Fun with Ronan!

We spent two nights at Misty Mountain and a good day and a half with grandson Ronan. We had a really nice time. We went with Jocelyn and the baby over to UVA in the evening and walked around campus just to get a little exercise. Ronan enjoyed the walk. He likes to stay moving. If you stop, he lets you know!

Tuesday I babysat while Jocelyn went to a water exercise class, so we got to play with Ronan. After she got back, we went to the downtown mall and walked around. We ate lunch at Christian's which is a gourmet pizza place. Really good pizza.

Their kitchen that we helped with last month is now back in order and Tom said it seems so much bigger. I think just having more cupboards and a shelf for the microwave, etc., makes a big difference. They are very pleased with the kitchen and it is beautiful. They have some pantry cabinets. Those are really useful because they make everything from scratch and needed space to store everything.

We left Misty Mountain in the rain on Wednesday with plans to meet up with the kids again in Florida at Christmas.

Till next time. . .

Dale

Neal loves camping!

Neal asked me to share with my readers what he loves about camping. Hah. Actually this would be right behind FOOD for the little guy. That is his #1 favorite thing in the entire world.

We drove a long day on Sunday so we would get into Charlottesville early enough to spend most of the day with the kids. So we got up and drove 54 miles to Misty Mountain camp. Got settled in and then drove into see the baby.

The kids were just getting back from Tom's voice lesson. He is taking opera lessons and is studying with a very renowned instructor who believes he has a lot of potential. I have been trying to get here early enough some day to go to his lesson with him, but I didn't make it today. When they arrived, baby Ronan was fast asleep in his car seat, so I just took some pictures. We visited most of the afternoon before we had to head back to the camp to feed the dogs. Then we went back into town and Jocelyn, Terry and I took Ronan and went to the UVA (University of Virginia) campus to walk in the twilight. It was an enjoyable walk and the perfect night. We went passed the rotunda and other landmarks that have been here for a hundred years or so. It is a very impressive campus and if you ever get a chance, you should walk through. We passed Edgar Allen Poe's room which is preserved as it was back then. We also passed Cabell hall, which is a round lecture hall. Lots of history here.

Till next time. . .

Dale

Rollin' toward Camp Pull-Tab!

We are done with doctor appointments until April! Everything went well and we are rolling toward Camp Pull-Tab in St. Paris, Ohio, after breakfast.

Last evening was spent visiting friends. First, former colleague Dave and his friend Mark, along with Brody, the one-year old Scottish Terrier came by to visit. Dave and Mark have an RV, a class C and entertained us with lots of stories about "close calls" while driving and pulling their toad. I meant to tell them that they certainly have had their share of "adventures" in that department and it's time to put that behind them. Hah. Maybe next year they will join us down here when we come in the spring and we can swap stories and sit around the campfire. Dave and Mark have certainly taken to RVing in a big way by jumping into some really big trips. They started out going places I would like to go. Dave has sent me some DVD's on their trips. He puts the pictures together into a slide show and they really are great.

Later last evening we went to visit Dave and Tammy. Dave pastors a church in the town where we lived, but they are leaving in two weeks. Their one son and our Brandon were/are best friends and we hadn't seen Aaron's folks since we left two years ago. They are leaving and going to a church in Oscoda, Michigan. They were originally from Michigan, although not this area, but they are excited about the move and offered us a place to park once they get settled in. They will be just two blocks from Lake Huron and their house is right on 23. We came right by it this summer when we were coming down the east side of Michigan, so we know how beautiful the area is.

It's been a great week here, reconnecting with old friends and getting the medical stuff taken care of. We packed way too much in. . . maybe we need to look at spending more time in the area so we don't have to rush so much, but we are done now.

It was 44 degrees outside when we got up this morning. Bailey went out and turned right around and came back in. Hah. Terry is busy fixing my breakfast. The dogs have eaten, so we are getting ready to move.

Till next time. . .

Dale

Busy, busy, busy

Well, it is always a busy week when we come here, because we pack doctor appointments and vet appointments into 4 days. Also throw in a couple of haircuts and visits with old friends and we are never bored!

Today we started out by taking the dogs back into the vets for their teeth cleaning appointments. They haven't been done in a long time and they were quite bad, but no extractions were necessary. Yay! Neal, my handicapped dog who cannot walk seems to be doing well tonight although he is stumbling even worse. But he is alert and ate his supper. Bailey, on the other hand, is quite lethargic and is not eating. I did get him to take some Braunsweiger and finally a marrow bone treat. He took his pill at supper because I put it in Braunsweiger, but other than that, he is just really moping around. I check him periodically to see if he's breathing. They are both 11 years old and I'm not really worried about either of them, but after years of healthy living, they have both had some issues this year. We thought perhaps the poor condition of their teeth was contributing somewhat to these issues, so we decided to do it.

