Visit With Mom

Today we found out where mom is at and went to visit with her.  We now have a phone number where we can reach her and we will visit her at least once more before we leave the area.  She seems in pretty good shape considering what she has been through.  She was sleeping when we arrived, so we talked with her nurse.  She woke up, so we visited for a couple of hours.  Talked with my brother also.  He is still having problems with his back.  After we left mom, we headed back to the campground via the Russel Stover Store, White Chastle and then the Shnucks Super Market.  This White Castle experience was MUCH better than the last one we had while up here last time, but still not as good as I remember.  We did find some Russel Stover candy that we had not seen before.  We will try it and see how it goes.  We are now back at the rig and relaxing. 
Y'all travel safe, and I'll type more later.

Travel Day

Today we traveled the 66 miles from Mulberry Grove, IL to Cahokia, IL.  We have landed at Cahokia RV Parque, site 99.  Not long after getting set up, it rained fairly hard.  I'm glad we got set up prior to it arriving.  Tomorrow we will go to moms house and visit with her.  I did call an old friend of mine in Edwardsville and left a message.  I don't know if that is still his cell phone number or not.  I guess if he calls back, I'll know for sure.  It has been 10 years since I talked with him.  The campground we are in is rated as one of the best in the area.  We will be here until the 9th, so the campground fee was pretty steep.  The only one rated higher that this one is $54 per night.  To much for my budget.  When we arrived, someone had arrived while the office was closed and parked in the site we were suppose to get, so we are in another.  It really doesn't make much difference.  I can get 2 sat. on Dish and of course all the local channels.  They have a diner on site at this campground.  Don't know if we'll get to try it or not.  I did promise Debby that we would go to Long John Silvers if we found one, and they do advertise here.  Since the closed in the Jacksonville area, she has kind of craved them.  Also on our list while we are here is to go to the commissary at Scott Air Force Base.  Debby is working on her list for that.  Well, better run for now.

Travel Safe, and I'll type more later

Visit with Son & His Family

Today we visited with my son and his family.  We enjoyed it very much.  After we visited in their house for a couple of hours, we went to a local park and the kids enjoyed the swings and merry go round.  Afterward we took them to Ponderosa for dinner.  I am stuffed and so is Debby.  It has been a REALLY long time since I was around a bunch of children.  I still have a hard time realizing they were talking to me when the called me "Grandpa".  All in all we had a really good visit.  I've attached a few pictures.

Travel safe, and I'll type more later.

A Day of Travel

Yesterday we traveled 133 miles from Clinton, IN to Mulberry Grove, IL.  We are at a nice campground, Timber Trails.  The owner is a Grand Lecturer for the State of Illinois Grand Lodge.  As we checked in, Debby noticed his hat and I was quickly invited to a school of instruction for the second section of the second degree.  After we arrived, we went to see a friend of ours sister-in-law in Kinmundy, IL.  We stayed for a couple of hours and left as I had to be back so I could attend the school of instruction.  Once we got back, I quickly changed and Debby made me dinner and brother Bob picked me up.  It was about an hour drive, so we had time to chat.  I found that Illinois work is LOTS different than Florida work.  The floor work seems to be the biggest difference.  It was very interesting, to say the least.  I am really glad I got to go.  Today we are headed to visit with my son and his family.  It will be good to see my grandchildren. 
Y'all travel safe, and I'll type more later.

A Day to get Ready for Travel

Today we did the things we need to do before we travel.  We did all of the laundry so we would have clean clothes as it will be a few days before we will have time to do it again.  I dumped the tanks and cleaned out the black tank.  Debby will put in some borax in the galley tank to try to clean it while we are traveling.  The rig is hooked up and we will only have to do the last of the clean up before we can leave.  It will be good to see my son and his wife and my 5 grandchildren.  We will see them on Wed.  We are going to drive to Mulberry Gorve, IL to a campground tomorrow and then to a friends for the afternoon.  We have really enjoyed our stay here at Horseshoe Lakes, a Thousand Trails Park.  They had plenty of activities during the Memorial Day Weekend.  We have gotten a lot of things done on the coach while we were here.  Today we signed a contract on our house, so I guess we will be homeless by July 7th.  We still have things in the garage that have to be taken care of, so we will be attempting to get home by mid June so all the work needed on the coach can get done.  I am attaching a couple of photos of Horseshoe Lakes.
Drive Safe, and I'll type more later.

