Chattanooga Choo Choo!

We spent the last two nights in Chattanooga at the Shipp’s RV Center and Campground. They have a Camping World and decent sites. Yesterday we did some driving around the city and went to Warehouse Row. It is apparently an old warehouse downtown which has been converted into outlets. The only problem was that there were only a handful of businesses left in it. It was three stories and we were back in the car 39 minutes later. But it was time for lunch anyway, so we left and went to Pronie’s, a sub/sandwich/pizza place. The food was very good and we enjoyed our meal.

We then went north of town to the Hamilton Place mall. It is a two story mall and very nice, so we got our walk in. While on our way up there, the traffic coming the other way was stopped for this wreck.
A Roadway truck had hit the guardrail and flipped his trailer. Talk about a mess. We came by about 4 hours later and traffic was still slowed and there was another Roadway trailer and they were switching the contents from one trailer to the other. The tractor cab looked pretty intact, so hopefully the driver was okay.

As we left Chattanooga today, I took a picture of Lookout Moutain.


Today we drove on down to Huntsville and thought we might be able to stay here for a couple days, but could only find a campground for one night. We are at the Space Center Campground and it is adequate, but our power just went out. Terry is outside trying to figure out what happened. We took a drive today and went up on Monte Sano. I was able to take some pictures, but the pictures just don’t capture the real beauty of the landscape.
We are leaving here tomorrow and going to Florence, Alabama, for a couple days. We don’t want to run into Red Bay until Sunday because that is the day they have the most openings in the campground.

Late this afternoon I took this picture in the sky. I know there is a name for this phenomenon, but I don't know what it is. Any of you readers know the name of it?


Till next time. . .

Dale

What a great week!

We had a really nice week in Charlottesville, spending time with Tom and Jocelyn. We spent more time with her since Tom was working during the day, but we managed to have a great visit. Jocelyn and I took one afternoon and tried to find some really good fall colors.
We saw some that were quite spectacular, but not easy to photograph. We went on both the Blue Ridge Parkway and Skyline Drive in the Shenandoah National Park.
It is so easy to see why people love living here. The mountains are beautiful, rain or shine, but thankfully we had good sunny days. It has been cold, however, and we are quite anxious to get further south and into warmer weather. Last evening the kids came out to the motorhome for supper and brought Jericho, their standard poodle. Bailey immediately tried to nail him, so we put Bailey in the hall behind the gate. He really was quite happy there and could see us. When I eventually took down the gate, he stayed right where he was. Jericho and Neal got along fine, so we enjoyed an evening of food and fun.

We left Misty Mountain this morning and drove to Wytheville, Virginia, for the night. It was raining when we left and has steadily downpoured since arriving. There are some factory stores nearby, but I am not even interested in unhooking and driving over. Don't care much for shopping outside in the rain. We will leave here tomorrow and go to the Escapees park in Heiskell, Tennessee, for three days. Then on to Knoxville for the chassis service. We had planned on going to Gaffney, SC, for that, but when Terry called, they were booked up. So Terry checked around and found the service center in Knoxville and they had time to do the coach. From there it's on to Red Bay, Alabama, and get this slide fixed. It broke again on Terry and he had to fix it, but it is definitely out of time or something. Just a dreary day here, but we are doing fine.

Till next time. . .

Dale

Eat Your Heart Out Mickey!

We kidnapped Jocelyn yesterday to go up into the mountains and take some pictures of scenery. But it was hazy, lots of clouds and an ill wind blowing, so didn’t get that done. We came back towards the camp through Nellie’s Ford, Virginia, and stopped at the Blue Ridge Pig.
The Pig is a world renowned restaurant that serves BBQ. Terry had the tenderloin sandwich and I had the smoked turkey. The owner has a shed out back where he smokes all the meat and it is chunks of deliciously smoked, tender, juicy meat . . . not that chopped, pressed and formed crap. The “Pig” is . . . shall we say. . . rustic. It is quite the dive, but the food is so very good.




We came back to the motorhome and began experiencing in earnest, the electrical problems we had had the day before when we first got here. The surge protector kept shutting down the power. It was happening constantly. . . just coming on for 15 seconds or so before shutting off. They came and changed the breaker. When that didn’t work, they told us to move and gave us our choice of 2 other sites open till we planned to leave. They were really nicer sites than the one we were on, but ugh. . . who likes to move when you have set up camp for a week. And our slide had broken again when we put it out, so that had to be fixed. It was cold, but Terry got under there and got it fixed and we did, indeed, move. I’m glad we did because we haven’t had one bit of problem with the power since we got on this site. We have the dogs pen set up right outside the door. At the other site, we had to set it clear in back because the site was sloped and Neal couldn’t stand up and also there was a mud pit right outside our door.

Today we went into town to do a little shopping, but didn’t find what we wanted. The kids are coming out here tonight for supper. We are having cheese lasagna, salad, homemade bread, and baked apples for dessert. Yummy umm.

Till next time. . .

Dale

Charlottesville 2006!

We arrived at Misty Mountain Campground around noon today. Spent last night in a campground in Clifton Forge, Virginia. We were under trees and had no satellite tv or internet. We were really under a canopy. Today, however, we are in one of the open sites at Misty Mountain, and everything is working.

Daughter Jocelyn and husband Tom came out to see us and spent a couple hours visiting. Tomorrow we will go into town and get Jocelyn and go see some colors and visit an orchard to get some apples. Tom will have to work, of course, so he won't mind if we keep Jocelyn occupied. They are both doing very well and it was so good to see them. They really seem excited about the baby due in April.

We have seen so many colors since getting into West Virginia and Virginia. In some areas, there are no reds, just mainly yellows and oranges.
As we got further into Virginia, many more reds were added and it just seems to add fire to the landscape. The mountains have been incredibly gorgeous and while I plan on getting much better pictures up on the Blue Ridge Parkway, I took a few out the windows of Phaeton Place to tempt you with.


Till next time. . .

Dale

Got outta' Dodge

Well, we finally left. . . actually we left twice. Terry forgot his phone. . . had left it on the seat of the truck. We were in Middlebury, discussed unhooking the toad, but decided to just flip and go back. Our apartment manager said if we forgot anything else, just let him know and he would run us down. Hah.

We had our meeting this morning about Terry's medicare stuff and think we have a handle on that. We left the last time at 2:30 and arrived at our campground at 5:30. Didn't get too far, but it's been a long week and we just wanted to get a ways down the road.

Our Datastorm seems to be working really well, thanks to Elkhart Satellite Systems. They are very good and know what they are doing, so if anyone out there wants one and can get to Elkhart, I highly recommend them. They have been selling and installing satellite systems, both commerical and residential for 30 years. Brian, our tech and the owner's son, has installed over 200 Datastorms.

Things are pretty quiet now. . . Bailey has strewn his toys all over the living room floor and has now crashed on his cushion. Neal just collapsed after having investigated every speck of dirt/food/etc., on the floor and is convinced there is nothing there to eat.

We will drive a good day tomorrow to get close to Virginia or maybe inside the state.

Till next time. . .

Dale

Rollin', rollin', rollin'. . . get them doggies rollin'

Well, looks like we may get to leave. The apartment is rented. Yay! Life is good. Yesterday was a round trip to Indianapolis via New Castle where we took the dogs. Neal had to have a shot and they stayed there in doggie day care while we did the Indianapolis cardiologists' thing-y. We are good for another 6 months, so we headed back to New Castle to get the dogs and then on to Goshen. Left at 6:30 a.m. and returned at 10:00 p.m. Didn't stop and dilly-dally for anything, just drove.

Today is laundry day, packing day, close up the house day, etc. We are not staying here next year when we come by Goshen. There is work to be done, so we are going to be at the Elkhart Campground from Rally time (end of April) until the work is done on the house. Have a new floor to put in, paint, new appliances, etc. The house has been neglected while we got the apartments upgraded, so now it is time for the house. Have apartment maintenance then. . . window painting, etc. Trying to decide if we want to keep it all or start selling it off. I think Terry likes tinkering with things, but he cannot do anything too heavy.

Tomorrow we meet with the Council on Aging :-) to get Terry's insurance stuff all straightened out. Once that meeting is over, we are history and headed for Charlottesville, Virginia, to see Jocelyn and Tom. . . then points south (of I-10).

Till next time. . .

Dale

WE'RE STILL HERE!!!!!!!

And it's raining. . . Mistress of Distress here. If we stay any longer, we're going to have to buy Halloween candy for the trick or treaters. Ugh.

The apartment is still not rented. Had an application today, but they didn't check out too good, so we are still looking. I'm confident we will get someone in there.

Now Terry just came in and told me that the dash lights and turn signals on the truck are not working right. We had it in the shop for two days last week fixing the brake lights. I guess the Chevy garage in Goshen thinks that you trade off one for the other. Sheesh. You cannot pay people to do the right job anymore. We will have to get it fixed because our manager uses it to plow snow.

In other news, we have decided to drive down and back to Indy on Wednesday for Terry's final doctor appointments. We have to go through New Castle first and drop off the dogs for day care. Neal needs a booster shot, so we have to take them. They will board them for the day while we are in Indy, then we will run back by there and pick them up before heading back up here.

