Where do I start, part deux?

We drove three days from Virginia to Florida and got settled into our camp in Wickham Park. This is a very nice county park which has upgraded to full hookup sites. We stayed here years ago but it was quite a ways from Brandon's house and then there were those itinerant gypsies who took over one loop of the campground. They have since moved on and since Brandon and Megan moved, they are less than two miles away from the park! Whoo hoo!

The kids had just closed on their house on the Wednesday before our Sunday arrival and had not stayed at their new place till Thursday night. I was amazed when we got there, however, at how much they had accomplished. Brandon had actually emptied the two storage units he had as well as the pod sitting in the driveway. A lot of the stuff was in the garage and there were a lot of boxes in the house to be emptied, but furniture was set up and the first night we were there, Brandon got the entertainment center up and the TV working. By the time we left, almost all the boxes in the house were emptied and put away and the garage was emptied enough to put Megan's car inside. They worked every day and we helped out while we were there. I watched Brynlee and Terry had several projects that required his expertise. Brandon wanted new fans in the a couple of the rooms, so Terry helped with that. This time around, however, he supervised and Brandon did all the work!

They have a lovely lanai in the back, with access from several rooms. It is all screened in and there is a pool. It's lovely and we sat out there in the evenings and enjoyed the bug free environment.

The first night there, I went with Megan and Brynlee to "Boo at the Zoo." The zoo was decorated for Halloween and the employees were passing out candy to the kids. It was a fun time and I think Brynlee enjoyed it. When it got dark, however, you couldn't see any animals.


Yesterday Megan took us out to where the manatees hang out in the winter, but there weren't any there. It's been pretty warm there, so imagine it would take cooler water for them to head for the canals. We went to a boardwalk and walked out on the steps to take pictures of the ocean. It was really beautiful and Brynlee was mesmerized by the sand. I think she liked it on her feet, but after we got back in the car, she wanted the sand off her feet. Hah. That's a toddler for you!

Yesterday little Brynlee had surgery for a "lip tie." This occurs when the upper lip is tethered to the upper gum. Brynlee's actually passed through her front two teeth causing a gap there. The doctor said it definitely needed to be "released" so that it wouldn't interfere with talking, etc. So yesterday was the day. The kids had to take her in early, but the procedure only lasted a couple minutes. Brandon said they were very surprised it was so quick. They just cauterize it and release it from the upper gum. She was fine after the procedure but her lip did swell up a little. Understandable. We just joked that she had had a "botox" treatment. LOL

We enjoyed our time in Wickham Park, although we weren't there much. The girls stayed in the motorhome while we were gone, but we were there most mornings, came back for lunch, then out again, then back for supper. So they really weren't alone that much, got lots of walks in, chased squirrels and "observed" the armadillos. I don't think I would want the girls to try tearing into one of those, but I'm sure they would give it a shot. They were certainly curious about them and mostly just stood very still and watched them.

We saw hawks, blue jays, scrub jays, and ibis. And also in the park we see tortoises once in a while. We saw two large ones (could have been the same one) and one small. They are very timid and it you try to get close to take a picture, they will head for the brush. Luckily, I had my good camera when we saw one out and I was able to get a few shots of him.

We really enjoyed our time with the kids. They let us come and spend time when we could and we tried to help out as much as we could as well. I especially liked taking care of Bryn. After the first night, when she saw me come in the door, she would toddle up to me with her arms up. That melt my heart! Hated to leave the kids, but we will be back in the spring.

We are headed west, spending tonight in Lake City, Florida.

Till next time. . .

Dale

Where do I start?

We drove a couple long days after we left Tab and Deanna's, but we wanted to get to Williamsburg to see the kids. Even though we would love to play tourist here, we were here mainly to see the kids. We did visit the Jamestowne Settlement, which is pretty neat. It is a re-creation of the original settlement. It is located just adjacent to the actual location of the settlement. There were costumed interpreters in the buildings and the kids had a good time. There were three sailing ships, replicas of the ones the early settlers used to immigrate here. It's so hard to believe they sailed in those little ships! I'm sure many ships were lost at sea, but I read about people like Ben Franklin who made numerous trips back and forth across the ocean. He had more guts than I!

When we left Williamsburg, we headed back to Charlottesville. We ended up staying about 10 days altogether. The kids had planned to go to Tom's folks on the weekend, but they acquired a new member of the family! They got a dog, a Poodle rescue. Her name is Pepper and she is really cute. The first couple days she was very lethargic because she had just had her spay surgery and they also did a gastroplexy. That is tacking the stomach to the abdomen to prevent it from flipping and causing bloat, which is common in larger dogs and fatal very quickly when it happens. So she was very quiet for about 3 days, then she started interacting with everyone. She seems to be really sweet. She is curious about everyone and everything and she is young enough to still have "puppy" in her. She is getting into things she shouldn't, so they will have some training to do, but they are already doing that. I think she will be a wonderful addition to the family and will enjoy their outdoorsy life of hiking in the mountains.

Terry caught a bug in Williamsburg and got pretty sick with a cold that followed him to Charlottesville. It didn't help that the weather was colder and rainy most of the time we were there either. In fact, most days, he stayed behind at the motorhome while I went in to see the kids. Each of the kids got sick as well, but their's only lasted a day or so. I sat and held Aenea as she slept with it. She slept almost 36 hours straight, but when she woke up, she was fine.

