Tuesday night, Dec. 15th

It’s been almost three weeks since the surgery and each day just gets a little better. Last Tuesday we went to the Drs. for a follow-up. They removed the staples and checked a couple of other issues and determined that the recovery is coming along fine. I had anticipated some discomfort in the removal of the staples, but it was a piece of cake. Dr. Cueva pulled a remover out of a sterile packet and it felt as though he was simply lightly tapping the side of my head as removed all 26 staples. It was a quick follow-up and they told me I could start driving whenever I felt up to it.

It just happened that the headaches stopped the night before the follow-up. When I asked about it, the Drs. offered that I may be “over the hump” and it would only get better. I still need to take the Ibuprofen tablets three times a day and a high-powered antibiotic for another few days. That eliminates any alcohol consumption and still keeps my appetite in check. But food is beginning to taste good again, especially breakfast.

I’m still a little uneasy on my feet and get an occasional dizzy feeling if I move my head (or eyes) too fast. I’m having fun getting outside and working around the church with my buddy, Bill Large. He keeps me from overdoing and we still have fun.

We still have plans to try to go to Indio after the New Year for a motor home rally. We’re not sure about Quartzsite yet, but we’d like to go for a few days to check out the vendors and see a lot of old friends that will be there. We’re thinking about finding a spot in Yuma for the month of February to spend some time there looking at possible lots to buy. Things are still up in the air, but we hope to be mobile by the end of the month.

Once again we both appreciate all the phone calls and emails we’ve received. It’s been an interesting experience and we’re grateful that it’s almost over!

Monday afternoon, Nov. 30

I can’t express my humble thanks for all the emails, phone calls, prayers and positive thoughts that came our way during and after the surgery! There is real power in prayer - and I truly felt it! Dottie and I have so many wonderful friends and they have kept us going through this entire ordeal. I’m going to attempt to type this out in spite of my headache and dizziness, so here goes.

On Wednesday we checked in to the hospital at the appointed 2PM hour. The Pre-Op didn’t waste any time getting me ready. They had just finished a surgical procedure and I was put on the “Git ‘er done!” list to get the surgery started. I remember being wheeled into the operating room around 3PM, but nothing after that. The next thing I remember it was 9PM and having my paper surgical gown being removed and a cloth gown being put on in the recovery room. The ladies were telling me that I am a “sweater” - the gown was soaked and I felt wet from perspiration. They rolled me in to ICU where I stayed for the next 25 hours. Every hour the nurses would come in to check blood pressure or blood sugar, usually resulting a few units of insulin. They were dumping antibiotics and pain killers into me as fast as they could. I was so groggy that I would just turn over and go back to sleep. I had a bandage that looked almost like the Phantom of the Opera - it covered my whole left side. And I was fighting numbness on that side.

The Drs. told me it was a good sized tumor and was nestled up next to the brain. Everything went textbook perfect in the surgery and last almost 5 hours. They were able to save the function of the facial nerves, but I’ve lost all sense of hearing on my left side. Right now that left ear is just numb and has no sense of feeling at all.

On Thursday night about 10PM they moved me to a room with a guy that left his TV on all night. The volume wasn’t the problem; it was the steady light all night long. I didn’t sleep well that night, either. Then on Friday morning the neurologist came in and recommended I be discharged. I wasn’t really excited about it, but after he mentioned the lousy hospital food, uncomfortable bed, plastic covered pillows, and susceptibility to hospital germs, I was ready to go. He removed the big shell bandage exposing the 25 stainless steel staples holding my left side intact. Dottie gathered up my belongings and we were off to the coach. Major brain surgery and only two days in the hospital!

Since I’ve been back I’ve done a lot of sleeping. Daytime TV can motivate a person to recover quickly, but it’s going to be a long and slow road to normalcy. I can’t lift anything over 10 lbs. for at least a month, and probably won’t be able to drive for two months. I doubt that we’ll be going anywhere until March. Getting the balance back in the inner ear on the left side will take several months. I mostly feel like there’s an axe embedded in the left side of my skull, but the heavy drugs every four hours help to alleviate that pain. I can’t move my head too fast or I get extremely dizzy.

Dottie has been wonderful taking care of me, and I know she must tire of it at times. She’s off washing clothes right now and I have a little caretaker parked at my feet watching every move I make. It’s amazing how they know that something is different. At night she tucks herself tight against my legs so she can feel if make any movement. It’s been a challenge sleeping with the C-PAP machine and positioning that so it won’t catch on any of the staples.

I want to emphasize the importance of all the emails and phone calls and what they mean to us. We have some wonderful, caring friends and those contacts meant a lot both of us. Both of us thank all of you for those thoughtful messages and all the prayers that we’ve felt through this ordeal!

It’s been over a month since I sent out an update and it’s way overdue. We have remained at the church and stayed busy with all the activities and the preparation for the pending surgery.

My Mother moved up to Santa Rosa on Nov. 1st and we had the task of clearing out her apartment and disposing of the unneeded furniture and other “stuff”. It took us a while but we managed to get rid of the things that weren’t useable or could be used by others. It was a huge relief to turn over the apartment keys and finally rid ourselves of that huge task. It still feels strange driving by the apartment and realizing that she is no longer there. She was our primary reason for returning to San Diego for the winters. Of course we also have our son, daughter-in-law, and grandson to visit. But we were parked at the church for the convenience of being close to Mother and being able to visit her on a regular basis. Now our church parking has become a chance to be near our San Diego church family and be involved with some very close, supportive friends.

Two weeks ago we lost our refrigerator. It’s been going steadily for almost eight years and finally “gave up the ghost”. Leonard Howell of Howell’s RV (a long-time established RV appliance repair facility) came out and replaced the cooling unit. It wasn’t an inexpensive repair, but we placed it with a rebuilt cooling unit. Next time we will replace the refrigerator with a residential unit and be done with the problems of these RV refrigerators.

A week ago I went in for another MRI to check the progress of the tumor. Today we went in for the Pre-Op consultation with the two surgeons. I was informed by the Drs. That the tumor has grown another 5mm. in size. They asked me if I thought me hearing had digressed any. I have felt that the hearing has worsened, so they rushed me up to Audiology for a hearing test. The results are that the hearing on my left side has deteriorated to a point of total loss. It won’t regenerate, so my right ear will have to do my hearing for me. And that side shows a slight deterioration also. Since there is no concern for saving the hearing in my left ear, the Drs. have modified their surgical plan to make it easier to access the tumor. Now their only concern is to not damage the nerves that control my facial muscles.

Their plan is to make a cut from the top of the ear down around the back side, fold the ear tissue back to gain access to the mastoid bone, and drill a small hole through the bone to see and remove the tumor. They will make a small incision in the belly area to obtain some belly fat (I’ve been working on building a supply of that for several years!) that can be used to fill the hole in the mastoid bone before closing the cut.

I’ll have a total head bandage for several days and probably released from the hospital on Saturday! That means only three days for recovery time. It will be wonderful to come back to the coach and spend my recovery in my own bed. But, that all depends on how fast the recovery goes.

Dottie is nervous about the whole procedure - heck, I’m a little nervous about it, too. But these Drs. are the best in the Southern California area! They are so matter-of-fact about the procedure that put both of us at ease. I asked that they not practice their turkey-carving on me since the surgery in scheduled for 4PM on Wednesday, the 25th. I also asked that they not ask me to make a wish!!! We are putting the surgery in God’s hands and the skill of these two doctors. Think about us on Thanksgiving day as you cut in to those nice, warm, juicy, succulent turkeys with all that wonderful stuffing. I’ll be sipping ice water and waiting for leftovers on Saturday!

Monday, Oct. 12th

I am not a happy camper! I was working at the church today and received a phone call from Surgery Scheduling at Kaiser Hospital. They told me that an error in scheduling had been made and my scheduled surgery was re-scheduled for Nov. 25th. The was a problem with the surgeon and his voice mail. Over a month ago I had received a voice mail message from him that I could get scheduled for Oct. 21st. I immediately responded and got his voice mail. I told him “Absolutely! Schedule me for that Oct. 21st spot!”.. Apparently he didn’t get that message. In the meantime Surgery Scheduling phoned me to get things set up. I was all ready to go in next week and get this tumor removed from my head. The surgeon days he never received my voice mail and filled the slot with somebody else. So, now I get to wait another five weeks and spent Thanksgiving in the hospital recovering from the surgery. Wow! That makes me happy as a clam!

Bottom line is everything is now delayed for another month and I have the privilege of Thanksgiving dinner in a hospital room. I’m not real happy with it all, but as one dear friend of mine says, “It is what it is!”

We’re doing a lot of odd jobs around the church getting things repaired and updated. A fifty-year-old building offers some challenges to keep it running and usable. Bill Large and I have a good time working together and getting the various tasks done. It’s a good place to be if we’re going to have to stay in San Diego. Our plans will have to change a lot, but that’s the way it goes.

My Mother is moving to Santa Rosa on Nov. 1st, so this gives us a little more time to take care of getting her things packed and ready for the move. Dottie stays busy with the little jobs that are needed before the move. She and Mother have had some good times shopping together and today they visited the casino for a round of bingo games. Such is life in San Diego…

We got settled at the Palisades Presbyterian Church in San Diego on Friday, the 25th. It was wonderful seeing all the church family here. On Tuesday morning, the 29th, we got a call from our realtor in Yuma telling us about a property that looked like it had great potential. We decided to make a quick run to Yuma and look at it. After confirming that Andy & Linda Clarkson had room for us, we left San Diego on Wednesday morning and drove over the mountains to Yuma. It was really wonderful to see them again after almost 8 months!

