Our last few days in Illinois

Our week in Pine Country campground is about over. We have had a very relaxed week here. We've read a couple books and got some extra cleaning and minor repairs of the motorhome done. Thursday we had thunderstorms throughout the late afternoon and evening. The temperature cooled down to the upper 50's by Friday morning, great sleeping weather! We had to throw an extra blanket on towards morning.

Friday, the 4th of July, we went into Belvidere. Belvidere is called a city of murals because of the many murals painted on the sides of buildings throughout the town.


In a large cemetery within the town there is a small Frank Lloyd Wright chapel. The chapel was locked not allowing us to go in but we could see through the windows the furnishings and style of Wright's.


We then went to the city of Rockford about 15 miles west of Belvidere. There was very little activity for a holiday. We stopped at the Anderson Japanese Gardens and walked through the gardens. The paths through the gardens wind around ponds with the brightly colored Koi fish, some at least a yard long. There are many places to just sit and reflect on the beauty of the area. Most of the plants are non-flowering plants. It was worth the $6.oo admission. There is a restaurant and gift shop but we opted to eat elsewhere. We had seen a barbeque roadside restaurant going into Rockford so since it was the 4th we thought barbeque was a better fit for the day. We were not disappointed with pulled pork and brisket sandwiches.


Today, the 5th of July, is a day we celebrate because it is Travis' birthday and he is 11 years old. For his birthday we try to spend the day with him, he doesn't know this day from any other but we feel better being with him much of the day. The campground had various activites planned, one being an ice cream social so we got some ice cream and had a little party, just ice cream, no cake. Travis is quite an ice cream eater!

Travis also got a new toy- a little lamb that goes "baa,baaa,baa' (another one that he probably will not play with).
Tomorrow we are leaving Illinois and going to Wisconsin.

The Rally Ends and We Move On

Time flies when you're having fun! it's been nearly a week since my last entry. We did not have internet access while at the fairgrounds in DuQuoin so I got a little behind. Thursday and Friday at the rally was much as the previous days, attending some seminars, checking out the vendors, conversing with other attendees and such. We did win a nice door prize, a $50.00 gift card to be used at Lowe's. The entertainment for this rally was not the best. For whatever reason, the Rivoli's had the corner on the entertainment. After performing on Monday, they again did a dance program on Thursday and a patriotic program on Friday. A little bit over kill! Thursday night about 10pm the town of DuQuoin showed their appreciation to us by driving the fire equipment with sirens blowing through the grounds. Four years ago, this rally was held in DuQuoin and this way of the town showing thanks was done then, so this time we were prepared for the noise. Friday afternoon an ice cream social was held followed by a business meeting. A farewell dinner was planned for Friday evening and we had intended to go but the weather dictated otherwise. A very threatening sky with thunder, lightning and rain caused us to stay in with our trembling little Travis and fix dinner in the motorhome. We had very little wind but later heard on the news that there were down trees and wind damage in the north sections of DuQuoin.

Saturday morning we left DuQuoin a little after 8 am and headed north about 200 miles to Kentuckiana Campground in Hopedale, Illinois. We came across this campground 4 years ago and made it a point to stop here again this year. Every Saturday night the Kentuckiana Opry is performed and is included with the camping fee but if reserved seating is desired there is an additional $1.oo per seat charge. For the most part the performers, which consists of 6 or 7 regulars and usually a guest performer, put on a good 2 hour show. On this Saturday, the guest performer, a local celebrity, had a family problem and was unable to be there. The show went on with the regulars doing some celebrity impersonations. One female performer dressed as Donny Osmond sang with her little daughter dressed as Marie. That little girl really hammed it up, rolling her eyes and sashaying around.
The other female performer donned a fake front and performed as Dolly Parton. I don't think we missed anything by the guest performer not being there!

Sunday morning we moved on farther north to Belvidere, Illinois to Pine Country Campground, an Outdoor World facility. We will be here for a week. We immediately noticed that there were lots of cut up trees around. We later learned that about 2 weeks ago a tornado touched down here causing this damage plus some RVs were damaged. The campground was closed for a week. The weather seems to be settled at the present time and, hopefully, will stay that way. Mosquitos are terrible here. We are advised to use insect repellent whenever outside but even that dosen't seem to hold off the attacks. Other than all those problems, this is a beautiful campground.