First stop when we leave here (whenever that is) is Charlottesville, Virginia, to see Jocelyn and Tom. We cannot go in there on the weekend anyway because the campgrounds are full on the weekends. We won't have trouble getting a site Monday through Thursday.

Till next time. . .

Dale

PS: Anybody want to buy some apartments?

Will it never end???????????????

I just cannot believe this. One year after saying I would only see snow on TV, I am taking pictures of it out the front door.


Get me outta' here!!!!!!!!!!!!

Till next time. . .

Dale

AAAAACCCCCKKKKKK!

I guess you can tell by the picture that I am in a total state of distress!

Time marches on. . . .

Well, we thought we had the apartment rented. The couple came to sign the lease today. I think they will be great. . . if they end up signing. She is currently renting and the landlord has threatened to hold her to her lease. She really cannot do what she says, but that doesn't mean she can't make life miserable for our prospective tenant. So we advised her to resolve that situation before signing our lease.

Tomorrow we are headed to central Indiana to pick up our enclosed trailer. Sister and husband are going to be moving this winter into their house and the trailer will be a big asset to them. It has a ramp in the back and will make hauling big heavy things easier and will keep everything dry as well. It will take a minimum of 8 hours down and back.

We had our satellite worked on again today and I think it is working better. We had to hire a dealer/installer to fix the errors that were made initially. I hope it is working now. It seems to be, but time will tell.

We are leaving Tuesday next week for points east and south. That is, if the apartment is rented.

I think I can now brag about my very special news and that is that Terry and I are going to be grandparents! This is a first for us. Our daughter Jocelyn and her husband Tom are adding a family addition in April. Hope all goes well with the pregnancy and we have a fine healthy grandbaby!

Till next time. . .

Dale

We gotta' get outta this place. . . . .

Man, what a week. I think I am finally getting better. Not that I was bad. . . but.

First off, soft water at the house here burns my skin. Terry has now decided to bypass the water softener (installed for the back apartment tenant). Then my back is killing me so today we are swapping out the mattress for the air bed in the closet. But the worst of the problems is that due to the COLD air, MOLD from leaves, and generally yucky weather I apparently picked up an ear problem which gave me vertigo. Ah, yes, vertigo, my friend. Problem is, it took about 4 days for me to put two and two together, so I decided to start the meds for vertigo. Now Terry doesn't like me to do that, because I am gone then for about 2 days. That stuff will knock you on your fanny, but it does work. So yesterday that's what I did. I think today, I am feeling human again. I will try to avoid taking the meds until bedtime, so that way it should help, but I should be quasi-normal for the day.

We've had a lot of rain and we saw this from the front porch the other day.



Our apartment may be rented. We are still mulling it over. No perfect candidates, but some not-so-perfect that might work. The satellite guy is to be here today or tomorrow to change out the antenna on the roof of Phaeton Place and see if that helps the connection problem.

Friday I am going to go to Mom and Dad's and help them move the last of their stuff out of their mobile home. It has been sold, they are on their way to Texas, and their new trailer is on the lot in Jim and Nita's woods awaiting their arrival next spring. Life is good. Here is a picture of the house.


We are waiting to get this apartment rented, then heading out no later than the 17th for doctor's appointments south, then heading somewhere. Supposed to be Red Bay, now he's talking Kerrville, Texas. Don't know what the boy has on this mind. Well I do, but . . .

Till next time. . .

Dale

Back in Goshen

We are back in Goshen after spending 3 days in central Indiana for doctor's appointments. We figured we have made about 10 trips to the doctors down there this summer. Ugh. That is just poor planning. Last year when we were getting the house emptied and gearing up for our life on the road, we didn't plan those appointments too well. Next year is different. We are setting the stage now to have fewer trips down there next year. We want to keep the same doctors, but better organization is a must.

We are still trying to get the DataStorm up and running like it should. Still not there. MotoSat was to perform tests yesterday to determine which hardware needs to be replaced. Haven't heard any results. The good thing about being here at the house is that we have DSL, so we are running smoothly right now. We will have a resolution on the DataStorm (one way or the other) by the time we leave here the 17th of October.

We have an apartment for rent. That's the reason we are here. Would like to get a new renter in there within the next 2 weeks. Had one call last evening that sounded promising. We have strict requirements, but then our renters are the best tenants in the world. In fact, the tenant leaving says he feels like he is leaving family.

It is colder here than what we like, so we are anxious to get our work done here and get headed south for warmer weather. We will probably have to stop in Red Bay, Alabama. The slide malfunction we had a few weeks ago has occurred again. . . that after getting a clean bill of health from a repair shop. Fortunately, Terry knows how to fix it. The key is when I deploy the slide, if I hear anything or see anything out of order, stop immediately. This time, the pin sheared, but it was only about 1/2 inch out of kilter, so it was easy and required little effort to fix. Terry has laid in a supply of pins to fix it, but we want it working better.

Mickey and Patti returned here to Goshen after the Escapade to attend a Montana rally. They are leaving this morning. Since we got in yesterday afternoon, we picked them up and took them to Alley Oops for dinner last night. We had a good time and went back to their trailer for coffee and a visit afterwards. We will really miss them. They are headed to Yuma for the winter and we haven't decided exactly where our travels will take us. We know we will be in the Rio Grande Valley with Mom and Dad for Christmas. But from there, we don't know.

Till next time. . .

Dale

PS: Since I posted a picture of our son last time, some of you have asked what Brandon does. He is a network security engineer for a government contractor in Melbourne, Florida.

Bad two days! One bright spot!

Friday after Escapade we had a Datastorm installed. It did not go well. We are creeping along, sometimes at UNDER 100 kpbs. I'm telling ya', nothing happens when you are there. Dealer spent all day Friday, most of the day Saturday. We had to leave Sunday morning, and are in a dilemma as to what to do. I think I will reinstall my air card today.

The one great thing Sunday was making a trip to Indianapolis to see son Brandon. He had flown to Lafayette for homecoming and he and a friend were on their way back to the airport. We caught up with them and took them out to eat. It is always good to see the kids.



Today we have a "free" day. Nothing on the docket except to pick up mail in New Lisbon. We are in the RV park off Wilbur Wright Road and I-70 about 10 miles from our former home. Tomorrow we have one doctor appointment, one hair cut (Yay!) and one blood work, Wednesday a doctor appointment and vet appointments, then we are back up north to try and rent an apartment.

Till next time. . .

Dale

Naa na naa naa, naa na naa na, hey, hey, hey, goodbye!

That's what got sung to me in the restaurant the last night of Escapade. As per my usual sloppy self, I dribbled some sauce from the Chinese food on my shirt. Patti just happened to have her "Tide White Out" pen, which I used to scour out the blob and everybody in our group (6 tables) started singing. Talk about red. It was so funny because everybody in the restaurant chimed in, I think.

We are sitting here in the Van Wert fairgrounds and I am thoroughly steamed. We had a Datastorm installed yesterday and it isn't working properly yet. The installer worked 10 hours yesterday and another 8 today and is now waiting on a call back from Motosat to change the satellite we are on. Don't know what to do. If he doesn't come back and finish tonight, we have to be outta here tomorrow. Bummer. Then we had to move because our jacks sank in the mud and we were listing to the starboard side. When I went to put the slide back out, the pin broke again just like a couple weeks ago. Had it worked on then and declared fit and healed, but the darn thing broke again. Fortunately, I stopped it immediately and Terry went and got another pin, put it in and we are in business again.

A really bad day.

Till next time. . .

Dale

Escapade!

Well, we ended up being delayed in leaving last week, but I was glad to be able to help my sister out. There was a death in her husband’s family and I knew I could help her with some stuff, like cleaning, etc. It would certainly shorten the time she would have to spend on that and we had a great time visiting and working together. I’ve just never had the opportunity to do anything like this for her because we have always been gone whenever something happened.

We did make it to the Celina Fairgrounds Friday evening. It was great to see everyone. As soon as we arrived, we immediately started the HOBO stew. Terry had browned some ground beef and onion in the morning, like 5 pounds, and we tossed that into a pot and added a can of veggies from everybody. It was delicious and we all enjoyed the fellowship and the food.

We had a pitch-in, aka potluck, then on Saturday night. We put all the grills together in one area and grilled burgers. We had plenty of side dishes, condiments and desserts, so we had another great meal all together.

We gathered at the entrance to the fairgrounds around 9:30 am, then caravanned to the Van Wert, Ohio, fairgrounds where we are now parked. As luck would have it, Sunday was a beautiful day, but it may be that was the only nice day to be had all week. It started raining last night and has been steadily raining all day today. We went to one seminar this morning which was really bad, so left after 10 minutes and walked around the indoor market area.

We came back to the motorhome for lunch, then grabbed Patti and we went to WalMart. We got a few items, then came back and Terry is taking a nap while I write this. We are going to a seminar later today and then we are going to visit Pam and Smokey’s booth to share Pam’s birthday cake! Then back home until time for door prizes tonight.


Till next time. . .

Dale

Loadin' Up, Headin' Out!