They are in the process of getting a garage built on the lot, but there was room for our coach. We looked at the property on Thursday morning and found some alterations that had been made without proper building permits. It was a shock to see some of the gross violations that existed. A propane line (rubber hose) was running through the wall to two small propane tanks in the rear of the building. There were lots of extension cords spread behind the furniture and appliances. There was also a toilet located right next to the refrigerator - talk about multi-tasking! It was an abomination of a poorly designed living quarters.

We looked at several other lots and spent some time with our realtor talking about what we really wanted and needed. We also had the chance for some great meals and refreshments with the Clarksons. It’s always fun to spend time with them and we’ve missed their company in our travels this past year.

We’re back in San Diego for a while - unless something really promising comes up. It’s only two weeks before the surgery, so I’m getting geared up for that. We also have the task of getting my Mother ready for her move to northern California on Nov. 1st. There’s lots of things to get down at the church and I’m looking forward to working with some of the guys that are spending their time up here repairing and working here.

We’re at the church, so drop on by. We have had the chance to see our son and grandson and look forward to spending more time with them.

Tuesday, Sept.29th

We arrived at Russian River Thousand Trails preserve in Cloverdale, CA (just north of Santa Rosa) after driving in and out of localized rain showers. It is so obvious that the Federal funds that have been distributed to the states are being used to improve highways in California. US-101 has construction all along its length and it is sorely needed! Last year when we drove on 101 it was a jar-rattling ride. Much of the highway has been over-paved and is much smoother now. The worst portion of the roadway was just north of Cloverdale around Ukiah. We still experienced some terrible roadway cracks that vibrated everything in the coach.

When we arrived we got checked in and found a site that had good satellite reception with electric and water hookups. This park is one of the prettier preserves with all the trees albeit hilly. The park isn’t even close to being full and there were plenty of choices for sites. There isn’t much in activities but we have enjoyed the peace and quiet of the park. Everything is brown in this part of the state and the drought is extremely obvious. Even the preserve is asking that everybody conserve water. We are parked adjacent to one of the restrooms, so we’re not using our shower facility in the coach.

We have been going down to Cloverdale to Ruth McGowan’s Brewpub in the afternoon for a “brew break” and enjoying their own brewed beers. They brew an IPA that has a wonderful grapefruit aftertaste, and I’ve really enjoyed it. It’s a small-town brewpub that has a lot of the locals coming in for their Happy Hour from 3-5PM. We’ve met several older couples that live in the area and drop by in the afternoon for a cool beer on the patio.

Thursday I went to town to attend the Cloverdale Rotary club luncheon. I really like this club - they serve wine for lunch! They are a small club that is growing slowly and had a terrific program about bicycles and the technology that has emerged in the serious bicycle community. It was a fascinating program describing the bicycles that can be purchased from$1000-$8000! Now, those are some serious bikers!!

On Friday morning, the 18th, we left Russian River and drove down to Santa Rosa for one night at my sister’s house. Both sisters were there and we discussed some of the changes that are coming with our Mother’s move to Santa Rosa. Our biggest surprise was sister Peg’s offer to stay until Monday and give her a hand sorting and tossing a lot of stuff she has accumulated. She is preparing for Mother’s move and making room for some of the things that Mother will bring with her. I was able to back the coach into her driveway and almost get leveled. We had an electric outlet so we could keep the batteries charged up.

We had a wonderful evening meal when sister Harriet and Skip arrived around 7. We all sat out on Peg’s back patio/kitchen, consumed some adult beverages, and relaxed. It was a terrific chance to talk about the changes that we’ll all experience with Mother’s move. Peg made some wonderful pizzas in her stone oven and we all just enjoyed the quiet of the back yard. We all had dogs so it was fun to watch the interaction of them and see Nancy avoid the large dogs.

Saturday morning Harriet and Skip left to go to a cabin on the Russian River. The rest of us tackled Peg’s garage and did some major cleaning. Peg seemed to appreciate our help in spite of our feeling that we really didn’t do that much. But we did get a lot of things sorted out and disposed.

On Monday, the 21st, we left Peg’s house after putting a nice gouge in her driveway from the hitch on the back of the coach. We drove south across the Golden Gate Bridge, into San Francisco, and to the Morgan Hill Thousand Trails preserve. We were hoping to see cousin Kate Nelson, but she was recovering from the H1N1 flu. We decided that we didn’t need exposure to that since we would be seeing Mother within a week. We were able to find a nice site with plenty of satellite exposure. Keith, Kate’s husband and an enjoyable guy to spend some time with, met us for lunch on Tuesday at a terrific Mexican restaurant. That afternoon we drove back in to Morgan Hill and the El Toro Brew Pub. We have been familiar with this microbrewery since they opened in 1994. Their original location was just around the corner from Kate’s house and I visited them each time we were in Morgan Hill. The father was the original brewer and passed the skill on to his son. The son now owns the business and has built a beautiful brewpub in downtown Morgan Hill. He still brews the beer at “the farm” and lives next door. He has brewed some very interesting combinations, including peach ale, raspberry wheat, blackberry ale, and his signature Poppy Jasper Ale. He also has a strong IPA that leaves a refreshing grapefruit aftertaste. We had a couple of beers and a stone-baked pizza. We had an enjoyable discussion with the son/owner and talked with him about the business of microbreweries.

On Wednesday morning we left Morgan Hill and drove almost 250 miles down the coast to the Rancho Oso Thousand Trails preserve. It’s located just over the hill from Santa Barbara on SR-154 in the Santa Ynez Recreation Area. Everything is brown and just ripe for wildfires. The road in to the preserve is a narrow, twisty road with a couple of interesting (almost hairpin) turns. It is slow going, but can be done with patience and time. The preserve is beautiful, well laid out, and has strong electric current. It gets warm enough to justify the air conditioner, but with only 30-amp electric we can run one of the A/Cs. We’re back in the woods far enough that we don’t want to drive out until we leave. However, there is a great laundry facility here and an inviting swimming pool that we’ll probably try out.

On Friday, the 25th, we had planned to go to Palmdale and stay at the Elks Lodge or the Soledad Canyon Thousand Trails preserve. However, in thinking about the high forecast temperatures, I decided to drive down 101 to I-405 and straight down through Los Angeles to San Diego. I really despise the LA traffic, but we managed through with only one delay north of the airport. We had a section of 405 that we were slowed to about 15-20MPH for almost six miles. We arrived at Palisades Presbyterian Church around 3PM and got settled in. It sure is nice to be back in San Diego, BUT the weather change has gotten to me with a head cold and stuffy nose. Dottie is doing fine, but the cold is my usual San Diego killer and makes me feel miserable.

We’re already getting phone calls from the realtor in Yuma about possible properties for our home base. We’re looking at a couple but will have to make a day trip over there to really look them over. In the mean time we’re preparing for the surgery on Oct. 21st and getting everything in order.

Sunday, Sept. 13th

As most of you have discovered by now, I have had some difficulty sending out my Travelogues through gmail. Since Verizon shut down their SMPT-client, I had to switch over to Gmail to send email. I can still receive messages using my original email address - landers at TFB dot com. So, if you send us anything, continue to use that email address rather than the new Gmail address which shows in the header of this message.

Anyway, we had a wonderful few days in Eugene, OR visiting with cousin John & Ruth Anderson. We shared some meals with them and go caught up on the family news. We also had the opportunity to visit the Monaco factory, take the tour, and see the changes that have been made in the manufacturing process since Monaco was purchased by Navistar. All the production is being done in the old Plant 17 with one continuous production line. There are almost 800 formerly employees that have been hired back and they are building one coach a day. Our tour guide was Kevin, a Monaco Salesman, who was rehired and took us on the two-hour tour. We were able to get right down with the production folks and talk with them individually. They are all very glad to be back to work. We were very disappointed that we didn’t have the time to see April Klein, Garth Herring, or even Kay Toolson. I suspect they were all pretty busy with the reorganization of the company. I did spot Enoch Hutchcraft as he was leaving the parking lot and he gave us a wave of recognition. We also saw Brian Weatherly, one of the sharpest Service Techs in the company. He was on his way home, but stopped to give Dottie a hug and tell us that there are three Service Techs working at the old Service Center in Coburg.

We left Eugene on Sunday morning, the 6th, and drove in a light rain to Florence, OR and the South Jetty Thousand Trails Preserve. We were able to get a secluded site with a good view of the southern sky for our satellite reception. We spent four nights there and visited the Elks Lodge and the Elks RV Park located four miles north of town. The RV parts store adjacent to South Jetty is closing so all their merchandise was marked down with a 40% discount. I found a couple of items that were too good to pass up, especially at that price. We had a quiet rest at South Jetty and enjoyed the peace and quiet. South Jetty Betty is still there and cooking meals. On Monday (Labor Day) she did a special breakfast and it was delicious!

We left South Jetty on Wednesday and drove south along the coast to the Brookings Elks Lodge. They had a great dinner so we took advantage of that and had dinner there. Right across the street is a Fred Meyers store and we did a little shopping and wandering. Their fuel is ten cents less than the rest of the service stations so we topped off on Thursday morning to get the last diesel fuel under $3/gallon. As soon as we crossed into California, the prices jumped up to $3.05-3.20/gallon!

