The Rally Continues

Wednesday morning Tom and I were up early as we had volunteered to help with breakfast. We were scheduled to have a continental style breakfast but someone stepped forward to prepare sausage and pancakes for 100 plus participants of the rally.
After our breakfast duties were completed and Travis was walked, we drove around the Nappanee area. This area is well known for the presence of the Amish. Following a map we traveled on some backroads through the Amish communities. Shingle stores, private homes with a shingle (sign) citing some product as fabrics or quilts, are quite common. Throughout this Amish Country there are quilt gardens, each garden recreates a traditional or contemporary quilt pattern. We viewed the one in Nappanee that was composed of pink alysum, white and purple salvia and blue ageratium. We stopped at a country diner for a late lunch.
In the evening Tom had his second round of beanbag baseball but his team got beat so they are finished.
Today, Thursday, we attended a seminar by Precision Paint, a local company that paints motorhomes. After their talk, we were treated to a lunch of hamburgers and hot dogs by Precision Paint. And then we were invited to their facility a short distance from the campground for a tour which we found to be very interesting.

From Bremen Indiana

From Bremen Indiana

While there Tom asked about the replacement of headlights- our motorhome headlight lenses have become yellowed and cloudy with age. We had set up an appointment for someone to come to the campground on Friday to replace ours. After returning to the campground we had a business meeting that we had to attend. During the meeting Tom got a call that Precision Paint employees were here today to replace the headlights so he went back to the motorhome and I stayed at the meeting. The new headlights improve the appearence of the motorhome and will provide much improved lights for nighttime driving.

From Bremen Indiana

From Bremen Indiana

From Bremen Indiana

From Bremen Indiana

A pizza dinner was provided- salad, pizzas, and cinnamon sticks.

The Rally Begins

The Newmar International Chapter of FMCA rally started this morning with a period for registration. Tote bags with literature about the surrounding area and RV products along with some small gifts were distributed.
We rode into Nappanee, Indiana to the Newmar factory to get a cover for the vent at the bottom of our shower. The present cover had the paint chipping away. Although they no longer carry the exact same cover as we presently have they had one that may work if not we could return it. Tom immediately checked it out when we got home and was able to drill some new holes and make the fit.
Late this afternoon we had a welcoming meeting followed by the executives from Newmar offering some remarks and answering questions. Our dinner of hot dogs and hamburgers was cooked by the Newmar Executives, that included the company president.
After dinner a bean bag baseball tournament was started and will be on-going through out the week. Tom was a participant, I took Travis for a walk and then became a spectator.

Monday in Bremen, Indiana

Another beautiful day- bright sunshine and comfortable temperatures. After doing some chores around the motorhome and giving Travis a much needed bath, Tom and I drove into Bremen. We ate lunch at a small Mexican restaurant that proved to be a good choice. I felt a need for a haircut and spied a salon across the street from the restaurant. Luckily, I was able to get haircut before the next client showed up for her appointment. Beauticians are usually full of information and so we learned of an Amish store out in the country- Rentown's- which we went to. It was a store that carried bulk foods but they also had cheese at some unbelievable prices- $1.49 a pound for Colby-Jack cheese. This is indeed Amish country as we saw numerous horse-pulled wagons with Amish families traveling over the roads today.

Muskegon and Bremen, Indiana

We spent Friday and Saturday in Muskegon, Michigan in Fishermans' Landing, a city owned park on Lake Muskegon. After a stormy night on Friday we awoke to a bright sunshiny day on Saturday. A short distance from the campground there was a farmer's market. A market is held 3 times a week on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday and it puts most other markets to shame. Two long open air buildings had stalls in which the vendors had their produce and plants for sale.

From Muskegon Michigan

I always seem to get carried away when I'm in a market as this. I bought cherries (sweet and tart),blueberries, fresh beets, squash and radishes.

From Muskegon Michigan

We made a stop at a grocery store and then returned to the motorhome. After baking a cherry pie, I prepared dinner cooking the beets along with some broccoli and cherry bratwurst(a special brat that is made during the time of the cherry festival). We really enjoyed eating those beets and pieces of cherry pie.

From Muskegon Michigan

(Note from Tom, "The pie was GREAT!")
After a nice walk we watched the sunset over the lake.

From Muskegon Michigan

From Muskegon Michigan

Today, Sunday, we moved on further south to Bremen, Indiana, about 160 miles. We are attending a rally here, FMCA Newmar group, that goes from Tuesday until Sunday. As with most rallies arriving early is very common and there are about 10 units here. The weather is really pleasant- at 9:30pm it is 65 degrees outside. The high temperature was probably 80 degrees. No need for AC.

Tuesday through Friday Catching Up

Somehow I've got a little behind with the blog and now I'm attempting to get it up to date.  Tuesday through Thursday we remained in Traverse City.  We were just biding our time enjoying the campground and tending to some maintenance and housekeeping chores as well as getting prescriptions renewed.  I had a prescription that needed authorization and had overlooked that fact prior to leaving home but it wasn't too much of a problem.  The pharmacist called my doctor and was able to renew the script.