I am going to sleep in the recliner tonight just to make sure they don't have any problems. We just took them outside one last time and now they are both lying down, so I think it will be a quiet evening.

Tomorrow I am getting the shingles vaccine and my mammogram in Indy, and then we are done. A colleague and friend are stopping by tomorrow evening. Haven't seen him since we retired. We taught together for 20 years and he has a Scottie puppy now, so he is bringing Brody out to meet the boyz. Should be fun.

For those of you remembering my niece's preemie baby, Collin, in your prayers, I am pleased to tell you he is now over 3 pounds and has removed his NG tube for the second time. They have decided to leave it out now and he is nursing and taking the bottle very well. He hasn't had any problems. Keep up those good thoughts!

Till next time. . .

Dale

SLSP aka Summit Lake State Park

We are comfortably ensconced in site A70 at the state park--about 3 miles from our former home of 33 years. We have already spent a day at doctors, labs and veterinarians and this morning got haircuts and getting ready for round two of doctors, brokers, and dinner invitations later today. Busy, busy week. But if we can last 4 days, we are done for 6 months.

We switched out one of our sofas for two recliners with a file cabinet between. I can't believe we didn't do it sooner. At least it was easy to do. Terry built a credenza behind them; and we have found that if we pull the one chair out, it gives the user a good view of the TV and allows easy access to the storage and gives it more of a "living room" feel to the front end of the coach. It gets a little crowded with the dog pen set up, but that is only at night or when we leave, so it is manageable.

Tonight we meet friends, Jack and Janet, for dinner at Appleby's. We used to go out to eat periodically when we lived here, so it will be good to visit with them again.

All those of you '05'ers+ who were at the Pre-Escapade Rally at Elkhart Campground that SPAM hosted, take note. . . Remember all the rain and the mosquitos? (Like WHO could forget. . . unless you were brain-dead.) Well 120 miles south down here just north of New Castle, there is a drought situation here and further south. No dew in the mornings, farm ponds are dried out and guess what. . . FEW mosquitos. I can't say there are none, but not the swarms we saw up north. That all may change today as there are "occasional" thunderstorms forecast for today and tomorrow.

Thursday night, colleagues of mine are coming to visit. Dave retired the same time I did and he has a Scottie puppy Brody he is bringing. I can't wait to see them all.

Well, got to start getting ready.

Till next time. . .

Dale

On the Road Again. . . . .

And boy does it feel good. I hate being cooped up in the house, but at least we planned to only stay there about 2 weeks this summer. This summer we did a lot of work on the apartments, which is why I haven't been blogging. Too dang tired. We rented an apartment, put in/had done a new floor in the kitchen in the main house, 4 new garage doors, repainted all the trim and had new windows put into one duplex. In addition we managed to clean out a little more of the main house and I trimmed all the bushes. . . all 50 of them. . . well. . . it sure seemed like 50, but I think it was more like 25.

After Escapade, we spent the following week at the house finishing up all the loose ends and getting the house ready to close up. In addition, I had some needed dental work done and I finally got my new glasses. Yay!!!! We had ordered glasses at Sears. The first time they came in they had no bifocals. The second time they switched Terry's right lens prescription with mine. Ugh. The third time, Terry's were fine, but I couldn't see squat through mine. Tried them for almost a week. I couldn't see at night at all. Everything just ran together. Turns out, they put a prizm in them. Grrrrrrrr. So I told Sears that "three strikes and you're out." Got my money back and went to "Julie's Eye Care" in South Bend. Man is that gal ever sharp. She had my glasses in 2 days and they are perfect. I really like them. They are rimless on the bottom and come with their own magnetic sunglasses. Really cool.

Yesterday I visited the hospital to see my great-nephew. My niece, Staci, and her husband were expecting their bundle of baby boy in October, but he had other ideas. He arrived at 33 weeks and is perfect, just very tiny. His cord was wrapped around him and stretched very thin and was no longer sustaining him. Had he not come early, he probably would not have survived, so we are very glad he was strong enough to come out into the world. He is doing very well and Staci and Kevin are anxious to take him home when he gets bigger. Big sister Breanna can't wait to hold him either. Collin is now over 3 pounds and gaining strength everyday. Prayers are appreciated.

We left Goshen at 1:30 today and stopped by the woods at Claypool where Mom and Dad, Jim and Nita live. Pulled over to the side of the road (there is a pulloff) and they came out to see us off and to see our new chairs. We took out one of our sofas and put in 2 recliners with a file cabinet between them. Terry built a credenza like cabinet behind so I didn't lose that storage. He did a beautiful job on it and we think we are really going to like our recliners. We drove on down to Summit Lake State Park north of New Castle and will be here for the week. This is the week of marathon doctor appointments, so we will be busy. We drove into Mooreland to see our friends, Jack and Janet, and are going to meet them at Appleby's Tuesday night for dinner. It will be good to visit with them some more.