We really enjoyed our time there. I got quite a bit of grandkid time in and have the pictures to prove it! They are both sweet and loved the attention. I learned how to play some video games of Ronan's. . . well truth be told, I didn't learn much, but did try to play. In fact, Terry even took a turn at that. It was an enjoyable time to visit with them all and I hated to leave.

We did leave, though, because we are headed to Florida to see Brandon, Megan and Brynlee. They just closed on their new house and started moving into it on Wednesday. We are anxious to see it and to help take care of the baby so they can get stuff put away. We left Charlottesville on Friday, spent last night in Charlotte, tonight in Darien, Georgia, and should be in to Melbourne tomorrow.

Till next time. . .

Dale

Busy Summer!

It has been a hectic summer for us. When we arrived in northern Indiana we had an apartment to re-hab and it took a while to do that. I had been bitten by the influenza bug and it was taking a toll on me. I couldn't work for long on any one day, so I worked what I could when I could. We had decided to sell the duplex and so we didn't want to rent it. That was so a new tenant didn't have to change landlords right after moving in. I don't think that would be fair.

We had planned to spend a month in Wisconsin, but we had a buyer for the duplex (who said he actually wanted to buy multiple units) who strung us along for way too long. I finally got tired of it and went to the next buyer on the list, but it was too late for us to go to Wisconsin.  We had multiple people interested in buying the duplexes, so the prospects were good we would sell. And we did. Two days after we sent the first buyer on his way, the next one made an offer. We are happy with them, because they own a duplex they bought from Terry's Dad and it is next door to the one we sold. In fact, the buyer has often done service work for us when we are gone in the winter and is familiar with all the buildings and knows how they were built, etc. Since the August sale, they have purchased the second duplex we had for sale. The deals are all sealed, signed, and delivered and we are very happy with that.

We have left northern Indiana now and headed south. We are in central Indiana where we have seen the dogs' vet and went for bloodwork and haircuts today. Tomorrow Terry sees his new cardiologist in Indy and tomorrow night we will visit some friends in Muncie. The girls will get to play in Baxter's yard. Baxter is a Scottie as well. Thursday we see our family physician and then Friday we roll. We plan to stop by and visit with our Alaska travelmates, Tab and Deanna, in Ohio before heading to Virginia, Florida and finally Texas!

Till next time. . .

Dale

Great Weekend!

Last Friday we loaded up MinnieMee and grabbed the dogs and headed for my sister Nita's woods south of Warsaw. We were part of an elaborate event and our part was what I called "support." We spent the weekend visiting with Mom and Dad and taking care of Nita's four dogs and three cats.

Nita and Jim left Friday evening for Chicago, so they could catch a plane on Saturday morning for New York. Their daughter Kellie was already in New York, Long Island, to be exact. She was out there supposedly for an air show, but her boyfriend had planned an elaborate "engagement" for her. Since Tommy is a pilot, he took her up in a plane and had a friend of his fly another pulling a banner which read, "Kellie, I love you. Will you marry me?" She said "YES!" He pulled the whole thing off perfectly. When they landed, she was shocked to see her Mom and Dad and many of Tommy's family and friends there to help celebrate their engagement. Such a happy time! In the picture, Kellie and Tommy are in the plane in the upper right corner. The right is a closer look at the banner.
 


We just relaxed at the woods. On Saturday night, we had storms and since Nita has one dog afraid of storms, I spent the night at their house. The other nights they did fine by themselves, but I didn't want Phineas to be stressed, so I took him to the downstairs bedroom and he slept next to my bed on the floor. He is a sweet dog.

Our television reception was not too good. . . we got plenty of stations, but if the wind was blowing, and it did all weekend, the trees were interfering with our signal. So we did watch some movies and played on our computers since we had wifi.

On Saturday, Michelle and Staci and their families came down to see Mom and Dad. We visited with them and had a great visit. I had to leave to go tend to the dogs when the storm got bad, but it was great visiting with them.

We are back in Elkhart at the campground and today we cleaned up MinnieMee and have her ready to put back in storage tomorrow. We are getting things around and finishing up some last minute stuff as we are leaving Sunday and headed south. We start with doctor appointments next week, then we are headed for Virginia.

Till next time. . .

Dale

How do they know?

Yesterday my sweet, sweet girl, Duchess, our black Scottie, tore a toenail on her front paw on the threshold coming in the back door at the house. Poor thing. I heard commotion at the back door, but knew Terry was there. When Duchess got into the kitchen she was bleeding profusely and before long the kitchen looked like a crime scene from NCIS. I ran for the door at the far end of the room and got it shut before she could get onto the carpet in the living room. Fortunately the bleeding stopped quickly and I got her paw cleaned up. I called the vet and got an appointment for later in the day.

As the day wore on, I figured I jumped the gun on the vet, but I sure didn't want the paw to get infected, so we did take her in for the appointment. Good thing. They had thought they might have to remove the nail which did not sound like a fun process; but as it was, it didn't need it as long as it doesn't tear further or start to swell. The nail is cracked and it tore the quick underneath which was the source of the blood. The doctor put her on pain meds and antibiotics for 10 days. She did say it was hurting her, but said she is a very brave dog. She was very good for the vet and she

came in and just talked to us and petted her afterward.

She woke up crying once during the night but settled back down quickly. Now this morning, they have been out for their morning walk and it's clear her paw is bothering her. So where is Butterscotch? Laying right beside her on the same cushion. We could certainly learn a bit from our pets. Without words or any obviously communication, Butterscotch is comforting Duchess in her own way. They are the sweetest dogs. We love them so much.