Our next stop was Eureka, CA for a mini-reunion with some family members. John Anderson’s daughter has moved to Eureka from Moses Lake, WA and is Dean of Academics at College of the Redwoods. They have a beautiful home in the hills south of Eureka and several of her cousins and aunts were there to spend some time. We have had a wonderful time getting reacquainted with several cousins, eating some fantastic meals with accompanying adult beverages, and visiting some of the sights in the Eureka area. Cousin Paul Anderson, from San Jose, and I did a quick tour of a couple of the microbreweries on Friday afternoon and tasted some excellent brews. I was able to bring a few bottles back to the coach with me for future enjoyment. This morning we will visit the Samoa Smokehouse for a brunch as some of them need to start heading home. We will leave Monday morning and drive down to Russian River Thousand Trails Preserve in Cloverdale for four nights.

One of the fun things about the reunion is getting together with cousin Doug and Virginia Anderson from Mesa, AZ. Doug purchased a ‘96 Monaco Executive, almost a classic coach that was built when Monaco was really paying attention to quality and details. The coach is gorgeous with no slide-outs, but the M-11 engine and some eye-catching lines. We have had the chance to talk motorhomes and share some ideas and solutions to some of the problems of this lifestyle. I hope to get him involved with some of the Monaco rallies and social activities that we do with our Monaco friends.

That sorta brings you up-to-date with us. Hopefully this will get to all of you and not be dumped as a spam message by Gmail.

Saturday night, Sept. 4th

I watched Steve, the alignment technician, laser align the front and rear axles and repack the front wheel bearings. He’s a likeable guy whose father was a law enforcement officer. Steve and I hit it off and had some great discussions while he was working on the coach. The whole experience at Bend Service Center was extremely positive and memorable. The guys were terrific and the price was reasonable, albeit expensive considering the work we had accomplished. I would heartily recommend the facility to anybody needing work on their coach.

While we were in Bend we had the opportunity to spend an evening with Evelyn Lerner (Aulwurm) who was in my La Mesa Rotary club. We went to her house and walked downtown to the Deschutes Brewpub for dinner. I had their sampler platter consisting of six of their beers. It was delicious! Our meals were pretty good, too. We had a great time seeing Evie again and talking about her life in Bend. She loves the area, has her dream home, and doesn’t miss the fast pace of San Diego at all.

Thursday morning the work was completed. We checked the tire pressures, filled the water tank, and headed west toward Eugene. The drive was easy, the coach handled like a new one, and we were happy. We arrived at the Eugene Elks Lodge, dumped the holding tanks, and hooked up to 30-amp electric and water. We phoned my cousin, John, and made plans for dinner.

On Friday morning I was up early and washed the whole coach. We planned to take the Monaco Factory Tour at 2PM, so we did a little shopping at the Wal-Mart and WinCo. We arrived at the Monaco factory and were led on our tour by Kevin, the only sales guy rehired by Navistar. It was painfully obvious that the factory has tightened their operation and is only producing five coaches a week. All the coaches being built are diesel coaches; all gas coaches are being built in Indiana. It was an impressive tour that took almost two hours. We didn‘t see any of our old friends except Enoch Hutchcraft. He was on his way out of the parking lot in his pickup so I was only able to yell his name and “H’lo!” He responded with a big wave. After the tour was over and we were on our way out of the parking lot, we saw Brian Weatherly, one of the best service techs Monaco has ever had. He stopped and chatted with us for about five minutes. We went back to the coach, grabbed a couple of steaks, and headed over to John’s house for dinner. We had a great time as we always do with them. We’ll be seeing them next weekend in Eureka when we join several other Anderson family members for a mini-reunion.

It’s been an interesting trip thus far and we’re enjoying every minute of it! We’ll leave Eugene on Sunday morning for Florence and the South jetty Thousand Trails park. Wish we had several of you with us to enjoy the great weather, the neat microbreweries, and the fun of traveling.

Tuesday morning, Sept. 1

We left serene parking spot near Moran Jct. and started the drive west around the south end of the Tetons and heading for Idaho Falls. There were several long passes that we navigated where the coach was slowed to 30MPH to keep the engine temperature in check. We drove through Idaho Falls and got on I-15. We passed through Pocatello and on to Twin Falls to a small county park that was listed in one of my directories. Freeway driving is NOT fun, but it is a necessity in Idaho.

We arrived at the Rock Creek Park in Twin Falls and found another great little park with grassy sites and 30-amp electric and water hook-ups. It is secluded down in a small canyon so the wind isn’t a factor. We parked the coach, had a bite to eat, and went into town searching for an ATM.

We also drove out to the interstate to check out the Flying J for our morning fuel stop. Some of them are so poorly planned that a large RV can’t drive into the RV lanes without getting stuck. We asked and got permission to pull around to the truck refueling island the next morning.

We left Twin Falls around 9AM headed for either Caldwell, ID Elk’s Lodge, or Ontario, OR Elk’s Lodge. As we drove through Boise the radio quit. Then the engine started showing some erratic battery readings. I pulled off I-84 and into a Super Wal-Mart lot to check things out. My initial thought was another alternator failure or a battery gone bad. We started the generator to keep the batteries charged up and decided to press on to Bend. I phoned the Monaco Tech Support line and they suggested the Bend Service Center at the old Beaver factory. I phoned them and told of our dilemma. Ken Carpenter told us to press on and we could get the coach looked at first thing in the morning. We arrived in Bend at 7PM after 10 hours of driving and 485 miles! The road across Oregon is NOT enjoyable. There were several spots that road construction had us stopped and waiting for pilot cars to lead us through one lane while the other was torn up. The dust was heavy, rocks were the norm (so we kept our distance from the cars in front of us), and it was starting to get warm. With the generator running, we turned on the roof air and stayed reasonably comfortable.

This morning we were up early, had breakfast, and met the Service Tech, Allan, for discussions about the problem. He has diagnosed the issue as the battery isolator, so a replacement is in order. While we are here, I’m having them fix the entry door. Many of you are aware of Dottie’s problem opening the door. There is an adjustment that needs to be made and it will be fixed before we leave. We will probably be here overnight to get the 4-point wheel alignment and front wheel bearings repacked. This facility has been reviewed positively by several folks we know so we might as well get the work done here. They have the proper equipment and their service techs have quite an impressive background. We’ll take the chance and hope we don’t have to scrub the shop floors to pay for the completed work.

We don’t know how this will affect our schedule, but Bend, OR isn’t too shabby a place to stay. There’s enough to do and see that we can’t possible get bored. They allow us to go to the coach and watch their work, so I can get lots of questions answered while we’re here.

While we’re here I can take advantage of their wi-fi connection and send out this update. Verizon made some changes and I can’t use them to send out mail. The last update just went out this morning although it was written several days ago. When we leave here, we’ll be back to cell phone connections for email, so please hold on to those forwarded jokes, etc. The wi-fi sure is nice, though!

Saturday, August 29th

After getting the alternator rebuilt and back on the coach, we went to Dale’s Tires in Rapid City and bought six new Michelin tires. They look and feel brand new and the coach rides wonderfully! We spent the remainder of the week getting tasks done on the motor home and ready to travel. On Thursday night we had the opportunity to join the Koinanians, a church group that is our age, for a cowboy dinner at the nearby Ft. Hays Cowboy Supper and Show. It was our last chance to see many of the friends from First Presbyterian Church in Rapid City. We were home early and got ready for the Friday morning departure.

Friday came early so we got up, got the coach ready to travel, and headed over to the Maint. Shop to get propane and air up all the tires. Some of the guys helped me roll up the broken patio awning and get it secured. We hooked up the car and headed out.

I had planned to drive to Douglas, WY and spend the night in a small city park. By the time we got there, it was still early in the afternoon. I decided we could press on another 45 minutes to Casper and spend the night at the Super Wal-Mart. We arrived, checked with the store manager, and parked in the outer area. For dinner we walked over to Sanford’s for a burger and some beer. It was a terrific dinner and we enjoyed the relaxing atmosphere! We went back to the coach and settled in for a night in the lighted parking lot. By 9PM there were five other coaches that arrived and parked for the night.

We got up on Saturday morning and drove over to the neighboring Flying J to dump the gray water and top off the fuel tank. Then we attempted to walk to a McDonald’s for some breakfast, but they were in the “slow moving” mode, so we left. We drove west on US-20 to Moran Jct., WY. Actually my Day’s End directory led us to a beautiful, level spot about 3.4 miles east of Moran Jct. and about 2.5 miles on Buffalo Valley Rd. This spot is big enough for several coaches to park and overlooks the Buffalo Fork River with the unbelievable, snow-covered majesty of the Tetons to the west. It is one of those spots you have to know about to find, but peaceful and quiet with a magnificent view. We cooked some brats and had a quiet 40th Anniversary dinner.
The road we drove on was full of construction and for about 20 miles we were escorted by a pilot car and 15-20 MPH. The coach got filthy with the dusty conditions, but we are here and relaxing for the night.

Our route will take us through Jackson, WY and Idaho Falls, ID. We’ll go as far as Twin Falls, ID and stay at a county park tomorrow night. Then on Monday we’ll drive to Ontario, OR and stay at the Elks Lodge. Tuesday we’ll drive to Riley, OR and Chickahominy Reservoir. Then on Wednesday we’ll drive all the way to Eugene, OR for four nights at the Elks Lodge. We have an appointment on Thursday to get the wheel alignment and front wheel bearings repacked at Kaiser Brake and Alignment. On Sunday we’ll drive to Florence, OR and the South Jetty Thousand Trails park for a few days. John and Ruth, here we come!!!

We are getting all our emails through the cell phone and it’s VERY slow. I’ve asked that all forwarded messages be held for a while until we can get faster service. That may be for about three weeks while we’re on the road. Thanks for all the cooperation!

