Where have I been?

That's probably what all my regular readers are wondering. It's been a long few weeks and while some things have gone well, other things have not.

We have been here in Elkhart Campground for a month and just signed up for another. Our plan this summer is to get the last duplex cleaned out and sold. Would like to get that done this year, but it's not looking good. Next year for sure.

Shortly after we arrived, Jocelyn, Tom, Ronan, Aenea, and Pepper the Poodle got here. We knew they were coming and I was planning on getting everything ready over at the house. But we walked in there and found mouse droppings all over the kitchen. What a mess. So I sent Terry out for more and better mouse traps and I set to cleaning and bleaching the kitchen. I spent the entire day on it and got little else done. But at the end of the day the kitchen was clean and new traps were set for those dastardly mice. I've caught three.

Jocelyn called and asked if they could come in that night and we said yes. Although I hadn't cleaned the rest of the house, I had cleaned in the fall before we left, and the house does not get dirty during the winter months. I did manage to clean the bathrooms and we were ready for them.

We enjoyed seeing them. They had been to Niagara Falls and into Canada, camping with the dog even! And in a tent! Tom had some shows with his band, including one in Toronto. Go Tom! I hope to hear them sometime. I have heard his one band, The Hollow Machine, but I have yet to hear Spider Lilies.

We were able to see the kids every day while they were here and they visited Mom a couple times. She enjoyed seeing them and the grandkids always enjoy their great-grandma. She is the only one they have left. I managed to take Ronan for a ride in the Miata. He loves it and always wants me to take him out.

We really enjoyed their visit. We don't get to see them often and it really helps us get our kids/grandkids fix when they visit us. We try to see them twice a year and we look forward to that.

We managed to go to Terry's 50th high school reunion. Wow! They had a really good turnout and we got to see quite a few people we hadn't seen for years. Well, that Terry hadn't seen in years. A few people I knew or had met at previous reunions. We attended a meet and greet on Friday night at a bar in downtown Elkhart. The food was good and we enjoyed seeing some of his classmates there. Then Saturday night was at the country club with a dinner buffet and some games. Our table won at trivia. We earned play money for that and then we bid on door prizes people had donated. We "bought" two thermos bottles that are really nice. And since we were using our "play money" they really didn't cost us anything. It was a great time and we enjoyed ourselves.

We enjoyed an evening of cards with our friends, Luanne and Jim. We girls won! The next night we had a campfire here in the park with other friends. They are from the Elkhart area, but live in Arizona in the winter and return here in the summer to visit their kids.

Terry's been really sluggish for some time and so we paid a visit to his doctor in Indianapolis a few weeks ago. They did a few tests and changed some meds which seem to have helped. But we are going back next week for some more testing. He's had heart trouble for 20 years and it may be time to change some more of his meds. There are a lot of new meds for various heart problems and we are hoping we find something that works better.

The last few days we have had some really heavy rains. That's okay, because we were needing rain desperately. I hope it was in time to help the crops. We had a couple inches yesterday and it rained more today and supposed to tomorrow as well.

Till next time. . .

Dale

Moving on. . .

We spent another night on the road before we got to Charlottesville, Virginia. We spent a glorious week with the kids and grandkids. We always enjoy seeing them as we only see them about twice a year for a week each. Fortunately, while the whole family had been sick, they all were recovered by the time we got there. Illness is something we try to avoid like the plaque, with Terry's health problems.

The kids had some school functions this week, so in between times, we visited and even babysat while the kids were gone. Tom now works away from home, so he is not readily available if Jocelyn has to step out. Most of the time, she can take them with her, but if she has a doctor appointment, it's handier if we can watch them. Tom is enjoying his job. He now works for the university, UVA, as a computer programmer in the School of Medicine. I guess his job is a lot like his last job, but working at a university certainly has more perks. His job is flexible as well. When he was sick for the week, he was able to work from home so he didn't have to take time off work.

We entertained the kids out at the motorhome a couple evenings. While we were there, we gave Ronan his birthday presents because we wouldn't be there for his actual birthday. At least he gets to drag it out a bit more. LOL

The weather was less than stellar while we were there. Winter has been hanging around most of the midwest longer this year and Virginia was no exception. We had snow twice and while it wasn't a lot, it did hang around on the ground for awhile. We tried to use our propane sparingly and since we had 50 amp there, we could use our heat pumps if it was above 40, but that wasn't always possible with the cold temps we had.

Our week was too short and we are on the road again, headed to Indiana. Going to spend some time visiting Mom and we have our spring doctor appointments lined up.

Till next time. . .

Dale

Fall in Virginia

Fall in Virginia means apples!

We usually take a trip with the grandkids up Carter's Mountain to the apple orchard. There is a lookout and beautiful scenery all around.

We met Jocelyn, Ronan and Aenea up there and took some pictures and ate some wonderful warm cinnamon donuts. Ronan had never had one before because he has had allergies to the ingredients, but he is outgrowing those little by little and today he got to have a warm donut for the first time! AND. .. he LOVED it! Whoo hoo! I knew he would.