A Day In Paris

Today, I took Debby to Paris!  No tower to see though, as we were in Paris, IL.  I promised to take her out for breakfast, and after arriving in Paris, we looked for 30 min. until we found the American Diner.  Excellent food at reasonable prices.  We both enjoyed the food and after that, I took her so Super Wal Mart!  Diesel was over $0.50 per gallon cheaper than Indiana, so we topped off the tank.  No since in running it close as we did when we came here.  This evening the park had a sloppy joe dinner with hot dogs and covered dish.  It was very enjoyable.  We ate well, but we have A LOT of potato salad left.  We'll eat it later on, I'm sure.  We are only a few miles east of Illinois, and our next leg will not be much over 100 miles.  Debby just to me that the leg after that will be a grueling 60 miles.  Don't you just hate those long days.  When we leave the St. Louis area, we are headed back to Middleburg.  We have stuff still in our garage and we are awaiting the prospective buyers to sign our counter-offer.  We need to get the coach fixed and a couple of other things taken care of on the coach before we are homeless.   I'm hoping we can get the  roof done before the house is no longer ours.  It would just be easier if we can have it done on our lot.  Time will tell.  Hopefully we will get our signed written contract this week end. 
Travel Safe, and I'll type more later!

Ready for a Break

Yesterday, we went into Terri Haute to a NAPA store.  I got some wire and splices to fix our emergency break-away switch wiring that broke on the way here to Thousand Trails.  While there, we asked directions to a car wash so we could wash the truck, which was really dirty.  We found out that there is one in Clinton, IN, about 10 miles from the park we are in.  We vacuumed the truck, then washed it and dried it off.  Then we went to Wal-Mart for a few things.  Today, we fixed the problem with the Rol-Bak cover.  I also fixed the wiring on the break-away switch.  Debby and I both worked on getting some stains out of the carpet in the truck.  It took quite a bit to get them all out, but Debby did a great job and got them all out.  Tonight we are going to an adult gathering at the park.  Should be fun. We received an offer on the house yesterday, but I felt it was way to low.  After discussing it with our realtor, we countered with a little better price.  Today, the prospective buyers countered again.  We eventually told our realtor we would take the offer as we are ready to move on and get on with our new life.  I have not seen anything in writing yet, so we don't know how firm the offer is.  Time will tell.  You all travel safe, and I'll type more later.

Laundry Day

Debby and I did our laundry today.  We needed 4 washers, followed by 4 dryers.  It is good to have clean clothes again.  I tried to set up the dish today, but no luck.  To many trees.  We HAD to go get fuel today.  We have a 38 gallon tank and put 38.567 gallons in.  Our warning indicator showed 0 miles to empty for the last 2.7 miles.  We made it, but I was really concerned.  We had gone 82 miles before we left for Clinton, IN where we are now.  I have attached a couple of photos of the site outside of the laundry window of geese and pictures of our view from our site we are currently in.  We will be relaxing here for the next week.  I'll update as needed.
Travel safe, and I'll type more later.

Travel Day of 202 miles

Today we drove from the Elkhart County 4 H Fairgrounds to Thousand Trails Horseshoe Lakes Campground in Clinton, IN.  The Indiana roads are really bad.  I know they are doing a lot of construction, but I think it is to little to late.  I have a feeling that Illinois will be no better, but we'll find out next week after Memorial Day.  The sites here are a little tight to get into, but we managed,  Our site is long enough, but it is narrow.  It would be easier to get into if the road was wider, and it did not fall off into the lake.  Had to really watch the front end while parking.  I still haven't set up the Dish, but the local stations do come in.  We will be leaving Memorial Day and heading to Illinois.  Not sure where we will go after we go see my mom. 
The view from our site is very nice.  We can see all 3 lakes from here.  I didn't even know there were 3 lakes until I looked at the site map.  Any way, it will be nice to relax for a week.  I have some repairs to do on the coach.  I got an alert in the truck that the coach had a wiring problem.  Turns out that one of the wires for the emergency break away switch is broke.  I'll get that fixed as soon as I can get to my electrical box.  I do have to go get fuel as my truck says we only have 7 miles until empty.  I guess that is a ob for tomorrow. 
Well, travel safe, and I'll type more tomorrow.

A Day at the RV/MH Hall of Fame Museum

Today, Debby and I went to the RV/MH Hall of Fame and Museum.  We enjoyed it very much.  I wanted to go there while we were in the area.  I don't have any idea when we may get back this way, so now is the time.  Tomorrow we travel a couple of hundred miles, so we may not blog tomorrow, but I will try.  I have attached some photos of the hall of fame, including a picture of Sue Bray and Joe and Kay Peterson plaques.  Sue of course is from Good Sam and Joe & Kay are founders of Escapees.  We think both organizations are great!

I hope you enjoyed the photos.

Travel Safe, I'll type more later!