Well, tomorrow is the day we leave for the pre-Escapade rally. Yay! Lookout. . . here we come! Whoo Hoo ! I'm not too excited to get away, now am I? We had a great week with Mickey and Patti. They stayed over at the fairgrounds and we popped in on them and took them places. We visited Shipshewana a second time. . . this time for the Amish dry goods store just down the road from the fairgrounds, E&S Sales (an Amish grocery), and Yoder's Department store. It was fun. I enjoy those places and it is too much to try and go there when you also go to the flea market. So we went on a non-flea market day and there weren't as many people. We drove out through the country as well. We all enjoyed it.

Yesterday we took Mickey and Patti down to Claypool, Indiana, to where my sister is building her house. The dry wall is up and the workers are supposed to be finishing the dry wall in the next two weeks. We also toured the trailer Mom and Dad had set down there in the woods. Mom and Dad are moving out of their trailer in the trailer court up here so when they are home from Texas, they will be at the woods in their new home next to Jim and Nita. We will be the only ones left in Goshen except for my nieces and a sister-in-law and Terry's few relatives. I guess that really leaves quite a few of us, doesn't it?

I had a prescription that had to be ordered and I got it today. We were waiting on Neal's meds as well and they did not get here. I called and instead of their shipping it the day they TOLD me they would, they shipped a day later, so it will probably be here tomorrow and Terry doesn't want to wait. We has enough to cover until we get to New Castle in 2 weeks, so I will have to visit the vet then to get more. It's his seizure meds so we must keep him controlled.

Well, it has rained off and on today. We have loaded up in between showers. Now I have to bathe both dogs and I am done for the evening. Save me a spot by the campfire!

Till next time. . .

Dale

Hail, hail, the gang's all here!

Well, they were on Sunday, anyway. Our daughter and her husband Tom came in Sunday morning at 1 a.m.
They had standard Poodle Jericho in tow.
They are tent camping their way to South Dakota and Colorado and stopped by here to see us first.

I had family in Sunday afternoon for a cookout so everybody could see the kids. They are here so infrequently. . . well, I guess that goes for us, too, so I try to invite people over. Mickey and Patti were here as well and we had a very nice time.


Monday Terry and I drove down to the woods south of Warsaw where my sister Nita and husband Jim are building their house. Last week they had the slab poured and Mom and Dad's trailer was delivered. They set it in the woods and it is convenient so Mom and Dad will have a nice place to stay when they are in Indiana. Their trailer park where they are now is being overrun with. . . well, with people. No one is taking any pride in their places now, much different than when they first moved there. They do have a buyer for their mobile home there, so by next spring, they will be comfortable down at the woods when in the north. They still will spend their winters in Texas.

Yesterday Mickey and Patti's 5'er went into the shop, so they came over here and hung out with us. . . did laundry. . . kicked back. . . Mickey worked on Terry's computer and Frosty played with Bailey and Neal. It was a most enjoyable day, but we were all tired because we had gotten up early.

Today we got up early to take Phaeton Place into the shop to have the slide worked on. They had it all day and could not find a thing wrong with it. Slide works perfectly and everything checks out on it, so don't know what to think. It does work smoother than before it malfunctioned. So I guess we will just have to see what happens next. A pleasant surprise was to find that the company where we took it to be repaired is owned and operated by a man with whom I graduated from high school. He was recommended to us by Bob Tiffin himself, so I think that speaks highly of him. It was good to connect. His wife works in the office, so we had a nice chat.

I have some pictures to add, but I will have to find the camera. We have been doing some slumlord stuff this week. We have 9 apartments and a few matters that needed attention. We also have a unit coming open, so will have to try and get that rented before we leave for the warmer country.

Till next time. . .

Dale

Burp, groan!!

That's what we were doing after eating at Essenhaus. It's the Amish restaurant in Middlebury. We picked up Mickey and Patti this afternoon and took them there to eat. It was wonderful. We ate family style and had chicken, baked steak, mashed potatoes, homemade noodles, dressing, green beans, bread, tossed salad, and our choice of pie. Man, oh man, was it good.


Afterward Patti and I shopped at the Village Shops while the guys sat and talked. I found a sweatshirt with an embroidered Scottie dog on the front that I just had to have.

Tomorrow I am going to be busy getting ready for the cookout on Sunday afternoon. Also, our daughter Jocelyn and son-in-law Tom are getting in late tomorrow night on their way west on a (tent) camping trip.

Till next time. . .

Dale

RV Surplus, Camping World, DeMartini Sales

Today the Ivey's and the Pace's went browsing. We started by showing them where the new RV Hall of Fame and Museum is located. We will probably get over to see the current museum some time, but the new one is much larger and very impressive.

We went to RV Surplus and then on to Arrow just to show them the two places we have talked about so much. Then we went on to Camping World where we had to eventually confiscate Mickey's credit card or Patti would not have been able to get out of town. He was about to max it out. He just went wild, like a kid in a candy store. We tried to get Mickey to buy the new Garmin Nuvi 350 like we got, but he thought it was too big.


We browsed and toured through all the coaches at the RV Sales Center which I guess is now going by the name of Camping World Camper Sales. It used to be Hart City, but it has changed owners. We looked for our favorite salesman and couldn't find him. We do think we have Mickey and Patti coming back over to the "dark side," as they were thinking of putting money down on the Newmar Kountry Star. :-)


From there we drove on down to Wakarusa to the new DeMartini sales center. Brand new and very nice and THERE was our favorite salesman from Hart City. He is no longer working for Hart City. Said when the owners changed, they wanted the sales staff to start playing mind games with the customers and he didn't like it so he went down the road to DeMartini. It was good to see him again. His name is Ron C. so if any of you get to Wakarusa to look at coaches, look him up. We get no royalties from that, but he is just a nice salesman, something you don't always find in this industry.

From there we drove back to the house and the Ivey's disembarked and headed for home, the Goshen fairgrounds. Tomorrow we are going to meet up with them again and go to eat at Essenhaus. It is so fun to have friends with us here.


After they left I took Neal for a ride in his new stroller. He seemed to like it. He sat right down and enjoyed the ride. Bailey walked alongside.

Till next time. . .

Dale

Shipshewana!

We arrived in Goshen Monday afternoon and camped next to Mickey and Patti (RVNotebook) at the Goshen fairgrounds. Not much fun when you have a dead slide you cannot put out. Bailey, our Scottish Terror is all about space. . . his, at least; and he didn't take too kindly to Neal's stumbling around. So we came on over to the house on Tuesday. We do have an appointment to get the slide fixed on September 6. We have family coming in this weekend and a big cookout planned.

Today we took Mickie (sic) and Patti to Shipshewana to the flea market. We had such a great time. It has been raining up here for several days and today was supposed to be dry. It sure looked ominous this morning, but as the sun broke through, it looked like it might work to go. We have been there in the rain and you can stay pretty dry unless it's a downpour. It was cool from all the rain, and it wasn't very crowded. It turned out to be the perfect day. It did not rain on us and the sun came out eventually. I think it stayed in the high 70's which was just perfect for walking. The two big winners of the day were Neal and Frosty who got new doggie strollers to ride in. It was after 2 when we finally left.

We drove through the country back to the fairgrounds and Mickey and Patti got to see a lot of the Amish countryside. We arrived back at the camp and Frosty was so glad to see us (well, Patti at least). We all climbed back into the SporTrac and came back over to the house so the Ivey's could pick up their truck.

What a great day. Finished it off with a nap!

Till next time. . .

Dale

Lake Erie, Ohio

We left Berlin, Ohio, Friday morning and drove north up towards Lake Erie. We are in a campground in a little town called Milan. The campground is sufficient, but the sights are small.

Last evening we went out looking at the sights. We drove over to Vermillion and went to a Maritime Museum. It wasn't real big, but it was interesting. Outside the building was the lighthouse which had been relocated and was actually shorter than the original. I don't believe it is in use anymore. The lake is very pretty, but it's hard to get close to it. We saw so many boats and big boats. Today we went into Sandusky which is an interesting town, but there isn't much in their downtown. They were having a wine and food tasting, but we opted for a small shop where we got some ice cream. We also went to their maritime museum which was smaller than the one we saw yesterday. We then strolled out onto the pier at Battery Park. We could see Kelly Island across the bay and also we could see Cedar Point. That is one place we have never been.

We drove around and found Thomas Edison's birthplace. We didn't go in, but it was built close to where a canal was built to load the schooners off the lake. Quite interesting. We are just really taking it easy.

Till next time. . .

Dale

Wie geht's! (How are you from Amish Country)

My apologies to my many readers on not posting earlier. I hate not having adequate internet function to post and it still is not enough to post pictures, but I will try to catch up. I have written some things and will include them beneath this post.