On Wednesday evening we returned to the Cherry Festival for the evenings entertainment which was a Beatles cover band called "1964 The Tribute".  They were very good entertainers and we really enjoyed the concert.  People attending reacted to this group as if they were truly THE BEATLES, standing up most of the time, singing along with the songs and dancing.  And, yet, I would dare say that 75% of the audience were younger than folks our age that call the Beatles music of our era. 

Thursday we went to downtown Traverse City and walked about the shopping area.  There were lots of interesting shops and ,of course, many were selling cherry products- dried cherries, cherry jams and salsas and even cherry ice cream.  Oh, my!

Today, Friday, we packed up and left Traverse City heading south toward Indiana.   Traveling about 150 miles to Muskegon, Michigan we are going to stay here until Sunday.  The campground we are staying is Fisherman's Landing and Campground.  It is located on Muskegon Lake, a pretty area.  As the name implies there are lots of fishermen here with their RV's and their boats.

Cherry Festival and Peninsula Drive

This morning we went into Traverse City to the Cherry Festival.

From Cherry Festival

Today they were honoring hometown heros. Emergency personnel-firemen and EMS- with equipment were on display along with other medical facilities.

From Cherry Festival

Vendors selling all kinds of cherry products had their tents set up.

From Cherry Festival

From Cherry Festival

From Cherry Festival

The location of the festival is right along the lake. It is quite a pretty area. We walked to the downtown area, about a block, to find a restaurant for lunch. We thought we had a better choice of somewhat healthier food in a restaurant over the festival food.
After lunch we drove up the peninsula that goes from Traverse City to Old Mission a distance of about 20 miles. It was an absolutely beautiful drive with great views of the lake, cherry orchards and vineyards.

From Travis Birthday and Travis City Area

We stopped at the lighthouse at the end of the peninsula.

From Travis Birthday and Travis City Area

In Old Mission, a small town on the northern end of the peninsula, we visited an old mission church. A stop at a vineyard for wine tasting followed by a stop for some fresh cherries at a roadside stand rounded out the tour.

From Travis Birthday and Travis City Area

The weather was sunny but cool today. This evening the clouds have moved in and it is getting chillier.

Happy Birthday, Travis!!

Today Travis had his 12th birthday. Since he was 7 weeks old Travis has been with us and we couldn't ask for a better little buddyAnother beautiful day and comfortable temperatures in the 70's
We took a ride heading north from Traverse City. Cherry orchards were all along the highway. We stopped in Elk Rapids, a picturesque town along Lake Michigan. A city park on the lake had a beach and people were out swimming-brrrr.

From Traverse City and Elk Rapids

A stream flowing into the lake also had people swimming.

From Traverse City and Elk Rapids

We watched boats coming into and going out of the marina.

From Traverse City and Elk Rapids

The water was very clean appearing- we were able to clearly see the bottom- and almost as colorful as the Carribbean.
After getting back to the motorhome we fixed dinner and later had ice cream and cake for Travis' birthday. It was a good day.

From Travis Birthday and Travis City Area

Air Show

After talking about the rainy weather for the past week I forgot to mention yesterday that we finally had sunny skies. Temperatures are in the low 70's and believe it or not this morning was the coldest morning yet at 47 degrees.
It was a beautiful day today. The Cherry festival had an air show over Lake Michigan. We watched the show with thousands of others that were spread along the shores of the lake.

From Traverse City and Elk Rapids

Afterwards we ate dinner out and returned to the campground for a quiet evening. Travis doesn't handle fireworks too well so we keep the 4th as quiet as possible. Happy 4th of July!

Moving on to Traverse City

We left the Dunes and traveled about 30 miles to the east to Traverse City. The National Cherry festival begins here tomorrow. Unfortunately, the cherries are about 2 weeks late due to a late cool spring so the festival planners have had to resort to bringing cherries in from other states.
We are camped at Timberridge Campground Resort. We had made prior reservations since this is 4th of July weekend. Other than making a run to the grocery store we have stayed in the campground catching up on laundry.

Leland

I cannot believe that we are still in a weather pattern of cold and dampness. Late yesterday afternoon the sun came out for a short period of time then it rained again last night. It was predicted that the sun would shine this afternoon but that didn't happen.
We had notice a farm nearby that had a field with poles and strings. A sign stated it was a hops farm so we assumed that the hops are grown in this field and entwine up the strings.

From Hops and Leland

From Hops and Leland

Enroute to Leland we stopped at Good Harbor Vineyards. They had the bottling equipment in operation. As many times as we have been to wineries, this was the first time we have seen the actual bottling of wine. Tasting cost $4.00 each, but you get to keep the glass and if you bring the glass with you on a return visit, you get a discount on the tasting. After the tasting, we purchased several bottles of wine and continued on our day trip to Leland.
Driving north we saw a sign that stated it marked the halfway point between the equator and North Pole.