Wednesday, August 19th

We’re back at Hart Ranch - a couple of days earlier than we had expected! We had a great time in Le Mars, IA where we attended the Presbyterian United Church of Christ with Rev. Jan Christensen. It was a shock for her to see us. She recognized us as someone she knew, but you could hear the mental rolodex spinning trying to remember who we were. I finally introduced ourselves to her and she recalled that we were the ones who visited First Presbyterian Church in Rapid City for the summers and lived in a motor home at Hart Ranch. She performed an enjoyable service and we stayed afterward to visit with her in the Fellowship Hall. We left the church and visited the Welles Dairy Blue Bunny Ice Cream Parlor for some excellent premium ice cream..

On Monday morning when I started the coach, I saw the “Alternator Failure” light come on. I could see the voltages was dropping rapidly, so I started the generator and left it running to charge the batteries. We decided to drive all the way to Rapid City where we could get the alternator repaired. It was almost 450 miles and we arrived at 5PM. I was beat, but glad to be back home in the dry climate. We got parked and settled in. On Tuesday morning I attended the Rushmore Rotary morning (to everybody’s surprise) and rushed back to the coach to remove the alternator. Once it was out I took it to The Repair Shop where it rebuilt two years ago. I explained the situation, had it bench-checked to confirm it was the problem, and left it with them. They said it should be ready by the end of the week. We’ve made arrangements so we shouldn’t have to move the coach until Friday, and maybe later. In the meantime, I started back to work this morning and will work a few hours when needed through this week. Things are slowing down and I shouldn’t be needed for long.

We plan to depart Rapid City on Thursday, the 28th, and head for San Diego to get the medical issues resolved. For now, we’re enjoying seeing all the old friends and visiting the places I’ve wanted to see for several years. It’s good to be back home!!

We're finally back to a strong wi-fi signal and here's a long posting of our trip.

Tuesday evening, June 30

We are back on the road again! We departed Hart Ranch about 9:30 this morning and headed east. We drove abut 220 miles to Oacoma, SD and Al’s Oasis. Al’s is a tourist trap right on the Missouri River. It has a combination of businesses, including a restaurant, clothing store, grocery store, gas station, and a campground. We aren’t staying in the $27/night campground - we prefer the peace and quiet of the parking lot across from the store complex and “boondock” (dry camp with no hook-ups).

We left this morning immediately following my Tuesday morning Rotary meeting. The drive across central South Dakota was smooth and it was interesting to see all the fields with freshly cut grass, windrows, or bales. In the areas that aren’t being cut there are patches of yellow from the wild mustard plants that have grown and are flowering. It’s a fairly flat drive so the coach didn’t have to work too hard. I had to fiddle with my tire pressure monitors as two of them are giving some false readings. At one point we stopped for fear of low pressure on two tires. When I removed the sensors and checked the pressures with a gauge, I discovered that the sensors were giving me some false readings. I’ll have to keep an eye on those two sensors for the remainder of the trip.

It’s been a rough few days as we have realized how many close, wonderful friends we have here in South Dakota. Last Friday I drove a van for the First Presbyterian Church to transport the attendees of the South Dakota Presbytery from a remote parking lot to the church. The Presbytery is a combination of clergy and lay people from all over the state that come together to discuss issues of importance in the Presbyterian faith. It was fascinating to meet folks from the eastern part of the state that had driven 4-5 hours to come to Rapid City. Then on Friday night Rev. Bob Evans invited us to join him, his wife Gretchen and daughter Danielle for a dinner served at the Camp Rimrock church camp facility west of Rapid City. What a beautifully serene camp setting!! Rapid Creek cuts right through the property and creates a wonderful place for youth and adults to get away and enjoy themselves. We had a terrific camp meal of sloppy joe sandwiches followed by a session where one of the newer ministers conducted a short seminar on “Limited Atonement”. He added enough humor to the talk to make it absolutely fascinating!

Then on Sunday afternoon we attended a special Rotary party put on by our female members. During the winter the club had a competition to see who could bring in the most members - men or women. Well, the men won, so the ladies threw us a party. It was held at the home of Dr. George Twitero, (a Past District Governor) and his wife, Shari West-Twitero. Their house overlooks the southern edge of Rapid City on the hill and their patio faces east where you can see the whole Rapid Valley. It’s hidden in the tall pine trees and George says he has seen all forms of wildlife in his back yard. Dr. George is also our veterinarian and takes care of Nancy for us. Plus, they are both extremely active in First Presbyterian Church. They are special friends!

We had to leave the party early because one of our Hart Ranch friends, Larry McCarty, was having his annual fish fry and invited nearly 50 people to attend. Our restaurant manager, Johnny Kilpatrick, did the cooking and whooped up a good ol’ Southern country boil. Once the shrimp, potatoes, corn, onions, polish sausage, etc. were cooked, he started deep-frying some specialty meats for us to sample. We had the opportunity to taste venison, armadillo, alligator tail, dove, rabbit, and catfish with homemade hush puppies. It was a feast to remember!

On Monday night we met Rev. Bob, Gretchen, and Danielle down at Shipwreck Lee’s for the famous half-pound Shipwreck burger and some beer. It was our last chance to see Bob and enjoy his company before we left. Before we left, Lee had me drive around to the back of the building where he slipped me three six-packs of Leinenhugel’s Summer Shandy, a wheat beer with lemonade. It’s a wonderfully refreshing hot-weather beer that really hits the spot on those hot, humid days.

When I went to Rotary this morning, I made a last trip to Jerry’s Cakes & Donuts to pick up some treats for the guys in Maintenance. We collect the aluminum cans and take them in to the recycling to cash them out. This year the aluminum prices have plummeted to .25/lb., but that buys our weekly donuts on Tuesdays. It was fun to see all the guys I’ve worked with for the past few weeks and gave me something to look forward to when we return in August.
Yes, it’s nice to be back on the road again, but I’m sure I’ll be glad to arrive in Springfield, OH and settle in for a while. If the heat, humidity, and bugs don’t get to us, we’re bound to have a great time.

Wednesday night, July 1st

Al’s Oasis in Oacoma has a good restaurant and we remembered last year when we stopped for the night. We walked into the restaurant and discovered that their special dinner was a three-piece chicken dinner for under $7. We had hoped to encounter another deal like that, but the special dinner last night was a Missouri River catfish dinner for $15. Both of us decided to pass on that - Dottie had a roast beef dinner and I chose the salad bar. We were both tired and I was fighting a strained muscle in my lower back that had been bothering me all day. We had dinner, watched some TV (once I got the satellite dish aligned), and hit the rack early. It was a cool night so we enjoyed the fresh air blowing through the coach with the help of the exhaust fans. Our view of the Missouri River through the front windshield was spectacular!

When we got up on Wednesday morning, we had a bit of breakfast before checking the tires and starting down the interstate. Over the night several truckers and a few RVs had joined us, so we took it easy starting the coach and idling out of the parking lot. We eased up the hill out of the James River Valley and headed for Mitchell’s Super Wal-Mart. The seventy miles we drove were through mostly grassland and plains with many of the farmers continuing the cutting, raking, and baling of the prairie grass.

We arrived at Mitchell and parked in the Super Wally lot. The Super Wal-Mart seems to be bigger than the one in Rapid City and has quite an array of merchandise. Last year when we came through here, I found some waterproof hunting boots that were made with Thinsulate. This store had them marked down to $10 - and I failed to buy a pair! I asked the clerk in the Shoe Dept. and she remembered the boots. However, she couldn’t find any left on the shelf. I also found a small, 1.7 cu. ft. refrigerator that had just been marked down. It’ll fit in one of the bays in the coach and keep my “drinks” cold and out of the big refrigerator. Meanwhile Dottie was busy in the grocery section shopping for needed foods. We also found some nice looking summer dresses for her, so the stop was worth the time!

We continued east to Sioux Falls and the Flying J Truck Stop for fuel. The RV lanes were easy to get into and out of, so we topped off the tank. As we departed Sioux Falls and headed into Iowa, the landscape changed from prairie to endless cornfields. It looks like the corn crop should be good this year as the plants are lush and green and seem to go continuously. We were on Iowa State Highway 9 and really enjoyed breaking away from the interstate to get on the smaller, slower roads. We drove to Rock Rapids, IA and their city park on the west end of town. It’s a beautiful small park with 8 hook-up sites that have 50-amp electric, but no water hook-up. There is a single water spigot near the dump station. They have increased their price from $10 to $15 (a 50% increase) and it was really worth it to be able to turn on the air conditioner and cool down a bit from the humid 85-degree heat.

After a comfortable dinner of burgers on the outdoor grill, we’ll relax, watch some TV, and see the bed early again tonight. We have to up and on the road tomorrow to get to Forest City, IA and the Winnebago Factory tour by 1PM. The roads will all be state and U.S. highways so it’ll be slower and easier.

Thursday night, July 2nd

We woke up to a beautiful morning at Rock Rapids and took our time to get the coach ready to roll. Two of my tire pressure/temperature sensors are acting up and giving me some false readings. To check on the tow tires, I removed the sensors and checked the pressures with two tire pressure gauges. Once I was comfortable the pressures were within tolerance, I re-attached the sensors and just watched the temperatures as we drove on for the day. We left and continued east through the corn country on fairly flat highways. At the end of the day we had averaged almost 9 MPG!
We arrived in Forest City at noon, checked in at the Winnebago Visitors Center, and had a bite of lunch in the parking lot. The factory tour started at 1PM so we took advantage of the opportunity and joined the other six people for the tour. The factory is shut down for the July 4th holiday, but the tours were continuing. The factory is on a huge complex, bigger than Monaco’s, and provides quite an education. At one point the factory was putting out 250 coaches a week; now they’re down to about 50 a week. There aren’t a lot of Freightliner chassis waiting in the storage area, but there are a lot of the Dodge diesel Class C chassis waiting to be built upon. An interesting point was made by the tour guide that Winnebago will begin building a 42’ and 45’ motor home with a tag axle. We saw a couple of the chassis in the storage area, but no more information of the larger coaches. I guess I’m still a little prejudiced to the Monaco brand and the construction techniques they use.