Today we are sitting still watching the Nascar race. Last week we had some doctor appointments in central Indiana and while we were there, we camped back at Summit Lake near our old home. We did not go by the old place this time. The park there is a very nice park, but since the state has seen fit to raise the rates exorbitantly, you can count the number of campers on just two hands. Years ago, when our kids worked there summers during college, you couldn’t get a campsite. In fact, we gave up trying to camp there because you had to get in on Tuesday before the weekend if you wanted a spot. Now there are plenty of vacancies and no one wants to camp there because of the price. Thanks to the new governor Indiana has, I can see state campgrounds closing due to lack of use and revenue. Seems to me it would be more cost effective to drop the price a little and fill them up every weekend rather than charge more and decrease the attendance to roughly 10%.

We left Summit Lake on Friday morning, thinking it would be hard to find a place. We had decided to head over to Ohio’s Amish country, since we had never been here. The Amish in different parts of the country are all different. Having been raised in Amish country, we don’t come here to look at the Amish, but to visit the meat shops/bakeries, craft shops and restaurants. We found a lovely no-frills campground with large spaces, navigable roads and full hookups. There is no shower house, but that is fine with us. With full hookups, we have everything we need. It is $22 a night, 3 for $20 per night, or a week for $130, so we are here for a week. This area is Berlin, Ohio, lots of German influence. We have been to one restaurant and it was very good. This morning we went to a cheese house and stocked up. Most everything is closed today. It is so peaceful and serene here. It’s late enough in the season, it’s not real crowded and by staying a week, we don’t have to try and do everything all at one time.

It has been really hazy here with rain expected every day, but never did have any. Today is the first sunny day and it is gorgeous. We ran out into the country a little and I took some pictures, but I’m sure the pictures won’t do the scenery justice. It is so rolling here. So many hills, with farms dotting the landscapes. Bigger barns than houses in many cases with lots of buildings for animals. Today driving through the country we passed many farms where church was being held. At some, church was over and all the menfolk were out in the yard talking and the women were on the other side talking. Several families walking home.

We met some other Tiffin owners here and one group were here just back from a Tiffin rally. They come here often, so we may try to keep watch and connect with them another time. This is a great place to come and relax and still have things to look at and visit. There is a wood carver shop Terry wants to visit. He had read about the guy years ago and wants to see some of his work. We also were in Mt. Hope this morning and saw the Wayne-Dalton headquarters. They were Terry’s competitors when he was in the garage door business.
Yesterday we visited the flea market. It was mostly craft stuff and Terry was disappointed, but I liked looking. I did find some ribbon I use for making Christmas decorations. We left there and went to Trail where we bought some of the infamous Trail bologna. We drove out through the country before coming back to the camp.

Last evening we went for our walk and came back by a couple in a new Allegro Bay just two spots back from us. We ended up sitting and chatting around the fire. For some reason, there were no mosquitos and we eventually went and got the dogs and sat around the fire with them until 10:30 when we retired. Neal got plenty of ear scratches from Beth so he was in heaven. Bailey sat with his back to everyone. . . typical Bailey. . . typical Scottie behavior. Hee hee

Till next time. . .

Dale




August 12, 2006

Well, we left the YMCA Day Camp on Saturday and started driving south through Ohio. Just were trying to find a campground and something to look at for a few days. I started calling as Terry was driving and found out numerous festivals and fairs were behind held and there was nary a campground to be found. I called a half dozen places and finally found one that said they had one spot left (usually not a good thing when you are 40’ with four slides). The one lone campsite left is usually the one no one wanted and won’t always work for us. But we were headed down toward St. Marys, Ohio, so we were rolling along highway 33. Just then Terry looked up and said, “Well, there’s a campground right on the highway.” I looked and sure enough, a decent looking camp with sites aplenty and a few campers in there. Kind of no frills, but that would usually mean nice and quiet, so pulled in and got a site. As we were making our way through to our site, we passed a Gulf Stream Atrium with Oregon plates. We knew it was a long shot, but asked the proprietor if that would happen to be Hawkeys, who were members of our Graduating Class of 2005. Would you believe he said, “Well, yes it is.” We first met them last year at Rend Lake. They were just starting out full-timing and were headed to the Escapade. They were not camped in the area near our group, but we invited them over to sit by our campfire and “friends were born.” They were excited to see us as we were them. They invited us down to St. Mary’s Summerfest which they were attending later. We went with them and got to eat some homemade ice cream which was delicious. We walked around a little, took a tour of the St. Marys’ Canal Boat and then Dan took us on a tour around Grand Lake on the way home. We passed by a party in progress and got to meet Dee and Dan’s son and his wife who were here from Virginia. We decided to spent 3 nights at this camp since our friends were here and got to visit a few more times before we left. We talked them into joining us at least for an afternoon in Celina at the pre-Escapade rally and they will also be with us in the generator area at the Escapade.

We left there on Tuesday, August 15.

Till next time. . .

Dale


August 10, 2006

We left the “storage facility” in Goshen late in the afternoon and drove to Dundee, Michigan. I wanted to visit Cabela’s again and it wasn’t a disappointment. The plan was to find a campground nearby and go the next day. But campgrounds are not easy to find in Michigan and so we stopped off and did our shopping that afternoon. We contemplated spending the night in the parking lot along with the other motorhomes, but decided against it. We left there and drove to Temperance, Michigan, and camped at the Vine Lodge and Campground. The location says it all. They only give discounts for being members of the YMCA and the WCTU (Women’s Christian Temperance Union). Hmmmmm. Should have asked a few more questions. We got a nice spot on the lake/pond front and got set up. Sites were not that good. Barely any gravel, mostly grass/dirt and lumpy at that. And quite narrow.

Early the next morning, like around 7 or 7:15-ish, we hear what sound like garbage trucks. Oh that it were the sound of garbage trucks. Instead it was 3 busloads (yellow schoolie type) of kids. Yes, folks, this is the YMCA DAY CAMP! Arggggghhhhh. They unloaded the kids and life was not the same after that. They took to canoes, and other assorted points around the lake and our quiet life was over. . . . at least for the weekend. Ugh. We had paid for Thursday and Friday, so we stayed, but then we rolled. Enough of that!

Till next time. . .

Dale

Being retired is hard work!

I'm still trying to get used to sleeping in until 7:30-8:00 every morning. It's hard when you were used to getting up at 5 a.m. for 34 years. It sure is sweet.

We have been ordering things that we need, since we have a physical address to where things may be shipped. Terry's ordered some travel books, a couple warranty items from Tiffin, and I ordered new phones. We needed to upgrade our plan and it was time to get some new phones, so we got that done. They came today and I am charging them, getting ready to activate them.

We have been busy cleaning out the basement. That is where we stored everything of ours when we made the final push to empty the house in Mooreland. Still have a ton of stuff down there, but it is mostly the kids' stuff. Jocelyn has been through hers once, but Brandon has yet to some look at it. He doesn't think he wants any of it, but I don't care to make that decision for him.

I get my root canal re-done on Wednesday and Terry wants to take off again. He is getting too antsy sitting here at the house. So we are going to take a run up to Dundee, Michigan, to the Cabello's there and look around. Will mosey on down to the central part of the state for doctor appointments, then back here probably.

till next time. . .

Dale

Working hard. . . well . . .

Well, everyone is complaining about the weather, so no need to rehash the 110 degree days (with heat index).

Dogs don't want to go out much. Don't blame them. We don't go out if we don't have to. We have been taking care of little things. Had a couple minor maintenance jobs Terry got done on one apartment. When it gets cooler, we will probably make the rounds and visit the neighbors and see how everyone is doing. Took the truck in and had the tires rotated and an alignment and the transmission serviced. that should do for awhile.

We intend to replace the kitchen floor here in the main house. The vinyl is shot and we are looking at laminate flooring. Hate to put much money into it, but it has to be done, so might as well get something we like. Will probably change the dishwasher and the range at the same time. Just hate doing it. Hate having things torn up. And we need to paint before we do the floor. Ugh. Anyone have a magic wand?

We are going to be here for a few weeks, then back to central Indiana for doctor appointments, then off to the Escapade. We won't leave for the winter until the middle of October.

Till next time. . .

Dale

Okay

I've added some new pix, but I put them back on the correct dates, so some of them are in the June 2006 archives.

Till next time. . .

Dale

New life!

I don't thnk I mentioned it, but while we were in Tunica at the Hollywood casino campground, we found a KillDeer nest with four eggs in it.
The Mom dutifully sat on those eggs and we were anxious to see the hatchlings. Much to our surprise, one day they just disappeared! No eggs, no nest, no nuthin'. :-(

I was really disappointed that something had apparently gotten into the nest. Later the neighbor came over and said, "Have you seen the babies?" I said, "No, I thought something got into them." "No," she said, "we watched them during lunch. They are skittering around. . . all four of them!"


So I had to do some research on this one. Little did I know, but Killdeer babies are exact miniatures of their parents and can hop up and walk around after they have hatched and dried off completely. Wow! Did you know that? I didn't. I took some pix. Sadly, we saw four the first day, 3 the next, and by the time we left, only 2. Don't know what happened. Supposed they could be off on their own. Hope so.

Till next time. . .

Dale

Land O'Goshen

We arrived back at the house on Thursday after Terry's second cardiology appointment. He is doing well, although he has some strict orders to get with the program as far as his diet is concerned. Not surprised. His favorite food is hot dogs and he just cannot have them.