Once we finish here, we are off to Camp Pull-Tab in Ohio for a couple days, then on to Virginia and RONAN, grandson extraordinaire.

Till next time. . .

Dale

Escapade 2007!!!!!!!!!!

Escapade has arrived and we are busy attending meetings and visiting with friends. We left Elkhart Campground early Sunday morning and were really worried about pulling out and getting stuck. Gita assured us the ground was solid under us, but we weren't so sure. Turns out she was right. Terry did back Phaeton Place up a bit as there was just grass behind us and then started out and kept going till he was on solid ground. Didn't even make any ruts at the site.

We led a caravan of three. . . we had Bill and Helen behind us and Gene and Marianne. We got to the fairgrounds ahead of a long entourage and got parked in good order. The only problem was we thought we would all be able to park together, but we were in a full hookup area and the others weren't, so we were separated, but we are still close by. BUT, we are parked right next to a couple in a new Phaeton who we met at Red Bay this past June. . . it is indeed a small world.

Sunday night's entertainment was Pantasia, a steel drum band from Findley, Ohio. We have heard them before at previous Escapades and they are wonderful. The kids enjoy performing and they do a very good job. They compete nationally and do very well.

We haven't won any door prizes yet. I keep thinking it's our turn, but I guess it doesn't work that way.

The mosquitoes have been miserable. . . or I should say they are making US miserable. It started to rain last night and rained throughout the night, but not hard. This morning we awoke to much cooler weather, sunshine. . . and best of all . . . NO MOSQUITOES. Well, at least fewer of the little biters.

We attended several sessions today and enjoyed them. Tomorrow we have some more on our list, then we have to run out and get our new glasses.

Till next time. . .

Dale

Ronan, et al. . .

Last week we left Goshen with Mom and Dad. They drove their motorhome separately and we drove to Virginia to see Jocelyn, Tom and Ronan. We spent one night on the road at Gallipolis, Ohio, and then drove on to Misty Mountain Campground in Crozet, Virginia. We arrived around 4:30 in the afternoon and got busy setting up camp.

Jocelyn and Ronan surprised us as we were registering, so Great Grandma Alice and Ronan got to meet for the first time. We got a good visit in. The week was spent doing a lot of visiting and helping the kids with their new kitchen. We just cannot get enough of our grandson. He is such a cutie. And Jericho, the poodle, was a real treat. He is so good and loves the baby. He likes to play with his toys and knows them all by name. The last night we all got together for a group shot. Four generations!

Friday morning we broke camp and start back to Indiana. We have a pre-Escapade rally this week and the Escapade next week, so we will be busy. We spent the night in Gallipolis, Ohio, then back to Goshen.

We spent the night at the house in Goshen, then gave Phaeton Place and the truck a much needed bath before heading to the Elkhart Campground and the Escapade Pre-Rally. While we were outside washing the rig, I took this shot of the Goodyear blimp, apparently traveling back from the Notre Dame/Georgia Tech game. We also had a visitor in the lawn mower bay. I tried most of the morning to lure him out to no avail. Finally I called Jocelyn and she told me what to do. He apparently was attracted by the red gas cans in the bay, so I took them down off the shelf and lined them up on the floor going out the door. It took about a half hour, but I stepped back in just in time to see him fly down from the ceiling and duck under the open garage door and fly to freedom. He had to be one tired bird, so I hope he found the neighbor’s feeder.

We made it to the camp and site 408 by 4:30 in the afternoon. We are safely set for the week looking forward to some festivities with the group. We got to see several friends we have missed over the summer. . . Bill and Helen, Janice and Dean, Nick and Terry, and of course. . . SPAM. Pictures will follow, but the mosquitos drove us inside last evening. We didn’t have any when we were here earlier in the summer, but they have gotten so much rain that the population has exploded.

Till next time. . .

Dale

Work, work, work. . .

Work is SOOOOOO overrated, as I've said before.

The past two weeks we have been getting the "stix house" ready for new garage doors. . . FOUR of them. Terry wanted to change out the trim on the doors, so he did that. I worked inside, cleaning things out and getting important data off the old computer. That is pretty much done now, so I have been deleting files there.

I also have been shredding documents. We have all Terry's parent's data from the beginning of time. I have been shredding, shredding, shredding. In fact, I burned up one shredder and am working on the second one. I do find it necessary to go through each paper. Terry thought I should just take it all to a commercial shredder, but I want to go through everything. It is a good thing I did, because it paid off. I found Henry and Valera's birth certificates and their marriage license. Imagine that! I think I will frame the license. . . it is a decorative document and I think Jocelyn might like to have it. She's into geneology and treasures family things.

We are getting ready to head to Virginia the end of the week. We are going to go see Ronan and his Mom and Dad and we will be supervising the installation of a new kitchen there. My parents are going with us but will driving their rig. We all like our own beds to sleep in.

