Reunion Time!

We moved over to Piney Grove on Wednesday so we would be there for the reunion. Piney Grove is a Corps of Engineers park and a decent place to stay. We are in among the trees, however, so Terry has to fuss with his portable satellite dish in order to get TV reception. But he usually gets what he wants!

We went into town and visited with family members at the Buck Creek Flea Market. That is where Paul, Rusty, and Shirley are during the day. I always like to look around because I usually manage to find something I like. They were all there as were Gary and Jo, so we got to see them all.

We visited for awhile and then Terry, Gary, Jo and I all left on a mission to find an Amish vegetable market up north of Corinth in Tennessee. We did give it the ol' college try, but we never managed to find it, although we drove all over the area. As it was, when we got back and talked with the fellow who had told Terry about it, we found out we were very close and just turned the wrong way on one road. Geesh! I guess that will mean another road trip next time we are there. . . that will be next year. LOL

On Saturday, we met at Ramey's Restaurant in Marietta for the Pace/Stevens reunion. We had 18 there, I think. We had a great time and really enjoyed ourselves. The only person left in our parents' generation (the ones who started the reunion) is Uncle Bob. He, unfortunately, suffers from Alzheimer's and no longer comes to the family gatherings. That is a difficult situation for his children as it is for any family dealing with a loved one with that disease. But he is happy where he is at and that is a good thing. We always enjoy the reunion and hope every year that more of the family members will come.

We spent the rest of the weekend relaxing at the camp and getting ready to break camp on Monday. When we left there, we returned to Red Bay to get our paint work done on two of our bay doors. They got that done on Tuesday and we spent that night in Red Bay, then headed out. It was supposed to rain the day we left and it did. We drove the Natchez Trace and it poured down on us the entire time. I love driving the Trace and it was okay in the rain. There wasn't much traffic and we easily made it to north of Nashville for the night. We stayed at Dad's Bluegrass Camp.

The next day we drove on up to Edinburg, Indiana, and stayed at the Johnson County Park. It is located in what used to be a part of Camp Atterbury. Our first campsite had power problems and we were moved to a site we had used a year or so ago. That worked fine. We shopped a bit at the factory shops down the road. And while we were in the area, we stopped and got carryout at Nick's Diner. There we had their famous tenderloin sandwich. I was not impressed. Terry may have like it better, but I didn't care for it.

We left there and drove to Warsaw and stayed at the fairgrounds for a couple nights and visited with Mom and my sister and husband. Then we headed on up to Elkhart to the campground where we plan to spend the summer.

Till next time. . .

Dale

Reunion Time!

We left Clifton, Tennessee, on Wednesday morning and drove a short distance to Piney Grove Camp on Bay Springs Lake in Mississippi. This lake is one that helps to make up the Tenn-Tom Waterway, aka Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway. We got setup in camp and ready for the week.

We marveled at the weather we were having. Normally it is very, very hot with high humidity with rain, etc. This time, the temps were in the 70's and it was very nice out. We didn't even encounter any mosquitos which was quite unusual.

We drove into Booneville to the flea market that  Shirley and Paul own. We figured they might be there and we were right. We had a great time visiting. We were there soon after they bought it. Shirley has worked at getting things organized and in order. She has done a great job and it's fun to walk through. I even found some things I couldn't live without! LOL

On Saturday we gathered at Ramey's Family Restaurant for the annual Pace/Stephens reunion. We weren't sure how many to expect because the numbers continue to dwindle. Terry's Dad and his brothers and sisters are the ones who started the reunion and when they were all alive, family would come from many states to visit. There were many who are distant relatives. Ma and Pa Pace were each married before and widowed. Each had about five children. Then they married and had five more. So there are "half" brothers/sisters/cousins/nephews/nieces, etc., involved. I cannot keep them all straight, but there are those in the family who do! Thank goodness for them. Since only Uncle Bob is left from the generation that started the reunion, attendance has been dwindling. Uncle Bob is in a care facility and has Alzheimers, so he was not there this year. Even though there are fewer who come, we still had about 16 and we all enjoyed good food and conversation. Hopefully the next generations will continue to come and we can visit with them again. We intend to continue to go. . . it's always held the Saturday before the second Sunday at Ramey's in Marietta. So family. . . mark it on your calendar and plan to be there next year!

Till next time. . .

Dale

Reunion, 2016

We are here in Mississippi for the Pace-Stevens family reunion. We have fewer people who come every year, but we still enjoy visiting with those who do make the effort. We have lost many members since we started coming. We have only missed one time in the last 20 years, I think, since Terry's Dad died. The year we missed was the year we went to Alaska.

The night before the reunion, we visited with Shirley and Paul and Gary and Jo at Shirley's house. Vikki and Johnathon and Preston were there as well. Shirley and Gary are siblings and are first cousins of Terry's. Gary and Jo fixed dinner of pork chops and baked sweet potatoes, so we ate very well. We usually see Gary and Jo a couple times a year because they live close to the path we take when we cross the southern U.S. They live near Baton Rouge, Louisiana, so it's a short drive to their place.

We met Saturday for the reunion at Ramey's Restaurant in Marietta, just down the road from where we used to hold a picnic. Later after we realized it was really too hot to have it outside, we moved over to the Marietta Community Building which was air conditioned and a welcome relief for those of us not accustomed to the humid heat of the south. Now we meet at a restaurant so no one has to cook!

This year Uncle Bob was with us. He is the last remaining child of Ma and Pa Pace, so it's mostly the younger generations that come now. He did not make it last year. He, unfortunately, has Alzheimer's. But he was having a reasonably good day and we got to visit with him. It was good to see him. He is in his mid 80's and appears to be in good health. He was very touched that we all came to celebrate with him.

We came back to the motorhome after the reunion. We were camped at Piney Grove on Bay Springs Lake, which is part of the Tenn-Tom Waterway. That is the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway, a series of lakes, canals, and rivers that link the Tennessee River with the Gulf of Mexico. It's a nice park and we always reserve the same campsite every year. We know we fit well on it and it's easy on and off the site.

After we rested and fed the girls, we went back into Baldwyn and had dinner with Cathy and Bill and their son Matthew and girlfriend Sarah. Cathy and Terry are first cousins as well and she is Uncle Bob's daughter. She made us doughburgers. These are similar to hamburgers, but have a couple extra ingredients and have a little more flavor than a regular hamburger. She knew that I liked them and I really didn't do a good job duplicating them the one time I made them, so it was a special treat to eat hers! We visited with everyone and stayed till after dark before we made our way back to the lake. It's about 22 miles from her house.

We had some lightning on the way back. It almost always storms at least one night when we are there for the reunion, but this year it was all for show. The storms were mostly north of us and we didn't really even get any rain at the camp. We did have one bad/loud/scary thunderclap that sent me and the dogs scurrying for cover while we were out walking. Fortunately we were right near the motorhome, so I got them in easily.

This morning we broke camp and headed into Red Bay, Alabama. We have an appointment at Bay Diesel  at 7 a.m. tomorrow. Ugh. But we want to make it as easy on them as we can and it is super hot here. So the earlier the better. We are staying at a new campground here. It's west of Red Bay, just outside of town by about a block. Full hookup for $20 as are all the sites in Red Bay. Nice gravel and spacious enough sites. We went into town and got our mail and the laundry is running in the bedroom. Life is good. Depending on when Chris gets done with our coach, we may be staying here another night or rolling on north later tomorrow.

Till next time. . .

Dale

Family time!

We left Elkhart Campgound Friday morning, June 3rd, and went to the storage condo for a night. We were able to wash Phaeton Place who has needed a bath for a loooooong time. So now she is clean. . . or at least she was for a day.

We drove down to Warsaw and found a spot at the Kosciusko County Fairgrounds in Warsaw. That is the closest place to Mom and Dad that we can camp, so we settled in and then took off with the girls to visit the folks. They enjoyed seeing Butterscotch and Duchess and the girls enjoyed all the treats Mom gives them when they visit. We got to see their new bathroom. They took out the tub and put in a large shower with the same footprint and put sliding doors on it. Now Daddy can get in and out of it much easier. For Father's Day, Nita and I bought him a shower chair with a back and arms to make it easier for him. He is getting less and less mobile as his back caves in on him, but we are trying to keep him able to do things for himself. They also put in a higher toilet which made a big difference in his ability use it more easily. Hopefully these things will make life a little easier for him and Mom.

We left Sunday morning and headed south. The family reunion is the 11th and we like to get in a few days early to visit with family. Our first night out was spent at a Jellystone campground  in Scottsburg, Indiana. They take Passport America during the week, so we got a great discount and it was a decent park. We rolled on the next morning and spent the next two nights in Amish country in Ethridge, Tennessee.

The campground was a big disappointment. The story is that there is a new owner and they are investing money and things will be better the "next time" we stop. Not sure there will be a next time. It wasn't a bad place, but the sites were narrow and they are in the process of digging for drain lines and water, etc., and it doesn't look like they are working very hard at it. The amenities weren't too bad, but we had full hookups, so it was okay with us. But they certainly charged a high price for those sites, so we won't be back.

We did decided to stay here and take a look around at the Amish in the area. These are Swartzendruber Amish, among the most conservative. They are very different from the Amish in northern Indiana and in the Berlin, Ohio, area we often visit. In those places, the Amish own businesses and don't mind talking with you and sharing a bit about themselves. And they appear to be mostly prosperous. I remember as a child that the Amish farms in northern Indiana appeared many times to be run down and in need of makeovers or just upkeep. Now they look quite different and have beautiful flower gardens and well kept lawns. The Amish in Ethridge appeared more like the Amish I observed long ago. They do not have any stores. . . they do sell goods directly from their homes or stands in their yards. The fruits and vegetables looked very good and I bought some of those. I bought one basket at the local Farmer's Market that was handmade by a deaf Amish man. It is very neat and is signed by the craftsman. The women do not wear the white mesh caps here, but a heavier cloth cap and many times a black bonnet. At one household where we bought goods, all the five children on the porch wore black clothing and caps. They would only talk to transact business, they would not talk otherwise. Very different from others we have met. All of their schools were one room and built the same. A rectangular building with four windows down the side and two outhouses out back. The leaflet I read said they do not have running or hot water in their houses either. Very conservative and different from other Amish we've met. But that is their life and their choice. I might add that my own family is a few generations from low-order Amish. Perhaps that why I find it so interesting to visit their communities and learn what I can about their lifestyle.

Once we left Ethridge, we had an easy 90 mile drive to Bay Springs Lake and Piney Grove Campground. Of course, we took the Natchez Trace which is my favorite drive. We made our usual lunch stop at the rest area on the north side of the Tenneessee River. We figured we have been coming every year for about 20 years, since Terry's Dad died. We had come off and on before that, but try not to miss it now. Most of the older ones no longer come. Many are gone, leaving just the younger generations to carry on the tradition. They aren't always interested, but we still want to come and visit with the cousins and other family in the area.

We drove into Pulaski, Tennessee and found this beauty sitting in a parking lot. We don't know what it is, but it appears she is used. I could live in this, that's for sure.

Last night we drove into cousin Shirley's and had dinner with her and husband Paul, cousin Gary and Jo, Vikki and Jonathon and Preston. It was a great supper and we enjoyed visiting with everyone again.

We went into Booneville and Baldwyn today and visited Paul and Rusty at the flea market. We just missed Gary and Jo who had taken off to go yard sale-ing! We went into town to get some supplies I needed for a craft project and then headed back to the camp. We drove back on the Trace again and stopped at the Indian Mounds. We got back about 3:30. The girls were glad to see us!

Tomorrow is the reunion! We will be leaving a little early so we can visit with the family. We are having it at a restaurant so we don't need to cook anything. Whoo hoo! That's even better!

Till next time. . .

Dale

Time flies . . .

Time flies when you're having fun, right? So it must be doing the slow crawl for us. Motorhome problems continue to plague us and we are about at our wits' end.

On the way to Piney Grove, we stopped at our favorite rest area on the north side of the bridge over the Tennessee River on the Natchez Trace. This was just the day after picking the coach up again from Hill's Truck Service Center in South Bend, Indiana. We noticed after stopping and walking the dogs that we had what appeared to be a leak under the driver's area. Yep, it's a NEW fuel leak. It's not the one that continues to spew fumes into the basement and coach. . . this is a NEW leak created by the "mechanics" at Hill's. We never had any VISIBLE leak until they "fixed" it. Grrrrrr. Well, that still wouldn't keep us from moving so on we went. As soon as we pulled out of the rest area and approached the incline on the bridge the "Check Engine Light" came on. It continued and flashed "Low Coolant" before going out. Hmmmmm. Thanks, Hill's for checking and topping off the coolant. We thought we had finally found a place where we could take the rig up in northern Indiana for service and now are having to rethink that. We have had this before and normally have to add a bit of coolant. Terry runs the Silverleaf Diagnostic System on his laptop and it showed the engine temperature perfect, so we didn't worry about that. We drove on without incident and got into the camp expecting Gary and Jo to be already parked and waiting for us, since we were a day late.

Sad to say, Gary and Jo had cancelled their reservations and were staying at Shirley's. That's not a bad thing. Staying at his sister's is the best place for them since they don't see each other that often. We still got our favorite site and the camp was full. The neighbors camping in "Gary's" site came over and introduced themselves and invited us to share their screen tent and play cards and games. We thanked them. . . southern hospitality at its best. But after the problems we had getting here, we stuck to our site, walked the dogs and relaxed.

We had recently received information from the tax gurus in Texas that they were upping our assessment and taxes on our Texas property and so we filed an appeal. Unfortunately, instead of just making an adjustment, they scheduled a hearing for us. If we were not going to make the hearing, which at this point was 10 days away, we would have to hire a representative (too late to do that) or submit all our data and have it notarized, etc. So I spent the morning preparing the necessary forms and supporting materials. Terry called his cousin Cathy and she has a cousin on the other side of the family who works at a bank and is a notary public. So we went to visit Cathy and her husband Bill and then she drove us to downtown Baldwyn where we met her cousin and she notarized our paperwork. After that we were able to drop it in the mail. Whew. That's done. It required eight copies of everything so that each person on the appeals board could have their own documents. It probably won't even make a difference, but I had to try. Since then, we have talked with other owners in our park and were told of a lawyer who is helping a lot of the winter Texans there; so we will touch base with that attorney this year so that in future years, we will have someone who can help us by remote.

We had a great visit with Cathy and Bill in their "new" house. Her Dad, Uncle Bob, is the last Pace member of his generation. He is Terry's Dad's brother. He is in assisted living and suffers from Alzheimer's. When he moved out, Cathy and Bill moved into his house and have redecorated it. It is lovely and is a beautiful home. They are becoming more comfortable in it I think.

We drove over to Red Bay, always a highlight of our trips to Mississippi. We bought a few things in the camp store. We should have looked around more, because they have built a new customer lounge and we didn't even know it until after we left. But we do go every year, so we will manage to see it next time. 

Saturday we attended the family reunion in Marietta, Mississippi. It was a bit of a disappointment. Uncle Bob was not feeling well, so he didn't come. We had a total of 18 I think. The restaurant venue was actually quite good. The food was good and the family was great. We had hoped by having it at a restaurant and not requiring anyone to cook, there would be a bigger attendance. I hope that more attend next year and in the years to come because we always enjoy seeing everyone. So many have moved away that it is good to touch base with them once a year at least. Terry thinks we could send out invitations and I think that would be a good idea. As the family gets older, it is important for the younger ones to take interest in seeing that we make that contact at least every year.

After the reunion, we went back to camp and spent some time with the dogs and walked them. We headed back to Wheeler later and spent the evening visiting with cousin Shirley and family and cousin Gary and wife Jo. We had a great time visiting. It is always fun to visit with these cousins. Terry has fond memories of spending time in Mississippi when he was little. They always came back for vacations and family events, so he was quite close with these cousins and they remain very special to him.

So, tomorrow will be time to head out. Our plans are to head to Sioux Falls, South Dakota, as our drivers' licenses need to be renewed.

Till next time. . .

Dale

Family Time!

We had a busy end of May with a rally at the Goshen fairgrounds called the Glamarama. It is an FMCA chapter and used to always be held in Berrien Springs, Michigan. We were never able to go to it there, but when they moved it to Goshen, we decided to give it a try. This is the third one and we enjoyed the first two, but this one was a dud. Not a lot in the way of vendors. . . they used two buildings, but probably could have squeezed them into one. They normally give us each $5 worth of "vendor bucks" but this year just got one coupon. Seminars were not much and not as much for women. Usually I have lots of craft things to choose from and nothing interesting this year. The entertainment was good. . . we saw "The Marlins" who are four brothers who sing and play a variety of instruments. They are very good and the piano player is probably better than Jerry Lee Lewis. The last night's entertainment was Sarah Ghetto who is a blind woman with a degree in music education and travels the country doing concerts. She also is very good and sings and arranges all her own music. She plays piano and fiddle and flute. She is a very talented entertainer.