I am where I can finally upload some pictures, so I will be doing that. I considered just bunching them all together here, but then decided it would be better to have them with the text on the days we experienced it. Check back as I will be posting them as I get time.

Today I spent the morning cleaning out the Tracker. It is officially for sale and I have pictures posted on the web. If you know anyone looking for a good reliable Toad all set up to pull behind your motorhome, let me know and I will send them an invitation to view the pix. It is over 100 degrees here with the heat index (I almost said wind chill) and it is truly miserable being outside. I also did the trimming with the push mower which was not fun in the sun, but the yard is done and it needed it.

I got some bad news about my one tooth yesterday. You remember I had a root canal, 2 crowns and an extraction in May. The root canal tooth has continued to bother me since the crown was placed. I saw the endodontist yesterday and he took xrays but couldn't find anything wrong with it. He said, however, the protocol is to retreat the tooth, i.e., re-do the root canal. He said I didn't have it have it done now, but I am going August 9. Decided not to wait. Don't want to start having trouble 6 months down the road. He will retreat it for free of course, so decided just to give it a try. Hate to have it done, but the root canal was not as bad as my last crown prep, so hopefully it will go smoothly. Since it is hurting, there has to be something there. He did give me more antibiotics in the interim. We'll see what that does.

Well, Terry wants to go to Menard's. I don't want to go as it is my least favorite place to go (right up there with Lowe's), but I may drive him over. He is hot and tired and don't really want him going alone.

Till next time. . .

Dale

Leaving St. Paris

Today we left St. Paris, Ohio, and Camp Pull-Tab where we have camped for the past two days. It was great to see Tab and Deanna once again and we hope we persuaded them to attend the pre-Escapade gathering at the fairgrounds in Celina in September. It just wouldn't be a class campout without them. They took us out to eat at Young's Dairy Bar the other night for some burgers and mighty fine ice cream.

We traveled across US 36 today and are back in our old stompin' grounds at Summit Lake State Park. We are here for just one night and then on to the Indianapolis KOA for 2 nights while Terry checks in with his primary cardiologist.

We aren't staying back at the S & H Campground where we were last week. Talk about a pit. They have mostly seasonals and we have no problem with that, but when they let the trailers rot right down to the ground, it really makes for a bad and dirty atmosphere. The overnighters are taken on a road trip up a hill and into the wet open area where little grading has been done and virtually no upkeep of the grass, etc. A constant parade of golf carts come by to gawk at us and their kids ran all over through the sites, etc. Getting out was a bit scarey as the roads were very narrow, and dropped off to ditches and ponds and with trees overhead. We don't plan on going back there at all. The KOA is way overpriced, so we are only staying as long as we have to and that's it.

We are headed into the dogs' vet in a few minutes. They have a routine visit planned and this is a good time since Neal had a seizure last night. Another this morning and another later in the morning. The last two were extremely mild and basically just some tremors. I am giving him honey after the seizures and it sure helps him come out of them.

Till next time. . .

Dale

St. Elmo's Fire

That has to be the name of the cocktail sauce they serve with their shrimp. We just got back from St. Elmo's Steakhouse in downtown Indianapolis. Terry took me there for my birthday today. Woohoo! He had been there numerous times on business, but I had never been. He had promised me all year he would take me there since I like steak and have a hard time finding a good one. Turns out this is "restaurant week" in Indianapolis and the higher class restaurants are all offering a particular menu for $30. We got a 7 oz. filet, shrimp cocktail, fresh bread, redskinned mashed potatoes, steamed fresh vegetables and either creme brulee or cheesecake. The entire meal was delicious and expensive, but we don't do this often. And the waiter lit a birthday candle in my dessert for me. Hah. Thank you, Love.

Terry saw his one cardiologist today and I am glad to report that everything is very, very good. They were happy with his condition and then the good doctor talked with us about RVing. So we had a very good day and tomorrow we are going to check out some computer stores. Terry accidentally dropped his laptop on the steps of the motorhome and the DVD drive popped out and was really mangled. It really wasn't his fault. He put it up on the dash on a cushion and he was driving the motorhome behind the Gator that the park attendant was driving, directing us to our site. The Gator popped out of gear and stopped and Terry had to hit the brakes on Phaeton Place and down went the computer. He's pretty ticked because of that and because this place is supposed to be "big rig friendly" and it's not. There ought to be a law.

Till next time. . .

Dale

Back there again. . . in Indiana!

We are back there (not home, for home is South Dakota) in Indiana. We are in Oaktown at the New Vision RV Park on US41 just north of Vincennes. We were here about 6 weeks ago on our way south. It is a comfortable park, Passport America, $12.21 for the night with full hookups. We may stay 2 nights, as we just have to mosey on over to Indianapolis by Tuesday.

I drove today all the way from Boomtown and there wasn't much traffic. We took to the red roads today (Terry likes to do that when I am driving). The interstate was a little bumpy and the state highways were pretty good. The heat is really a factor in our comfort if we step out of the coach, so we spend most of our time inside with the dogs. They only like to go out to do their job, then it's back in. That's okay, though.

Today we got here in time to catch the Nascar race and it just finished. Looks like another evening of movies inside since we don't want to go out. I thought it would be nice to look around Vincennes, as there are some historical sites, but probably won't do it this time.

Till next time. . .

Dale

Boomtown!

We are in Boomland, aka Boomtown, near Charleston, Missouri, close to the Illinois line. We came up here yesterday from Memphis and planned to stay for 2 nights. Anyone passing through here needs to know about the Boomland campground. It is down the frontage road in front of the huge store (they sell fireworks, hence the name Boomland) and costs $12 for full hookups. It is the honor system. You put your money in an envelope and drop it in the box. The campground is grassy with gravel sites and roads. Not real fancy, but plenty of space to get in and out even with Phaeton Place at 40 feet. We did have to unhook the toad, as the site isn't real long, but we planned to anyway.

Today we left to go have a late lunch at Lambert's, in Sikeston. They are the "Home of Throwed Rolls." Thanks to the 10 million people already there and waiting outside for a seat, we didn't stop. Five buses were in the parking lot. Grrrrr. So we went on down the road and ate at an authentic Mexican restaurant, and it was very, very good. We ate very well and probably didn't overload like we would have at Lambert's. There are 3 Lamberts--one in Sikeston, one in Ozark , Missouri, near Branson, and the third in Foley, Alabama.

This morning I decided to trim the dogs. They were so "hairy" and since poor Neal spends more time on the ground than not, he was really dirty. Got him trim really short and I believe he is really happy. Got Bailey trimmed up pretty good before he started balking. The trimmers were heating up and he didn't like them on his hide. After getting trimmed, they got baths and I am now washing their blankies. They are smelling fine now!

I think we are going to be leaving in the morning, although we haven't decided exactly where we are going.

Till next time. . .

Dale

Leaving Memphis

Last Tuesday we moved north from Tunica. We are camped at a campground on I-55 north of Memphis in Marion, Arkansas. We were tiring of the casino scene and thought that when we got ready to move, we would like to be on the north side of the city for a quick escape. This is the ABC Campground, sister to the one in Branson. It is comfortable, the people are nice and it is considerably closer for my acupuncture appointments. I had my final one this morning and I am so much better. Thank you, Dr. Barry.

I really don't have much to report, as we have just been hanging out between my appointments. It has been so hot. We did do some gaming, but didn't have much luck and it isn't fun if you aren't winning. We checked out other campgrounds around Memphis, but trust me, there aren't any. This one is convenient. Takes 35 minutes to the SE side from up here NW of the city.

The dogs are doing fine. They don't like being outside in the heat too much, but neither do we, so we stay inside when we are here.



When we leave here tomorrow morning, we are going to Boomtown for a few days. From there we are going to "mosey" on over to Indiana, close to Indianapolis. We have picked out a couple private parks to check out. Terry has doctor appointments the 19th and the 26th. Think we may move in between and visit some friends perhaps. After the doctor appointments, we are headed back to northern Indiana to check on the apartments. Not sure then where we are going, but have a few things in mind. Had wanted to do some UP or Canada, but nothing concrete yet.

Till next time. . .

Dale

Great Scots! I'm seeing double!

Tonight as I stepped out of the coach in my quest to let the dogs out one more time, I looked up and saw two Scottish Terriers tugging on leashes. AND. . . one was black and one was wheaten just like Bailey and Neal! Wow. What a sight. It is just so unusual to see the wheaton Scottie, so I had to run over and invite the owner over to see our two. Her dogs are Misty and Maddy, both females and mine are both male. They were so cute. I got some pictures of the four of them and we got to visit for a little while. I have pictures, but I cannot post with my connection right now. So I will have to do it later.

Till next time. . .

Dale

We've moved!

Phaeton Place has moved about 3,000 feet across the road to Sam's Town Casino Campground. Hollywood had a 14 day limit and if you weren't gambling a LOT of money, they wouldn't let you stay longer. So, the campground over there is almost empty tonight, but they are happy that they are empty and not getting $$ per night for campers. Figure that one out.