Monday, Tom and I went into Rockford. We wanted to go to Sam's Club to pick up a few things and then were going to eat lunch at Cheddar's restaurant. We found Sam's and picked everything but what we were looking for. We were told at a seminar at DuQuoin that Tang was a good treatment for the holding tanks (yes, Tang the drink of the astronauts) and that buying from a discount club store was the way to go. Well there was no Tang to be bought there. We found the Cheddar's restaurant but it had a notice on the door that it had been closed. So we looked for someplace else to eat. We noticed a building that looked like a farm supply store with a sign Machine Shed Restaurant and decided to give it a try. Machine Shed restaurants are located throughout this part of the country originating in Iowa. They have a real country appearence; the waitresses dress in bib overalls and red gingham shirts, drinking glasses are canning jars. The food was good with reasonable prices. The biggest temptation is the desserts; pies galore, multi-layer cakers and apple dumplings. We shared an apple dumpling served with cinnamon ice cream and can attest to it being delicious!

Tuesday we spent at the campground. We had some cleaning of the motorhome, inside and out , that needed to be done. After attending some seminars at DuQuoin on this topic we put into practice some tips that we learned. Tom got the grill out and we had steaks for dinner. The weather has been wonderful- low humidity, temps in the mid 80's and dropping into the low 60's at night and a gentle breeze much of the time. We've only used the A.C. when we left Travis behind as we went to Rockford on Monday.

The Beginning of a New Adventure

A week ago, June 18,2008, we left Taneytown to start a new journey.  Traveling through the mountainous regions of Pennsylvania and Ohio, the skies were threatening rain most of the day but only had a few drops of rain.  Our first night was spent in Newton Falls, Ohio not far from the Pa./Ohio border at Ridge Ranch Campground.  Entering the campground the grounds were very attractive with ponds and green grassy areas but going back to the campground area was less attractive.  There were many permanent sites that were not well kept, the roads were gravel and our campsite had little grass.  When Tom attempted to raise the antenna he felt something hit the antenna and quickly pulled it back down, there were electric support wires strung throughout the campground that were low enough to prevent our antenna from being raised.  So we spent the night quietly reading!  It would have been more trouble than it was worth to complain and move to another site for one night.

The next day we traveled on west to Harrison Lake State Park in northwestern Ohio.  We would stay here from Thursday until Sunday.  Tom's sister and family lives just outside the state park which makes this a real convenient campground for visiting family.   Harrison Lake is a very pretty state park- well maintained campground and a nice lake.  The campground has 50 amp electric but no water or sewer hook-ups.  We had to replenish our water supply before setting up our campsite.  Friday we spent visiting and preparing for a family reunion that was being planned for Saturday.   After a trip to a grocery store and stop for lunch, I baked a cake and  made a salad.

Saturday the Phillips family assembled in a pavilion that had been rented for the reunion.  As always with this family there was food for an army.  As we were getting ready to eat the skies darkened, we had a brief shower, the temperature dropped to a cool jacket-needed temperature.  After eating, it really began to rain and the wind started blowing sweeping the rain through the pavilion.  At this point the food was gathered up and loaded into cars causing some to go home and the remainder to go to Tom's sister house for the rest of the day.  In spite of the weather, it was nice to be with relatives that we had not seen recently. The weather did clear up in the evening.

Sunday morning we were on the road by 7:10am.  We knew we had a long trip ahead of us to through Indiana to southern Illinois.  We were due to be in Du Quoin, Illinois on Monday morning between 7 &9am.  So we drove 364 miles to Lakewood Campground in Effingham, Illinois.  We arrived about 3:15pm which gave me time to get our dirty clothes washed before going to the Newmar International Rally in Du Quoin the next day.  Sometime doing the evening we realized that we had crossed into Central time giving us an extra hour.  We maintained our Eastern time schedule and when we got up at 5:15am(ET) on Monday morning it was really 4:15am(CT ).  By 5:00am(CT) we were on the road arriving at the state fairgrounds in DuQuoin by 7:10am.  We were parked and set up by 8am and then we ate our breakfast.  We do have 30amp electric and water but no sewer.