We left the Winnebago factory by 2:30 and headed east for the 30 miles to Mason City, IA. We found the Margaret MacNider City Park on the northeast part of town. It’s a beautiful park with over 80 sites and right next to the city swimming pool. The park is pretty full with the coming holiday weekend, but we found a full hook-up site and are able to get some laundry done while we’re here.

We haven’t purchased a digital conversion box yet, so we have to rely on our satellite TV for any television. I was hoping we might find some local stations that haven’t converted over to digital yet, but so far no such luck.

Sunday night, July 5th

Mason City, IA was truly a relaxing stop and we thoroughly enjoyed the Margaret MacNider City Park with its accommodations. When we got started on Friday morning, we tried to quietly pull the coach out and hook the car. We managed to get out of the park and back on the road headed for the Tiffin, IA and the F.W. Kent County Park, just outside of Iowa City, IA On the way we stopped at a couple of city parks to check them out and send updates to the Escapee’s Day’s End, Don Wright’s Free Campgrounds of the West/East, and Nick Russell’s Gypsy Journal.

When we arrived at the Kent County Park, I saw the signs at the entrance that said all electrical sites were full. I took a chance and drove in to the campground. We saw a Ranger and asked if the non-electric sites could handle a coach our size. He said he thought all of the electric sites were full but we could drive through and look. We took the left loop and started looking at the sites. By the time we had returned to the front, I saw him in my mirror with his red lights flashing. He pulled alongside of our coach and told me there was one site open, to follow him, and he’d take us to it. What service!! I followed him to the open electric site and we said we’d take it. He waited for me to fill out the registration form, put the money in an envelope, and helped me back in. The site wasn’t totally level, but it was useable. We were parked next to a young couple with two kids under two years old. They were fun to talk with and we had a great time until the rain started to fall.

It rained all night long and into the morning. We tried to quietly slip out on Saturday morning in the rain and pulled onto the highway headed for Peoria, IL.

This has been the only adverse weather we have had to endure. We didn’t get into any real heavy rain - just showers that continued all day long. I had thoughts of bypassing Peoria and continuing to the Horseshoe Lakes Thousand Trails Park, but it would have been a 320-mile day. By the time we arrived in Peoria we were ready to stop.

The Peoria Elks Lodge was easy to find and we were welcomed by several of the members who were at the bar instead of the golf course. Adjacent to the Lodge is a beautiful City golf course, so many of the golfers had come inside to the bar and were watching Tiger Woods on the TV. The bartender, Jeri, was outgoing and made us feel right at home. We only had a 15-amp electrical hookup, but it was enough to keep our batteries charged and watch some television. One of the Elk members has a son who is on the Peoria Police Dept., so he gave his son a phone call to let them know we were parked at the Lodge. We had a couple of the patrol cars drive through the parking lot during the night to check on us. For dinner we decided to go over the river to East Peoria and visit the Granite City Brewing Co. It was fun to taste-test a couple of their beers and eat their delicious sandwiches. Jeri told us to get back early because the crowds would be huge for the July 4th Fireworks Show. We were back at the Lodge by 7 and went inside to socialize with all the members sitting in the bar. By that time Laura was tending bar and she was a hoot! I had talked to her the previous night to be sure the Lodge would be open. She had assured me there was room to park and she would be waiting for us to arrive. She has a boat and was looking forward to closing the bar and taking the boat out on the river to watch the fireworks show. We were back in the coach by 8PM and watched some late TV. We heard fireworks going off until almost 1AM, but it didn’t keep us from sleeping.

On Sunday morning we pulled out of the Elks lot by 8:30AM. The weather had passed through, but we were headed east - the same direction the weather had moved. We had cloudy weather all the way to the Thousand Trails park and arrived by 1PM (actually 2PM because we’re now in the Eastern time zone). We lucked out when we got to Horseshoe Lakes and found an empty site with good satellite reception. We’re parked next to Fred Kennedy, another Monaco owner and an FMCA Director. We’ll only be here one night because we have to go on to Springfield tomorrow after a stop at the Indianapolis Flying J to refuel. Many of the overnight stops we’ve found would be enjoyable for staying a week or so and exploring the area. That may be a possibility in the future!

Thursday night, July 9th

We left the Horseshoe Lakes Thousand Trails preserve by 8 AM on Monday. I knew we had a 225-mile day ahead of us and wanted to get started early. We took many back roads to get over to Indianapolis. Those roads are fascinating and fun to drive. There’s little traffic, the views are magnificent, and it’s a slower pace. We both enjoy those smaller, less traveled roads so much more than the interstate highways. We got to Indianapolis and found the Flying J truck stop on the south side of town. We were able to get topped off and back on the road in minimum amount of time. From there it was all Interstate 70 to Dayton and Springfield. We finally arrived by 2PM and one of the early arrivals was waiting for us to get us parked.

We got situated near the back of the fairgrounds against a fence with 50-amp electric and water. We can drain our grey water through the fence into an empty field. The water is horrible! It tastes like chlorine, so it’s not really suitable for drinking. Thank goodness there’s a Super Wal-Mart nearby and a supply of drinking water! So far, there are 12 of us here and all of us are busy getting things ready for the Sunday early arrival date. Because of the economy, there are less than 200 coaches pre-registered for this Pre-Rally. Our Parking Crew has measured and marked off almost 300 spots, just in case. The available electric sites are both 30-amp and 50-amp electric, depending on how soon a coach arrives.

Our weather has been absolutely wonderful! We get some warm temperatures during the day and we have used the air conditioner from about 1PM to 6PM. After the sun goes down, the temperature starts dropping and we have the coach opened up with exhaust fans bringing the cool air inside. Sleeping has been great! We are hoping this weather trend will continue, especially when we go north to Bowling Green for the big FMCA Convention. We are signed up for an area where you can run your generator 24 hours a day, so we’re hoping for mild weather. If it gets too hot, I’ve found a nearby RV park that can offer electric hookups for the air conditioner. We need to be in Bowling Green for a short period of time to get a new satellite dish installed on the top of the coach. Plus I want to be able to walk through the vendor’s area to find those things which I just can’t live without.

Once the early arrivals start to come in on Sunday, we’ll probably be very busy getting all of them parked. It should be fun and we’re looking forward to a wonderful rally!

Monday, July 20th

The Monaco International Pre-Rally was fun-filled time in Springfield, OH. My last update talked of the great weather, and it continued through the Rally. On Saturday, the 11th, we had a rainy day where the rain cells passed through and dumped heavily on us for spurts of 15-30 minutes at a time. Most of us got soaked, but we endured it with a lot of laughs. The nightly entertainment was mediocre, but enjoyable. We had some fantastic catered meals that were amazingly tasty considering that the caterer really didn’t know what to expect from the Monaco crowd. Of course, the best part is seeing a lot of old friends that we haven’t seen for a long while.

Probably the most interesting part of the Rally was the appearance of the top brass of the new Monaco RV LLC. Mike Snell, Vice President of Sales attended with Tim Smith from the parent company, Navistar. They assured all of us that Monaco would return and be building coaches, albeit on a smaller, tighter manner. We had a Service Seminar with Garth Herring, Vice President of Service. Garth told us that over 770 employees have been rehired and they are building one diesel coach per day plus all Monaco-branded trailers at the Coburg production facility. The Waukarusa, IN facility will build gas-powered coaches. The Hines, OR fiberglass plant has been moved to Harrisburg, OR (leaving that small western Oregon town with quite a financial loss). Most of the great service centers have been sold or closed down, and all of the factory service is now being done at the factory in Coburg, OR. The Wildwood, FL service facility has been sold to Brett Howard (the former manager of that service center) and he is opening an RV service center, Alliance RV Service.

One of the highlights of the Rally for me was a phone call I received on Thursday afternoon from April Klein, Vice President of Customer Service. Dottie and I have always attended her seminars when she’s at any of our Rallies. She wanted to phone and let us know she wouldn’t be able to make the Springfield Rally, but would be in Bowling Green. She has been one of the folks that I could send an email and get an immediate response. April knew we would be in the Service Seminar and wanted to let us know that she was sorry she couldn’t be there. We talked with her for a good five minutes and it was good to her sound so upbeat and positive.

At the end of the Rally there were 15 coaches that had been driven from Oregon that had to be driven up to Bowling Green. Several of us on the Parking Crew were asked if we would like to drive the coaches up for the display. I drove an ‘09 Camelot 42’ tag-axle coach. It was a three hour drive and another three hour ride back to Springfield. That day was long. About 40 participant coaches were going to caravan up to Bowling Green. We had to be up at 4:30AM to get the caravan out of the parking lot. They had to be in a particular order, depending on which section of the FMCA Convention they had signed up for - electric, general, 24-hour generator, handicapped, etc. Once they were out of the parking lot and on their way, we grabbed a quick bite of breakfast and headed out in our show coaches. When we returned at about 3:30, we were all tired. Dottie and I had a quiet dinner at our coach and retired early.

We left Springfield on Sunday morning and drove the three hours to Bowling Green. We are parked about three miles from all the seminars, displays, and nightly entertainment. Our spot is an area for 24-hour generator usage. I figured that we might need that if it gets hot, since Nancy is a concern for us. We will be getting our new satellite dish installed on Monday morning. Our parking area is pretty quiet and we actually got parked a few coaches away from a couple that we met at the Preston HfH Build. Alan and Cheryl are ministers that contract and travel to small churches that are having difficulties. Alan counsels the ministers and congregations about how to bring their church together and be successful. Apparently he stay very busy with is work and loves doing it. They manage to fit in rallies and Habitat builds between his contract work. We’ll enjoy spending some time with them.