Actually we have a much nicer site over here and we just came in from outdoors and had not been bothered by mosquitos while we were out. That was a problem over at Hollywood. They had a retention pond and a stagnant pond right next to the building. Then the Resorts casino right next to the Hollywood is actually on a barge with a moat around it. The moat is really nasty and stagnant and we figure a lot of the mosquitos were coming from those sources.

We spent most of the morning making the move and got settled in this afternoon. No need to do anything else. It was a beautiful day today. . . not too hot and we were able to sit out under the awning for most of the day.

We are going to be here through Monday night and then try to move to a campground on the east side of Memphis while I finish out my treatments. That way we are a couple hours further up the road when we leave at the end of next week.

When we leave here we are headed for Indianapolis and Terry's doctor appointments. They are going to check his progress since they changed a couple of his meds. He is doing extremely well and we are pleased it is all going so well.

We are making plans to attend the fall Escapade in September. It is in Van Wert, Ohio. We have also signed up for a few days before the Escapade at the Celina, Ohio, fairgrounds. Hope to meet up with some more of the Class of 2005 as well as RV Notebook fans.

Things continue to go well and we are enjoying the quiet time here in the south.

Till next time. . .

Dale

You win some, you lose some!

Here is a picture of our rig and the site at Hollywood casino.

We are still a few dollars ahead. We win a little (little being the operative word) and we lose a little (again little being the operative word). It's a lot of fun, but I would like to be like my neighbors. They arrived yesterday, she walked in to the casino to a penny machine and on the second spin, won $900. I guess if I would wager more than my $1, I might stand a chance to do a little bit better. But as it is, we wager small, win small and get hours of entertainment out of it. That suits me just fine.

We spend Monday, Wednesday, and Friday mornings in Memphis at the acupuncturist. It is helping a lot. . . I hope it continues to offer me relief. We usually try to see something while we are there. Yesterday we checked out a state park which is really quite nice. But it is on the SW side of Memphis and that is not the best side of Memphis. You have to drive through some pretty seedy looking areas to get there. It would be closer for us, but not sure we will do that. Yesterday was also the day President Bush and the Japanese Prime Minister visited. On the way out of town, we passed an exit which was closed in order to accommodate the motorcade, but we didn't see it.

We spent the other evening driving over to Arkabutla Lake. We took the dogs with us. It is a COE park and very nice. They have just refurbished their campground and most of the sites are long enough to accommodate our rig. They have water and electric hookups and the campground sits right on the lake. Very pretty and secluded.

We have a new neighbor. The gal who won the $900 and her husband have a 4-month old Yorkie named Harley. He is one bundle of energy. He loves everyboy and I got to hold him. He gave me puppy kisses. June (Harley's) mom told me that Harley was following her husband out one day. Jim didn't know he was behind him and Harley got caught on the steps and hung himself. Jim found him shortly after hanging lifeless and immediately started CPR. He continued for 30 minutes while she rushed them to the vet's. Harley was revived, but the vet said it was likely he would have brain damage. Happy to report, he performs all his functions normally and appears to have no lasting effects from the incident. He is one lucky puppy. He is so cute. He is such a happy puppy. I hope he continues to live a long and natural life. He certainly has some determined and loving owners.

It is getting hot here already. Supposed to be 98 today. . . humid, too. We walked earlier and will probably spend the day inside. May hit another casino toward evening.

I also have new births to announce. The killdeer who has been sitting on a nest since we arrived 10 days ago has new hatchlings. She has moved them further into the bushes for protection and we can no longer see them. But she tries hard to keep everyone away, so we may eventually get to sneak a peak.

We are here through the fourth and then I think we will move over to Sam's Town across the street for a few days until I finish my treatments.

Till next time. . .

Dale

Doing my impression of a human pincushion!

Well, I got in to see my acupuncturist yesterday. I have to say I got a lot of relief from yesterday's session. I was pretty miserable when I went in. I have sciatica and there is just nothing else like it on earth. I don't want to do surgery and the one epidural I had lasted 9 months and promptly applied a lot of weight I can't seem to shed. So I am seeing the acupuncturist ALL of Terry's family sees. He is Korean and uses a Chinese method. I didn't know there were different methods, but there are and he is very good. I am going MWF this week and next and then M the third week. I teased him yesterday and said since he was treating so many of our family, he should just close his practice and become the acupuncturist to the stars, so to speak.

We finally go into one casino Sunday night and then revisted yesterday. I think we are still up $3. Big spenders here. We plan our "losing" carefully and normally come out ahead or break even in the long run. I think we are done with the Hollywood casino here and will move on. There are 9 casinos here and everybody recommends the Horseshoe, so will probably try that today. We have to run down to Tunica to get our mail this morning, but Terry will have to get up before we do that. It is 7:40 am and he is still in bed. I'm up, the dogs have been out and fed and I have had one cup of coffee. I'm way ahead of him, aren't I?

I tried to upload some pictures the other night, but my connection is a little slow. Will try to hook up my antenna and see if that helps.



We went down to what is called the Riverfront Park. It is right along the Mississippi and a neat park with a visitor's center and a museum. This is also where you can board for rides on the Tunica Queen.



Till next time. . .

Dale

Roll the Dice!

We left Red Bay, Alabama, on Wednesday and spent two very hot, humid days in Tupelo. So hot, in fact, that we didn't do any sightseeing while there. We did go Wednesday evening and visit with cousin Shirley and Aunt Teen. It was good to see them and touch base with them again.

On Thursday, we met Uncle Bob at his favorite Chinese restaurant in Tupelo, about a mile from our campground. I have to say that it was about the best, if not THE best, Chinese restaurant we have been too. There were so many good things, I didn't even get to sample them all. . . and I never eat the salads or the dessert. So you know there had to be a lot on the buffet.

We left there on Friday and drove a couple hours (more thanks to Delorme) and arrived in Tunica. . . well actually north of Tunica at the Hollywood Casino. We haven't been in there yet. Being a weekend, I couldn't believe how packed the parking lots were, so we decided we would wait until after the weekend to venture in. Last evening we drove down to Mhoon Landing
which is where the original casinos for the area were located. We thought from our reading that there was still a boat docked there and that there was an effort being made to refurbish it into the casino it once was. We did find the remains of one of the four casinos, but no boat.

Today we drove to the outlet stores and walked a little, then drove to downtown Tunica and walked as well. There is nothing in the way of shopping in downtown Tunica. They have attempted to make a very quaint little town square, but there is very little there except one small grocery and a dollar store.

We came back to the camp and have been visiting with fellow campers. As we were sitting out, our "twin" coach came by so Terry had to run down there and compare notes.

Tomorrow we will be watching the Nascar race, then Monday will be scheduling my acunpuncture treatments.

Till next time. . .

Dale

Getting Phaeton Place ready to roll again!

Well, we got up early again this morning, but just because we wanted to give Phaeton Place a much needed bath. No point in doing it earlier. We were in and out of paint bays, down the crushed limestone lot, in and out of the repair bays where things were getting sanded, etc. She was filthy. So we started about 7:30 because it got up to 99 degrees today and we wanted to be done by then. It was still hot, but we didn't care how wet we got. Norris came along (Norris is the service coordinator, I guess, for lack of a better word) and asked if we were having a wet t-shirt contest. I supposed since he had to inquire, it means I've lost my touch. Hah.

Afterwards, I gave Neal a bath. His gait seems to be getting worse and he is falling down a lot. There is no grass here, he is on pavement, so he gets pretty dirty. He is mad at me now, but about to get over it. Treats seem to help.

We were waiting on two things, and Terry ended up tracking those down and so after lunch, we went in and settled our bill. The only items we had to pay for were the two awnings we added. We added a long one in the living room. It is under the main patio awning, but there are many times when we cannot put the patio awning out, so we had one installed so we could shield that side of the coach from the sun. The other awning was over the bathroom window. That window is textured, but we still get a lot of heat from it when the sun beats on that side of the coach. They work nicely.

We did some visiting with people we have met over the last week. People come and go and everyone gets excited over someone else leaving. We went to see Marsha and Rod in the campground office. They are just super people and do their best to make sure everyone's stay at the campground is pleasant.

Tomorrow we are leaving for Tupelo for the night, then on to Memphis.

Till next time. . .

Dale

Just "chillin" (literally) in Red Bay

Well, they took the coach back in at 7 a.m. and we began the wait. They had 3 guys working on the air conditioner. They changed out the roof unit, still didn't work. . . changed out in the inside ceiling part, still didn't work. . . so finally they changed the climate controller on the wall. Seems to work just fine now. . . so what does that mean? Perhaps just the wall thing-y was bad??????? Dunno. . . but I know we got an entire brand new air conditioner out of the deal. I am the only one awake now as Terry and da boyz are all sleeping in the coolness. In fact, I had to leave earlier to go out and get warmed up. Terry wants to make sure it is working good.

They checked out a few more things and put the power awning back in place. . . which didn't work then either. We had a good rainstorm go through here about 7:30 last evening. Don't know if it ruined the exposed wiring or what, but they had to replace the control boxes for the awning. We have 2 little things we are waiting on now. A new door that was damaged by the slide and an access panel cover where they went through the cupboard to get to the thermostat controller. Then we are done. Yayaya.