Escapade VCR Meeting

Today we went to the hitch up breakfast to say good bye to folks.  We met many people and have really enjoyed the Escapade.  Today we also went to a VCR ( Volunteer Club Representative) and volunteered to become a VCR.  The meeting was very informative and afterword, we went to an Amish home for dinner.   Yummmmm!  The food was great.  Tonight we will just relax and maybe sleep in tomorrow.  We are headed to Terri Hut, IN to Thousand Trails park on Monday for a week.  Afterward we will head to Vandalia, IL.Vandalia, IL to visit with my son.  It will be good to see my 5 grandchildren, 2 of which I have never seen.  I hope to get some pictures of them.

Attached are some pictures of the folks that went to the dinner tonight.
Travel Safe, and I'll type more later

Escapade Fairwell Party

Tonight was the Escapade Fairwell Party.  Most of the folks still here attended.  Music was great as was the company.  It has truly been a fun week.  Debby and I are looking forward to the next Escapade in Tuscon next March.  I have attached some pictures of some of the activities over the last couple of days.  There has been a LOT of fundraisers for C.A.R.E.  I believe over $6000 has been raised.  A good showing. 
Travel Safe, and I'll type more later!

The Escapade Continues

The Escapade continued today.  This was the last day for venders.  I think we can still go look at rigs tomorrow, which we would like to do.  I am going to try to go to the Cedar Creek parts store to get a wall light for the bedroom.  We have attended many seminars this week, and have learned a lot.  Where we are parked, the infield, has many rigs sunk in the mud.  They are offering a complimentary night so we probably will not leave until Monday, as we already paid for Saturday night.  We are staying for a VCR workshop on Saturday.  We will have to call Thousand Trails and let them know we will be a day late arriving.  I think things will be dried out a little more by the time we go to leave.  I hope so anyway.
Travel safely, and I'll type more later.

First Day of Escapade

Today was the first day of the Escapade.  We had a really enjoyable day.  We started our day volunteering at hospitality selling donuts.  We enjoyed our 3 hours doing so.  After our tour in hospitality, we ventured over to the "market place" and went through the vendors.  We did order new name badges and will pick them up tomorrow.  Then we visited the "row".  This is where the chapters are represented.  We saw folks from our chapter, chapter 57, and chapters we have visited, chapters 29 & 42.  We played "Row Bingo" and got our card filled up and entered the drawing.  While we went through the market place, we did our normal walk through and look and came back to the rig to decide if we were going to buy anything.  Looks like we will get a waterless cleaning kit for the exterior and a water softener.  These are items we have been considering anyway, and the prices are better than they were at the last Good Sam Samboree where the same items were available.  They are different vendors, so I'm sure that is part of it.  Then we went to 1st timers orientation.  We enjoyed this and as they say, your only a first timer once.  It was good to see so many first timers.  We then went to the official opening of the Escapade followed by an ice cream social.  It was a very busy day.  We then headed back to the rig for dinner so we could go to the door prize drawing and entertainment.  I won a new pillow, which we will try and see how it feels.  The entertainment was GREAT!  Johnny Counterfit has a TERRIFIC show and I would recommend him to anyone.  I have attached a couple of pictures from the day.  Enjoy!
Travel safe, and I'll type more later!

Finally at Escapade

We made the long 18 mile journey from Elkhart campground to the 4H Fairgrounds in Goshen  today.  We arrived and got leveled up and hooked up and have not done much of anything today.  We did walk around and look over the fairgrounds.  Looked at some of the rigs folks have arrived in, but of course they were all occupied! :)  We can register tomorrow morning and the Escapade starts on Monday.  We saw a group of Amish carriages.  There are plenty in this area.  I hope to find out more about the area a little later.  I am really disappointed with Forest River.  I called them yesterday morning at 9:00 AM and they were busy and asked that I leave a message.  I did, but no return call.  I guess they are too busy for existing customers.  Maybe we will be able to take a factory tour before we leave to head towards Illinois.  I would like to see where our coach was "born". 
Y'all travel safe, and I'll type more later.

Breezy Day in Elkhart

Today we caught up on laundry.  We had very rainy weather last night and this morning.  It has been very windy here all day.  We are moving tomorrow, so I  hope the wind dies down a little.  We move into the 4H fairgrounds tomorrow and the Escapade starts on Monday.  It's a short move.  I need that after yesterdays move.  I was really tired last night.  Getting in a couple of days in advance will give us some time to do some sight seeing.  I called Forest River this morning at 9:00 AM and was transferred to Cedar Creek division, where all operators were busy.  I left a message, but no return call.  Maybe we can get the tour we wanted later on in our stay here.  I was really looking forward to seeing the factory.  It appears that when we head out from this area, it will be a long day to Vandailia, IL. to see my son and his wife and the grand kids.  We'll stay there a couple of days and them head to see my mother.  We will probably spend a week there before we start our journey back to our house where we still have lots to do in the garage and storage buildings.  Lots of stuff still there to take care of.  There has been NO ACTIVITY on the house.  Very disappointing after have an offer after 2 weeks on the market.  I'm sure it will pick up the closer it gets to summer. 
Y'all take care and travel safe.  I'll type more later.