From Hops and Leland

We drove to Leland, Michigan. Leland has a harbor on Lake Michigan from which a ferry transports people to the North and South Manitou Islands. These islands have only primitive provisions. We saw a group of teenagers with hiking gear including sleeping bags and tents that had returned on the ferry.

From Hops and Leland

The harbor area of Leland is called Fishtown.

From Hops and Leland

There are numerous old shacks that at this time are used for shops and a shack or 2 that sells fish, fresh or smoked.

From Hops and Leland

It was quite an active and interesting area. We talked with a shop keeper about recommendations for restaurants. He suggested Fischer's Happy Hour Tavern about 6 miles north of Leland which we went to and enjoyed a fried chicken dinner.
After dinner we traveled a little further north to Northport, another small town on Lake Michigan. In our travels we saw a very strange looking building which we believe is a house.

From Hops and Leland

Tomorrow we will move from this area to Traverse City about 25 miles to the east of Empire where we are at this time.

Pierce Stocking Scenic Drive

It rained most of the night and was still raining this morning. Late this morning we struck out for the Pierce Stocking Scenic Drive. Pierce Stocking was a lumberman in this area that had an appreciation for the beautiful views from the high dunes and developed the scenic drive for others to enjoy. The 7-plus miles has panoramic views of Sleeping Bear Dunes, Lake Michigan and Glen Lake.

From Pierce Stocking Scenic Drive

At the Michigan Lake overlook a dune descends 450 feet to Lake Michigan. In spite of signs asking people to remain on walkways and to stay off the dunes there were people walking over the dunes including the extremely steep descent down to the Lake.

From Pierce Stocking Scenic Drive

Those people going down the steep grade were finding it difficult,even resorting to crawling on their hands and knees, to return up the dune but there was no alternative. Needless to say folks our age were not attempting such a challenge.

From Pierce Stocking Scenic Drive

After leaving the scenic drive we drove into Empire, stopped at a sandwich shop for lunch items and went to the city park on Lake Michigan to eat our lunch. Even though we were in a pavilion, it was a chilly dining experience and really not too enjoyable. Travis has been along with us today. This area is pet friendly for the most part. There are a few places posted that pets are not allowed. This is one of the few National Parks that allow dogs on trails.
At 3pm we were back at the motorhome. The rain has been stopped for a while. The temperature is 59 degrees. According to the weather reports this area is experiencing the coldest temperatures in the lower 48 at this time.

Sleeping Bear Dunes

After a rainy night we awoke this morning to a cold, damp day. The temperature was 53 degrees and stayed in the 60's all day. This area has the coldest temperatures in the lower 48 states according to the weather reports.

We spent the day touring about the area. We began at the Visitor Center in Empire. There was a 15 minute slide show about the Sleeping Bear dunes, a name that resulted from an Indian legend. A mother bear along with her 2 cubs were swimming across Lake Michigan. The mother bear made it across but the cubs drowned. The dune area was the mother bear laying on shore waiting for her cubs. The islands, North Manitou and South Manitou, are the 2 cubs that drowned.

We then drove to Glen Haven, a steamship stop dating back to the turn of the 20th century. An old cannery building had a display of old boats used on the Lake. A Maritime Museum displayed a fully restored U.S. Lifesaving Service station. A general store had souvenirs and what-use-to-be penny candy for sale. The blacksmith shop had a volunteer working as a smithy as he explained the business of blacksmith- as he talked he made a dipper with an iron handle and a copper ladle which I was able to have- a donation was appreciated but not required.

From Glen Haven

We got a bite of lunch in a little town of Glen Arbor. This seems to be the most active town in this area with several little shops and some restaurants.
After lunch we drove a little further to the north and hiked up to Pyramid Point.

From Glen Haven

The hike involved climbing a steep hill that brought us to a bluff overlooking the Manitou Islands and Lake Michigan. Even with the cloudiness of the day it was a pretty view.

Moving further north

This morning we departed Whispering Surf Campground and traveled about 100 miles further north to Empire, Michigan to stay at Sleeping Bear Campground. Our route of travel took us along the coastline of Lake Michigan. There were some areas of steep grades which was somewhat surprising to us. It has been cool today and rainy. Temperatures did not get above the mid 60's.
We plan to be here until Friday. Sleeping Bear National Park is in this area. Huge sand dunes are the main attraction for the park. We did take a drive around the immediate area this evening and look forward to seeing more the next several days.

Pentwater/ Ludington Areas

Whispering Surf Campground is located between the towns of Pentwater and Ludington along Bass Lake. It is also within walking distance of Lake Michigan which we did one morning. The walk took us along a road of homes on one side and private beaches on the other side.