Till next time. . .

Dale

Family Fun!

Last weekend we loaded up MinnieMee and headed for Nita's down in Claypool. They live in a 15 acre woods and it's a great place to camp. We have to take MinnieMee though because we cannot get Phaeton Place in there.

Saturday night Nita hosted the "Schrock" cousins. . . Bob Wall and wife Kathy and Becky Wall Waltz, Nita, and me. Four of us. Becky's husband Jim stayed home to nurse a sick doggie. We missed him, but certainly understand the need to take care of a family member. Mom and Dad were also there. Dad is the last of his immediate family. We had a pitch in dinner and had a great time talking and laughing and looking at some old pictures. Great family time!

 

LtR: Mom, Jim (Nita's husband), Dad, Nita, Terry and I (center), Becky, Kathy and Bob

On Sunday afternoon, Nita and I drove Kellie to Indianapolis to the airport where she was going to fly to Reno to meet up with her boyfriend, Tommy. As it was, she flew to Denver, then Boise, then San Francisco where she finally met up with Tommy and they went to Lake Tahoe to spend some time with friends. Then I think they will be going on to Reno to the airshow.

Nita and I had a nice dinner out before we came home from Indy. Monday, Terry and I broke camp and headed back to Goshen where we dropped off MinnieMee and then to Phaeton Place where we are now. It's good to be back home!

Till next time. . .

Dale

Happy Anniversary to us!

A toast to us and 43 years!

Tunnel of Trees

In talking with our neighbors, we learned of the "Tunnel of Trees," a drive from Harbor Springs, Michigan, on the other side of the bay from us. The drive gets its name from the way the trees form a  canopy over the road along the lake shore. The drive goes on along the coast where it eventually reaches Mackinac City. We decided to take the drive after supper.

We had already driven over to Harbor Springs, so we knew that route. Then we continued on the scenic drive, the Tunnel of Trees. It is a lovely drive and a beautiful canopy. In the fall, this is a very popular drive from which to observe fall colors. I can see that would be beautiful. In the summer like now, however, you cannot see much of the lakefront due to that canopy, but it is a lovely drive nonetheless. There are many beautiful homes designed to capitalize on the views of the bay and the lake. And we saw this flock of wild turkeys in a yard right in front of a house!

When we got to Cross Village, we stopped at the legendary "Legs Inn." This establishment is known as "legs" because of the many stove legs used to decorate the roof line.  We had already eaten supper, but decided to stop for "dessert" and take in the atmosphere. The interior is very rustic with tree trunks and branches making up the framework and the furniture. It all seemed very clean and well done and we enjoyed our desert. It is a famous for Polish food and our waitress was a Polish gal here as a student. Afterwards, we walked out the back to view the sunset from the yard which was beautiful. Many flowers and beautiful landscaping of the yard with many benches to sit on and watch the sky. We were right on time to watch the sun set in the western sky, then we were off back to the camp, by a different route. It is about 30 miles back to Petosky. Next time we are here, we will plan a meal at "The Legs Inn."

Till next time. . .

Dale

Petosky, Michigan!

We camped Saturday night in Frederic, Michigan. Nice little camp, but their 30Amp electric had so little voltage that we were not able to run ANYTHING, and it was hot. Fortunately, it was supposed to cool down overnight, so we weren't too worried. We did take the girls with us for a ride in the evening so that we could all get cooled down.

Sunday we drove on up to Petosky. We got here early and way before check-in time, so stopped and parked at the casino in town. We fixed our lunch and then visited the slots for a while. They were not friendly, so we came back quickly and ended up taking a nap before we checked into the camp. Our campsite is in Magnus Park, a city park in Petosky, and a nice spot right on Little Traverse Bay. It is lovely and we see beautiful Lake Michigan right out our front and side windows. We got all set up in our site and for some reason, I just thought to check the site marker and we were in the WRONG site! Grrrrr. I have to say, that's never happened to us before. Don't get me wrong, we have done some stupid stuff, but that was a first. Oh well. . . guess I can cross that off my bucket list now. We pulled all the slides back in and pulled up the jacks and moved over one site to our correct location. It was a better site, so no problem.

Yesterday we drove back to Charlevoix, Michigan. We had been through there years ago and Terry had thought it looked like a cute little town, worthy of further exploration. So we parked and shopped the morning away before returning to camp. They have a drawbridge right in town and it goes up whenever a tall boat needs to get out onto the lake.
This morning we spent our time visiting the shops in downtown Petosky. It is a very pretty little town and is very quaint in its appearance. We enjoyed visiting the shops and talking with the proprietors. We are back at camp now. Dinner was put into the crock pot this morning, so we have dinner almost ready. It is sunny and warm outside with a cool breeze coming off the lake. Absolutely perfect. And we just saw this out our front window!

Till next time. . .

Dale

Change of Plans

No good intention goes unpunished. We were gathering things together to get the motorhome repacked. Whenever we stay over at the condo, we end up pilfering food/clothes out of the motorhome, so then we have to put everything back in. It is the one thing I hate about being here, but we have had a lot of service work done on Phaeton Place this summer and it was nice to have a place to stay. She's getting close to 100,000 miles and we had those services all done on her. Also had the tires rotated, a front end alignment and new front shocks. We had to take her to four different places to get that work all done, so that was hectic.