Long Travel Day

Today we traveled from Bardstown, KY to Elkhart, IN.  About 330 miles.  Thankfully, my cruise control worked ALL DAY! :)   This made the day much easier.  I can not say the same for the roads.  We ran into construction most of the way, and our road was closed at Louisville, KY.  We had to adjust.  We came to a complete stop at one point north of Indianapolis.  We stopped for fuel in Indianapolis and had lunch.  They had a Denny's in the Flying J.  Fuel is Very Expensive in Indiana.  We went up US 31 most of the way north of Indianapolis and had LOTS of miles of construction.  Then, to top it all off, our GPS did not have us on the correct road.  It showed us off of the road and kept trying to get us to turn to get on the road we were already on.  I think whoever submitted the maps to Rand McNally must has had their coordinates incorrect.  We did finally make it to the campground, but the GPS is just about completely use less here.  We will he here at Elkhart Campground to 2 nights and move into the fairgrounds for the Escapade.  At least that isn't very far.  Hopefully we will be able to find it without the GPS.  I saw a RV factory parts place on the way through town, and if I can find it again, I'll try to find light for Debby in the bedroom.
Y'all travel safe, and I'll type more later.

Relaxing Day

Today we just relaxed.  We really did not do much.  I adjusted the air in the front tires.  Spent most of the day putting my DVDs on hard drive.  I only have 26 left, then I can start on the TV series that we have on DVD.  This way we won't be carrying around the weight of the DVDs.  This evening we went to dinner with the Chapter 42 Rolling Rally group.  They are sure a nice group of folks and we look forward to spending a little time with them at the Escapade in Goshen, IN.  They are heading our tomorrow morning and we are not leaving until Thursday morning.  We are going straight to Elkhart, and they are going to the Cummings plant for a tour, then headed up to the Elkhart area.  Here are a couple of pictures from to nights meal.

I probably will not write anything tomorrow unless something happens.  I'll try to update you after our trip to Elkhart on Thursday.
Y'all travel safe, and I'll type more later.

Another Travel Day

Today we went from Goodlettesville, TN to Bardstown, KY.  A short 135 mile drive.  Beautiful countryside.  The rolling hills of KY remind me of  Southern Illinois.  Of course, we aren't that far from Southern Illinois.  We will be here for 3 days, 2 of which will be with Escapee Chapter 42 so we will be having lots of fun.  We have really appreciated the hospitality that Chapter 42 has shown Debby and I.  I'm sure we will see many of them at Escapade.  I have been starting to look for campgrounds near my son and near mom.  I think I have found where we will be staying.  I will have to call for reservations when we are sure when we will be there.  I will keep you all informed as we get closer.
Y'all travel safe and I'll type more later.

A Day At Menskers Station

Today we toured Mensker's Station, a reproduction of the original.  We had a really good time and enjoyed the information we received.  I would recommend this tour to anyone who is interested in history.  They have a museum and reproduction of the station, as well as the oldest brick home in middle Tennessee.  Very interesting with period dressed tour guides. Below are some pictures of the museum and the station.

After going through the station, we went to the home.  These are photos of the house.

The above photo is of the well.  Water level still varies due to the rain received.  All in All, it was a very interesting day.

After the tour, Debby and I went to Steak N Shake for lunch and then we went to a Mexican restaurant for dinner with chapter 42.  We have really enjoyed our time here in Nashville Country RV Park (KOA) and will be heading to Bardstown, KY with chapter 42 rolling rally.  Although we will not be staying with them all the way to Goshen, IN, it will be fun to be with them in Bardstown.

Travel safe, and I'll type more later.

Escapee Chapter 42 Rally!

The last 2 days with chapter 42 have been lots of fun.  Today, some went to the craft show downtown Nashville, Debby and I decided not to go, but we enjoyed breakfast with the chapter the last 2 mornings and attended the chapter meeting this morning. This evening we all went out dinner at the Colorado Resturant, which is the same place we went 2 nights ago.  We had the same waitress, who was really great.  Attached is her and another waitress' picture.

At the meeting, it was obvious that we don't need to grow up.  One of the members showed us that by using a kiddy ride.

After the dinner, we gathered around the campfire and just enjoyed the company.

The evenings here are still chilly, so Debby and I did not stay out that long.  It has been a very enjoyable time so far, and we still have another day of the rally, and then we will be joining the "rolling rally" up to Bardstown, KY.  So we will be with the same folks.  All headed to Escapade in Goshen, IN. 

Y'all drive safe, and I'll type more later!  :)