We drove into Pentwater but did not spend much time there. It looked like a nice clean town with some unique appearing shops.

About 5 miles from the campground there is a huge reservoir that was constructed about 380 feet above Lake Michigan that is used for a power source. Water is pumped from the Lake at nighttime up to the reservoir and during the day water flows through turbines to produce power. To get to the area of the reservoir there is a long walkway at quite an incline. The reservoir can be observed from an observation pavilion but no one is allowed within the fenced enclosed area of the reservoir. From the area where cars are parked a short walk can be taken to an observation deck overlooking the power plant. It was a very interesting place to see.

From Ludington Reservoir and Power Plant

From Ludington Reservoir and Power Plant

Ludington a town about 10 miles north of the campground is located on Lake Michigan. A car ferry travels from here to Wisconsin across the Lake. One evening we watched the ferry come into port. The ferries are very large ships and we have been told that it is quite expensive. In the Harbor area there is an attractive community park that has several sculptures displayed.

From Ludington Sculptures and Car Ferry

From Ludington Sculptures and Car Ferry

We spent Sunday at Ludington State Park hiking several of the trails. It was a beautiful day for hiking temperatures were in the 70's and the sky was cloudless. The one trail was along the Sable River and then we had to climb up a long set of stairs to the top of the dunes.

From Ludington State Park

From Ludington State Park

Another trail took us around Lost Lake and across to an island.

From Ludington State Park

It was a very enjoyable day. We had taken a picnic lunch and stopped between trails to eat.

Grand Haven, Michigan

Leaving Holland, Michigan we traveled north about 25 miles to Grand Haven. Tom had reserved campsites at the state park for 2 nights. This reservation system is one of the worst. Tom called and spoke with someone about reserving a site for 2 nights and was informed that they only could accommodate us for Wednesday night so he said okay we'd stay that night. Tom later checked the website and found that there were indeed sites available for Thursday night so he arranged for that site. Since sites are assigned when making reservations we had to change sites on Thursday which is a pain. The state park/campground is located on Lake Michigan at the Grand River. The campsites are electric hook-ups only, no water or sewer. The sites are extremely close together and small. In order for us to have the motorhome and car within the boundries of our site we had to keep our steps retracted when not used and carefully open the doors of the motorhome and the car so we wouldn't hit the other vehicle. The cost of the sites were $27.00 plus an $8.00 reservation fee so we paid $35.00 a night for these terrible sites.

From Grand Haven, Mi

Grand Haven is a clean and pretty town referred to as "Coast Guard City". There is a 2.5 mile walkway from the state park along the Grand River with shops and restaurants. Every night throughout the summer a musical fountain displays dancing water to a variety of music for about a half hour. On Wednesday evening we walked the walkway to the area of the musical fountain and sat watching the parade of people on the walkway and the parade of boats on the water returning from the day on the lake. A little after 10pm the sun had finally set and the fountain show started. It was an enjoyable evening.

From Grand Haven, Mi

From Grand Haven, Mi

Thursday we drove around the area and stopped at a Culver's for lunch- yum-butterburgers and frozen custard! We went to the harbor and walked around the shops that were there. One little shop sold soft pretzels and Tom and I decided to get one to share. After getting the pretzel I asked if they had mustard and was told that mustard would be an additional $.63 after we had paid $3.00 for the pretzel. We enjoyed the pretzel without mustard! After stopping at a Meijer's (a Super Wal-Mart type store) for a few groceries we returned to the campground. We again walked the walkway along the river but did not stay for the fountain show.

This morning we left Grand Haven for Pentwater, Michigan about 60 miles further north. We are staying at Whispering Surf campground with full hook-ups and more room for our car and motorhome. This campground was established in 1913 as a choir boys camp and then as an American plan family resort. This is the oldest campground in Michigan. It is a little rustic but we feel we have a little more breathing room than the previous state park campground.

Western Michigan

After the family reunion on Saturday we left Sunday morning for Holland, Mi.  We have not been along the western part of Michigan and felt this would be a good time to see it.

We are staying in the Dutch Treat Campground between Zeeland and Holland, Mi.  There was a sign at the office to go find a campsite and register with them in the morning, so we entered the campground to find a site.  They must have forgotten to take down the sign as someone on a bike had us drive back to the office to register.  They had been busy dealing with some flooding issues caused by runoff from the property next to the campground.

Friday night this area of Michigan was hit with heavy rains and winds.  One report said that Holland received four inches of rain in one hour.  The after effects could be seen in various areas when we drove around.

On Monday morning we drove into Holland and stopped in the visitor's center to get information about the area and points of interest to see.  The downtown area was very clean and neat with most of the stores occupied with businesses.

The street lamp posts have banners that depict Dutch works of art and there are sculptures at various locations around the town.

We drove out to Lake Mactawa and Holland State Park. 

After spending sometime looking around at Holland State Park, we went to the Dutch Village.