As we were getting ready to take off for a couple weeks, we got out our auxiliary brake that helps to stop the little truck we tow and it wouldn't work. Talk about frustration. . . every year we have had to send in this device and Terry was quite upset when he called them and talked to customer service. He found out how much it was going to cost and then called the manager for customer service and explained why he was so unhappy. After they talked, she gave him an RMA number and said they would be taking care of it completely. She sent him a mailing label via email. So we did get it sent in the next day. But that meant we were stuck sitting until that was fixed and arrived back to us. And of course, they got it fixed the next day, but sent it to our mail service in South Dakota instead of reading the paper Terry included about NOT shipping it there and calling for a shipping address.

It finally arrived on Thursday and we left that same day. Fortunately it worked right out of the box and has performed perfectly since. Hope that continues. We spent Thursday and Friday nights in Angola, Indiana. . .not too far away, but far enough to feel like we had gone somewhere! We are headed to Petosky, Michigan. We aren't sure what we are going to do there, but we have a campsite in the city park on the water, so maybe we will just sit and watch all the activity. We are supposed to be close enough to walk to town, so will probably do that. We will stay for a few days, then it's back south to attend a wedding near Kalamazoo. After that, we will spend a month at Elkhart Campground before heading south to the fall doctor appointments.

We have been looking at buying a car and Terry had a couple he was following on the internet. He called a dealer to see if it was still available. It was, so we got MinnieMee out of storage so we could take the dogs with us and headed for Lansing, Michigan. We ended up buying it and I got to drive it home. It's a fun car to drive and we love it. It's a 2011 Mazda Miata MX-5. 

Till next time. . .

Dale

Moving forward. . .

We hit a milestone the other day. We have been managing/owning five duplexes for the past ten years. We have worked hard to maintain nice apartments for our tenants and we have had good tenants for the most part. We have had many people approach us about buying our duplexes, but were never ready to sell. We decided this year that if the opportunity presented itself, we would sell one.  It would be one less duplex for us to care for and we could maybe cut down on our work in the summer when we come back to northern Indiana. We haven't traveled as much during the summer as we would like, so perhaps summers could now be spent differently. It seems with ten apartments, we always had one empty to renovate and rent during the summer.

We sold one last Friday. We are very happy with our buyers. They are landlords already and in the same neighborhood, neighbors in fact. Terry's parents had sold them a duplex years ago and they are ready to add to their business venture. When we went to the closing, the closer asked if the buyers or sellers wanted to go first. I looked at my friend/neighbor who is buying the property and said, "Can't we all go in together?" She said, "Well yes, I just didn't know if you wanted to." The best part is that they understand the rental business and I believe we leave our current tenant in good hands. In fact, these new owners have helped our manager with maintenance issues from time to time. After the closing we passed by the duplex and stopped and introduced our "former" tenant to the new landlord. All is well.

So now that we have that business behind us, we are going to take off for a few weeks. We feel we've earned a vacation. Hah! We did spent last week at Shipshewana. . . my favorite place up here. And we visited with Mom and Dad again yesterday. We are now ready to roll. . . don't know where, but we will roll.

Till next time. . .

Dale

Sorry!

I must confess. . . I forgot the blog! Oops! Grandchildren have a way of making you forget the doldrums of everyday life. I must confess, mine were happy when they were here and always anxious to see us. It warms your heart when the kids call for you when you arrive and throw their arms around you. I can't get enough of it.

Our dogs got along great with them. Duchess is not a real social animal but she didn't shy away from the attention. Butterscotch was often in the middle of whatever Aenea was doing as Aenea loved petting her and talking to her. There were times, though, when the dogs would wander off and settle in behind the recliner or at the back door, etc. The noise level was obviously higher and at times I think they just wanted a quiet place to rest. They were always ready to head to the motorhome at day's end.

On Saturday the 19th, we found ourselves in Indianapolis babysitting from about 5:30 on while Jocelyn and Tom attended her 20th high school reunion. We attend all our reunions and really enjoy touching base with people who were an important part of our lives. They were able to enjoy the evening without worrying about the kids. We fed them, then took them to the pool, then back to the room where we read, watched movies, and Ronan played on the IPad. When Tom arrived back around 11 p.m., Ronan was asleep in bed and Aenea was doing her best to stay awake. At least she is not fussy when she is sleepy. It was a great time for all of us. The kids stayed on at the house until Wednesday when they headed back to Virginia. They camped along the way.

We continue to work at the apartments, getting all the shrubs trimmed. That is a big job, even though we only do 4 of the 5 houses. The main house itself has bushes completely surrounding it, so that takes a couple days even with both of us working. But that is finished. Not sure we will have to do it again. With the really cold winter, they didn't grow a great deal.

Terry has been working at installing a new TV in the front of the motorhome. He did a great job, as usual, and it is now finished. We now have HD TV in the motorhome and it is a big difference over the picture we had before. They TV that was in the box in front weighed about 60 pounds, so Terry is glad to have that out of the front and replaced with a thin lightweight model.

We have had quite a bit of service work done on the motorhome this summer but hopefully that will keep us safely rolling on the road. We had the 100,000 service done. . . hard to believe we have traveled that much, but that is nine years on the road, with 4 month stops in the winter in Texas. We also had an exhaust leak repaired. We noticed a couple flat spots on the front tires, so we had an alignment done. While they were doing that, they said we might want to have the shocks checked. We had the tires rotated and put the front tires to the back and put two of the newer back tires on the front. And while they were doing that, they did see that one of the front shocks was leaking. So Terry checked around for a place to do it. We found a truck stop in Elkhart where a friend used to do all his service work. They would order the shocks and install them. We had that done yesterday. Our appointment was at 8:30 and they were done at 9:30. They were very gracious and we think we have found a new service business for Phaeton Place. So now all our service work is done, the upgrades Terry wanted to do. . . done. So she should be ready to go. We have her over here at the condo in preparation for a month long trip into Wisconsin, but not sure when we will leave now. We have some urgent business with the apartments and we are hanging out here till it gets done.