Then we are headed to Memphis so I can do my impression of a human pincushion.

Till next time. . .

Dale

I can poach an egg on my forehead.

The service techhies were at our coach at 6:15 a.m. and we were ready for them. They checked out our air conditioner and said it was a bad board. Said when we got done at the paint shop today, we should bring it over and they would install it. But there was a possibility that someone would go down to the body shop and do it there.

Got the coach back from the body shop at 2:15 and found out the guy had been there and worked on the air conditioner, but nothing he tried worked and now the compressor wouldn't even work, which had been working. When Terry got the coach back to the shop at 2:30, they told him it was too late to order an air conditioner and it was closing time anyway. (They close at 3 p.m.) I'm wondering when the guy worked on it at 1:00 and knew it needed to be replaced why he didn't order one then? GRRRRRRR. It's only 95 degrees out today.

Well, we reluctantly brought the coach back to our site. Attemped to cool the entire coach with the rear air, but that only made the entire coach 88 degrees, which is too hot. Closed off the back, so we at least had one cool room and opened the front up. Since it is Friday, we are looking at a very hot weekend.

Later we were in the campground office and talking with the hosts there. They do seem to have some clout. I was inquiring about the lounge, which closes at 4 every day and is not open on the weekends. I thought perhaps if our coach got too hot, we could hang out there. She graciously said we were welcome in the camp office and could bring the dogs with their small x-pen. Even though dogs aren't normally allowed there, she said this is an emergency and we don't want them to roast. Later we were back at the coach, sweltering, and Wade, the service manager came by. Marcia, the camp hostess, had tried to call him and he didn't answer his phone. She said she hadn't seen him leave, so she sent her husband over to see him and told him about our problem. He came to the coach and talked with us. He was very apologetic and said he wished he had known about it earlier. . . he would have had someone replace it after hours. He asked what would help us the most. . . I think he would have called someone in or they would get us a motel room. I said the coach was fine to sleep in as the back air conditioner cooled it just fine in the bedroom. Marcia asked him if they could let us use the lounge and he said most definitely. Said we could use the satellite tv there, the coffee maker. . . anything to be comfortable. So tonight we ordered pizza and went over to the lounge and ate it. Took the dogs and they plopped down on the cool floor and went sound asleep. Since we were the only ones there, we kicked off our shoes and stretched out on the sofas. Ahhhhhh. Life is good again. It is cooler in the evenings, so we are home now getting ready for bed. The bedroom is a cool 72 degrees and we are going to put the boyz in the bathroom as it is cool as well.

So, we will get by for these 2 days, then Monday the air conditioner gets replaced and we are in business again. In fact, we could be completely done Monday, but we will stay a few more days just to check everything out.

Till next time. . .

Dale

One step forward, two steps back

When the coach was done yesterday, we weren't sure when they were going to get us into the paint bay. They had to remove our awning since it was mounted incorrectly and put in a piece called a high-rise that was missing. Then it has to be painted before the awning can be remounted. As the events of the evening unfolded, we were kind of hoping they would put us off a day.

At 9 p.m. the front air conditioner just conked out. It's been working flawlessly for six months and just quit. We were assured that in 90 degree heat, that is considered an emergency and it would be tended to first thing in the morning. Not too bad because the evenings have been cooling off to the point that we don't use the air conditioners. The rear one still works and if need be at night, we will move the dogs into the bathroom and close off the front part of the coach and we will stay nice and cool.

At 10 p.m. our dear little Neal had a gran mal seizure. It is a terrible thing to witness, but Neal actually does not suffer aside from occasionally biting his lip. The problem is that for the next 3 hours, he is walking/falling/stumbling around and must be let out occasionally as he needs to relieve himself. So I volunteered to stay up even though I was really tired. I had to take him out twice. Then he just started barking at me in the coach. Same thing outside. I think he had the munchies, but I scolded him and he finally plopped down at 1:15 a.m. The only good thing is that I have now given him honey twice to replenish his sugar and the last two times, he has ended with just the one seizure. Remarkable because ALWAYS before we were looking at 12-13 cluster seizures in a period of 24 hours. Aside from being kind of "out of it," he has done well today.

Then at 6:30 this morning Terry talked to service and they said they would try to do the air conditioner first thing. Well, at 7 a.m., they came and told us to get to Red Bay to the body shop. It is harder to get into the body shop, so we opted to go there. They gave us our coach back at 4:30, but it has to go in tomorrow to finish. But when we explained the problem, they said get the air conditioner checked on first, then come to the shop for the finish. So hopefully, we will have our air conditioner back working for the weekend.

There is a nice lounge here and we can take the dogs, so we don't have to suffer in the heat, but it is nicer to be in our own house. The works is progressing nicely, though, and we are very happy with the people and the effort they make to keep us satisfied.

Till next time. . .

Dale

Sightseeing around Alabama and Mississippi

Yesterday the coach went in at 7 a.m. so we took off and headed toward Florence, Alabama. On the way we stopped at the Coon Dog Cemetery and paid tribute to the more than 100 beloved dogs who are buried there. There is no doubt their masters cared a great deal for them and laid them to rest in the only cemetery of its kind in the world.


We traveled on northward and visited the quaint little town of Tuscumbia, which happens to be the birthplace of Helen Keller.
There were several points of interest in the town and we took some pictures, but since we had the dogs with us, we weren't able to get out and walk around. We have decided, however, that we may revisit this area when we can leave the boyz in the coach and do some sightseeing. We also drove through Muscle Shoals, drove across the Tennessee River and visited Florence, Alabama, which is another very interesting town. We visited a campground in Florence, just below the bridge and let the dogs out to wander along the river a bit. Driving around we found an Indian Mound which dates from something like 1000 B.C. and I climb up the 72 steps to the top and took a few pictures. It has been left intact, but there are streets and industrial operations all around it, so it is fenced in for protection. It's great that they are able to continue to preserve this window into the past.

We drove on "home" from there and picked up Phaeton Place and set her back at our campsite. Tiffin really has a decent system for their repair facility and they recognize that full-timers must have their coach back to sleep in every night.

This morning, we again rose early and the coach went in at 7 a.m. Today they replaced my kitchen laminate flooring. . . not the entire floor, but a big chunk of it which was scratched by the movement of the slide. It looks beautiful and you cannot tell where they replaced the floor.

We once again left and this time drove up to Pickwick Lake where we took some pictures and investigated another campground along the river. These campgrounds are in the $15 range for water/electric and pretty much use the honor system.
They are decent enough and we think we may be back. We continued on to Shiloh Military Park where we took the driving tour which was 9 miles long. It is a very impressive park with a lot of monuments and placards. We weren't able to read everything, but the narrative helps you visualize the battles which took place here.

We then drove on to Corinth, Mississippi. We have been coming to Mississippi for several years and have been through Corinth, but never stopped. It is an interesting town with many old houses which are quite impressive. And, of course, many Civil War battles were fought here as well. The railroad going through Corinth was a major supply line for the south and very important in the war effort. There is an arena and grounds on the west side of town and they have RV hookups there for $10. We checked it out and spoke with the lone camper there. It is basically a parking lot, but spacious and adequate if you want to explore the area. Other campgrounds in the area are further out of town and not well suited to big rigs. An added plus is that the arena hosts some big name entertainment and you can camp there and attend the shows. So we will be watching their website for activities.

We got back today and our coach was already on our site. The floor was done. They may get it into the paint bay tomorrow for the awning repair. Not sure, so tomorrow we will be hanging around. Whenever it has to go from one bay to another, you have to move it, which is okay. They have a nice lounge and the dogs are welcome in there.

Tonight our one air conditioner has stopped working. Have no idea the problem, as it has never failed. But I guess this is the best place for it to stop working, so we will add that to the list. Won't be leaving until that is remedied.

Till next time. . .

Dale

Service with a Smile :-)

Today at noon we got the knock on our door. The service coordinator said, Bay 11, ASAP, so we scrambled around, got things put away, the dogs loaded in the car, and away we went to Bay 11.

They went over our list with us and then said they would be taking care of some of the little things and getting parts ordered. We got it back around 3 p.m., which is the closing time for the service area and got set back up on our site. It has really cooled off this evening and we sat out for a couple hours with the dogs.

While they were working on the coach, we spent the time in the customer lounge. It is large and spacious and you can take your dogs in there. We did and true to form, Bailey guarded the door, barking at everybody who came in. The coach was in for just a couple hours today, but tomorrow it will be in all day, starting at 7 a.m. They are either going to do the awning or the floor, part of which must be replaced because the slide has gouged it. Those repairs will be long days, so we are probably going to go somewhere for the day. Thought we would take the dogs over to the Coon Dog Cemetery so they can pay their respects to dogs who actually had to work for a living. Hah.

Things are going smoothly with the repairs. We are getting a couple new awnings over windows so if are sitting in sun and it is too windy to put out the big awning, we can shade the interior.