We did attend the RV show here at the fairgrounds. It was not a very big show and not very well attended, but that made it easy to go through the rigs. We did get an idea for our rig, but I'm not sure if we will be able to make the change. We do want to trade out the one sofa for recliners. I really need a recliner when my back gets to hurting, so we are probably going to order a couple chairs.

We also had new windows put into one duplex. Can you believe an entire new window installed costs just double what replacing one pane of glass in one sash costs? Kind of a no-brainer. Course, it was a lot more money to do the entire building, but we had the windows wrapped as well, so there is no maintenance whatsoever on the windows, which is much better for us as landlords. If the windows work well, we will probably do the other buildings next year. For this year, garage doors and windows in one was enough. We still have some trim to paint on the house, but that will go quickly. Terry will sand and I will paint.

We are waiting here in the motorhome for the Michigan Nascar race. It is raining there as well, but I see they are trying to get the track dry.

I have been working on my new computer also. My old Averatec (3 years old) is burning up. I can't keep it cool enough to even stay on more than 15 minutes. Even with a cool mat, it just heats up. It gets so hot, you cannot lay your hand on it. I think I made the right decision to replace it when I did. I just hate setting a new one up. Today I transferred my financial data into a new version of Quicken, so now I have a lot of set up to do, but the major downloads are done.

Neal, my Wheaten Scottie, apparently has an allergy that just kicked in. He has been scratching a lot and driving us nuts. I had bathed him just prior to this, so I figured I didn't get all the soap off. So I put him back in the bathtub and rinsed him off. That didn't work. So then I gave him a cortisone tablet, and that helped, but he was still scratching. Yesterday I shaved him. He doesn't have any fleas, but has little bumps he is scratching. So today I sprayed benedryl spray on them and that seems to have helped. Poor little guy. He hates baths and considers them punishment, so he has really been upset with me. But I am just trying to help him. Bailey, aka Hell-Boy has been barking at him at night when Neal wakes him up scratching. Perhaps now we will all be able to get some sleep.

I see Nick and Terry, aka Gypsy Journal, have just left. They are headed to Iowa to teach Life On Wheels. They will be back before Escapade. The campground is pretty full and has been most of the week. People are rolling in, intending to stay through to Escapade, I think. We are leaving for a week, then we are going to the house for another week, then back over here for the pre-rally prior to Escapade.

We have enjoyed our time here. As I told Terry before, we get a lot more work done at the apartments when we aren't living there. It has been a very productive summer for us and we are looking forward to spending the winter in Florida with Brandon. Speaking of Brandon, he has changed jobs and wants to move from Melbourne to the Orlando area. He is a Senior Security Consultant with Novell now and is traveling a lot. He wants to be close to the airport. So our responsibility this winter is to help him find a house to buy. Should be fun house hunting. . . especially when we are spending HIS money and not ours! Hah!

Till next time . . .

Dale

Good times, good friends. . .

Tab and Deanna came to Elkhart Campground this weekend to visit with us! It was so great to see them. We sometimes get to stop by their place (Camp Pull-Tab) in Ohio on our way south or north depending on the time of year. We had breakfast Saturday morning at Callahan's in Elkhart and then skipped lunch. We went to all the usual haunts, RV Surplus, CampingWorld and the new American Market south on 19. We ate at Peddler's Village for supper for the Prime Rib Buffet and boy was it good!

Saturday night we set up the campfire under our awning and just visited with Tab, Deanna, and Major, their dog. Later, Nick took a break from writing the "Gypsy Journal," and he and Terry brought their chairs down and we enjoyed a lovely visit.

It started raining that night and we had quite a lot of rain in the morning. Tab and Deanna waited until there was a lull and came around to say goodbye. We watched them hitch up and waved as they drove away. We always hate to see good friends leave. They are headed to North Carolina at the end of the month to visit with Patti, our friend who lost her husband last November.

Till next time. . .

Dale

It's About Time . . .

Yes, I guess it's about time to post again. Sorry for the delay. We are at our "summer" place. We are actually at Elkhart Campground on Site 100, right on the end. We have found we get a LOT more work done on the apartments if we stay over here and then drive over to work for the day. Since we leave our computers here as well as satellite receiver, we have no distractions over there and get things accomplished much more quickly.

We arrived back here a little over a week ago and are getting ready for some major work. We are having garage doors installed on the the main house. Three go on the house and one on the apartment. We don't do that work anymore as Terry cannot do anything that strenuous, but they are ordered and we will be there. We were having some issues with the window quality of one of the duplexes and it's just not cost effective to fix one pane of glass. To do so is about half what a new window costs. So we got a quote for replacement windows and the price was very reasonable. We will be doing an entire duplex with new windows; and if they work out, we will probably do another next year. Once again, we are not doing the work, but will be there to supervise.