We do think we will head down to Warsaw to the fairgrounds for the weekend. That way we can spend some time with Mom and Dad and be a bit closer to them. We may head over to Shipshewana when we leave there. One of our favorite places and we never get a chance to see all the shops, so perhaps we will do that.

The dogs were sick last week. Not bad, but apparently they picked up kennel cough from their one night in the kennel while we were in Indianapolis. They had the appropriate vaccinations, but they can still get kennel cough, just not as bad. We found a wonderful vet up here and the dogs did very well with their exams. They have some medications and started responding very quickly to the treatment. They seem to be better every day. I am so glad I took them in when I did. They were sniffing, snorting and sneezing. While it wasn't bad, it did get worse daily and they would occasionally wake me up at night. They are so sweet. I hate that they got this. We won't be boarding again. . . we will try and find a pet sitter if we need to be away overnight.

Our neighbors were over the other night. They have wanted to look at our Alaska pictures and they are embarking on a cruise next week for Alaska. They were more interested in the places they are going on their cruise, the Inside Passage, so I just concentrated on those pictures, since we were stopped at every one of their stops. They really enjoyed it, I think. Dave, especially, is excited about seeing the places we had pictures of.

Speaking of Alaska, our friends who did the trip with us were up to Elkhart for the weekend. They came over to visit Saturday night and then we all went to dinner at Heinnies. Great prime rib! They were in the area to sightsee and also visit a niece who lives in northwest Indiana. On Tuesday morning before they left, we met up again and had breakfast together. It was great seeing them and I'm sure we will see them again before we head south.

Till next time. . .

Dale

Grandchildren!

Grandchildren are such a blessing. God's gift for growing older, I think. Two of mine arrived with their parents on Sunday night. We didn't hang around the house that late, opting for the sanctity of the motorhome, our official home. Jocelyn posted a picture of the kids around 1 a.m. They had drug the toys up from the basement rec room into the living room and were playing, contending they "weren't tired." LOL

So we went over Monday morning and spent the day with them. We had a really nice visit and Jocelyn and Tom got to take off and go grocery shopping. They have so many life threatening allergies, including food, in their family, that we don't cook for them. . . instead they bring their food and do their own cooking. One reason why we stay in the motorhome while they are here. There was a rainstorm while they were gone and Ronan gets a bit antsy. . . he doesn't like to hear the rain and when you have two skylights in the house, it makes it a bit loud. So he put on his noise cancelling headphones and was fine. It actually only thundered once, so we were good to go.

The kids played with the toys we had for them and I fixed them some supper later. They were so good. Aenea chatters all the time when she is around familiar faces. She won't talk when she meets the neighbors though. Typically two year old. LOL  Neither did Ronan, though. Ronan has never cared to talk with "strangers."

It is colder this morning and a cold front is expected to lay over the area for a few days with a high today of only 66*. Brrrrr. But that won't be that bad. Terry has MinnieMee over at the hitch shop getting a skid rail repaired. Shouldn't take long and then we will take her back over to storage. We are looking for a small toad to pull behind her so we can take the girls out in her and leave them in the rig while we go sightseeing. Right now it would require taking them with us in the RV and leaving them sit somewhere in the rig while we explore. In mild temperatures that's not a problem, but we cannot do that when it is hot.

Till next time. . .

Dale

Life goes on. . .

Well, the girls have caught and killed two ground squirrels. It seems that Butterscotch does the flushing out and Duchess joins the chase and goes in for the kill. We don't encourage this behavior, but hunting for vermin is what Scottish Terriers were bred for. They would rid the farm of vermin. Probably anything on/in the ground was "fair" game. I am surprised that the girls are fast enough for the 13 banded ground squirrels, as they have multiple holes dug which provide a safe haven. The dogs need to catch them far enough away from an access hole to nail them. Duchess grabs them in her mouth and delivers a couple fatal chomps. She releases them then and they are normally breathing their last. I know when the girls lived on their farm, they hunted daily and it is good exercise for them, so they get a bit of that here. Duchess is afflicted with Scottie Cramp, which is an episodic condition when she is excited and results in her back legs going stiff and her gait changes to a "goosestep." Once she relaxes, she is back to normal. We had not seen this but once with her, but with the ground squirrels all around, she has done this several times. My concern is she might hurt herself if she were to take off running and her back legs weren't working, so once we observe it, we slow her down to a slow walk and allow her time to relax. It has no lasting effects. Those of you who knew my Neal who was afflicted with Cerebellar Abiotrophy or CA. . . this is not the same condition and it is not progressive in any way. Totally different conditions.

Yesterday was grooming day and off they went early in the morning. We picked them up later in the afternoon and they looked and smelled so good. I took the opportunity to wash their bedding while they were gone. They are beautiful. We walked yesterday afternoon and ended up down at a friend's house in the park. Butterscotch wanted up on Roger's lap where she lay until it was time to go.

Today we are headed over to the "storage condo" to clean. Jocelyn, Tom, Ronan and Aenea are coming this weekend. We are anxious to see them. It's too long between visits when wee grandchildren are involved!