 

Calling this place a tourist trap would be right on.  There is also a second place called Windmill Village which falls into the same category. 

After hearing so much about Holland Michigan, the Tulips and so forth we thought we would see more of Dutch influence in the area.  Holland is a nice enough looking place, but it was a disappointment overall and not worth recommending unless your here for the Tulip Festival in early May.

Family Reunion

On Saturday, June 2oth members of my family got together at my sister's home outside of Fayette, Ohio for a family reunion.  They have a swimming pool and rented a moon bounce, so there were activities to keep the kids busy so the adults could visit.

It was a very warm day so the decision was made to eat inside instead of under the canopies setup in the yard and driveway.  Many of us gathered around the kitchen table to eat and talk.

As with most family reunions, we spent time catching up on what has been going on in our lives since we last saw each other.  We even spent time talking about persons that were not there and shared what information we had about them.

Like most family functions, there was too much food to be eaten, but we did our best.

Off to the Family Reunion

This morning we finished loading the motorhome and left a little after 8 am. It was a very good day for traveling. The sun was not too bright and we did not run into very much rain along the way.

Last year we got an EZ-Pass to use when traveling toll roads. It still feels like we are running thru the toll booths without paying. The Ohio Turnpike is behind the times and is still using the ticket only method. Later this year they are going to install the EZ-Pass equipment. We'll see if that happens.

We stopped for gas at the first service plaza in Ohio. They were having problems with the gas pumps not staying online, so we were unable to fill the gas tank. We decided to go to the planned campground stop for the night and get gas at the next service plaza which is only 15 miles from where we get back on the turnpike.

We are just off of exit 209 at the Ridge Ranch Campground. We have stopped here twice before on our way to Fayette, Ohio. At our age, it is far enough to drive for one day.

They have free wi-fi at the office, but not back in the campground sites. I purchased a Jefa Tech Wi-Fi Repeater and an external antenna after the problem we had at Ocean Waves Campground with Wi-Fi service. I first tried the repeater with the small inside antenna, but was not successful in getting a signal. Next, I setup the external antenna and kept my fingers crossed when I fired up the repeater and the laptop. I went thru the setup steps to survey for wi-fi hotspots and sure enough, there was Ridge Ranch Campground's wi-fi signal. I made the necessary changes to the configuration and we were able to get on the internet from the motorhome.

Sunday Visit

We drove to our son's house in Stafford, Va. Beth's aunt and uncle and two of their grandchildren were also there. Todd cooked burgers on the grill for everyone. Beth made Mac and cheese. Beth's aunt brought potato salad and a veggie tray. We just brought appetites.

After eating we went over to their boat and spent several hours there. Todd replaced a blige pump and the kids had a blast swimmming.

Concrete Gets Hard

This morning the concrete truck showed up, but no crew. About 20 minutes later, the concrete crew arrived and go to work.

It appeared that the concrete work was progressing with the owner doing most of the finishing work. Next came the stamps for the pattern layout. The front poarch and walkway was stamped with the design and a portion of the back walkway was also completed. The concrete in the back is in direct sun and was setting up faster than the crew could work it.

Now they have to breakup the length of walkway that does not have the pattern stamped into it, re-pour with fresh concrete and stamp the pattern in it. We feel bad as this means lost time and money for the contractor.

A River Runs Thru It.....

Last evening the skies opened up and it really poured. We closed the fried chicken stand and came home around 8:30. Boy what a mess we walked into. Rainwater was leaking into the basement under the basement door.

AS Leah wrote, we are having our walkways replaced and where they had dug out formed a riverbed that lead directly to the basement door. We broke out the wet/dry vac and a mop and bucket and did our best to cleanup the wet mess.

A Weekend in Paradise - Stream!

Last Thursday we left Taneytown and headed for the hills of Pennsylvannia. And the hills we went over- wow! The scenery was just beautiful even for a cloudy day. From Gettysburg to Carlisle we went through rolling hills of fruit orchards. From Carlisle to Loysville we traveled over mountains with steep grades and lots of curves. The views were spectacular even if the ride was more thrilling than we really like in a motorhome. But safely we arrived at Paradise Stream Campground in one piece- even after missing the turn into the campground and in our attempt to turn around having to unhook the car from the motorhome.
Thursday remained overcast and gray but the rain held off until later in the night. We were one of 4 units from Traveling Americans camping group that had arrived a day early for the weekend campout. Drew and Marti Moehlau, the fulltimers in the club, were back east after a 2 year stint traveling around the west. It was good to see these friends looking so good.
Friday it rained all day. It was even hard getting Travis outside to do his thing. But there is something to be said for raindrops falling on the roof of an RV, it's almost as good as a tin roof. Paradise Stream campgound is in an area of Amish farms. The surrounding towns are small and offer few options for eating out. There is a small diner in Loysville that we ate lunch on Friday. The place was quite busy and the food not to bad at all. By 5pm most of the camping group had arrived so we assembled in a clubhouse along with another Good Sam group from Frederick to share appetizers. After topping the appetizers off with ice cream from the camp store our bellies were full.
Saturday morning we awoke to a beautiful clear sunny day. The camp hosts provided a continental breakfast and for dinner we had a pot luck meal again with the Frederick club. After dinner our group circled around a campfire for the evening.
Sunday, another gorgeous day, started with a pot luck breakfast. There is always such a variety of foods. Taking our time we broke up camp and headed towards home about noon. Going home we did travel a different route that did not have the curves as the one on Thursday.
Now this week is a busy time for us. The Taneytown Firemen's carnival is going on and Tom is busy helping at lunchtime and we both help in the evenings in the fried chicken stand. The motorhome needed to be serviced in preparation for our trip to the midwest next week so this morning it was taken to the local Ford dealer. Sure hope Ford stays in business, it is so convenient for our local Ford dealer to do service for us. We are having our walkways replaced with stamped concrete and this is the week that is being done. Not to mention that Travis had to go to the groomers today and I have 2 doctors appointments later this week. Have to get things done before going away for several weeks.