Saturday night it started raining here and rained all night. We really welcomed the rain although it didn't cool things down too much. They have not had rain here for some time and the crops were really in need. That said. . . . it can STOP anytime. We need to start building an ARK! Yesterday was clear but so hot and muggy. You felt like you were in a sauna. We were going to go to Shipshewana this week, but the rain and heat don't make for a good combination. Last evening we went over to the house to do a few little things and while we were there, a storm started kicking up. I hopped in the truck and came over to check on Phaeton Place. We had left our awning out as we weren't anticipating any storm. I got here just before it hit and got the awnings in and all the gear stowed. JUST IN TIME, TOO!!!!! It really let loose with a deluge so I even stowed the Datastorm. Lots of lightning and thunder and rain, rain, rain. I got out my Crocs, aka rainshoes, and when it let up. . . headed back for the house. We stayed there till my laundry was done, then we came back. There was another storm on the way and just as we went to bed, it started. Neal and Bailey do well in storms, but they want their Mommy right there with them. . . . SO, I got to sleep on the couch. When Terry got up this morning, I headed back to the bed and Bailey went with me. Right now it is not raining and a lot of the water is soaking into the ground, but it is going to do more yet today and the rest of the week.

We are headed to Virginia to see Ronan at the end of the month and Mom and Dad are going as well. They are taking their motorhome, too. We already have our reservations made as you must do that when there are only 2 campgrounds within 30 miles of Charlottesville.

Well, that brings you up to date. I have a couple pictures I will get posted, but we are just here working for the month, so nothing too exciting is happening. Eye doctor, dentists, things like that.

Till next time. . .

Dale

Tecumseh, Michigan

We are camped in the Indian Creek Campground near Tecumseh, Michigan. We shopped at Cabela's last night and today went to Ann Arbor where we did some more shopping.

Tomorrow we are leaving here and driving to Goshen, Indiana, where we will catch up on some maintenance on the apartments and visit with family.

We have had a nice few weeks and saw a lot of country we had never seen before. I had never spent time in the UP of Michigan and it is quite beautiful. We got some great pictures of Lake Michigan and Lake Huron as well. We also spent time in our adopted state of South Dakota. We had originally planned to spend more time out in the Black Hills, but the 3-digit temperatures predicted scared us off. According to other friends who were there, it was quite miserable. So we have enjoyed mild temperatures on our travels.

We will be in Goshen for about a month, then we will head to Virginia to see our grandson again. It is hard to stay away from him. He is changing so much every day. Fortunately, his other Grandma, Gr. Sharon, gets to see him a little more frequently and keeps me updated and sends me new pictures. He is one loved little guy.

Till next time. . .

Dale

Playing Catch-Up!

Well, well, well. I can't believe it's been so long since I posted. Ugh. We left Sioux Falls and drove to Morton, Wisconsin, to an Indian Casino campground. From there we drove to Minneapolis to another Indian Casino. In case you are seeing a pattern here, you ARE. The pattern is not that we gamble a lot (we don't). It's just that the Indian casinos generally have nice campgrounds and they are usually very reasonable.

Terry took me to the Mall of America. I had never been there and I had always wanted to see it. We walked the ENTIRE mall. It really doesn't look much different than any other, except for the amusement park in the middle, but it is much, much larger. When Terry had been there years before when he was working, the mall was out in the middle of nowhere. Not so now. We also spent some time at IKEA which was right across the street. We also visited Camping World and Cabela's while we were there. We had a very nice time.

Once we left Minneapolis, we headed across Minnesota and into Wisconsin. What a nightmare. Wisconsin doesn't have many campgrounds that will accommodate 40 foot motorhomes. Oh, they SAY they will, but they just can't. We have several scratches to rub out on the sidewalls. The problem is that once you start down a one-way road that is very narrow, there is no way out except to keep going. We finally did find a nice campground, but had to drive several miles out of our way to get there. It was north of Green Bay, near Crandon, Wisconsin.

Leaving there we headed to the UP. We camped in the Island Resort and Casino campground in Harris near Escanaba, Michigan. Another nice campground for $15 a night. Once we left there, we headed across US2 to St. Ignace, Michigan. Last night we camped on the northern shore of Lake Michigan within sight of the Mackinaw Bridge. This morning we traversed the bridge. I am not thrilled about crossing bridges. I love to view them, but would just as well take a land route. That was really not feasible. At least when we left this morning, the wind was extremely calm and there were no waves at all on the straights. It was an enjoyable crossing and I was glad to be on the other side.

We came down US23 along the eastern side of Michigan along Lake Huron. We stopped at one roadside park right on the water and visited with another couple who were "camped" there. The fellow was an enjoyable guy who snorkles the waters and looks for rock formations that are remnants of the ice age. He talked at length about how the great lakes were formed and how the "pudding" rocks were created. Then we talked about the bridge and he was amazing with his facts about how far the bridge can sway and how far it can bend in. He said it would take roughly a 600 mph wind to blow it down. . . in other words, it ain't gonna' happen.

We drove on looking for another campground and passed several up before stopping at AuGres, Michigan. This is city park and we have full hookups. It is $26 a night, but only 30 amp.

We found out last year that Michigan has increased their camping fees and the state parks are really quite high. One we stopped at was $26 for w/e, plus $8 entrance fee. And at that, the trees were a problem on the road. The private camps have for the most part increased their fees since they don't have to compete with the state parks. Makes it an expensive state for the occasional traveler.

We are headed down toward Dundee tomorrow to Cabela's and we do have a Passport Park reserved for tomorrow. Another wide open site so our Datastorm will work. Have had problems getting open sites!

Till next time. . .

Dale

Sioux Falls, South Dakota

On the way to Sioux Falls, we drove through the town of LeMars, Iowa, which bills itself as the Ice Cream Capital of the World. It is the home of "Blue Bunny" ice cream and they make more ice cream there in one day than anywhere else in the world. It takes 75,000 cows to produce the milk needed on a DAILY basis. Wow. That's a lot of cows.

We arrived in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, on Thursday afternoon. We had a list of things we needed to do and so we got set up at the fairgrounds and proceeded to run into town and started checking things off the list. We had to go to the Treasurer's office to change some boat trailer titles to SD. We got in there and there was a pretty good line, so we were prepared to wait. They had 12 windows open and we were surprised when a lady came out of the office and called to us. In addition to those 12 windows, they had several more people in the office and we got right in. It took less than 20 minutes to get Phaeton Place's plates and the Sport Trac's plates renewed and get new titles applied for on the boat trailers and their plates as well. Then we were off to Alternative Resources to get our mail and to the insurance agent in the same building to pay some insurance. We didn't have to go to SD to do any of these things, but since we were there, we were able to take care of them.

We met at 9 am Friday morning with our attorney who is adding some amendments to our wills and trust to make them legal in South Dakota. We are using the Thompson Law firm and they are very good. Very personable and we feel we are going to enjoy our association with them.

There is a Honda Gold Wing rally in Sioux Falls over the weekend, so the fairgrounds was filling up with attendees and vendors who were in town for the festivities. We drove on down to the Falls Park, where the rally is being held and strolled around the grounds. When we were last here, we visited the park at night, so it looks a lot different during the day.

We left Sioux Falls Saturday morning and drove to the Jackpot Indian Casino in Morton, Minnesota. We met the neighbors who are "Teton" people. Got a beautiful Teton 5er and were very friendly. We were chatting after supper before we went over to the casino. Our dogs were outside and Neal had a seizure. Because of that, we had to wait a couple hours until we knew the danger of his having another seizure had passed. Neal was a real trooper and we managed to keep it down to just the one. We left about 2 hours later and went to the casino. The slots here are really tight. We had gotten some free money for camping in their park and I got $5 because it is my birthday month. We both spent our free money and $5 more a piece. In less than an hour we had lost that. We don't mind losing, but I at least like to be entertained. This didn't even qualify for that. So we left.

I stayed up till midnight keeping tabs on Neal, but he was fine. Today we went back and tried again. We had free money again. . . good thing they do this, because we wouldn't be playing here otherwise. Once we lost that, we were out the door.

We went to the town of Redwood Falls and visited the Ramsey Falls in the city park. Very nice park and the falls were quite impressive in spite of the dry summer they are having. We also visited their county historical society which is housed in a building that was built as the "poor" farm. It is an impressive building and they have the various rooms set up to display period items.

Later when we returned back to the reservation, we visit the Lower Sioux Agency Historic Site. It gives a history of the U.S.-Dakota War of 1862. It is a small museum, but well planned and gives a good description of life in the area during that time.

Tomorrow we are leaving here and traveling about 90 miles to the Mystic Lake Casino area south of Minneapolis, where we are going to do some shopping and sightseeing.

Till next time. . .

Dale

Barge coming through!!!!!!

Last night we camped in the Fishermen's Corner COE park in Hampton, Illinois, near East Moline. It is right on the Mississippi River and the areas along the river were very neat for the most part. They were nicely groomed and well kept. We drove up and down the river roads on both sides. There were a lot of tugboats with barges. This morning we went dockside at a small town north of the camp and watched this barge come through.

Later we drove across into LeClaire, Iowa, the birthplace of Buffalo Bill Cody. They have a small museum there which contains memoribilia of his days with the Wild West Show. The home where he was born was actually sold at one time and relocated in Cody, Wyoming. They are trying to raise money to build a replica on the actual property. A homestead where he spent time in his youth is a short drive out in the country and they have buffalo in the field there. There is also an old dredging boat, the Lonestar, they have dry docked at the museum. They are raising funds to refurbish it. It was orginally built as a side wheeler, but was converted to a stern wheeler.

We broke camp and drove over to the Amana Colonies in Iowa and are camped at the RV park there. The park is very large. . . over 400 sites with full hookups. They honor Passport America for 2 nights, so it's $28 for the 2 nights. We drove around the area, going through ALL the colonies, Amana, East Amana, Middle Amana, High Amana, West Amana, South Amana and Homestead. They were formed by a group seeking religious freedom. They were originally from Germany and bought land here to build their communal utopian society. The colonies are still owned by the Amana Society and it appears they have tight control over the maintenance of the communities to keep them as original as possible. In other words, you don't see Wally World or McDonald's on the corner here. It is actually quite refreshing and an historial bit of Americana you don't see anywhere else. I recommend visiting if you haven't done so. It is not crowded right now and you don't have to fight for space in the parking lots or the shops. One of the business started by the colonies was refrigeration and this is the birthplace of the Amana appliances. Whirlpool has now bought Amana and the people here are worried that Whirlpool will leave the area. Tomorrow we are going to visit a few more of the shops. Today it was the wine and cheese and meat shops. Heh heh.

Many of you have been asking about Bailey, my black Scottish Terror. Apparently his lung disorder was pneumonia and nothing more serious. Well, pneumonia is serious, but treatable, and Bailey is responding well to the treatment. He is definitely acting more like his old self and eating well now. He barks occasionally, something he didn't do when he was really sick. I hope he continues to improve.

Till next time. . .

Dale

Update on Bailey, the Scottish Terror

I called the vet for an appointment this morning. They would see him at 9 a.m. I crated Neal and took Bailey in to the doctor. BTW, Bailey again ate some boiled hamburger and all 3 pills, stuffed into chunks of pork loin. Yesssss!

The vet was very nice and Bailey was very good too. The vet wanted to do blood work. Had trouble getting blood out of both front legs as his veins kept collapsing, but he said that was typical of a sick dog. He finally got it out of his neck and Bailey didn't flinch. His regular vet says he always puts on a brave front. We went over treatment options. Clearly it could be pneumonia and the present treatment is appropriate. By eating now, it could mean he is feeling better and the meds are helping and will handle the lung. If he doesn't get better, we are probably looking at a cancer and he went over some diagnostic and treatment options. We had decided we would not do anything with that other than keep him comfortable and loved. I don't want Bailey's last days to be of pain, needles and strangers. He is 11, a purebred Scottie and while I know people with older Scotties, they are the exception.

The vet called back later in the morning. Ruled out heart worm. Even though we have him on preventative, it was appropriate to test since my vet doesn't usually as long as we are diligent with the treatment. His white cell count is elevating, although still in a normal range, which I take to mean we probably got this fairly early--if it is pneumonia. We talked about Valley Fever in the office this morning, since we wintered in Arizona. Vet is somewhat familiar, but researched more and looked at a couple markers in the blood which are known to be affected by VF and nothing was out of the ordinary, so he didn't think that was necessary to pursue, unless I specifically wanted to. We left Arizona after February this year because we were TOO COLD, and I think we probably would have seen a problem before this.

We are scheduled to leave for South Dakota Sunday and the vet didn't see a problem. Did ask me to stop by and get more meds as he thought 10 days was not quite enough. So he will get better this week and we know we are probably fighting pneumonia or he will get worse and we will love him as long as we can. We will watch him closely this week and see which way he goes. Bailey is currently sunning himself on the deck with Neal. It is warm but nice and cool in the shade.

Till next time. . .

Dale

Work is SOOOOOOO overrated.

We have been back in Goshen/Elkhart for a week now and the floor in the kitchen at the house is done. It was supposed to have been done while we were gone, but the floor techhie didn't get to it. It only took 2 evenings. Terry went over and played "go-fer" so it saved the guy time reaching for material. The floor, which is a hickory laminate is absolutely gorgeous. It is far more beautiful than I had imagined it would be. We also put in new appliances and it is all put back together. I will post a picture later. . . I keep forgetting the camera. We have several long runners in there for Neal, our handicapped Scottie. He cannot walk on a smooth surface, so we decided to put in some rugs he could walk on.

We leave Elkhart campground tomorrow. Phaeton Place goes into the Freightliner dealer at 7 a.m. for a scheduled service and I will take the boys over to the house. We will hang out there continuing to work on a couple things. New garage doors are scheduled this month and then we will be done for the year. . . other than just sorting through more junk! Sunday we leave for South Dakota. We are going "home" to get some legal stuff in order.

We do have another problem that has surfaced. Our 11-year old Scottish Terror, Bailey, is sick. I had him at the emergency vets yesterday and his chest xray shows a right lung that is very sick. Could be pneumonia, which is what I am hoping. He won't, however, takes his meds. He refused food yesterday, but did eat a little this morning. I am going to try and get him into a vets here in Goshen tomorrow and see what else can be done. He is coughing up some foamy blood.

Just had a visit from my parents. It was good to see them. It is nice to be close enough for family visits.

Till next time. . .

Dale

Computers!

I am breaking in a new computer and don't have all my picture files moved. My Averatec, 2 1/2 years old is burning up. I actually burned up a "cool mat" with it and got another, but it is heating up so much after an hour or so that it shuts itself off. Averatec's customer service said, "Sorry, it's out of warranty." No discussion of where I could take it, etc., to get it fixed. . . so I told them I wouldn't buy another piece of crap from them. . . I would go buy a good computer. I truly am not sure one exists. I liked the Averatec because it was very small and didn't weigh much, but I guess I sacrificed for that. It just didn't have room to exhaust much air and I wanted to quit using it before I lost data.

In other news, I am fighting cellulitis in my leg for the third time since March. This time it is down at my ankle. More painful than before and my ankle is swelled. Was to the doctor yesterday. Will see how it goes with the meds.

Till next time. . .

Dale

Back in the Land of Taxes!

Terry subbing for Dale.


We're back at Elkhart Campground in Elkhart, Indiana, arriving yesterday (Sunday) after an uneventful 2 day trip from Virginia. We like the campground here since it's the closest to the apartments, plus a lot of our travelling friends hang out over here, when in the area.

We'll be here waiting for two weeks working on getting an empty apartment rented and getting the house back in order after new flooring in the kitchen in Goshen. South Dakota is on our list for late in the month to tie up some questions on our trust and a visit to our home state.

While in Virginia had spent four days at Misty Mountain Campground near Crozet, VA to be close to Jossie, Tom and Ronan. Close means 12-15 miles in this case, so it usually meant trip to town then back to feed the Scotties dinner and back to town in the evening.

Tom is growing a beard, since he now has started his family with the birth of Ronan in the true Amish tradiation of Jossie's ancestors on her mom's side.

Ronan is growing fast, holding his head up, smiling, cooing and testing his lungs on occasion. Dale spent much of our time in Pigeon Forge buying up outfits at the three Carter's outlets, needless to say Ronan won't have to be a nudist at this point in his life. I must admit that I added 3 more outfits to her dozen or so while Dale was getting her hair done at the Charlottesville Mall. The final layout on the kitchen remodel at Jossie and Tom's has been set, now all I need is a few answers from Ikea on fillers and the like. Our next trip to Charlottesville should be in late August for this project..

I'm off early for an oil change at Wally World for the Sport Track, then to Goshen for some yard work.

Till next time. . .

Terry

Pigeon Forge/Gatlinburg

Boy is it hot. . . and has been for several days. We spent last week in Red Bay, Alabama, getting work done on Phaeton Place. The work was completed mostly in two days, then we waited on the electricians to work on the King Dome and then do the refrigerator service. We renewed friendships of people we had met there before. It’s almost like a reunion when you go there. In fact, we parked right next to people we were parked next to the last time we were there. Imagine that. We also made some new friends and we all share information on campgrounds and restaurants. We met another couple going full time who lived in northern Indiana, so we got to know them.

We left Friday morning and were going to drive half way to Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, but gave that up after looking at two campgrounds. One was on the side of a hill, and if we had stepped out of the coach, well. . . let’s just say that first step would be a lu-lu. So we drove on. The next place wasn’t much better, so we broke our cardinal rule of 2-2-2 and drove on into Pigeon Forge. We called ahead and got a campsite. It’s a Passport park, but not on the weekends, but the owner said he would split the difference with us, so it is costing $20/night for 50 Amp FHU. Not too bad for this tourist trap. It’s a level site and away from the hustle and bustle of Highway 441. This is called Walden Creek Campground and right next door is Creekside Campground, also a Passport park. This road is right off Wears Valley Road, but you don’t want to go on past the two campgrounds because it is a mountain road. We went out that way with the SportTrac yesterday. That was fine, but it would be a bit scary in the motorhome.

We have been doing a little shopping, mainly at the Carter’s outlets here (there are 3). Since we are leaving here tomorrow and going to Virginia to see the kids and Ronan, decided we couldn’t go empty handed. Ho ho. We went up to Sevierville this morning and shopped a little as well, but it was so crowded and hot that we went out for lunch and then came back to watch the Nascar race. For those of you who haven’t been here for awhile, basically the road from the Interstate (I-40) is built up now on both sides with shops, tourist traps, and venues. There are more and more musical venues, like Branson, starting north of Sevierville on down to Pigeon Forge. I would say from I-40 to the start of the Smokey Mountain National Park, there is mostly entertainment. All kinds of activities, hotels, condos, campgrounds, restaurants, shops, etc. Then going on the parkway over to Gatlinburg there is nothing until you get to Gatlinburg, which is mostly shops but now there is a large aquarium and a Ripley’s, etc. Not as much entertainment as you will find in Pigeon Forge, but a lot more shops. I think we may go back over there tonight.

Traffic was very bad this morning, but a lot of people were leaving, as northbound traffic was much worse. This afternoon I was out for a bit and it wasn’t quite as bad. Tomorrow should be a good time to leave.

Till next time. . .

Dale