Till next time. . .

Dale

Here at Meerkat Manor!

We arrived at Elkhart Campground, aka Meerkat Manor, last Thursday after we finished up at the Shipshewana Flea Market. We spent the night at the apartments and Terry washed the rig while I went to see the doctor.

I decided it was time to establish with a rheumatologist since my arthritis is causing me more problems than I have had in the past. I do like this doctor and he explained all the options to me, none of which sounded like anything I wanted to try. I opted for a shot of cortisone, which I try to get once or twice a year. He said that infrequently I would not develop any side effects at all from the drug and it has the added benefit of helping keep the psoriasis in check as well. I was relieved to discover that he doesn't believe my arthritis is the psoriatic arthritis, which I could go on to develop, but presently it is just good ol' osteoarthritis. The other problem I am having is renewed problems with sciatica and apparently a pinched nerve in my neck causing problems with my one arm. It's so great getting older. . . we get to experience all these problems at the time of our life which we are just starting to relax and enjoy life. I may have to get some specialized treatment for my back and neck as well.

So why do we call Elkhart Campground Meerkat Manor? Well, truthfully, there are no meerkats here but there are 13 lined ground squirrels who are driving the dogs crazy. The stand up in their holes and look like miniature meerkats like you see on the National Geographic channel. They dig fairly large holes, too, and you don't want to step in them. The girls love to give chase to any rodent and there are plenty of them around here. They come in huffing and puffing from their adventures.

We were to have storms all weekend, but it looks as though they are passing us by. That's fine by me. The girls don't like the storms and I can do without them.

We are about finished with the renovation on the apartment we had vacated. We had quite a bit of painting to do and just general cleaning. We are having some carpet repair done Monday and then I will finish by mopping the kitchen and bath. It is looking pretty good at this point.

Till next time. . .

Dale

Shipshewana!

We left Tab and Deanna on Saturday and drove over to Warsaw, Indiana, where we set up camp at the fairgrounds. They have a few 50 amp sites so we snagged one of those. The girls were able to chase a few black squirrels. They didn't catch any as there were trees in close proximity, but those squirrels sure did give them a tongue lashing. LOL

We made our way over to Mad Anthony's later in the evening in time for the surprise birthday party for my sister, Nita. She turned 60 last month, so I'm sure having a party a month later was a pretty good surprise. We had an enjoyable dinner and touched base with family again. Afterwards, I drove out to their house to visit a bit more while Terry stayed back at camp with the girls. It was starting to storm and the girls were a bit anxious.

Sunday we drove up to Shipshewana and parked in the flea market campground. We got a nice back-in site, although we pulled into it so we face the flea market. Monday we spent shopping in the town shops and the various food markets. I found quite a few gluten free products, especially noodles, which is what I was looking for. There was rain off and on, but we were able to stay out of it by dodging in and out of the shops. Didn't buy much except for the food part. We did some visiting with others in the campground which is always interesting. We also drove out around Shipshewana Lake. I don't think we ever knew there was a lake there! We saw a crop dusting plane and got a good look at them restocking the pesticide. Then he pulled away and started back down the grass runway!

Today we plan to walk at least part of the flea market. The weather is not cooperating and it is supposed to rain off and on all day. We will still do part of it as there are places to get in out of the rain. Tomorrow we will wrap it up and it is supposed to be a good day.

We have been looking for a toad to pull behind MinnieMee and Terry thinks he has found it. In fact, he has found a whole new rig. It means going down a bit in horsepower, but a new coach and toad. . . what a deal!

Till next time. . .

Dale

Checking in with friends. . .

Wednesday we drove from Goshen over to St. Paris, Ohio, to see our friends, Tab and Deanna. They are the friends who went to Alaska with us. It was great to see them and catch up with what everyone had been doing in the past year.

They have a house in St. Paris and they have been doing some remodeling. They put in an entirely new kitchen which is really gorgeous. Tab did a lot of the work himself and he did a great job. Deanna has all new cabinets and new appliances. I'm sure they will enjoy it.

We parked over at Tab's shop and got all set up. After Tab got off work, we all went to Cracker Barrel for dinner. It was really good. We haven't eaten at one for awhile and they had a lot of new menu items. I had rainbow trout and Terry had a salad. Yum yum.

Last night we ate in and then went out for dessert. That's Tab and Deanna's favorite meal, I think. We went to the restaurant down the road. They all had apple dumplings a la mode and I had a root beer float. It was all very good.

We said our goodbyes this morning and we traveled toward Indiana. It started raining at one point and was actually raining pretty hard. But by the time we got to Berne, the rain had mostly stopped. We are camped at Amishville and had to switch campsites because the first one he gave us would not allow us to level. It was a short narrow site that ran downhill and to the one side. I don't know what these people are thinking when they put a 40-er in that kind of space. So we went back to the office and fortunately, they had plenty of other sites we would fit in and that were quite level. We got set up and had lunch before heading out.

We have been through Berne numerous times when we lived in central Indiana but never spent any time here. There are a lot of Amish here and one big difference in these Amish and the northern Indiana Amish are in their buggies. Here they are not allowed to ride in enclosed buggies, so their transportation is all buckboard type wagons. I would be moving if the parson told me that. But they are a hardy group and we saw a lot of Amish out and in the various markets we went to. We were looking for gluten free noodles. I have only seen them in Amish stores and I hit the jackpot at Troyers. I got several packages. They were cheaper than I have found before and I stocked up so I have some in reserve.

We visited several Amish stores, dry goods and grocery, and enjoyed our time visiting with the people.

Till next time. . .

Dale

Glamarama!

We arrived Tuesday, the 10th, at the Goshen fairgrounds for Glamarama. This is an FMCA (Family Motor Coach Association) rally hosted by the Great Lakes area chapters. While we do not belong to a chapter, we are FMCA members, so we can attend any of their rallies. We try to attend any rally that comes to the fairgrounds because it's a great venue and we are close to the apartments in the event we have something urgent we need to take care of.

We got in around noon and got parked. Thankfully we were not parked in the infield of the track this time like we were at Escapade. We parked right in front of the horse arena which makes for easy access to everything. We are on grass, but the road in front of us is paved, so we have a good spot.

We spent the week attending seminars, learning new things hopefully that we can use in our fulltiming lifestyle. We weren't disappointed. There were more seminars in which we were interested than we were able to attend. We only attended a couple together, we usually went our separate ways. I attended two craft classes. One was on "arm knitting." Instead of needles, you knit with your arms. I know that sounds totally weird, and it was, but I made a cowl and it is pretty cool. It was a very simple craft and one we could start and finish in the time allotted. I have never knitted either, so even if you are "knit challenged" as I, you could do it. The instructor said she learned it off "you tube," so if you are curious, plug in "arm knitting" on you tube's site and you will find it. I also did a class on needle tatting. Okay. Suffice to say that one did not go so well. It is very tedious and I wasn't really into the finished product. I really had thought it would be tatting as in lace making using a shuttle, but the instructor assured us this was much easier. Hmmmmm. I didn't find it easy and I would rather work on learning my crocheting better. But it was an interesting class and the instructor was good. . . just not my cup of tea.

We looked at the coaches on display. I really don't know where they are getting their ideas for floor plans. . . or I should say lack of ideas. I didn't find anything I liked better than Phaeton Place and we really didn't pick Phaeton Place for the floor plan. There were some smaller RV's and they were interesting. Still nothing I would trade MinnieMee for. In MinnieMee we have to make up the bed every night which is a pain, but her big advantage is a bathroom big enough to change clothes in. Most of the bathrooms in the little ones were so small you couldn't turn around in them. If you wanted to face the other way you had to back out of the bath, turn and go back in. Hah! No thank you.

The entertainment at the rally was superb. The first night it was "New Odyssey." They are otherwise known as "3 guys, 30 instruments." If you put that in the search engine on the internet, you will find them. They really do play 30 instruments and they are exceptional talents. The drummer even donned a suit jacket at one point which had electronics embedded in it. By slapping his hands on various points on the jacket, he played the drums. Cool. He even had them in his shoes, so he was jumping around to make the beat.

Another night we had two musicians, one played guitar and the other harmonica. I have never heard such a good harmonica player. Anyone who can play the William Tell Overture (fast) on the harmonica commands respect.

Last evening we heard "The Redhead Express." These are four sisters who play guitar, banjo, bass, fiddle and mandolin. . . and sing. They were very good. They are from Alaska, but live now in Nashville, trying to break into the music scene. I know they perform in the  Rio Grande Valley in the winter. I have often wanted to go hear them and now I may do that. They have three brothers and their parents who also perform a couple songs with them. Such a talented family. It's just not fair. I can't play one thing well, and these people all play multiple instruments and play them well. Not fair.

We paid for an extra night here at the fairgrounds so we wouldn't have to leave today. We wanted to drive down to Claypool and take Mom and Dad out for Father's Day dinner. Jim, Nita, and Kellie joined us, so we had a very nice dinner. Afterwards we visited with Mom and Dad a bit, then came back up to the fairgrounds. Tomorrow we will try to finish up work on the one vacant apartment and get it ready.

There is a children's horse camp that started today here at the fairgrounds. It actually didn't start till late afternoon, but horse trailers have been coming in all day. They are saddled up and working in the horse arena right behind us. We took the girls out for a walk and they seemed a little bewildered at all the activity going on, but they were good. They growled a little at horses going by, but a quick word from me and they stop. They listen so well.

Till next time. . .

Dale

Pace-Stevens Reunion

We arrived at Piney Grove on Bay Springs Lake in Mississippi last Wednesday, June 4, and settled in for four days so we could attend the family reunion. Ma and Pa Pace were both married previously and had something like five children each, then were widowed. They found one another, married, and had five more children. Many of the children from the three marriages are no longer around, but there are some. Most of the people who come now are the next generation, i.e., Terry and his cousins. We always enjoy going to Mississippi and touching base with family. It would be great if more people would come, though. We had 31 people this year, up from 18 last year, but there are many more we would like to see.

Years ago, one of the relatives had a notebook with family genealogy in it, but I don't remember who it was and they haven't come for years. I've been trying to think of some way to encourage other family members to come. Perhaps some readers out there have some ideas about what works with their family reunions. If so, I would love to hear your comments.

We are changing the format of the reunion next year. Instead of having a carry-in, we are going to meet at Raymond's, a restaurant in Marietta, Mississippi. Everyone will order from the menu, so no one has to worry about fixing food and bringing a dish. We will let Raymond's do the cooking and all we need to do is visit with one another.

After we left the reunion, we headed out to the lake to the dogs and spent some time walking them and visiting with Gary and Jo. Later we all headed in to Paul and Shirley's, Terry's cousin and Gary's sister, and we had a fish fry. What fun! We had our leftovers from the reunion carry-in and fish Gary brought from one of his many fishing excursions and then an additional treat that Preston fixed. He made us steak kabobs with jalapeno, cream cheese and bacon. They were very good.

As it got later, it was obvious a storm was brewing. The dogs don't like storms, although they aren't terrified like some dogs. Still, we didn't want them to be alone in the motorhome in a storm. So we left Shirley's to rush back to the lake, about a 30 minute drive. The wind was really blowing and rain was horizontal, but we somehow plowed through it all. I was more concerned about a tree blowing down on us as we drove back. Once we got out on the highway, though, the wind seemed to die down and we just had a lot of rain and lightening. By the time we got to the camp, the worst was past. The girls were doing fine. We always leave the A/C and fans running as it masks a lot of noise. They were glad to see us, but they weren't overly anxious. They are such sweet girls. We waited till the rain stopped and took them out for their evening walk and then went to bed.

Gary and Jo did get a motorcycle ride in while they were there. I think that would be fun.

We also found these really large fungi the day after the bad storm. Have not found out what kind they are. Several suggestions have been made, but I don't believe we have identified them yet.

We left on Sunday morning to head to Indiana for the FMCA Glamarama Rally at the fairgrounds in Goshen. This is the second rally we have attended there in a month. They are always fun and it's great to be with other RV'ers. We drove all the way to Cave City the first night, then Indianapolis the second night, then on to the fairgrounds on Tuesday, the 10th.

Till next time. . .

Dale

Family Time!

Once we left the river, we traveled on toward Bowling Green, Kentucky, stopping at Cave City for the night. This is a park, Singing Hills, that we have used in the past. I don't care much for the drive going in, but it is do-able and the people are really nice. We got situated and relaxed for the rest of the day.

We drove out the next morning and headed toward Nashville. We skirt around the northwest part of the city on the Brylee Parkway and jumped on the Natchez Trace. This drive is my all-time favorite. It is a slower paced drive. The first section starting in Nashville is only 40 mph, but with the curves and hills and the big rig, you aren't going to go much faster anyway. We saw more wild turkey than we could count, deer, vultures, and snakes. Some of the snakes were dead on the road but a couple of them were alive. I don't know my snakes, but one was yellow with markings. Hmmmmm. Oh, we saw box turtles too. I safely managed to dodge all wildlife. We stopped at Falls Hollow Camp just east of Hohenwald, Tennessee. Hohenwald is German for "high forest." This was a decent camp with indecent hookups. Funky doesn't begin to describe them. The owner told us however we were able to maneuver and get comfy was okay. Didn't have to worry about pulling in, backing in, straight, crooked, otherwise. The camp was a large grassy area with little definition to the sites. But they could make vast improvements with a bulldozer and re-routing some water lines. As it is, there aren't many functional sites for large motorhomes. But we managed to get in and setup and stayed for 2 nights. The owners here are wonderful people and they came and invited us to go out to dinner with them our last evening there. We would have in a minute if we hadn't already eaten. Our dinner was over and cleaned up, so we weren't interested in going. The owners have a restaurant on site and they prepare meals on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. We weren't there any of those nights, but some time we may have to go back. The restaurant was very clean and I bet the dinners are good.

We did go see some places along the Trace we normally don't have a chance to visit. Since we were unhooked, we took the little truck and went back to Falls Hollow to look at the waterfall. Not a lot of water going over the falls, but it was interesting anyway. We also went to the Meriweather Lewis death and burial site further down along the Trace. There is a campground there and it's been years since we were there, so we wanted to see if we might be able to get the big rig in there some time. There are no hookups, so you are boondocking, but that is okay. There were many sites we could have used and it wasn't busy, so perhaps next time we will try it out. We also hiked a short way to see the remains of a small scale railroad used in the mining of phosphate. We also visited a couple wineries along the wine trail and made a few purchases. The country around the area is really hilly and we enjoyed our drive out through the countryside.

Yesterday we packed up and left the camp and headed for Bay Springs Lake, near Burton, Mississippi. We didn't have far to go and checkout isn't until 3 p.m., so we didn't want to get in too early. We stopped at the rest area on the north side of the Tennessee River, one of our favorite stopping points. We walked the dogs, watched the barges on the river, had lunch and eventually started rolling again.

Once off the Trace in northern Mississippi, we fueled up and ran on in to camp. We were still early, but our site was open, so we made it in and set up in quick time. Jo and Gary were due in on Thursday, but about 8:30 I was looking out and saw them sitting in their site. Not sure how they managed to sneak in without us knowing, but to be honest, we were both dozing in our chairs, so no wonder. We went out and visited briefly. Later, after giving them some time to set up, we went over and while we were there, their gas detector kept going off. They had their toy hauler with their two huge motorcycles in the back. There were fumes from the bikes and that was causing the detector to go off. Annoying, but lifesaving. So we all helped get the bikes offloaded and eventually the detector stopped beeping.

Today we are headed to Red Bay, Alabama, Phaeton Place's birthplace, to grab some goodies at the camp store. And we'll spend some time visiting family I'm sure. Saturday is the Pace-Stevens reunion at Marietta. We missed it last year because we went to Alaska, but that is only the first time in over ten years that we have missed. We always enjoy seeing everyone. Many of the older generation who started the reunion are gone now and it is up to us younger ones to keep the tradition going. So we are planning on having a great time visiting with everyone.

 Till next time. . .

Dale