The new Phaetons like ours have a problem with the driver's window leaking. Tiffin has tried several new kinds of seals and nothing has worked. The last time we were here, Terry asked the service manager for some door drip cap. He cut it to length, then painted it and attached it on the window with double-stick tape. You cannot even see it because it blends in and it works perfectly. He has shown it to several people including the service people who had asked if we wanted the new seals. We did have them put on the new seals, but Terry noticed the service manager was looking at our coach later. Then today, our neighbor brought his Phaeton out and he had the same drip cap on his. The service guys told him they could put it on as an additional precaution to prevent the leak. Hah! Wish Terry had put a patent on that. Looks like they are going to fix all of them like that.

Well, we will be turning in early as we have to have the coach in at 7 a.m., so till next time. . .

Dale

Allegro Campground, Red Bay, AL, Part Duex

We left Piney Grove a day earlier than we planned. When we came over here last week, they said they always fill up on Sunday, then thin out again on Wednesday. In 95 degree heat with high humidity, that was more than we wanted to chance. I called the campground this morning and they had 20 open spots, so we broke camp and headed this way. It's only about 27 miles, so when we arrived, we had our pick of the spots.

It was a good move. They still have some spots left tonight, but we got one close to the building (for wi-fi) and with full hookups we can shower at our leisure and do the laundry. Ah, yes, life is good. But most importantly, we were able to watch the Nascar race today which was the only thing on Terry's agenda.

We anticipate the coach will go in on Tuesday as had been planned, so things will be quiet for us tomorrow. We met several couples today and had one couple in tonight who has just ordered a coach like ours.

We also met Abby, a black Scottie just down the road who just loved to have me fuss over her. What a sweetie.

Once the coach goes in for work, we will be spending our days driving around with the dogs trying to kill time while the work is being done. We can go to the customer lounge also, which does allow pets. They are quite accommodating here.

Till next time. . .

Dale

Piney Grove Campground, Bay Springs Lake, Mississippi

(Posted Sunday due to no connectivity at the lake)

We arrived here at Bay Springs Lake on Wednesday afternoon. We already had our spot reserved, so we sailed through the gate and right to our site. We picked the same site we had last year. There are some sites here that would be difficult for a 40'er, but this is not one of them. We also have ample room for the toad. The site is right on an end of a loop and is quite spacious with no one right on top of us.

Yesterday we took the boyz and drove over to Red Bay, Alabama, about 30 miles away. We wanted to make certain we had our spot in line for the coach work we want done. One of the biggies is a remount of the power awning. It does not work correctly and was mounted differently in an apparent experiment, but it will have to be removed and that will entail some possible body work on the coach. We have some other minor items, but we are here till it all gets done, so we are not worried time wise.

After that we drove to Fulton as I had not remembered what it looked like. While there we visited another COE park which is where James and Mary Francis (relatives) stay when they are here for the reunion. It is farther away than Piney Grove, but it is a very nice park. Not as many sites for big rigs, but it is extremely quiet and very few if any children running around. Piney Grove is more family oriented and it is noisy, but that doesn't bother us that much. If it weren't for the dogs, we would camp down at the Whitten Park. The problem is being farther away and being able to plan our "away" time from the coach so that we can get back and let the dogs out when necessary. Next week while we are at Red Bay, we will have them with us every day. They are quite comfortable, however, in the Sport Trac. More spacious than the Tracker and the air conditioning does a much better job of cooling the back seat. Yesterday they just rested and occasionally looked out.

We also stopped at Wally World so I could pick up ingredients for the reunion pot luck. I am taking salads. . . my famous pickles, i.e., cucumbers in sour cream and 5-cup salad, although it will be the 10-cup version for a larger crowd.

My crowns are functioning perfectly which is a relief after 9 months of pain when I chew. I am still so cautious when I eat but that is okay because it results in slower eating which usually means I eat less. Less is good for me. My back is killing me, however. I just cannot seem to get around some lifting of Neal on/off his ramp. He tries so hard and never complains. He just needs help. He is such a sweetheart. So is Bailey and fortuntely he doesn't have the mobility problems Neal does.

We took the Natchez Trace for about 100 miles on our way down here. We take it whenever we are close enough to it. It is such a beautiful drive. We saw deer and wild turkey and stopped at a picnic area to have our lunch. If you've never taken the Trace, you should put it on your list. It is 50 mph but with very little traffic and no towns, it may actually be quicker than other routes. And no big trucks to contend with either.

We are about to venture out on our walk, so I must go.

Till next time. . .

Dale

Hanging Out in Clarksville, Tennessee

We left Goshen yesterday after having gotten my new crowns on my teeth. So far they seem to be doing well. I have no pain anymore and that is saying a lot after the winter I had.

We stayed last night at the New Vision RV Park south of Terre Haute (about 45 miles) and north of Vincinnes on highway 41. I don't always plug the rv parks, but this was a very nice park with long pull throughs and full hookups. We would have liked a little wider roads, but they were certainly navigable with our 40'-er plus toad. There was a large pond with fishing and the park was well landscaped. It is right there on 41, so easy access on/off the highway. They take ALL the memberships you have including Passport America, Happy Camper, FMCA, Escapees, etc. He wants business. He's only been open since 2001, but he really wants you to have a nice stay. He is open year round and lives right there. He also sells propane, so we topped off before we left. And he has the cutest, friendliest little black/tan miniature dachshund named Josie who greets everyone who comes in the door.

We left there this morning and traveled south. We are now in the Clarksville Campground in Clarksville, Tennessee. This appears to be an old KOA, but one of the more nicely kept ones we have seen. They have some 100 foot sites, which we would liked to have had, but they have a Newmar rally in here this week, so we got another instead. Most of the sites here are pull throughs. They accept Good Sam.

We unhooked the toad earlier and went in search of a restaurant since I can now eat solid food. We also did a little shopping as I had left one of the dog leashes at the house. So we are all set again.

We leave here in the morning. Have about 200 miles to go to Bay Springs Lake and Piney Grove Campground in NE Mississippi. We will be there until Monday morning when we roll to Red Bay, Alabama. While in Mississippi, we are going to visit some of Terry's family and attend the family reunion on Saturday. It's always a good time whenever we go there.

Till next time. . .

Dale

Happy Birthday Mom!

Mom is 81 today. Doesn't she look great! Here is a picture of us today when we gathered to help her celebrate. In the picture are (l-r) my sister Nita, Mom, me, and Kellie. Kellie is my sister Nita's youngest daughter. She is an architect, married to an architect (Brian), daughter of an architect (brother-in-law Jim) and sister to an architect (my nephew Brad). Hahahaha. Her other sibling is a neo-natal nurse in Indianapolis, studying to become a midwife.

Their house is coming along. I have a picture of the back "Bambi window". . . so named because they can sit in the loft and watch out the back for Bambi.

I got to see Jake. Jake is the "only dog" now that Lucky has died. When Jake was rescued into the family, he was the fourth dog and now he is alone. There is no doubt that Jake is dealing with some issues of being alone. He does really seem depressed. He is certainly not his old self.
Kellie had her two dogs there, and Jake doesn't want to play or anything. They are giving him a lot of attention and he goes for walks everyday. Hopefully he will adjust and become content.

I am trying to get things ready to leave tomorrow, so

till next time. . .

Dale

We're back again in Indiana.

Arrived yesterday morning from Decatur, Michigan. I worked on sorting some boxes down in the basement. After storing that stuff down there for a year now, it's beginning to look more and more like trash and Good Will fodder. I imagine by next year, it will be a whole lot easier to sort through stuff, just as it is this year compared to last year. Hah.

The boyz are enjoying their deck and yard again, although we have the yard gate closed right now because the morning dew is on the lawn. They are a little peeved at me for that.

Terry bought a surge protector thingy for on the motorhome and wants to get it installed. He needs some #6 wire I think and couldn't find it at Menard's last night. I think he is going to go to an electrical supply house this morning. He's probably waiting for me to get dressed. That would be good because we have neighbors here and they like to come visit. Keeps you on your toes. . . :-) Yesterday Terry built a rack of sorts for the back of the Sport Trac. He made compartments where he can slide in specific bulky things we carry with us. . . like the dog ramp, the dogs' x-pens, the satellite dish, etc. It is better organized and accessible there.

Today we are going to go to Terry's cousin's graduation open house in the afternoon. Stephen also mows our yard when we aren't here, so we want to go and congratulate him. He is going to attend IUSB (Indiana University-South Bend) and probably continue to work.

I have a salad to make for tomorrow. We are going to the "woods" where my sister and husband are building their dream house.
It is south of Warsaw, Indiana. They are also setting a pad there for my parents' new mobile home.
The idea is that when Mom and Dad get to the point they cannot go to Texas anymore (they are 81), they will have a place close to family where they can live. It's a good deal for them and my sister will like having them close by. I will post a picture of the house later. I will be posting more pictures from Michigan, too, when I get my camera in here. Tomorrow is Mom's birthday, so we are having a cookout.

Monday, then, we are leaving for the Pace-Stevens-Taylor family reunion. It truly is an interesting one. Terry's grandparents were each married before and had . . . like 5 children each. They were both widowed at a young age and found and married each other and had 5 MORE children. So there are a LOT of relatives. It is fun to see and meet extended family like that.

Till next time. . .

Dale