On Monday morning at 9AM we were visited by Gary Swaim from Custom Coach Connections and he installed a new Motosat Executive satellite dish. Our KVH domed dish hasn’t worked correctly since we bought our coach, and KVH doesn’t want to deal with 10-year-old technology. So we decided to get a straight dish where I can push a button and it will raise up, search for the correct satellite, and lock on. It works wonderfully!

The scheduled entertainment includes 42Five (a band of five guys that use nmo musical instruments, but make noises that sound like a full instrumental band), country singer Lorrie Morgan, the Rivolis, and Phil Dirt and the Dozers, a band that will take us back to the 50’s. I’m also looking forward to walking through the vendor area, beginning on Tuesday, and seeing all the “stuff” that I can’t live without!

Monday, July 27th

The FMCA Convention was a blast! We were parked in the 24-hour generator area, which was pretty far from all the activities and vendor displays. In addition to the new satellite dish (that works wonderfully), we got a gallon of Protect-All wax, a couple of bags of DeWafflebakkers pancakes, two new sending units for my tire pressure monitor systems, and some other trinkets for the coach. We saw entertainment on only one night - the 42Five group that did a fantastic job in spite of the generator quitting and they lost electrical power to their microphones. We also got our generator serviced so we’re good for another year.

Lorrie Morgan cancelled due to lousy weather, and we passed on the last night’s entertainment. We had a great time with David & Kay Piper, our Monaco friends that decided to join us on the Habitat build.

On Friday morning we left the fairgrounds a little before 9AM and caravanned with the Pipers to Wauseon, OH, site of the build. We met the other participants and the affiliate representatives, got settled in at the fairgrounds, and prepared for a two-week build. It was decided to start on Saturday morning. That way we could leave on Friday and have an extra day for traveling at the end of the build. When we got to the house on Saturday morning, we found all exterior walls erected, roof complete, and interior walls framed but not sheet rocked. Our task on Saturday was to do as much interior work as we could. We almost finished the sheet rocking, but had some small closets and the bathrooms to be completed. We rested on Sunday, but Monday we were back at work and finished the interior work. The finishers will arrive on Tuesday and start taping and mudding the interior walls. We also started installing the vinyl siding on the outside and will start on the storage shed tomorrow.

The house is a four-bedroom, two bath house and the recipients have been working along side of us. Tanya, the owner, has two boys who are real workers. We’ve enjoyed having them around as they pitch right in do any of the jobs we ask of them. The humidity has slowed several of us down. We have had pretty mild temperatures, but the stickiness gets to us! The daily shower really feels good when we get back to the coaches.

The team consists of eight coaches. Five of us have done prior builds, and the rest are “first-timers”. It’s a great group to work around and we don’t have any “slugs” to deal with. We know three of the team members from previous builds, so it’s much like a homecoming party. We are parked at the Fulton County Fairgrounds with 30-amp electric, water, and sewer hookups. The sewer makes life so much easier so we can take showers every day and do a small load of laundry when needed.

It’s going to be an enjoyable two weeks!

Sunday, August 9th

It has been a wonderfully rewarding two weeks and we have finished our work in Wauseon. The house was in the very first stages of completion when we arrived. We left the house nearly completed with a move-in date projected to be Sept. 15th. We finished putting up all the sheet rock, got in finished up and painted, finished the exterior vinyl siding and all the trim, put down laminate flooring, built a deck for the rear of the house, blew insulation into the roof, and finished a lot of the dirt moving for landscaping. I even had the opportunity to get a little “stick time” on a Bobcat to move and level the dirt around the house. We must have added another 10 pounds with all the good food we ate and the terrific meals that were served to us.

The down side was some expensive awning damage to the coach. We had a short thunderstorm come through on our first Sunday and it ripped our patio awning into two pieces. Carefree of Colorado, our awning manufacturer, uses cotton thread in their acrylic awnings. After a short period of time, the thread rots and the seams and selvages weaken. Our awning had a seam that ran through the middle of the awning. I was sitting inside the coach and watched the seam rip wide open and split the awning into two sections. We were able to roll the awning up on the tube to the travel position and can now drive with it until we get it replaced. Then, a week later, I was sitting in my recliner and heard this “sproing” sound. It was the slide-out awnings spring breaking. I was able to phone Shade Pros in San Diego and get them to overnight a new spring. The spring cost $77 and the freight was $100!!!! But we were able to replace the spring and get it all back to normal ourselves. My thanks to David Piper for all his help in getting the repairs accomplished!

Our plans were to leave Wauseon on Friday morning and drive to South Bend for the night, then on to Chicago. We started working on the slide-out awning and didn’t finish until about 2:30. We were tired, sweaty, and decided to stay another night, have a few beers with the guys, and enjoy a seafood buffet. We were up early on Saturday morning and departed Wauseon on Saturday morning by 7AM and drove all the way to Downers Grove, IL to spend a night with my 90-year-old Uncle Bill Moore and his wife. Cousin Pat came down with husband, Mike, and we enjoyed an Italian dinner with them. It had been almost 20 years since we had seen Pat & Mike, and at least 17 years since we had seen Uncle Bill. We had a great time with all of them in spite of the horrendous heat we are enduring. We were able to park the coach right on the property where Uncle Bill lives, but no hook-ups. The generator has been running continuously with the air conditioning pumping out dry, cool air. This has been a real test for our generator, but it’s working flawlessly.

The drive from Wauseon was actually enjoyable. We avoided the Ohio Turnpike (where they weigh all vehicles) and drove on US-20. It meant going through some small towns, but the flat terrain across Ohio and Indiana was full of corn and bean fields. The houses all look so manicured and neat. As we drove through central Indiana we observed the farms that were Amish dwellings with no electrical wires and horse and buggy barns. We saw several buggies moving along the shoulder of the highway pulled by horses that were nearly running. We had to drive through light rain showers and most of the buggies were covered. It was quite a contradiction of basic living and technology.

We will spend one night in Chicago and then drive about 75 miles north to Kenosha, WI to see Mary Anderson, cousin Paul’s wife. We haven’t seen her for over four years since Paul passed away in Oregon. Our plan is to be there for two nights, Davenport-area for two nights, and on to Waterloo, Ft. Dodge, and Lemars, IA.

Tuesday night, August 11th

We’re on our return trip to Hart Ranch and sorry we aren’t spending more time at each stop. We arrived in Chicago (Downers Grove) and pulled in to the retirement community where my Uncle Bill Moore lives It’s a large retirement complex with duplexes and an apartment building with dining and meeting facilities. My Uncle lives in one of the terrific duplex buildings so they still have their independence, but can enjoy the prepared meals in the dining hall. They have a pavilion that is being upgraded with a parking lot that had several pieces of construction equipment parked there. Since the pavilion isn’t being used, Uncle Bill got permission for us to park our coach in the parking lot where we wouldn’t bother anybody and we could walk to Uncle Bill’s house. It was an absolutely perfect arrangement in spite of the unusual heat wave that necessitated our running the generator for almost 24 hours to keep the air conditioning pumping dry, cool air into the coach. We rarely run the generator for that long a time period, but it worked and we were very comfortable. At 3AM I got up and saw that the outside temperature was still 71 degrees! We had a delicious meal with Bill & Magee and their oldest daughter, cousin Pat & husband Mike. We had a wonderful reunion with all of them and thoroughly enjoyed their gracious hospitality.

Sunday morning we had a quick breakfast with Bill & Magee before we left at 10AM. I was trying to avoid the traffic on I-94 (a toll road) and took a lot of back streets to get north to Kenosha, WI. The drive was supposed to be only 75 miles, but it took nearly 4 hours! We had to get on I-94 at one point and it was stop-and-go traffic to the IL/WI border. We finally got off the interstate and drove the remaining distance on a WI state highway. Illinois is full of toll roads on the interstate system and it gets a little frustrating when you come to a toll booth that is unmanned and doesn’t give the amount of your toll with a motor home and car in tow. We have enough of Illinois toll roads for a while!

We arrived in Kenosha and pulled in front of Mary Anderson’s row of duplexes. We were able to park in her driveway without hanging over the curb line into the street. We were afraid that we might upset the local busybody from the condo association, but our coach was acceptable for two nights. Mary had an outlet for us and we plugged in to 15-amp electric. That is enough to keep the battery charged and we were able to open the windows each night for sleeping. Nancy got a kick out of Mary’s cat, Jack, and they seemed to tolerate each other for out time with her. Dinner was at Mary’s with her son, Tom, and his wife, Linda. I really enjoy Tom and Linda is a computer whiz.

On Monday we drove over to the local Italian drink supply house and purchased a selection of microbrews, some pasta, and a few special items for dinner. We then went to a Wal-Mart that is closing and had some pretty good deals on assorted closeouts. Following that we had lunch at a little bistro that was really tasty with special coffee, outstanding soups and sandwiches, and some unbelievable desserts. We went home for the rest of the day before a dinner of oven-baked chicken and sweet corn.