Monday was the first day of the rally but we were some of the last to arrive.  Early arrivals are allowed to come in as early as Saturday and the majority do arrive on Saturday and Sunday.  Since we knew we would be assigned a specific time slot to get in we knew we would not be able to get in before Monday.  We had hoped for a little later time slot than the 7-9am but we really have no choice in that.  We got registered and then chilled out in the afternoon.  The opening ceremonies that evening started the rally off.  During this ceremony flags from each state are carried into the assembly and displayed.  Tom and I had the honor of carrying the Maryland flag, of course, we were the only ones from Maryland in attendance.  Entertainment that evening was a couple, The Rivoli"s, that sang a variety of songs.

Tuesday started with a continental style of breakfast.  Then the seminars, display motorhomes/5th wheels and vendor were opened.  We checked out the vendor area and went through the new display units.  We were not impressed with the new units.  The number of vendors seems to be less than in previous years.  We each attended seminars of our choosing,  Tom more than me.  There always seem to be more technical seminars that are of more interest to Tom.  A dinner of baked chicken and rice with other sides was served in the evening.  The entertainment for this evening was a group of 4 brothers, The Marlins, that performed with a variety of instruments and singing.  Very entertaining!

Breakfast will be served every morning through Friday.  After breakfast on Wednesday, Tom and I attended a couple of seminars together and then went to the vendor area.  One of the seminars we had attended was about water softeners.  We know that we often get into areas of hard water which has caused some deposits in our shower stall so we decided to purchase a water softener system to use.  At lunchtime, George and Pat Callender picked us up and we went out to lunch at a local restaurant.  Another couple joined us also. After lunch we attended another seminar and then went back to the motorhome.   Since it has been increasingly warmer everyday ( upper 90's today) it fells good to get into the air conditioning.  The 30amp electric that we have here is good enough to handle 2 air conditioners as long as we don't run anything else on electric.  There was no dinner or entertainment scheduled for this evening so we ate in, took Travis for a walk and watched TV.

Weekend in Lancaster County, Pa.

Thursday, June 5, 2008 we traveled to Kinzer, Pa. for a weekend with the Traveling Americans. Kinzer is a small community in Lancaster County, the Amish area of Pa. The campground, Roamer's Retreat, was easy to locate along busy Route 30. The weekend for the T.A. group starts on Friday but like most of these weekends there are usually several that arrive a day or 2 earlier. So Thursday evening most of us that were on the premises arranged to go out to dinner together. Stolzfus Farm Restaurant was the chosen place because it looked to be relatively close and not on Route 30. Well, we indeed took the scenic route but eventually got to the restaurant. The meal was served family style- 3 meats, fried chicken, ham loaf and sausage with several sides and a variety of desserts for about $17.00. The food was good and too much was eaten but a good time was had by all. When we returned to the campground an Amish lady and her 2 children were going through the campground selling strawberry jam and strawberries. We bought the last quart of strawberries that they had and then enjoyed sharing with the other folks later that evening. The berries were really sweet and flavorful.

Friday in Lancaster County is the Green Dragon Market day and when we are in the area we usually have to go and this Friday was no exception. The big item was strawberries as they are now in season in the area. We bought some fresh produce. From that market we went to a commercial market called Smart Shoppers that we had read about in our local newspaper. It handles discontinued items or surplus items at a very reasonable price. We were pleasantly surprised at the neatness and cleanliness of this type of store. We bought items that we needed paying attention to the expiration dates. We lunched at the Oregon Pike Dairy restaurant. We chose not to go out for dinner, eating-in, instead.

Saturday morning started early for us. Tom had arranged as a Mother's Day present to me a hot air balloon ride for this morning along with Bruce and Cricket McGinnis. At 4:30am Tom had to call to check that the weather would allow for the ride that was scheduled for 6am. At 5:30am we left the campground and went to Bird-In-Hand, a town, to the field that the ascent would be done. Clouds were hanging low and as it became foggier the flight was delayed.

About 7am we along with the McGinnis' and their daughter and grandson decided to cross the road to a restaurant for breakfast. After eating and returning to the field the balloon was inflated and we were going to be on our way. The McGinnis' daughter and grandson were along to follow on the ground and to take pictures but our pilot said he had room and would allow them to go along. The daughter was thrilled, the grandson reluctantly came along.

We had 8 passengers plus the pilot on board, Tom and I, the McGinnis 4, the pilot's wife and a young man that was going to parachute frome the basket. It was not real clear out but was clearing as the time went on. Another smaller balloon also ascended shortly after our balloon and travelled a short distance with us.

Since we had a parachutist on board the pilot had to take the balloon up higher than usual to a little over 5000 feet- a mile high! When we got to that height the parachutist donned his parachute, climbed overboard and pushed off. It was breath taking to see that youngman falling toward the earth. He couldn't get that chute opened fast enough for me! We lost sight of him after his chute opened and he was sailing through the lower winds.


Our pilot took the basket down to 300-400 feet.

As we drifted along, we appreciated the neat and tidy Amish farmlands. Men with their horses were working fields, women and children were tending neatly planted gardens. It was a very relaxing, calm ride. The blast of the propane heaters felt very warm but after the initial heating of the balloon the blasts were short.
There is no control for where the balloon will travel, it all depends on the winds. A chase unit was observed keeping track of our travels.

It was important that our gondola landed near a road because of its size and weight and the pilot did not want to land in any field that could have crops damaged, an alfalfa field was good. Our landing occurred on the edge of a cornfield next to a road. The balloon actually had to be brought down across the roadway which stopped traffic briefly.


After getting the balloon and gondola loaded in the trailer we all loaded into a van and returned to our starting point for a toast with champagne and orange juice. A great trip!


Saturday afternoon we spent in the air-conditioned motorhome resting. For dinner we joined the other members of our group for a potluck meal. Afterwards we gathered around a campfire (heaven knows we didn't need the heat) socializing until the mosquitos drove us inside.
This morning again the group gathered for a potluck breakfast followed by a short meeting. Afterwards those of us returning home packed up and headed home. Several others decided to stay a day or 2 longer. Unfortunately, one gentleman developed some heart problems early Friday morning that landed him in the hospital for the entire weekend and was not to be released until Tuesday so his wife had to remain at the campground and others were staying to be with her.

Spring Samboree

Memorial Day Weekend- It's the beginning of the summer season and the beginning of a busy season for us. This weekend started on Thursday, May 22, 2008 as we took the motorhome 26 miles to Frederick, Maryland to the Maryland State Samboree at the Frederick Fair Grounds. We had very little time to spare getting checked-in and parked as we were scheduled to go on a tour of the National Fire Academy in Emmitsburg, Md. at 11:00am. The tour started by the group going to the dining hall for lunch. For $6.38 we were able to eat all that we so desired from a hot food line, a salad /soup bar and dessert table, what a deal! After lunch we toured the grounds. A memorial to Fallen Firefighters honors those firefighters that lost their lives in the line of duty. Each year in October a weekend of honoring these firefighters with special services and programs is held.

From National Fire...

A new sculpture, "To Lift A Nation", depicts 3 firefighters raising a flag after the 9-11 tragedy.


The Academy has about 400 students on campus much of the time teaching already trained firefighters skills to do their jobs better. Classes are 1 or 2 weeks long. The campus of the Academy was originally a Catholic girls college, St. Joseph's College. After the college closed in the 1970's, the federal government bought this property to be used as it is today. Because the campus is on the National Historic Register, the religious symbols as crosses can not be removed.