We walked through the Apple Barn and checked out all the pumpkins and the dogs people brought with them. The kids like going up to the "tower" and looked out over the apple orchards up and down the mountain. It was a very clear sunny day and you could see Charlottesville and UVA near where the kids live.

We all got something to drink and sat out on the deck and people watched for a bit. The kids enjoyed their cider. We took some pictures before heading back down the mountain. It was a great time and I'm glad we were able to share the time together again.

Till next time. . .

Dale

Rolling, rolling, rolling. . .

Before we left Indiana, we had a lovely dinner with friends Dave and Mark and "Baxter," their black Scottie. Duchess gets along well with Baxter and they shared some squirrel hunting. It was great seeing them and we compared travel stories from the summer.

We left on Thursday, September 29, and headed east toward Charlottesville. We drove to Huntington, West Virginia, where friends Smokey and Pam are camphosting at the KOA. They had just arrived and didn't have to work yet, so we were able to visit with them. We went to dinner at Cracker Barrel and spent some time visiting with them. They took us to the Blenko glass factory in nearby Milton, West Virginia, where hand blown glass is fashioned into beautiful glassware. We didn't find anything we needed, but they did have beautiful pieces. I just can't justify putting any glassware in my coach!

We enjoyed our visit with Smokey and Pam as it has been several years since we had seen them. It is always good to reconnect with old friends. They started fulltiming when we did and we are going on our twelfth year! They are getting ready to change RV's. They are going to downsize from a truck and fifth wheel to a motorhome. Wishing them well in their "new" adventure!

When we left Huntington, we drove to Buena Vista, Virginia, and camped in the Glen Maury city park. They have a campground with water and electric and were hosting a Blue Grass event on the weekend. Some people came in a little early and one evening they were playing some music and singing.  We did a little driving on the Blue Ridge Parkway, but we didn't stop but just a time or two for pictures. The sun was in the west and that made for poor pictures as we were looking into the sun.

We moved on a few days later and moved into the Charlottesville, Virginia, KOA on Tuesday, October 4. We spent a week visiting with Jocelyn, Tom, Ronan and Aenea. What a wonderful week it has been seeing my sweet, sweet grandchildren and their parents. We spent some time at parks, their house and the motorhome. We had met them one day at Sherando Lake where the big kids were kayaking. Ronan enjoyed that a lot and it's fun to watch them paddling away on the small lake.

Today we went to Carter's Mountain Apple Barn. We didn't think that one through too well because there were lots of kids and their parents. Apparently a lot of schools were closed today due to Columbus Day observance and the place was packed. Not my kind of fun. I like my space. Ronan ate some cinnamon donuts, which were the first ones he had tried. He enjoyed them. We walked around a little and then left because it was just way too crowded.

When we left there, we took the kids to get pizza at Lelo's, which used to be Christian's. Since it's egg free, both kids can eat it. We ate with them and then we came back to the motorhome to let Duchess out and feed her supper. Afterwards we went back into their house and visited with them. The picture of Pepper McPoodlePants looks like her legs are broken! But rest assured, she must be double-jointed or something because that's just the way she lays!

Tomorrow morning we head south to Florida. Hurricane Matthew has just gone through so we are having to alter our route a bit due to some closed roads. But we plan to take at least three days to get to Melbourne and then we will stay a week to visit with Brandon, Megan and Brynlee. Can't wait to see them.

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

Colors!

I don't remember when I have seen more beautiful colors in the fall. Well, it's been about 8 years since I have even "experienced" a fall season where the leaves change colors and fall. Since we spent the summer "gone" from our business, we stayed a bit later into the fall to give our managers a break. But we have run into some cold weather and we know the time is right to leave the frozen north behind. We still have kids to see, however, so our total departure is delayed while we fuss over the grandkids one last time. . .

Terry loves taking pictures of "my nemisis," the hill known as Sandstone Mountain in West Virginia, starting from Pluto Road at the summit. There we always pull off to the mandatory truck brake check lot and start our decent from a slow crawl. Even then, it requires constant vigilance and transmission adjustments to keep Phaeton Place rolling at an acceptable speed. It is a 5 mile 7% grade and not fun for the driver. But Terry has fun joking about our "brown pants" we don at the top of the hill, changing back into the white ones at the bottom. LOL

The colors coming through West Virginia were gorgeous and no camera shooting out the front window of the motorhome or car can give it justice, but the memories are stuck in our heads for sure. The colors here in the Shenandoah Valley have been spectacular with plenty of reds giving way to the yellows and rust colors.

We took time Saturday to go with the kids to a vintage apple festival which featured some of the oldest kinds of apples to ever be grown in Virginia. Me? I just buy what tastes good, I don't care if it's a vintage breed or a newer one. We did buy some pink lady, suncrisp and york. Apples have enjoyed a bumper crop this year and the fruits are huge. We also bought some cider but at $7.25 a half gallon, we feel we are drinking liquid gold. LOL

Today is our last day with the kids and grandkids. The little ones are so sweet and cute. I just can't get enough of them. But I am anxious to see Brynlee in Florida as well. We will miss them for sure.

Till next time. . .

Dale