Family Time!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Till next time. . .

Dale