Vacation

 I know it's been awhile since I posted, but I am having one heck of a time uploading pictures.  If I take them on my phone I have to download them to my picture folder then upload them into Picassa then hope I can transfer them into here.  It is a lot easier with my i-pad, but I didn't use it so much on vacation because it is bigger and bulkier.

We had a great vacation this year, though the house was a huge disappointment.  Advertised as "an extremely upscale home," it was anything but.  The deck furniture was old and rusty, the air conditioning did not cool the house, the internet did not work, the windows were dirty, the oven was filthy, the dishwasher broke, and the decks had nails sticking out which cut Erin and Corinne's  feet. In addition, when we arrived there was dried blood on the deck and down the steps.  Since there was no hose at the house, John bought a hose, scrub brush and bleach and cleaned the decks.  He also shoveled out all of the sand that was accumulated around the pool when we arrived.  On Friday a young fellow came to clean the pool, saying he was the owner, and complained because there was sand in the pool.  John told him there was no hose to clean and rinse the decks, and he had to buy one to wash the sand away from the pool.  The young man said they did not have a hose because the renters left the water running and ran up their bills.  A little while after he left John went down to the pool and realized the young man had stolen the hose John had bought!  I called the real estate company and they contacted him and told him to bring back our hose, which he did sometime in the middle of the night.  In spite of the problems with the house, everyone got along great and we had a memorable vacation.  Next year, we are staying at a new house in Orange Beach, which is about ten miles from Gulf Shores.  It is right on the Alabama/Florida border.  Here are some pictures from the week: