Ronan's arrival!

Ronan, Jocelyn, Tom and Jericho arrived last Thursday about 12:30 a.m., having driven non-stop from Charlottesville, Virginia. It wouldn't have been a difficult drive had the last 160 miles not been done in a driving rainstorm. But they arrived safely and I knew they were coming, so I camped out in the recliner and cat-napped so I could get a hug from my grandson as soon as they got here. At 14 1/2 months, he is a little wary of strangers, but it doesn't take him long to warm up. He is such a cutie, as I'm sure all grandparents feel about their grandbabies, so I am no exception in that department. He isn't quite walking, but "cruises" around tables and furniture, so you have to keep a constant eye on him. I had to go out and buy foam "corners" for the one coffee table in the living room as the corners are extemely sharp. We also took one of those "noodles" for swimming pools and slit it lengthwise down one side. We slipped that over the front edge of the table and that made a nice tight fit on the table and protected him from getting hurt.

Ronan particularly likes Neal, our handicapped Scottie, who he calls "ki" shorty for kitty. We keep telling him dog, but I think because of Neal's white fur, he thinks kitty. He has now started to call him "daw. ." short for dog. Neal is a rescue, surrendered because he supposedly bit a child. Neal cannot escape situations due to his disability, so we watch him carefully with the baby, but he has done nothing but show a little curiosity about Ronan. We don't let Ronan crawl on him or anything, but it is cute to see the two interact. Neal likes people and is socialable, preferring the company of his humans rather than the other dogs.

Thursday evening I went with the kids to see Uncle Bill and Aunt Francis in Niles, Michigan. Terry stayed home with the dogs. Jerry suffers from separation anxiety, so someone has to stay with him all the time. Uncle Bill was glad to see the kids and to see Ronan for the first time. Uncle Bill is recovering from lung cancer and the latest report is that the cancer is gone. Truly an answer to prayer. He has suffered some strokes and so his speech is a little difficult for him, but we have no trouble understanding him.

Saturday evening we had all my family in. . . or as many as could make it. Jocelyn's cousins came: Staci and family (they have Collin, the preemie baby I wrote about earlier and Breanna), Michelle and family with their 2 girls, Al (Carie's husband--she had to work) with their 3 boys, Kellie and her friend Ryan. Then my sister Nita and hubby, Nancy (sister-in-law) and hubby Tom, and my Mom and Dad. Whew! We had grilled chicken, brats, pigs-in-blankets for the kids, homemade macaroni and cheese, baked beans, rolls, quinoa salad, fresh fruit with dip, veggies with dip and cake. Everything was wheat/gluten/soy free because of Jocelyn's allergies. That way we could pass babies around without worrying about any allergic reactions.

We had worked hard the week before and got the basement family room all cleaned up and cleaned out so the kids would have a place to play. Boy am I glad we did. They had a lot of fun. The dogs survived and all is well.

Jocelyn, Tom and Ronan left Sunday for the Indiana Dunes National Seashore. We are keeping Jerry with us as they cannot take him out on the beach. He is sticking to me like glue. . . and I do mean glue. I have to be careful walking because he has to be touching me. Bailey is not sure he likes that, so I have two dogs on me. . . one on each side. Jerry brought his bed with him but has yet to sleep in it. Neal likes it and makes sure he is the first to the bedroom at night so he can get to it first. Last night Bailey wanted his turn and Neal was not yielding, so Bailey joined him in the bed, which made Neal extremely nervous. We got a picture of them as Bailey was exiting. Bailey only left because he doesn't like his picture taken, not because he was yielding. It was quite funny. We still put our boyz in their pen with their beds and let Jerry have his, although so far he has opted to sleep next to our bed.

We have had a few minor disagreements, primarily between Bailey and Jerry, but nothing major and things are going quite smoothly. The kids are due back tomorrow sometime, then they will be heading back to Virginia.

The last shot is Ronan in his new Bass Pro Shop camp chair which we got him.

Till next time. . .

Dale

A great story!

Last summer around Labor Day, my niece Staci went into early labor and delivered her baby boy, Collin, 7 weeks premature. Babies this young at one time would never survive outside the womb, but Collin's cord had collapsed and he wasn't going to make it unless he was born and took his chances in the outside world. While he was very tiny at just over 2 pounds, he didn't have other complications and was able to go home several weeks later. The last time I saw him before we left for the the winter was in an incubator. Last week I went over to their house and got to see little Collin and big sister Breanna. Collin is trying hard to crawl and kind of rocks on the floor. He is such a cutie and seems real interested in going after anything Breanna has out to play with. It is a wonderful thing that we have the technology to help these babies and we are all thankful little Collin is such a fighter.

Till next time. . .

Dale

About to get my Ronan fix!

Grandson Extraordinnaire Ronan and his Mom and Dad and doggie Jericho are coming for a visit. They will leave Virginia tomorrow morning and will be here either late tomorrow night or sometime on Thursday. I am so excited to see them all, but at almost 15 months, Ronan is the one who changes almost daily. His Grandma Sharon gets to see him more often as they are closer and she sends me lots of pictures. Ronan is so fortunate to have great parents and two sets of really great grandparents as well.

Yesterday we did a lot of running around. We had the pickup loaded with stuff from out of the basement destined to Good Will. A lot of this stuff was left over from our push to full time. That job is just so overwhelming, as many of you know, and since we had an empty basement in which to store stuff, that is where a lot of it went. We have probably taken well over 10 pickup loads to GW loaded with our stuff and stuff left over from Terry's parents. We have taken a load or two to the landfill and another couple loads to recycling. We are pretty much down to the nitty gritty now. I have so many cases of photos. My plan was to scan them all into the computer and put them on DVD's. That has yet to happen however.

My sister Nita and husband Jim brought our enclosed trailer up from their woods on Sunday. It is such a nice trailer and we bought it when we were moving all this household stuff. They are expensive to buy, but resale isn't so great, so we decided to keep it. Jim and Nita were building their house and Mom and Dad had yet to move, so we figured it would get plenty of use. We were right. It is now in the drive hooked up to the Sport Trac loaded with furniture and Brandon's stuff. In a few weeks we will be headed to Florida to take it to Brandon's new house. He is getting a dining room set and a futon and then his boxed stuff he never had room for before. I am sure a lot of the stuff he will just pitch, but it is his stuff and he will need to make that decision.

Actually when we leave here, Terry and I will be caravanning with Phaeton Place. She has to go to Red Bay, Alabama, to get a new refrigerator, so we are driving the truck/trailer and the motorhome to Alabama where we will leave the motorhome. From there we will head straight to Florida with the trailer and help Brandon out with some minor work on his new house. Once we are done there, we head back to Alabama, pick up Phaeton Place and head north. Once back up here, we will be at the Elkhart Campground. Our work on the apartments is finished for the year, but our "storage unit" needs some work, so it will be easier to work on it when we are not staying here.

Till next time. . .

Dale

My job as supervisor. . .

Today the window guys arrived right on time. . . 9 a.m. We are having all new replacement windows put into a duplex. Ten windows, then they will wrap all the sashes on those and the sliding glass door, so there is never any trim to paint. Yay!!!!! They will have all the windows in by 10:30 and be done by 1 p.m. This is the second duplex we've had done. They did one last year for us and we are so pleased with the results. The tenants are very happy with the windows and they aren't drafty like the old ones. If you are going to have rentals and keep good tenants, you must maintain your properties and that is what we strive to do. This is the same duplex we had to replace the roof on this year. Ouch! We had not planned that expense, as the roof was only 8 years old. Terry's mother had it put on and without someone supervising the work, there were some things done incorrectly. As a result, the heavy snows here this past winter created a terrific snowload on the roof. Some decking had been run incorrectly and some rafter repair done haphazardly; and, as a result, we had a swag in the roof. Probably would have been devastating if we have another winter like last, so we made the decision to replace the entire roof. It is a good thing we did, because it was poorly done underneath. It is now repaired properly and will last 30+ years. This duplex has gotten all the attention this year. We just had a central air unit go out on the one side and the bad news is it must be completely replaced. . . there is no fixing it. But the unit there lasted 30 years. We do have a yearly maintenance we do on the heating/AC systems, so that has no doubt increased the longevity.

Our window guy cannot believe the condition of our apartments. He believes we are too cheap on the rent, but there is a reason for that. If your rent is reasonable, you can get good people with steady incomes and they won't want to leave. If you charge too much, you get people for a year or two, then they move on. We don't like turnover, so when we get tenants, we like to keep them. A little less for rent pays off by having tenants who are long term and take care of the properties as they would their own home. And there is considerable expense when you have to keep renting and re-renting. We love our tenants and they love us.

Well, gotta' run back down there and check on the progress. Will take a picture or two.

Till next time. . .

Dale

Working Hard. . .

We are in Goshen, staying over at the apartments. We have some work to get done in the next couple weeks. Still working on cleaning out the storage locker, sorting through stuff to take to Brandon's house in Florida in a few weeks.

Phaeton Place is in the driveway, but we are getting stuff out of her to take her over to the campground for the next few weeks. The refrigerator is getting replaced, so we thought while we are here we would just get it unloaded so we wouldn't have to rush to do it later. We also are going to take out the recliners and the file cabinet which sit in front of the escape window in the living room. The repair guys are going to appreciate having a clear shot getting the refrigerator out that window and the new one in. They aren't going to have to climb over any furniture.

We had what appears to be an air conditioner compressor go out in one of our rental units today so Terry checked it out. We had to call our heating/AC contractor and they will be out on Monday for the repair. It may have to be replaced. Then on Wednesday, one of the duplexes is getting all new windows. The workers will be here at 9 a.m. and out by 4 p.m. with everything done and cleaned up. The tenants are anxious to get their new windows in.

The weather has been different here than what we had down south. It is cool in the evenings, requiring jeans if you are out. Mornings are cool and warm up. Then today we had intermittent thundershowers in the afternoon and it got cool again, down to 63*. After that the sun came out and it has gotten hot again. Hmmmm. We had a storm go through last night about 2 a.m. I think. I heard the wind and was going to get up and check it out, but stayed in my nice warm bed instead.

Monday my parents are coming here in the afternoon to visit and will stay for supper. We will throw something on the grill and have some veggies. It will be good to see them.

My hip is feeling better, but only time will tell if this shot did the trick. I am doing my stretching exercises three times a day and icing it down afterwards. Sure hope it works.

Till next time. . .

Dale

What are friends for. . . but to share your troubles with. . .

Well, our friends Janice and Dean have been posting about their troubles with their motorhome engine. At least it hasn't sidelined them for long. We felt so bad for them, we decided to have our own troubles. . . just so we could share their "joy."

We left "near" Indianapolis today for a 160 mile run to Goshen/Elkhart. We got to Wabash, which is about half way and several trouble lights lit up on the dash. Terry was driving as I was still nursing my aching hip and generally feeling sorry for myself. The "shift inhibit" light was lit, and sure enough, we were stuck in 2nd gear, running about 2500 rpms. So we limped into the new Wal-Mart with its HUGE parking lot and parked across the curb in front. . . well away from any other cars and right in front of the sign that read "NO RV OR SEMI PARKING." Well, we didn't have any choice, that's for sure. Rather than call Coach-Net, after our dismal experience in February with them, we thought we would start with Tiffin. Tiffin said to call Freightliner, Freightliner said to call Allison and Allison said to call the service center in Fort Wayne, the nearest one. We had not turned off the motorhome because it was in 2nd gear, would not go into neutral and we knew if it stayed that way, we would not be able to start it again. At this point, I went into Wally World and asked to speak to the manager. I told him we had a breakdown and knew they didn't want us there, but we most likely would have to be towed and no telling when that would happen. He was very gracious and said it was no problem and he would alert the night manager. Thanks, Ryan.

The service center in Fort Wayne gave us to "Mike" who just happens to be the trainer for Allison transmissions in the motorhome factories. Did he know his stuff? Hah. Imagine calling and 20 minutes later getting someone who KNOWS WHAT HE IS TALKING ABOUT. He told Terry we needed to shut off Phaeton Place and that when he did that, it would default to neutral and would start again, but would be stuck in first gear. He also said he had a tow service well qualified to tow the motorhome, but asked Terry to try something first. He had him read him the trouble codes off the transmission. Then he sent him out under the back end of the coach to find the sensor that was involved. It happened to be handy and LOOSE. Terry tightened it but was sure by the feel of it something was perhaps broken inside. It was the connector that was bad. Terry thought he may have tightened it up enough. We got back in the coach, started it up and started rolling. Mike said if it shifted into second gear, we were good to go. It did and we were! We called Mike back and since we knew the connector needed to be replaced, asked if his center could do it. He said yes, but not sure if it would be today or tomorrow. So we headed for Ft. Wayne, only about an hour away.

When we got closer, I called Mike to verify the exit number and we were only 3 miles away. He said, "Well, since you are so close, I will just hang around and fix it when you get here." What a class act. We got there, he came out and fixed it in about 20 minutes. The paperwork took longer. It was $157.00 which I will be turning in as it is under warranty. They don't do Freightliner warranty, but I wasn't going to be picky. I just cannot believe it yet. . . that he walked Terry through the fix over the phone, then stayed put for us and fixed it right then. We gave him a tip and will be putting up a review on rvservicereviews.

We made it to Goshen at 4:30, a little late, but not really stressed . . . and I forgot about my hip hurting most of the afternoon. Yay!

Till next time. . .

Dale

Really "HIP" today!

Well, I'm still hurting. A little bit differently, but it still hurts. Yesterday we went to the hip specialist at OrthoIndy. He is a great doctor and I have seen him before when I thought I was having hip trouble, but it turned out to be sciatica. My sciatica is under control, thanks to accupuncture, but having fallen badly on my hip last December has created new pain.

The doctor ordered xrays which I had right there and fortunately, nothing appears to be broken or cracked, which was a surprise/relief to me. The bad news is I have trochanteric bursitis in the hip and he said that can be very difficult to heal. He said the initial treatment would be to inject cortisone, but I had a shot in April and he really didn't like to do it so soon. However, the shot I had in April was with a tiny needle like an insulin syringe and about a half-inch of serum. Terry was watching and said he couldn't believe that little bit would cause me the relief I had for 3-4 weeks. This shot was using a syringe about three-eighths inch in diameter about 2-3 inches long and much more serum than last time. In addition, he pressed around to find the painful spot and when he plunged in that needle, he apparently got right in the middle of it. I really groaned and had to have flinched. His only comment was, "I guess I hit that hot spot, huh?" I think that was what he was hoping, but man, did that ever hurt. It didn't linger, though. As soon as he finished, which was quite quickly, the pain was over. Course, then the aching started. We planned to go to the casino last night, but I was pretty miserable.

The doctor also put me on celebrex for one month and I have to ice my hip 3 times a day and do some stretching exercises. He hopes that does the trick. He said this is the most common hip injury and he sees about 10 cases a day. If I still am having trouble in a month, he said to call back and he will order an MRI. If there happens to be some soft tissue damage, then we will look at other options. He said there aren't many surgical options, but depending upon what might be torn, there are some other treatments, including surgery to repair.

We are headed north from Indy to Goshen today. We will park Phaeton Place in the drive and move into the house for a few weeks. We have to empty the refrigerator in the motorhome as it is getting replaced at Red Bay in a few weeks. We also will be loading the enclosed trailer for the run to Florida with a bunch of Brandon's stuff. He has a house bigger than our "storage facility" in Goshen, so he will get to go through everything and can toss/keep what he wants.

So today we have a travel day. I suspect that will involve mostly Terry behind the wheel so I can prop my leg up.

Till next time. . .

Dale

A little wet in Indiana

We left Shepherdsville, Kentucky, around 9 a.m. amid and between rain and thundershowers. Just when it looked like it was clear, it started again. But the rain wasn't hard and the wind wasn't blowing. . . just summer rainshowers.

I took the helm as we were headed to Louisville and over the bridge and I try to do all the "white knuckle" driving, although Terry has actually been doing some. For a long time it was really stressful for him, but I don't mind. The river was up a little, but I expected flooding, which we did not see. I guess the rains have all been farther north. We did see the east fork of the White River north of Seymour and the fields there were pretty flooded. You could see where the water had been, and it had been quite high. We switched drivers at the first rest stop in Indiana becaue I wanted to take some pictures of the flooding, but there was very little visible from the interstate.

I will say that on our travels this month we see so many fewer RV's than normal. In the past, there were so many on the roads all during the day. You didn't drive a mile without seeing a couple coming at you and driving with you. Not so now. I think a lot of people are electing to stay home instead of spending money on fuel and others are staying close to home and not spending time traveling days to get to their destination. The RV dealers' lots are full to the brim with new and used RV's.

We are at the GloWood Campground north of Indianapolis. We are here so I can go see the hip specialist on Wednesday. I am anxious to go and find out what is wrong with it. I hope it will just require some rest, but whatever it takes, we will deal with it.

Till next time. . .

Dale

Waiting on Weather

Yesterday we left Red Bay at 5:30 a.m. Yes, you read that correctly! Our work in Red Bay was finished. However, we were not happy with the repair done on the shower, so we asked to go to Iuka, Mississippi, to the Waterway Plastics Company. They are a Tiffin affiliated company and make all the front and end caps and the showers. So, Wade, the Tiffin service manager made an appointment for us. They weren't actually open on Friday, but they brought someone in just to do our shower. Robin took care of us and since we were about 25 minutes early and she was already there, she got started early. We were out of there by 9 a.m. which was much quicker than we had expected.

We had a list of stuff to be done and all but one item was actually completed. Norcold has decided to change out our refrigerator. I have not had any trouble with it, but cracks are developing in the box at the bottom. The first crack encircles the hinge and it is spidering out from there. I figured they would just slap some tape on it and wait for it to get bigger. But the warranty is up in December, so they said change it out. It has to be ordered and would take 5-7 days so we will take Phaeton Place back down when we go to Florida next month and leave it for the refrigerator to be installed, then we will pick it up on the way home.

We drove up the Natchez Trace to Nashville again, my favorite drive. It was beautiful and there were some dark clouds at different places which really made for a pretty landscape. We stopped at one rest area as it started to rain and had lunch. It rained quite hard but it had subsided by the time we were ready to leave. We ended up driving all the way to Shepherdsville, Kentucky, as campgrounds along the way were either full or not too good for a 40'er with 4 slides. We are in Grandma's RV Park just off I-65. We were going to leave tomorrow, but it is quite nice here and we have decided to stay another day and head north to Indianapolis on Monday. There is a lot of flooding in central Indiana around Columbus and they were expecting more rain. We thought we'd give the weather time to clear before make that run. My appointment with the hip doctor is Wednesday, but we will have to pick up mail and will probably run some errands in Indy. We will be staying at the Glo-Wood campground north of Indy, near Fortville.

In other news, son Brandon has bought a house in Melbourne, Florida. He closed on it yesterday. We have rejoiced with our kids on their first home purchases. We know how important owning their own home is to them and it is quite satisfying as parents to see our children realize their dreams. Congratulations to both Jocelyn and Brandon for reaching that milestone!

Till next time. . .

Dale

Phaeton Place is Home!!!!!

Yes, Phaeton Place was born in Red Bay, Alabama, home of Tiffin Motorhomes. We are here for her yearly checkup and most of the items on our list were addressed today. Still have a couple things left to do and it looks like we may be getting a new refrigerator. The box is cracking on ours; looks like stress fractures and since we have the extended warranty, better to get it replaced now.

There are still building motorhomes here, although we have heard they are on a reduced schedule, but the service bay techs are busy working on coaches, so that is good.

Today we just hung around the lounge as it was probably in the 90's here and we thought the dogs would be more comfortable in the air conditioning. They both got baths last night, so that meant Neal has been mad at me all day. But he has to appreciate being more pleasantly fragranced today than yesterday. Ho ho.

We sat and talked with other Tiffin owners and the general feeling here is always upbeat. I guess that's because we want the techs to do a good job, so we try and keep things "light."

I got my kitchen worked on. My cabinets were "falling." A support block underneath the kitchen cabinets had broken and the cabinets started to sag. Terry was sure he could fix it, but he was afraid of breaking the solid surface countertop. At least if the tech broke it, he would have it to fix. It appears he got the job done without damaging the counter. We also had 3 windows replaced and some other little stuff fixed. You just can't put this much on a chassis and run it down the road without something jiggling loose. We will probably be here for another couple days.

The Pace-Stephens reunion was last Saturday. . . and it was another great time. There were 41 who signed the book this year, but we know of at least ONE (right Uncle Bob?) who didn't sign. We did vote to try and get a building next year which is air conditioned. The community building just up the hill may be the site next year if it hasn't already been scheduled. It would be nice to have it inside as it has been really hot the last couple years and we are hoping more people will get out to come if they know they will be comfortable.

We have some friends who are out in the Cape Hatteras area volunteering at a wildlife habitat and we had thought about going out there to visit when we get done here. Many of you know, however, that I fell last December and injured my hip. I struggled with it until April when my doctor gave me a cortisone shot. It isn't any better and it has been getting much worse. Last week on the boat, I hurt it again and yesterday I did the same. I try very hard not to hurt it, but a little trip or mis-step sends pain shooting through the hip and down the leg. It takes about 12 hours and lots of motrin to get to walk again with only a slight limp. I do have an appointment next week with my hip specialist in Indianapolis I had seen before. I don't know what he will find, but something has to be wrong. It may mean a change in our fall plans depending upon what he finds and what he recommends as a course of treatment. But whatever, it will be a temporary diversion and then we will continue on our way.

Till next time. . .

Dale

Bay Springs Lake, Mississippi

Note: This post was made June 6, but since I didn't have internet access at the lake, I had to wait until today to post.

Yesterday we left J. Percy Priest Lake at Nashville, but not before I got a couple pictures of the lake. Really pretty, but it was windy and very rough the days we were there.

We drove around Nashville and picked up the Natchez Trace Parkway for the run down to Bay Springs Lake (Mississippi) on the Tenn-Tom Waterway—that’s the Tennessee Tombigbee. I have pictures of this waterway while it was under construction. The first year we were married, 1971, Terry’s parents brought us down to Mississippi for Thanksgiving for me to meet the relatives. Terry and I went exploring on our own and we came over to where they were digging this huge ditch. Someday I will drag out those old pictures and show them side by side with the current ones.

We stay at the Piney Grove Campground when we are in the area as it is the closest campground to the relatives, although it is some 30 miles away. It is a comfortable campground, a COE park, so we camp quite cheaply. We have water and 50Amp electric, but no sewer.

Today we ran into Booneville, Mississippi, to Wal-Mart for some supplies and stopped off to see Terry’s cousin Shirley briefly. It is always good to see her and we also got to see Preston, her grandson. Since he won’t be at the reunion tomorrow, it was good we stopped in and visited with him.

We are back at the camp now and it looks like we are going to take a nap. Hah. That’s what you get to do when you retire. . . NOTHING, if it suits your fancy!

Till next time . . .

Dale

The Music City

We are in Nashville, arriving yesterday afternoon at the J. Percy Priest Lake, a reservoir of about 14,500 acres. It is a very nice campground, very heavily wooded, so none of our satellite systems work, but. . . hey, we like to rough it sometimes. Hah.

Last evening we drove downtown into Nashville and went by the LP stadium. This week is some sort of music festival and they are having some big name entertainment, but we are leaving tomorrow, headed to the family reunion, so we won't get in on that. We also went down to Centennial Park and I got pictures of the Parthenon, a full-scale replica of the one in Greece. It even has a 42' statue of the goddess Athena, like the original. It is quite impressive. The building houses Nashville's art museum and was built in 1897 in celebration of the town's centennial. We will come back another time and do some browsing there.

Today we shopped at Opry Mills. Found a few things we couldn't do without and then it was laundry time. Nothing too exciting about that, but when you are without full hookups for 2 weeks, it kind of stacks up. Terry left me at the laundromat and went back to feed the dogs their supper, then came back to get me. We have been sitting outside in the breeze until just a few minutes ago.

It is very pleasant here and definitely a place to return to. It is full, however, and the hosts tell us it is filled to capacity most every night. I guess that is because of its proximity to Nashville and the reasonable rates, since it is an Army COE park. The other parks closer into town charge $35-$50 a night.

Till next time. . .

Dale

The Air Chair!

Several of my readers have asked about the air chair. Here is the link:

http://www.airchair.com/

This shows exactly what these people were doing on the lake. They were flipping way high up in the air. They are strapped into the chair and wear helmets and lifejackets. Now I used to ski in a ski show, but I would not do this. I might try the chair, but no flips!

Till next time. . .

Dale

A good day on the lake.

Yesterday and today were supposed to be wrought with thunderstorms all day. Yesterday we worked on the jetski, trying to get it running a little better. We finally got that accomplished and fortunately didn't have any nasty weather. It did start lightning later in the evening, but nothing happened. I awoke about 2:30 a.m. thinking I had heard thunder. The dogs were sleeping in their pen and hadn't heard anything, but I started to hear a couple sprinkles on the roof. I knew we had not set our lawn chairs inside and so I went outside and put them both into a basement hatch. About a half hour later I heard Bailey dancing around and I got up and let him out of the pen. It was lightning and I could see it through the front curtains and Bailey doesn't like that, but he was content to come back to the bedroom and lay down on the floor beside my side of the bed. Neal never did wake up and while it did sprinkle some, there was no storm or big deluge.

Today was overcast all morning, but we decided to head out on the boat this morning and go over to Sulphur Creek for lunch. The first picture is our boat in its slip and the second is backing out of our slip behind the Sunset Dock Marina. We weren't even away from the idle zone when we saw a boat with a family and the two young boys were taking turns paddling. We pulled up within talking distance and asked if they needed help. They did; their boat wouldn't start. We asked if we could tow them into the dock. They weren't that far away, but it still would have been a couple hours before they could have gotten in. . . and if weather set in, they would never get there. So we tied them on and pulled them in. They were very appreciative and offered to pay, but I would never take money from someone I helped. I told them no, just offer the same to us if they find us stranded! The lake is so deserted right now and the marinas are hurting because of the high fuel prices. People are not boating. One of my fears was that we would get out on the lake, break down, and no one would be there to help us; so I am glad we were able to help this family.

We rode on out into what I call the "big water" and made it over to Sulphur Creek for lunch. We were the only ones in there eating, but while we were there, two other families came in. No one in the shops either. I really hate to see this because one thing you need if you are on the lake are services of some kind. . . primarily fuel, but also food and shopping. That's what makes a day on the lake so much fun.

We did a lot of riding around to other docks we used to frequent when the kids were with us. On the way to Holly Creek, we saw 15 houseboats all docked together. They were so close, you could walk across the back ends of the boats. They had a couple signs that indicated it might be a school reunion, but at the dock, they said it was a church group. I kind of doubt that was the church group because one of the banners said, "Party Animals." Ho ho.

The skies continued to look ominous the entire time we were out, with only a bit of sunshine, but we never did have inclement weather. On our way back to the dock, we saw a couple of the ski show participants in their "air chairs." It's hard to get a picture when you are moving in opposite directions. We came in and got the boat in the slip and all buttoned up, all the while listening to thunder and watching some pretty dark clouds. But here we sit some 3 hours later and we still haven't had any rain or storms. I'm not complaining, just making an obversation.

We are in for the evening now. For the first time today, the sun is out, very brightly and it has cooled off a little. A nice evening to sit outside.

Till next time. . .

Dale

A Summer Chorus!

I thought I had heard cicadas before. . . and I have. But nothing compares to the noise they are making down here on the lake. I had always heard people talk about them before and I never thought their songs were that extraordinary. But I have never really heard them like this before. It reminds me of the spaceship sounds in an old Buck Roger's movie. Kind of a metallic whirring sound. It is so loud! Today we were out on the boat and you could hear the sound over the roar of the boat engine.

Speaking of boats. . . we got out on it today! Yay! Yesterday was an overcast day with some misting and it never got up to 70 degrees. Today dawned cloudy and cool, but the forecast was for sun and 70's, so we took the weatherman at his word. At 12:30 we pulled out of the campsite with the boat in tow and headed for the ramp. We set it in the lake like old pros and took off for a leisurely drive up the Obey (won ken-o-bee) River to East Port Marina. We had the boat serviced this spring and some needed maintenance and boy does she ever run smooth. Starts right up and we had a great drive. We stopped at the marina and got an ice cream cone and then started back.

Once we got back to Sunset Dock we went inside to rent a slip so we won't have to take the boat in and out every day. Then we continued our ride for another hour or so, watching the "air chair" riders back in Eagle Creek. They were really good.

We arrived back to a more populated campground. We have been amazed at how few people are in the campground. It has been only about one quarter full, but there are a few more people now, probably here for the weekend. There are even fewer people on the lake. There were only 3 or 4 boats we saw on our way up the Obey and about that many back in the creek. We didn't pass any on the way back to the creek. There aren't even many fishermen out. I think the fuel costs are keeping people from enjoying their hobbies.

Till next time. . .

Dale

Dale Hollow Lake!

Fortunately the weatherman is wrong again, as he has been most days out of the last month. Yesterday we left the FMCA headquarters where we stayed over the weekend. It is a very nice camp and there were about 8 campers in there, so we had people to visit with. We drove on down to Obey River Campground at Dale Hollow Lake near Byrdstown, Tennessee. We arrived right at 2 p.m. and we were still dry although the rains were supposed to have started at 9 a.m.

We got to our site right away and got backed down the 200 feet to the site. It is a long way to back, but Terry is so good at it and even though there was a motorhome behind us waiting, it didn't take long. I had parked the little truck out of the way, so as soon as we cleared the drive, the traffic went on by. The site has the longest drive of any site here, but that is very useful if we have to get our boats out. We got all set up and let the dogs out. I sat out for a little bit and had the awnings out. I noticed a little wind kick up, and debated about putting the awnings in. If you have ever been here, you know how quickly a storm can come up. Actually I don't think that they come up quickly, but because of the hills and valleys, you cannot see it coming. It was clouding up and a stiff breeze came through and I decided to put everything in just in case it decided to blow hard. Just as I was putting the awning in, the wind gusted and I am glad I started when I did. The wind was fierce against the door, but I got everything in and shut the door just as the storm hit. We are backed into a site that has slopes on two sides, so we are quite sheltered from the wind, but we did have quite a storm. Fortunately, it was over in a hurry.

Today dawned a little cloudy, but 71 degrees. Not bad. Finally some warm weather. I didn't think we would ever find it. We gathered tools to change the numbers on the boats. Since we are garaging them in Tennessee, we have titled them here and had not been back to change the numbers. So we took our goo remover and a hairdryer. We wanted to do a really good job, so it took a couple hours to do both the jetski and the boat, but they are all done and the numbers look good. Maybe tomorrow I can add a picture of them.

After a quick lunch, we started hauling the boats down to the campsite. This afternoon, we took the ski out for a spin. It ran pretty rough at first, but it has been 3 years since either has been run. We did have a mechanic go through both of them this spring, but the ski just needed to be run. It ran best wide open and Terry said it needed it, so he let me go out by myself and I had a blast. After I ran awhile, I went back to the dock and Terry took over and we drove over to Eagle Creek. There we saw a guy on an "air chair." I have never seen anyone ride one like he did. Wow! He was turning flips and really flying in the air. It was pretty spectacular.

Tomorrow we plan to take the boat out. It is here at the camp and we have it ready to go. Am anxious to get out and see the lake. We stayed very close to the dock with the ski. Let's hope the weatherman is wrong again for tomorrow and we have blue skies like we did today.

Till next time. . .

Dale

On our Way!

We left the campground in Elkhart Thursday morning and took Phaeton Place to the house so Terry could change the oil in the generator. Before we left the campground, I got a call from Mom telling me she wasn’t feeling well and that we should not come down in the evening as planned. Almost as soon as I got off the phone to her, Nita called and told me they had decided to take Mom to the hospital. She had been sick all night and her blood sugar was quite high. Before she got ready to go to the hospital, Nita called the doctor’s office and they could see her in just a couple hours. So they opted to do that. That was a good choice and I’m glad Nita made that call. I got to Warsaw just as they were leaving the doctor’s office. The doctor felt Mom had an intestinal bug and gave her some nausea medication and that would allow her to keep her medicine for her sugar down. She was pretty wiped out for the day, but was able to eat some and has continued to get better. We decided to go ahead and leave Friday as planned, since Mom seems to be doing well.

We didn’t have much to pack because we haven’t been staying at the house. We live in the motorhome all the time, and it just feels like home to us, so when we work at the apartments, we use the house for our base during the day, but we go “home” to Phaeton Place at the campground every night.

We left around 11 a.m. and Terry drove the entire day. I had woken up with a headache this morning and didn’t feel like driving. Terry actually had a lot of road construction from Dayton on to Cincinnati, but he did just fine. We arrived at FMCA headquarters and we will be here for 2 nights, then on further south. We will have to find a place for one night because our reservations at Dale Hollow start on Monday. I can’t wait to get out on the boat and sun myself!

Till next time. . .

Dale

Marking Time. . .

Seems like things always move quickly when we are back in Elkhart. Last week we got the new roof on the one duplex and since then we have been doing odds and ends at the house. The house is actually an empty apartment where we store stuff. It contains the inventory for the apartments, so that is where we go during the day. We have been power washing decks, cleaning, mowing, power cleaning siding, and getting window replacement quotes. Not real hard work, but it keeps us busy. We call this our "workcamping" assignment.

Our son, Brandon, is in the process of buying a house in Florida, so I am getting his stuff sorted that has been stored in the basement since we went full time. It will be good to get some stuff cleared out and we are also going to be sending some furniture his way. After we make our annual trek to Red Bay in a couple weeks, we will return here, load up the utility trailer and make a fast trip to Florida. I hope we can get everything we want into the trailer. Mom and Dad came over while we were working yesterday and volunteered to take care of their grand-dogs, Bailey and Neal, while we were gone. This was great news as we were considering boarding them and I worry so much about them. Only two people in this world would volunteer to take care of Bailey, and that is Mom and Dad. Bailey loves Mom because she takes him on walks and he can't wait! For once, I had food available, so they stayed for supper and grilled chicken and had some steamed veggies. Really good!

Things are really hopping here at Elkhart Campground. There are a couple rallies in here this weekend and they look pretty full, but with over 400 sites, there are plenty left. Bob and Gita have worked really hard to improve the campground and have added more 50 Amp FHU sites over the years. Today Bob is working hard to get the pool ready to go. He took the cover off and it looks quite good. He said it will be ready for next weekend, but it may be too cold yet for anyone to swim.

We are sitting here on site 400, right on the end/entrance to the row. If you are in the area, stop by some evening and say hello. Most days we are off working.

Till next time. . .

Dale

And the Beat Goes On. . .

The beat started early Tuesday morning when the roofers arrived at the duplex. We had a swail in the roof after the winter and the terrific snow loads, but we were unprepared for the mess they found underneath. Two rafters had already broken and had been previously repaired, by whom we don't know. We just know it wasn't done correctly. The boards scabbed onto the rafters were too short and that combined with the decking having been run the wrong way created a very weak spot in the roof. In fact, there were several places we found problems with the decking, so the roofers had to replace more than initially thought. However, our roofer is a great contractor and he and his crew were able to make the necessary repairs. They got part of the roof torn off and papered in and came back Wednesday. The lumber yard lost the delivery ticket on our shingles, so they arrived too late on Wednesday to be of much help. The roofers got the entire roof torn off and papered in before the rain started. Before it got too wet to continue, they got a couple corners shingled.

Rain was forecast for all night and most of the day Thursday. True to form lately, they were WRONG. While it was chilly, the rain held off the entire day. . . never did rain. The roofers came in early to avoid the storms that were forecast and the entire roof was done by noon! Wow! And it is gorgeous. I will take a picture this weekend and post it. It makes the house look so much better. And we won't have to worry about snow load or shingles blowing off. I didn't take any pictures of the crew. Most of them were Amish and they don't care to have their pictures taken, so I didn't ask.

Anyone in the northern Indiana area who needs roofing done, we can certainly give a good recommendation. This is actually the fourth roof (Glenn) Miller Construction has done for us. In addition, he has done some remodeling for us during the winter when an errant (and asleep at the wheel) driver plowed into one of our duplexes at the exact center of the front garage doors, causing the doors to collapse and resulting in thousands of dollars of damage. Glenn did an excellent job of restoration much to the delight of our long-time tenants.

Till next time. . .

Dale

Fun with Dick and Jane a.k.a. Tab and Deanna

Last weekend Tab and Deanna came to camp with us. What a great treat! They were unable to make the rally the week before, so it was great to see them.

We started out right by going to Essenhaus for supper Friday night. That was delicious. We don't go there often, usually only for the rally. It is good food, but I just want to overeat.

Saturday we went to the surplus RV places in search of little things. Didn't find much, but it was fun to go look anyway. In the afternoon we went to Lunker's in Edwardsburg, Michigan. It was a big deal before the Bass Pro Shops arrived on the scene and continues to be a fun place to go. They have several different departments and a large camping section. Once again, we didn't find much, but we had fun looking at everything in the store.

Saturday night I made brownies. The guys went and got ice cream and we all watched a John Holod Alaska video. We are planning to make the trip, as are Tab and Deanna, in another year or two, so we were excited to see some of the places we will be visiting.

Sunday morning we were off to the Pancake house for breakfast and then they left for the trek back to Ohio. It was so great to see them and we hope to see them again this summer.

Till next time. . .

Dale

Rally Time!

Last week's RV Capital VI rally is now history, but wow. . . was it ever a great time. We had 28 rigs here at the Elkhart Campground and the best gathering yet!

We arrived early in the week because we wanted to get our jack fixed on Phaeton Place if we could. Charger Enterprises came through for us. They had ordered and received the part while we were in Virginia and were ready to go with it. They asked for the rig at 1 p.m. and by 3:30 p.m., she was on her way "home" to the campground. The jack is working great. . . actually they all are.

Rigs started arriving that day (Wednesday) and continued on throughout the week. I think most had arrived by Thursday, and the rally didn't start until Friday! We brought our firewood over from the house and had a campfire every night. Thursday and Friday were good weather. . . reasonably warm, but Friday night we had a little rain. Saturday dawned colder and windy, so we didn't do a lot of sitting outside. Friday morning about 30 of us made the trek to Essenhaus and had a delicious late breakfast/brunch. From there, some went on a factory tour and some of us went back to the camp. Friday night was HOBO stew night. I browned hamburger with onion and everybody brought a couple cans of veggies and we threw them into the pot. Simmered it and eventually added some long-grain rice and WOW! What a winner! Everybody complimented us on the stew. There wasn't much of a recipe, but it was good. That evening, some attendees came back to the hall for a round of Mexican Train. Terry went over to observe as he wants to learn, but I don't like dominos, so I sat at the campfire.

Saturday afternoon we spent some time getting the hall ready for the potluck and that started at 6:30. We have our dinners a little late, but most attendees spend the days exploring the area, visiting Shipshewana, Wakarusa, the RV Museum, etc., and the late time allows them time to get back for the dinner. Potluck was AWESOME. So much good food and no one went hungry. . . that's for sure.

Sunday people started leaving in the morning because some had long drives. We stayed as this is our home for the next month. We did move, however, and will be moving again next week. We didn't want our same site because it is in the rally section, so we moved onto the back row. The site we want for the month is right beside us. It is on the end and has a huge grassy yard, which will be great for the dogs. The couple there is leaving Monday, so we will move next door. We will be on site 400 starting Monday, so if you are here or happen to pass by, come by for a visit. We may be over at the apartments during the day, but will be here most evenings.

Thanks for all the rally attendees for attending and joining us to celebrate the beginning of the camping season. We had more new people than "old" attendees and it was hard to get around to visit with everyone. Hope you all had a great time. . . as we did!

Till next time. . .

Dale

Birthday Boy!

Ronan's first birthday was a success. Lots of food, fun, people, babies and one dog, Jerry, of course. Grandpa Terry took charge of Jerry for the evening, but Jerry loves everybody and he wasn't a problem. Ronan was unimpressed with his first birthday cake, but no matter. It was a spice cake with cream cheese icing. I am so impressed with daughter Jocelyn and her husband Tom. She is celiac and everything they make is from scratch and gluten free. They certainly can cook up some delicious dishes with names I cannot even pronounce, but tasty just the same. Tom's parents and brother were present for the festivities and we always enjoy seeing them.

I had the pleasure, along with Sharon, Tom's mother, of accompanying Tom to one of his voice lessons. He is studying opera. Tom is a very quiet person and it was quite amazing to hear his smooth, steady tenor voice resonating in the air. Very impressive. Keep up the good work, Tom.

The area where the kids live in Charlottesville, Virginia, is absolutely gorgeous. The trees were blooming and the mountains, while almost barren when we drove in began to leaf out while we were there. We intend to take some time when we visit to go up into the mountains. Perhaps when there isn't so much on the agenda, we can take a couple side trips and go up into the hills. We did try to go to Monticello, a place we have yet to visit. When we got there, there were 10, yes TEN, tour busses and a school bus. Wrong day for us. We talked with some neighbors later in the campground we had seen there and they said it was too crowded to see much of anything. We will go another day.

We headed home on Monday after the party and got into the Elkhart Campground to set up for the RV Capital VI Rally. We were able to get our errant jack fixed before the rally which was a great help to our being comfortable and stable in Phaeton Place.

Till next time. . .

Dale