone could do such strenuous moves and not be gasping for air is hard to comprehend!

During each concert, people were allowed to come forward with their cameras to take photos. Michelle was a bit timid so we got only a few…

This concert was so fabulous, and I noticed many older people “rocking” in their seats. Definitely a “thumbs-up”! And, when the concert came to a close, everyone stood and asked for more! Toby and the group came back and performed not one, but three more songs! He commented they don’t get up north much, so they would give us all they had!

I forgot to add….as the concert progressed, there were a few times when the mike was on the audience when strains of “play that funky music, white boy”" as well as “that’s the way I like it, uh huh, uh huh” played! What a trip!

WOW!  That is my first comment…I remember when I was a little girl, I used to go to Camp Findley.  I would have the time of my life, camping with other kids and making new friends. (Believe it or not, I still have a friend I met there when I was about 12 years old!)  When I returned home from camp, (with GREAT reluctance) I wanted to share everything, but when I *tried*, words just didn’t seem able to explain the intensity of the experience. It was always so disappointing….

Well, I guess that is the same now. The Apostle John said there were no words to describe the things that had been revealed to him when he was given heavenly visions. I guess some things are so spiritually potent, there are no words to tell others!

While Kingdom Bound began on Sunday, we had a few things we needed for our camping adventure, so we shopped a little on Sunday evening and grabbed a pizza and wings for dinner. We were only a short distance from Buffalo, so we ventured off to some of the suburbs and relaxed a bit, knowing the next few days would be filled-to-the-brim!

Kingdom Bound is held at Darien Lake Theme Park Resort. It is an amusement park that seems to be located in the middle of “no where”. The park houses a huge tent called the PAC. (Performing Arts Center) During Kingdom Bound, the park has four different stages set up for bands, with the largest names performing at 9:30 pm, in the PAC. This year, the venu was Casting Crowns on Monday night,  Toby Mac on Tuesday night, and The Newsboys on Wednesday night.  We went to all three concerts and totally enjoyed each one.

During the day, there were even more concerts to attend, as well as workshops. There were tents with all sorts of merchandise to explore.  The entire experience was so stimulating, I think I am still processing some of the events!  The radio station we won the tickets from also had a tent set up where they broadcast in the morning and later in the afternoon.

While I absolutely adore my new Nikon camera, I cannot afford *super lenses* that allow me to take really great photos of performances from a distance, especially with the special effects lighting that everyone now does.  So, I decided not to lug my Nikon to the Casting Crowns concert. Regretfully, I chose not to photograph the Toby Mac concert, either. It was *only* on Wednesday that my brain began to function again, that I realized my Olympus COULD photograph the concerts very well.

What a total DOPE I was!!! Because Mark is disabled, we were able to sit in the first rows to see each concert. We could see so very well, and this was too cool, as the “tent” (hehehe) holds a “mere” 20,000 people! (that is nearly as many people as in my hometown) The sound was nearly deafening, but ears would recover after a good night’s sleep! We had soooo much fun!

I have no pictures at all from the Casting Crowns concert, as I just forgot all about the Olympus camera.  On Tuesday, I wised up (only a bit, I fear) and asked Michelle to take some photos with her Olympus camera. She took only a few, but they were nice. I will do another post about this concert to follow….

Yes! just in case you might have *missed* me, let me tell you, we were on a bit of a vacation! A vacation from house, home, AND technology. Can you believe it? Normally, when we travel, we remain “connected”, but this time, the only time I used my computer was to play Hoyle Word Games

The above picture shows our site we were on from last Sunday until the following Friday morning.  I had won tickets to Kingdom Bound, and we were so excited to go! The only problem was going to be finding a place to park the camper.

Mark looked online and saw that the enitre state park where we usually stay was booked solid. You can actually make reservations for NY state parks 9 months in advance, so the likelihood of any sites coming up was really, really slim.  The next day, Mark looked again, and there were 2 different sites listed as available!

Mark quickly reserved one. As we talked about it, we came to the realization that the site we reserved was generally used for tenting. Mark decided to call the park and talk to them directly. One of the questions he asked was, what if the site was too small for our camper? The girl he spoke to assured him that if that was the case, the park would give us a more suitable site. Hmmm…..

We arrived on Sunday and as we drove into our reserved site, we realized it was WAY too small! The camper would take the entire space with NO place to park the truck. And, there was a small ditch behind the camper, meaning if Mark were to back up too far, the camper would go over!  We went back to the office and one of the girls wrote the numbers of sites that we could choose from.

We drove around the campground, looking over each site. As we drove past #37, we nearly screamed in delight! YES! This is a very long site….we have always seen those BIG class A’s parked in this particular spot. We nearly *flew* to the office in a cloud, claiming site #37 as our new home for the next few days!