Friday morning, Tom, Ed Perry and Bruce McGinnis went to play a round of golf first thing in the morning. Travis and I stayed at the fair grounds and walked around seeing other people and dogs and the vendors that were set up. In the afternoon, we went on a walking tour of Frederick led by a Good Sam couple. It was a beautiful day for a walk about the city. Walking along Carroll Creek we stopped and marveled at a painted bridge that looked like a stone structure with ivy growing on it. One had to rub their hand across the "stones" to realize it was painted and not real stones. Many stones had symbols or scenes painted on them. There were several painted areas that appeared to be recessed structure in the wall with statues. A grated gate with a little bird sitting in the grates looked as if you should be able to open the gates and walk through. This was quite a work of art!
The artist last name was Cochran and there are other examples of his artwork throughout the downtown Frederick area.

From Carroll Creek

The church spires for which Frederick is known was pointed out.

From 2008 05 26 Sp...

The county office buildings and city office buildings were also seen. As the tour was moving on to the Shab Row area of little shops, Tom and I went a different direction to stop at our favorite restaurant ,La Paz, for a refreshing Margarita and chips and salsa.
Saturday was spent at the Samboree. Tom attended a seminar . In the afternoon we watched the "parade" of the various groups depicting the theme of "Hometown Heros".

Waiting for the Parade...

From 2008 05 26 Sa...

It was just before the parade that I received a phone call from Mom saying that our dear sister-in-law, Janie Little, had died. Six months ago she suffered a stroke and had never recovered from that to be able to go home. At this point we decided that we would leave the Samboree a day early.

Delaware Weekend

We travelled to Houston, Delaware to G & R campground for a weekend outing with the Travelling American Good Sam Chapter. There were 9 units in attendence. The nice thing about camping at this campground is that meals were included and I did not need to prepare anything. The cost was $150.00 which included 2 breakfasts, 1 dinner and 2 nights of 50 amp. full-hook-up camping. The meals were very good. Breakfast on Saturday morning included bacon, scrapple, sausage, eggs, pancakes, grits, fried potatoes and toast. Sunday's breakfast consisted of oatmeal, pastries, fruit, hard-cooked eggs and toast. Dinner Saturday evening included baked chicken, fried chicken, fried fish, steamed shrimp, macaroni & cheese, green beans and bread pudding for dessert.
Tom and I drove down to Rehobeth on Saturday and Sunday. Saturday we spent time shopping at the outlet stores. The day was chilly and gray, a good day for shopping. Sunday we took Travis with us. We stopped at a store, Critter Beach, which Travis was allowed to go into and Travis got a new harness. Dogs were not to be on the boardwalk, although there were numerous dogs out there, so we just walked around the stores along the street. It was a beautiful sunny day so we found an outdoor cafe where we were able to get lunch with Travis sitting under the table.
We did stay an additional night, Sunday, along with 2 other couples from the T. A. group. On Sunday evening we all sat around a campfire for a couple hours enjoying some conversation.

Well, wouldn't you know it, after getting our plans worked out we realize an adjustment needs to be made. The House on the Rocks is a place that we have wanted to stop at for sometime. As I was looking over our travelling route it was apparent that we would be going by this area as we travelled to the St. Cloud area from Illinois. So we made an alteration allowing us to stop for 2 nights in this area before going up to St. Cloud. This will allow us a full day to go to the House on the Rocks which we have been told by several people that we would need in order to see this attraction. The campground in St. Cloud that we had planned to make a reservation when it opened later this month will not be used. We found a Passport America campground near the "House" that we were able to make reservations today for 2 nights.

Preparing for Summer Trip

Tom and I have spent the past 2 days getting our plans in order for our summer travels. Our plans include a family reunion in Fayette, Ohio, a Newmar International Rally in DuQuoin, Illinois, a Newmar FMCA Pre-Rally in St. Cloud, Minnesota and a FMCA International Rally in St. Paul, Minnesota. These events are all occurring within one month. We had to figure out the travel time from one event to the next and where our stops for each day will be. Usually, we don't make reservations this far ahead but because of the timeframe that these events occur we feel more at ease knowing where we will be from day to day. The reservations for the rallies have been made on line, when possible, or have been sent off through regular mail. Reservations for campground stops between rallies have been completed except for a campground that will not be open until later this month.
The time following the rallies is open-ended at this time. We have found that when attending rallies we hear about events or places to visit that sounds interesting and we make plans based on this knowledge. We've passed through Minnesota several times but haven't spent much time in this state so we hope to see what this state has to offer. We then expect to head toward the east through Wisconsin and Michigan. These states are usually cooler, especially around the Great Lakes area, in the summer time than other places.