Windshield Repaired

This morning I took the motorhome to Frederick, Maryland the have the broken windshield repaired. They took my motorhome right into the shop as soon as I got there. Two hours later, I was on my way home with a new windshield on the passengers side.

From what I gathered, the shop's business is very slow. This means that there are not a lot of broken window problems or people just are not getting them fixed.

Now, I hope that we survive next year's Alaska trip without any windshield damage....

Update on Repairs

To start AT&T replaced my Blackberry Bold Free of charge!!!! Thank you AT&T.

I cleaned the house batteries terminals, sprayed the connectors and the terminals with a protective spray to prevent corrosion, and added distilled water to the batteries. That should take care of the batteries for a while.

The parts came in yesterday to repair the window awning. Leah picked up the parts as well as a Winegard Antenna add-on which is supposed to improve HD TV reception.

Today I installed the new torsion assemblies in the window awning and it is now back in working order. This job was much easier than I thought it would be. When it comes time to do the other side, I'll know what I am getting into.

I installed the Winegard antenna add-on, took me about 10 minutes total. This included setting up the ladder, climbing onto the top of the motorhome and attaching the add-on. Now it remains to be seen if it does in fact work better.

I am still waiting to here from the windshield repair place in Frederick to replace the windshield. I will call on Monday to check on the status of the replacement windshield. I hope to have it replaced by Wednesday of next week.

Angels and Demons

We went to see the new Tom Hanks movie, Angels and Demons, today. WE thought it was very good. It contained a lot of action and plot twists. I know there will be some who will try to make more out of the movie than it is. Remember it is just a movie to entertain you not a documentary to educate you. Go see it.

Next, I want to see the new Star Trek movie and Leah wants to see Night at the Museum. Our plan is to go to a megaplex theater showing both films at a time when the two movies are playing during the same time. Leah will go see her movie and I mine.

Memorial Day Weekend

We spent Memorial Day Weekend in Frederick, Md at the Maryland State Samboree along with 6 other units from our local chapter. The rally started off verry bad for us.

When setting up the motorhome, I did not lower the front leveling jack on the passenger's side which caused the frame to twist when I raised the backend of the motorhome. In the process the windshield on the passenger's side cracked. The drivers side windshield popped out of the gasket by 1/4 inch. but went back into place when I raised the leveling jacks to prepare to come home today. I called the insurance company to get the wheels into motion to raplace the broken windshield. I hope that we can get the replacement installed sometime this week.

Also, somehow, someway, I broke the LCD display on my Blackberry. Now when you look at the display it looks like a tie died shirt. I located a place on the internet, where else, that sells replacement LCD displays for the Blackberry. Until I get the new display, I am limited to incoming calls only on my Blackberry.

Despite all of my mishaps, we still had a very nice weekend with our friends.

Left Turn Signal and other items to be Fixed

After we got back home, I had several item on the motorhome to repair and adjust.

The first problem was the cover over our slideout was moving forward on the roller. I had to figure out a way to unwind the cover so I could slide the cover back in place. I was able to do this using a box wrench and some nylon rope. I next put some screws in the railing on the side of the motorhome to keep the slideout cover from moving.

I had to order some replacement springs for one of our window awnings. While setting up the motorhome at Holiday Park, Leah told me she could not get the awning all the way down to hook the holding strap. I told her I would look at it. To make a long story short, I pulled on the awning and heard a big noise and the awning came all the way down and would not go back up. I used some wire ties to hold the awning in the rolled up position until I can get the replacement springs.

When we got ready to head home from Waves, NC the left tail light on the toad was still not working. I thought I knew what the problem was as we had had a problem with the right tail light last year and that was the Remco light diodes were blown. Sure enough when I checked the diode case was cracked. I went to an RV repair and parts to purchase a replacement diode. They had some heavy duty diodes for $7.00 each so I decided to replace all four diodes on the toad. After making the diode swaps I tested the lights and found out I still did not have a left turn signal light on the toad. I broke out my Volt Ohm Meter and tested the trailer connection on the motorhome and found no power to the connector pin for the left turn signal. I took the connector apart hoping that I would find a loose connection, but everything was in place and tight. Now what? I started to trace the wiring back to the front of the motorhome and found a connector when the wiring colors going to the front was a different set of colors.

My next step, after spending several hours, was to post my problem on several RV forums sites. Earlier today I got a reply on one of the sites that told me there was a separate set of fuses for the trailer tow wiring harnes located up front to the left of the steering wheel. I located the fuse for the trailer left tail light, pulled the fuse and it was blown. I replaced the fuse and tested the lights. We have a left turn signal again.

Now I have to check out the house batteries.

Outer Banks of North Carolina

On Sunday the 3rd of May we left Greensboro, Md. and headed for the Outer Banks of North Carolina by way of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge and Tunnel to Virginia and then onto Waves, North Carolina. It was about an 8 hour trip, 300 miles, with stops. We had reservations at Ocean Waves Campground, a small well-maintained campground on the ocean. After the weekend of cool damp weather the warm sunshine made us get out the shorts and t-shirts for the week. The campground had free Wi-Fi but where we were located it was hit or miss with service so this posting was not able to be done until we got home.
On our trip down we discovered that we were infected with ticks, obviously from the campground in Greensboro. The bites caused me to have severe itching for much of the week. Tom's bites were not as problematic although we were concerned.
Our week was spent in a relaxing way. We did a walk on the beach everyday, had to keep up my cardio exercises. To go grocery shopping we had to go 13 miles south to Avon. Of course we ate out several times and had to go to Avon or north 20 miles or so to the Nags Head area.
One thing we found a little baffling was the inflexibility of the restaurants with their meal offerings. We had eaten a nice Salmon dinner at noontime at the motorhome and later that evening we went to a restaurant for supper. When we ordered a soup and a salad the waitress told us that was available only at lunchtime. When we said that we would go elsewhere the waitress did say that she would get the soup and salad as we requested. A family was there at this time with a teenage son that wanted a hamburger but it was not available except at lunchtime.
On Sunday, Mother's Day, we went to another really nice restaurant for dinner in the afternoon. I was surprised that there was a specfic lunch menu for the day that included sandwiches and a few full meals. I guess we have been spoiled by restaurants in this area offering a full menu for much of the day.
The Hatteras lighthouse is located about 30 miles south of Waves. We had not been to the relocated lighthouse so we went down and climbed the steps to the top, another workout! The museum had a video that ran for about an hour describing the relocation process.
All in all, we had a very nice relaxing warm week at the beach. When we arrived back home on Monday we were pulling out our long pants and sweatshirts- what a difference 300 miles makes. On Tuesday, Tom and I went to the doctor to have our tick bites checked out. So far nothing to b e alarmed about. It's interesting that Travis is able to be protected from Lime disease better than we are.

Left Turn Signal Problem

We had to stop at the dump station on our way out of Holiday Park to empty our holding tanks. While there, some of our friends stopped and told us our left tail light was not working on our toad. I sprayed the toad light connectors with electrical contact cleaner and tested everything again, still no left tail light signal. Well, we still had to go to Waves, NC light or no light.

Holiday Park - Greensboro, MD

Our Good Sam Club, The Traveling Americans, held our regular monthly campout.  We co-hosted the weekend along with Bruce and Cricket McGinnes.  Despite some iffy weather, we had a nice weekend.

The campground was very overpriced for what it had to offer.  We don't know about the others, but we decided that we were not going to come back here again.  The discounted price was $45.00 per night and you had to pay cash to receive any discounts.  For that amount of money, you would expect to have sewer hookup or at least free pump out service.  The campground just mowed and chopped up the leaves last fall.  Along with the rain, we were tracking in wet leafs all weekend. 

On Friday evening 16 of us went to Snappy's in Denton Md for dinner.  Leah and I went in to Denton during the day and checked Snappy's out.  We both had a crab melt which were very good.   We reported to the group that it was a good place to eat.   So, sixteen of us drove into  Denton and had a very good dinner.

On Saturday morning, the host provided breakfast for the group.  At 4:00 we have happy hour, since out weekend theme was Cinco De Mayo we had Mexican munchies and served Margaritas.   Saturday evening the campground had a pizza buffet.  The pizzas were purchased from Pizza Hut.  The pizzas were cold despite the efforts made to keep them warm.  When we went into the hall where we were going to eat, car car was parked outside a door with the engine running and its heater going  full blast.  I guess if they had not done this, the pizzas would have been even colder.  The up side was there was plenty of pizza for everyone.

Sunday morning we had a potluck breakfast of Mexican dishes.  I wish to report they all were good.  After breakfast we cleaned up, packed up, said our good-byes and headed for home or other destinations

Water Leak

When we went camping with our Goodsam camping club on the first weekend of April everything was going along fine until I hooked up the water hose and turned it on. Leah called out to me and said we had water running every where. It was coming from under the refrigerator. The only water going to that area was to the icemaker. We shut off the valve to the icemaker water supply and turned the water to the motorhome back on. This time no leak, so we had water to cook and clean with.

Yesterday I looked into where in the icemaker supply line the leak might be. Well it didn't take long to find it. The solenoid valve's body which turns the water on and off to the icemaker was cracked, so when water pressure was applied, water was flowing into the back of the refrigerator and into the motorhome.

I removed the valve and am now in the process of trying to get a replacement.

The Week in Review

Will this has been a week of ups and downs, but that's the way life goes.

Things are going well with selling Mom's house. It looks like we are on schedule for closing at the end of April. We have been taking items that none of the family members wanted to a local auction to dispose of them. We wanted to take a second batch of items to the auction, but found out that they were not having a sale the following week and not taking any items. Since we had such a good response selling Mom's car on Craigs list, we decided to list several items to see if we could sell them. Within several hours of listing the items we began to get phone calls and emails. We were able to sell everything we listed plus a couple of items that weren't listed but people saw when they came to pickup the items they were interested in. So if you have a few items you would like to sell, and by the way craigs list is free, we highly recommend using Craigs list.

We also learned a good friend of ours was diagnosed with Lou Gehrig's disease two weeks ago. That was really shocking news to us. We will be praying for him and his family.

Several of our friends had surgery this week and so did Tom. We are happy to say that all are doing fine.

The weather is getting warmer and soon the grass will need to be mowed. Mowing grass is still better than pushing snow around any day.

Has spring sprung??

What a beautiful day it is at 70 plus degrees warm and bright sunshine. It's hard to think that just this past Monday we were having a significant snow fall. The one good thing about a snowfall in March is that it usually does not lay on the ground for long.
The past several months have certainly been a memorable period in our lives. It will be 10 weeks this coming Tuesday since I had my open-heart surgery to repair my mitrial valve. I feel that I'm doing very well. I have been going to cardiac rehab three days a week for about a month and will continue for a total of 36 visits. It is a well run program that puts one through the paces. Once I have completed my time there I plan to continue a similar exercise regime on my own at the local senior center. On the off days from cardiac rehab I have resumed walking the 2 mile circuit with Tom and Travis.
My brother and I have been busy with the settlement of Mom's estate. Her house has been turned over to a realtor to get it sold. We have taken a great deal of her household goods to a auction house to be sold. And some things we have distributed among the family.
We're beginning to make plans to get back on the road again. Our first outing will be a weekend Travelling American's campout the first weekend of April. If all goes well we will be out in the Ohio, Michigan, and Indiana area this summer. Michigan is a wonderful summer area, the areas around the lakes are just beautiful and temperatures are in our comfort zone.
Of course, we plan to be home for the arrival of our new grandchild in August which we are real excited about. After 10 years it will be great having a new family member.

Income Tax Day

Well, today was the day we all dread, preparing the annual income tax. I must say I was approaching the Federal return with alot of uneasiness. This past year I started collecting social security payments. For whatever reason I did not file a form to have any federal taxes withheld so I was almost certain that I was going to have a big bite taken out of us. I was right, we owe a nice little chunk of change to Uncle Sam. It doesn't seem right to have to pay taxes on a fixed retirement income, but what can we do, you know that whole death and taxes thing.

Well anyway when TurboTax and I finished preparing the necessary form and doing the efiling thing, I selected Friday, march 13th, 2009 as the day to make the payments to the IRS and the state of Maryland.

I just hope that all of the government agencies that are hungry for money don't nickle and dime us into the poor house over the next several years. The problem is that we have the Federal governemnt, state government, county government, city government as well as the business community all trying to get their hands just a little bit deeper into our pockets.

42nd Wedding Anniversary

Today is our 42nd wedding anniversary and we started our big day by taking Leah to her cardiac surgeon for a checkup. She received the same good news and she did from her other doctors. She was released so will not have to go back for any more follow up visits.

After the doctor's visit we looked for 2 Maryland Municipal League Geocaches that are located in the city. We had a good day and was able to find them both. The MML has set up a geocache trail that covers the entire state of Maryland. The state is divided into eleven districts and you must find two caches in each district. For more information go to the Maryland Municipal League Website.

We stopped and had a soup and salad lunch at Bertucci's knowing we were going out for dinner. For our anniversary dinner we went to Mealey's Restaurant in New Market, Md. We didn't know it, but on Wednesdays they have a seafood buffet with prime rib. What a nice surprise and what a nice meal we had.

Our son, actually our daughter-in-law, sent us an Edible Arrangement for our anniversary.