We were up early on Tuesday morning to prepare for our departure. We were able to leave Kenosha by 9:30AM and went directly west avoiding the I-94 hassle. We made our first stop at the Flying J in South Beloit and I attempted to stay clear of any more interstate highways. It didn’t work - I had to get on I-90 and pay a toll. We continued south to Hillsdale, IL and the Sunset Lakes RV Resort. It was a long day of driving and we were ready to stop for the night. We had been here several years ago, but it wasn’t familiar to either of us. We’ll be here for two nights and a chance to get rested up and clean up the coach with our 50-amp electric service. We are parked in the trees, but I can get satellite with my portable dish. That makes Dottie very happy - today is her birthday, so we had a wonderful steak dinner cooked on the BBQ. Tomorrow we’ll get laundry done and try to visit the John Deere Museum in Moline, IL

Thursday night, Aug. 13th

We had an enjoyable stay at the Sunset Lakes RV Resort in Hillsdale, IL. It’s about 10 miles east of the Quad Cities (Davenport, Moline, E. Moline, Bettendorf, and Rock Island - I don’t get it either - I thought “quad” meant four!) On Wednesday morning Dottie did some laundry while I did some cleaning around the coach. We were both done by noon, so we decided to go into Moline and see the John Deere Pavilion. It’s a huge museum with several examples of John Deere products. They have the largest combine with a 38’ head, a cane harvester, and a gigantic earth mover that fit Dottie perfectly (at least that is what the photo showed). After touring the heavy equipment, we hunted out the Bent River Brewing Company located right around the corner from John Deere. Both of us were thirsty, so we sampled their product and visited with the barmaid. When we were done there, we drove across the river to Davenport to seek out the Front Street Brewery. We had a bite to eat and sampled their beers while we were there. It was a great afternoon! On the way home we stopped at the local Super Wally and picked up some grocery items arriving at the coach by 6PM.

We had an appointment at the HWH factory in Moscow, IA for 8:15 on Thursday morning. I needed to get a new lexan cover for my leveling control pad. When the service tech got the coach up on the rack, he found the small compressor to be “fried”! What was going to be a reasonably inexpensive check-up turned out to be a major weight reduction of my wallet! Three hours later we were good to go and continued on our westward adventure to Hart Ranch.

On the road we found we have a window of opportunity to get my medical issue resolved if we can get back to San Diego earlier than we had planned. SO, our plans have changed once again, and we will be staying at Hart Ranch for only a week. We need to be on the road by the 28th to get back to Southern California. Flexibility is one of the virtues of this lifestyle, so we’re making our plans and adjusting our reservations to get back. It’s a disappointment to have to leave earlier than we had expected, but with health issues we decided there is a priority.

We are in Marshalltown, IA in a city park that is absolutely beautiful! We have 50-amp electric and a water spigot nearby in this heavily-treed, but peaceful little park. We’re happy with the air conditioner running and hoping for a cool night to open up the coach. Tomorrow we’ll drive to Rockwell City, IA and the city RV park. It has 10 sites with 30-amp electric, water, and sewer hookups. Plus, it’s only a 120-mile drive - a nice, easy, short driving day. The following day we’ll go to Lemars, IA for two nights and attend the Presbyterian Church that is served by our former interim minister from Rapid City. She’ll be surprised to see us and it will be fun to hear her preach again.

On Monday we’ll drive to Brookings, SD and the Sexauer City Park with RV hook-ups. Brookings is the home of SDSU - that’s South Dakota State University! It’s a neat little college town and we’ll spend two night there before going to Pierre for one night and on to Hart Ranch arriving on Thursday, a week from today. With a little luck I might be able to work a week and make up for the HWH expense we incurred.

Ah, it’s fun to be able to make and change plans like this!!!

Where has the summer disappeared to? Here it is almost to July, the middle of the summer, and it seems to be rolling down so fast and vanishing! We are only days from our departure from Hart Ranch and the second half of our summer experience and it doesn’t seem possible that it is that time already. I have only four working days left before we spend some time preparing the coach for hitting the road and pulling out of South Dakota!

We have been continuously kept busy mowing, weed-eating, and trying to keep up with the weather that Mother Nature has provided us. We have had a few rainy days (with hail), several days with beautiful, sunny skies punctuated with an afternoon shower and complete clearing for the remainder of the evening. We have even had a few days with no rain at all! About three weeks ago I fertilized the front portion of the Center Court and I can truly see the difference between it and the unfertilized part. The grass is more green and lush than the unfertilized part. When the rain hits after a warm sunny day, you can almost hear the grass growing. And the parking areas and sites are requiring that we mow at least twice a week. We have six men working in Grounds on any given day - that’s less than last year. And all of us are busy with mowing, tree-trimming, etc. It’s has been a wonderful season, so far, and we have had a great crew to work with.

Dottie and I have been going every Sunday to the First Presbyterian Church and enjoying the fellowship we experience there. Rev. Bob Evans and wife, Gretchen, are an energetic couple with big ideas and outgoing personalities. Bob has managed to increase the number of younger folks in the congregation and has more things going on for the whole congregation to become involved. This coming weekend the State Presbytery will be meeting in Rapid City and First Presbyterian will be the host church. Over the winter the church purchased an older Bluebird 20-passenger bus. There aren’t many folks in the church with proper licenses to drive the bus. I inquired with the head of South Dakota driver’s licenses, our friend Larry Schuman, and he assured me that my commercial license is acceptable for driving the bus. So, I’ll be volunteering on Friday and Saturday driving the attendees to the church, lunch, and probably dinner in the bus. I plan to get some time to clean it up and check it out thoroughly before the weekend.

We have enjoyed the company of so many of our summer friends and are almost saddened to leave. We know that we’ll return on August 24th and probably stay for another month before returning to San Diego. Our travels will take us to Springfield, OH for the Monaco Pre-Rally where I am on the Parking Crew, Bowling Green, OH for the Family Motor Home Convention, Wauseon, OH for a two-week Habitat build, and on to Chicago to see my Mother’s brother. Then we’ll go to Kenosha, WI to see cousin Mary Anderson, and over to LeMars, IA to see a former Associate Pastor from First Presbyterian who has her own church now. Then we’ll take some time to see Brookings, Webster, Roscoe, and Mobridge, SD before returning to Hart Ranch. During that two-month trip, we hope to see some of our Monaco friends at the rallies and on the road.

Our coach is running great and we’ve had the opportunity to do some small fixes to some of our problem areas. Like a house, it seems that the little things never end. However, we’re ready to travel and get some more miles on the “old girl”.

On Thursday morning, April 16th, we pulled out of the Elvis Presley Blvd. RV Park and headed west for West Memphis, AR and the Flying J. The freeways in Memphis are undergoing some construction, so we got a little vibrating/jolting as we drove west. When we arrived at the Flying J, we were able to get topped off and be on our way in minimum time. We left the freeways and started toward Greer’s Ferry on Arkansas highways. The drive was actually enjoyable with very little traffic and some beautiful sites of the various farmhouses and acreages.

As we got closer to Don & Vicki Leith’s lakefront house, we had to watch our instructions very carefully. Vicki had emailed me some accurate, detailed instructions and they took us right to the house. Our first impression was “Why would anybody want a house this big?”. It is a beautiful home designed with lots of interior open space and easily livable. There are many beautiful granite tabletops and a fantastic view of the lake. I mentioned that we were overdue to get the timing belt changed on our Kia, so Don & I jumped in his new, yellow Corvette and drove to the local garage to get an estimate. Jerrod, the young man who owns the shop, said he could do it for around $600 (not the $1200 I had been told in San Diego). So, I scheduled the car to go in on Monday for the work. In the meantime, Don & Vicki were gracious hosts and made sure we were comfortable with 50-amp electric, water, and a sewer hook-up. We had some wonderful meals, including the fantastic buffet supper at Heber Springs. That small (on the outside) restaurant was huge on the inside. Their buffet table was fantastic with a wide choice of tasty entrees and great desserts. Out Happy Hours at the Leith Castle were wonderful. I shared the growler of Scottish Ale with Don and Vicki prepared some wonderful meals while we were there.

On Tuesday morning I was hoping to have the car back from the garage, but things didn’t work out. We tried again on Wednesday and the work was completed by shortly after noon. When we got home with the car, we hooked everything up and prepared for a departure, in spite of Vicki’s encouraging us to stay another night. We had changed our plans and decided to bypass Branson with Springfield as our destination. Surprisingly we arrived in Springfield in only 3½ hours. We checked in to the Springfield Elks Lodge where we had a good 30-amp electric connection. We enjoyed their Wednesday night dinner before retiring.

Thursday morning we pulled out and headed for the Joplin, MO Flying J. We were able to dump our holding tanks and top off the fuel tank. Flying J is now back to allowing RVs to use the truck lanes for refueling. It makes things much easier as the fuel fill hoses are a larger diameter (can pump more fuel in less time) and they have an additional final fuel filter. We finished the refueling and pressed on to Parsons, KS and the Marvel City Park. When we arrived in Parsons, we found the city park and drove through it. It is a pretty park with over 30 RV sites with full hook-ups. It was only 12:30 so we decided to continue on to Wichita, another 130 miles. We arrived at the Wichita Elks Lodge about 3PM and hooked up to their new electric outlets and water hose. We have stayed here before, but they spent some money to get their electrical boxes fixed. It’s a struggling Lodge with a small membership, but they’re trying to have enough activities to keep the interest alive.

Once we were settled in, we drove over to the Wesley Hospital to see my cousin, Linda. She had brain surgery Sunday night to correct an aneurism. She is still unconscious and showing some small response, but not responding to much outside stimulus. It’s frustrating to just go in, try to say “Hello!”, attempt to talk to her, and not know if she’s hearing or recognizing us. We spent a couple of minutes in the room with her and left. After that, I needed a beer! We drove to the Granite City Food & beverage, a local microbrewery, and ordered a sampler of their beers ranging from the light wheat to a stout. We also had a delicious dinner and brought some home with us.