We, of course, got stuck in the infield again. At least it wasn't raining this time, but it had been in the forecast. We were parked all the way down to the end of the stage with no one around us because the power boxes in between us and the rest of the group supposedly didn't work. I found that hard to believe. One year we came in a day earlier and got in the infield. . .this time we came mid day of the parking day and got the infield. There were full hookup sites in the campground that went unused just so we could be in hell's little corner of the world. I asked about those empty sites. . . well, those are for handicapped attendees. Well, I'm not handicapped, but I have enough back problems it's difficult to walk over uneven terrain and very far, so it would have been nice to be closer. They do have golf cart shuttles, but they would look down the line and not even see our coach we were so far out. Often times they never came down to where we were so we would have to walk and hope to catch up with one later. It won't happen again, we aren't going next year.

We left last Sunday to go to Warsaw and see Mom and Dad before heading south for Terry's family reunion. I taught Nita how to make the mesh bags and she got one done. It's really cute. Naturally hers has a dog theme. I don't even have one to show people because I have made all mine for other people. I must get busy and make one for myself.

Before we left Warsaw on Monday, we tried our generator, which is the first time we had tried to start it since paying big bucks for repairs to the fuel lines going to it. It would not start. We didn't panic, thinking perhaps since we were down on fuel that was the problem. So we decided to head to South Bend where we had the work done and if taking on more fuel didn't solve the problem, we would see what they had to say.

We stopped at a truck stop to fuel and they had high-speed pumps. We almost always fuel using these, but this time Terry got a bath when the fuel WHOOSHED out at him. Great. . . we couldn't even take on fuel. He tried squeezing and releasing and managed to get three gallons in it before giving up. So now we know we are headed to South Bend because we won't be able to travel with no fuel. Terry gets on the phone to them and they insist they can't do anything that day and we should just "camp" for a few days till they can work us in. Terry was very diplomatic but insistent and finally got a commitment from a supervisor that he would see what he could do. We went over to Elkhart Campground to spend the time till we heard back. Later in the day we received a call that we were to have to coach to them by 7:30 a.m. Tuesday morning.

And so it went. We spent the day doing laundry and going out to eat since we didn't have any food with us. Terry checked in around 2 only to discover they didn't know anything. Later they called and said they couldn't find the fuel lines for the generator. A+ mechanics there, I tell you. And this is a Freightliner Service Center. So he told them to call the Onan service center in Elkhart and gave them the number. We didn't have much hope we would see the coach that day, but they are open till 11 p.m. We went out to dinner and on the way back they called and said it was done at 6:30. So off we went again. Well, the generator started and they had steamed off the fuel tanks. Said that when they dropped them the first time and put them back up, they had kinked both fuel inlet hoses and the generator hoses had popped off. So every time we tried to start the generator, fuel would spew out those loose lines.

We took off and spent the night at Potato Creek State Park. This is a lovely park, but I have to tell the state of Indiana that your parks won't get our business anymore. They charge $9 ($7 for in-state) for out of state visitors just to go through the gate and another $24 to camp for 30 Amp electric. . . making that a total of $33 a night to camp with a little bit of power. This is way above the norm and I contend that if you waived that gate fee for campers you would be much fuller every night. Now we KNEW about the gate fee, but we really didn't have a choice that night because we didn't want to drive on at 8:30 at night.

We were up early Wednesday morning and on the road by 7:30. We did fuel quickly and all worked well. We drove 450 miles and spent the night in Lebanon, Tennessee, at Shady Acres, which was another dumpy campground. But we got to camp at the front and had 50 Amp FHU for $24. . . hear that Indiana? We left there yesterday morning and drove on down to Piney Grove Camp in Mississippi. This is always a great stop and we have good power for $11 a night. The dogs like it here, walking and hunting squirrels at the same time.

Today will be a relaxing day. Tomorrow is the reunion and we are anxious to see everyone. We are having the event at a restaurant this year instead of having a carry in. Hope more people show up!

We hope the coach is fixed. We still had to wash the car due to fuel blowing back on it. Hope that is just residue from the earlier problems, but will reserve judgment till we are sure.

Till next time. . .

Dale