First campout of 2008

On Friday, April 4, 2008, we took our motorhome to Woodbine, Maryland, a mere 27 miles from home, for the weekend with the Traveling Americans. It was our first time out since last fall when we were at Fort Whaley near Ocean City, Md. Friday was cool and rainy, Saturday was sunny and cool and then Sunday rainy and raw. It was good to be together with folks that we hadn't seen all winter. There were 10 units. Friends of ours, Ed and Barb Perry, attended since the Good Sam group that they had belonged to dissolved and, hopefully, they will join up with our group.
Friday evening we went out to eat as a group at the Four Seasons restaurant. The food was good and prices reasonable. Obviously, the restaurant is liked by lots of people as it seemed to get busier as the evening went on.
Saturday morning, the weekend hosts provided a continental breakfast. Late morning, Bruce and Cricket McGinnis and Tom and I went out to visit some wineries in the area. The Linganore Winery had a wine and cheese tasting for $5.00/person which we participated in. There were 5 different cheeses, several crackers and numerous wines. We were provided a paper with the wines listed along with the cheese to eat with what wines. Very nice wine tasting. We then moved on and stopped at Lowe's winery and Elk Run winery. Lowe's wine tasting was free, Elk Run charged $2.00. It was a nice afternoon. For our Saturday dinner we had a potluck style meal. With this group there is always plenty food.
Sunday breakfast was again a potluck meal. Breakfasts seem to always be heavy on one type of food and this time was no different, there were several egg dishes- casseroles and quiches-all good and each a little different from the others. After breakfast and between rain falls we all started to prepare to go home. We were the last ones to leave from our campsite but on our way out the campground we passed the Hagans as they were hooking up their tow vehicle to their motorhome.
Travis had a chance to visit with some of his dog friends. Little Penny seemed to have doubled in size since last fall but she still was full of energy. Calvin, an oldtimer like Travis, was content to just watch that little Penny go through her gyrations. And then there were Jackie and Chelsea that Travis learned to know in Texas a year ago. Travis enjoys camping- he is walked several times a day and in the motorhome he can keep an eye on both of us without much trouble.

Windows Live

We posted yesterday's entry using the Windows Live Software. It will allow us to make weblog entries offline when we do not have internet access and upload to the blog when we do have internet access.

The sofware has other features as well, but this is the one that we want to use.

It seems to work as we hoped.

Roots and Utz

Today we traveled to Manheim, Pa and the Roots Farmer's Market.  This is one of the first times that Maddy has been to a Farmer's Market.  It was not packed with shoppers as is the case in the summer.

Some of the items being sold at the Market.

As you can see it was easy to walk around and look things over before purchasing them.

 

After shopping at the market we stopped for lunch before heading back home.

 

We stopped in Hanover, Pa at the Utz potato chip factory.  They have a viewing gallery that is open to the public from 8am to 4pm Monday to Thursday and some Fridays.   They do not allow cameras in, so we do not have any pictures to post.  If you are in the area we recommend you take the time to see how some of the finest potato chips in the area are made.

A day with Maddy

Today as we started our usual morning walk, we saw the truck from the state fish hatchery driving towards one of the town's ponds. We altered our normal route so we could take Maddy to see the fish being released.

We we arrived at the pond, they were already at work tranfering fish from the truck into the pond. The fish being stocked are rainbow trout.

After our walk we went to the movies and saw "Horton hears a who." It was a nice movie for kids.

Easter With Family

This morning Leah's brother, Larry, stopped and pick-up his mother, Leah and I and took us all to Church. As with most Easter Sunday church services, the parking lot of filling up as were the pews.

After church, we went back to our house for Easter dinner. Our Son, Todd, his wife, Beth and Granddaughter, Maddy was already there waiting for us.

Leah fixed a very nice Easter Dinner with Ham, fresh green beans, scalloped potatoes, and a scalloped pineapple dish. All done to perfection I might add.

Leah also had fixed deviled eggs and pickled eggs. We noticed a few were missing from the plate, so we know that our early arrivals sampled some. :-)

Todd is always complaining that we never write about him in our blog, so we made certain that he was mentioned. We will also mention Beth, just to be sure we don't have any hurt feelings.


We also have a big treat in that Maddy will be spending several days with us. We always enjoy her visits, but boy, does she keep us busy.

We do hope that everyone has had a great Easter and a good year to come.

Spring Fever and Fan Motor Problem

Boy oh boy, what a day. The tempature was 68 degrees and Spring was in the air everywhere we went today. Some people were even talking about planting flowers. Now that is really pushing spring...

We are still in Maryland because of family medical problems and now we can add a motorhome problem to the list. On Monday Tom started the generator for its monthly run. When he started the front dometic Duo-Therm Heat pump, to put a load on the generator, the fan would not run. JR's RV Repairs in Gettysburg, Pa was called to look at the unit.

JR contacted Dometic and found out that there was a bad run of fan motors and as luck would have it, we have one. Dometic is sending a replace fan motor and we should have the motorhome back next week. The driveway looks empty without it being parked there.

And the Maryland Terps lost to Boston College in the ACC Tournment. Blew a 25 point lead... (:-(

The Boys and Their Toys

This past weekend the Taneytown Volunteer Fire Company held its annual toy auction and show. The auction was held Saturday evening and the show was held sunday. This was the first time that we were home and was able to help with the auction and show.

The amount of money that was being paid for some of these farm toys was shocking. One farm toy was sold for $400.00.

After seeing what was being paid for some of the farm toys it made is want to go home and raid the toy box to see what we can come up with...

Zoo Keeper Job Finished and USMC Museum

Well, our stint as zoo keepers came to an end this morning. All of the animals survived as did we.

Saturday and Sunday, Tom and Leah went to the Marine Corp. Museum. See the link on the left of the screen.

The Museum is open every day except Christmas from 9 to 5. After spending two days at the museum, we could have spent even more time there.

The museum is right off of Interstate 95 and the best part is admission is FREE.

We advise you not to go unless you have several hours to devote to your visit.

There are three tours each day at 10:00, 12:00 and 2:00 given by volunteers.

So if you are in the area or a former Marine plan on stopping at this fine Museum and learn about the history of the Marine Corp.

Off to be Zoo Keepers for the Weekend

Well we're off on a big adventure weekend. We are going to Virginia to look after our Son and daughter-in-law's zoo. Well, it's not really a zoo, it just seems like that. They have 3 dogs, 5 cats, 3 ferrets, two fish tanks and several frogs and a lizard. Oh, I almost forgot, our grandson, will also be in the mix for several days.

Our son and daughter-in-law are off to sunny California for a weekend conference at Huntington Beach.

Hopefully all of us will make it through the weekend intact.

Another Milestone Day

Hi All!

Well today was another milestone day in Tom's life. He received his first, of what we hope will be many, monthly social security payments.

Since Tom was born on December 29Th, he had to wait until the end of February to receive his payment. Those persons who were born on the 1st and 2Nd, several days later, received their payments the first week February. So persons born after Tom received their payments almost a month sooner. Our government's logic in action????

Bad News Day

This morning was a very, very bad news day for us. We were watching the news this morning when we learned that a friend's 39 year old son was killed in an auto accident yesterday evening. He was a dentist and the father of 6 children, all of whom were in the car with him at the time of the accident.

After hearing the name of the driver on the news this morning, we checked our email to see if we had received anything from our church as to weather or not this was the same person we knew. Much to our dismay it was.

We also received another email from a member of our camping group that his wife passed away yesterday evening. How shocking and sudden it was for us to read this.

After 3 months our sister-in-law is not showing any signs of improvement from the massive stroke she suffered the Sunday after Thanksgiving.

All of this just reminds us how short and precious life can be and to live and enjoy it.

Also this brings to mind a saying we heard years ago, "When you say goodbye to someone, say it like its the last time you will ever see them."

Winter Sucks (:>(

Well, as you have read, we are staying home due to family medical problems this Winter. This has been the first Winter we have had to stay home in Maryland since 1999 and it SUCKS!

Yesterday we had three separate snowfalls. As if that was not bad enough, last night things froze over and this morning was are getting rain on top of the ice and frozen snow. Boy, what a mess!



Icy Mess...



A motorhome shouldn't have to look like this...




Hopefully next Winter we will not be stuck up in Maryland.

PDA Crashed :-( . . .

Monday evening Tom had a great big PDA crash... Oh man, what a big pain that is going to be because it had not been synced for a month or more. The biggest pain is making certain the information that is stored in various places is current.

There are several programs that were on the PDA that does not get backed up to any place and reconstructing the information contained in them will be a terrible pain.

Lastly, we do geocaching and were setup to do it paperlessly using the PDA.

After this being the second PDA to die, we are not certain if we want to buy another one.

New email addresses

We have decided that we no longer need the Internet account we have had with the local library. We have been trying Google for awhile and it has proven to be a much better email system than the one used by the library. Since we are using DSL and no longer using dial-up, there just is no reason for us to continue renewing our account.

We have send our email address change notices to our friends and are in the transition period of changing to the new addresses.

We will also be moving our web page over to googlepages as well.

If Google goes under, we will be in a world of hurt because we are using many of the Google programs on a regular basis. If you have not tried any of many of them we highly recommend Picasa2, Web Albums, Google Earth, E-mail and Pages.

Mom's Funeral

We took 2 days to make the trip to Northwestern Ohio since we didn't leave Maryland until late afternoon. We stayed in Findlay, Ohio along with my cousin and her husband at the same motel.

On Tuesday we went to Deshler, Ohio for the viewing where many family members come and spend most of the afternoon and evening with us. We talked about many good times and traded funny stories to honor a woman who lived 81 years.

The funeral was held on Wednesday afternoon and mom would have liked how everything was handled at the funeral home. At the grave site it was a different story. During the graveside services, my sister said that the grave was in the wrong location.

My sister said that mom came to her the night before in a dream and told her that they would try to bury her in the wrong site. Sure enough, they did. The records at the cemetery were very poor and they tried to bury mom along side of her mother instead of beside dad. They got things taken care of and mom is now resting beside dad.

Sad News Day

As we were getting ready to go to church this morning, we received the call that we knew was coming but didn't want to receive. Tom's mother had just passed away. We decided to go to chuch and afterwards head for Ohio.

Mom had been in failing health for a number of years and her struggles have at last come to a peaceful end. We know that she has been reunited with Tom's father and brother along with other family members that have crossed over before.

First Post of 2008

Well, as readers of this blog knows there have not been any posting for several months. We have taken several local trips since the motorhome was fixed. I am happy to report there have not been any problems.

This Winter we were hoping to go to Az., but sometimes things don't go as planned. The Sunday after Thanksgiving our sister-in-law had a stroke. This means that my brother-in-law will have his hands full with her health care and will not be able to also look after my wife's mother. As result, it appears that we will be spending the Winter at home.

I talked with my sister several days ago and she told me that my mother is under hospice care and they are not holding out much hope for her to last thru January. We have been in a quandary as to what to do with the dog when we make the trip to Ohio for my mother. If it was not Winter, it would be a "no brainer," we would drive the motorhome.

This is a trip that I am not looking forward to, but one that we all make sooner or later.

The Motorhome is Fixed!

As your read in a previous post, we had a few problems with the motorhome. To recap, an exhaust header broke which in turn burned out not one, but two starters and the front end was damaged by the towing company.

Below are the before and after pictures of the damages.
Broken Exhaust Header
Replacement Exhaust Header

Front End Damage

Repaired Front End

As the pictures show, the exhaust header is now a single piece and the front end looks like new. Oh Boy, on the road again!!!

We got the motorhome back just in time for we are joint hosts of a camping outing next weekend.