On Friday morning we took our time and returned to the hospital to visit Linda. Again, we only stayed for a couple of minutes and decided to find the Coleman Factory, Museum, and Outlet Store in downtown Wichita. It’s a fascinating collection of discounted prices for Coleman products and a museum that shows some of the “primitive products” of Coleman - things we used to have when we did the tent-camping thing. We followed that with a visit to the River City Brewing Co. brewpub and had lunch with another sampler of six brews. The food was great but we also brought some home for lunches in the next few days. This afternoon we drove over to the nearest Super Wally to get some groceries and prepare for our trip into Nebraska. There is a potluck at the Elks Lodge tonight, but we’ll eat dinner in the coach and go into the Lodge for an after-dinner drink. Tomorrow we’ll drive to Hebron, NE and the Riverside City Park with a stop in Salina, KS at the Flying J.

Sunday, April 26th

Well, this is a revision to my last Travelogue. Being in Wichita and having to see my cousin in a vegetative state from a brain aneurysm is a real downer. I wasn’t in much of a mood to write anything, but felt that I needed to jot down what I remembered from the last week. I really short-changed our week-long stay with Don & Vicki Leith. I owe it to them to add some details of our stay that made it so enjoyable.

Greers Ferry isn’t named after anybody, so the proper spelling is the way you see it now. It’s a small community that caters to a lot of summer visitors that spend their time there for the lake activities. We visited the local hardware and building supply store and found racks of bolts and nuts that can be bought separately, not in plastic bags.

Don’s (or is it Vicki’s) brand, new Corvette is a Velocity yellow color, not Baywatch yellow. It has an engine that will pin you to the back of your seat (if Don is driving). He likes big’n’fast, y’know!

We were taken on a couple of very interesting rides by the Leiths. One afternoon we drove over to the Natural Bridge and walked down to what was once an Indian hunting trail. The road to get there was NOT for a motor home! We took the walk and saw an old, Arkansas-style still in one of the old buildings. On the return trip, we stopped to pick up Don’s new car-hauler trailer. For some reason the seller supplies the trailer with used tires. You’d think that a new trailer would have new tires - not so. It saved him a few bucks, but seemed strange. One other morning we drove over to Heber Springs and saw the dam that creates the huge lake. It was the last thing that Pres. John F. Kennedy dedicated before his assassination. On the way home we stopped in the local grocery and were visited by one of the local Greers Ferry police officers to remind the driver that he was “hauling a__” through that school zone. It was a gentle reminder that the speeds are heavily enforced in these small towns. The officer’s uniform was a military fatigue uniform with the city patches, badge, and name tags. It was a step back in time!

Don & I had several evenings enjoying the flavor of hops and barley along with the Scottish Ale that I brought from Memphis. One afternoon I brought in the treasured bottle of white lightning that I’d been given in Preston, GA. We all had a shot of that hooch and then settled in to a pinball game. It was interesting to see how it affected our playing. We followed that with a shot of Platte Valley corn whiskey. Ahhh, guess we won’t have to worry about the fly bug going around now. That stuff will kill any viruses you might be carrying!!

And, of course, the fun of watching Nancy try to play with Vicki’s cat, Furby, was almost hilarious. They would get nose-to-nose, but just couldn’t quite get together to play. I’ll get some photos from Vicki’s collection and have them posted on our blog site.

We had a nest of baby birds in one of the planters on the patio. It was fun watching the parents bring some rather large flies back to the nest to feed the babies. They didn’t like us sitting out on the patio while they were feeding the kids, so we usually went inside to allow them some privacy.

There - that’s a lot more about a great week with the Leiths. Does them more justice than the last attempt at remembering all we did. It helps to have gotten a message from Vicki reminding me of all the things we did!!

We’re now in Hebron, NE at the Riverside City Park. We knew the weather was going to get interesting with this stalled cold front reaching from Oklahoma up to Wisconsin. We were awakened last night to the sound of hail landing on the roof of the coach. It only lasted about three minutes, but sure woke us up from a deep sleep. It was followed by about ten minutes of huge raindrops, and then it stopped. We didn’t hear anything else for the rest of the night.

We got up this morning and went to the First Presbyterian Church for their service. There were only 17 people in the service, but it was a nice service in a small town. We have a severe thunderstorm watch in effect today so we’re staying in the coach. There is no internet service with the cell phone; I have to go out to the highway where there’s an open wi-fi at the truck stop. Nebraska is covered by Alltel and Verizon hasn’t made the arrangements to use their data line service. Oh, well…

We’ll stay here another night and drive the 24 miles to Fairbury tomorrow and stay at their city park for two nights. Fairbury is a little bigger than Hebron and we’ll take a look at some of the sights there.

Tuesday, May 5th

We went to Fairbury on Monday and stayed in a pristine, little city park on the southwest side of town. It has over 40 sites with 30-amp electric and water. We parked in a section of the park where we could look out the front window and see two fishing lakes. We were the only ones in the park and we thoroughly enjoyed the peace and quiet. The weather was marginal and we experienced a few local thundershowers, but we have decided that we’ll be back to that park in the future.

Nebraska’s cell phone provider is Alltel. They are now owned by Verizon, but we are still in the Extended Network. As a result of that, I can’t send or receive email with my cell phone. We found the Fairbury city library was a wireless hotspot, so we were able to get email there. It’s has been a problem all week and is still creating a hassle for us in Milford.

On Wednesday morning we left Fairbury and drove in a light rain to Milford. We arrived at cousin Nancy Obermeyer’s home outside of Milford about 10:30. She had to work on Wednesday, so it gave us a chance to get the coach washed down and rest. When we did arrive I saw a strange car in the driveway and was concerned that we were arriving while Nancy had house guests. We walked in the door and saw Nancy’s daughter, Gretchen, and her husband and son from Ramona, CA! They had come to Nebraska for a family wedding on husband Mike’s side of the family. I haven’t seen Gretchen for almost twenty years and was quite a pleasant surprise.

On Friday we drove in to Lincoln to do some shopping at the Wal-Mart, Sam’s Club, and Menard’s. We also had a small watchband repair to get done. On the way out of Lincoln we stopped at Lazlo’s Brew Pub and enjoyed a burger and some of the craft beer.

Saturday night we were at one of Nancy’s daughters for a fantastic prime rib meal. Nancy has four of her seven kids living in the local area so it was a terrific reunion with Gretchen here. On Sunday afternoon we were in Lincoln with another of Nancy’s daughters for another mid-day meal and get-together. It is such fun being a part of this family and seeing the interaction of all the kids, cousins, and grandkids.

On Monday Gretchen and her family left Milford at 7AM to fly back to California. Nancy, Dottie, and I ran some errands and then drove about 40 miles south to a junior high track meet to see some of Nancy’s grandkids. These kids start young and are staying busy all the way through their high school years. If it isn’t music or arts, they are involved in athletics. It keeps them all pretty occupied and in good shape.

Today we’ll take care of some things around Milford and then go to Lincoln again to get the watch, run some other errands and shop, and end up back in Milford this afternoon. We leave tomorrow morning and travel to Genoa for three days. Our plan is to be in Genoa, then to Burke, SD, and on to Rapid City. We hope to get there a day or so early and find a spot behind Shipwreck Lee’s to park the coach for a night or two. (hint, hint…can you handle us Sheri & “Wreck”?) Then we’ll check in to Hart Ranch on May 12th.

By then we’ll be back in Verizon territory and be able to get our emails on a regular basis.

Monday, May 11th

Greetings from Rapid City, SD!!!! We are parked behind the infamous Shipwreck Lee’s Neighborhood Bar & Grill and enjoying the wonderful hospitality of our hosts, Lee & Sheri Havorka. We did arrive in Rapid City two days before our reservation at Hart Ranch and are thoroughly enjoying the opportunity to be able to visit with “Wreck” & Sheri before the summer tourist season hits and buries them in work. Shipwreck Lee’s is due to open next week and we’ll be able to savor those delicious burgers and brews.

We left Milford on Wednesday, the 6th, after a wonderful week with cousin Nancy and all her kids. It was a lot of fun being included in the gatherings of these cousins and their kids. As we left, we encountered a few scattered showers toward Genoa. We got to Genoa, hooked up in the city park, and had the place all to ourselves. The City of Genoa has recently upgraded the RV sites with another 30-amp electric box and another water spigot. Plus all the sites have a fresh covering of new gravel. We were very comfortable for our three days there.

Cousin Ike and I were able to spend some treasured time together working in his yard, measuring a plot of farm land for a pivot irrigation system, and shopping in Columbus (22 miles east of Genoa). We visited the Gottburg Brewing Co. in Columbus where they brew some tasty beers and the best root beer you’ve ever sipped. Our time in Genoa was way too short as Ike and I enjoy sharing time together getting into all kinds of discussions working on small projects. We were able to enjoy the small-town restaurants in Genoa and see some old friends that we only get to see once a year.

On Saturday morning we pulled out of Genoa and changed our plans a bit. We decided to go north to Neligh and turn west on US-275/20. We drove west through the Sand Hills and stopped at Cody, NE for the night. Cody is a small town that can easily be missed if you blink your eyes, but it has a great little city park with four hookup sites for RVs. We spent a very quiet night before we proceeded on to Chadron, NE for a quick stop at the Super Wal-Mart. Another 90 miles had us in Rapid City by 2PM. Lee & Shari were waiting for us and we had a terrific reunion with them.

We drove down to Hart Ranch on Sunday afternoon to pick up our mail and see how things looked. Everybody at the park has a smile on their face and it’s very obvious that the mood has changed around the park. Kevin Schlecter, our Maintenance Manager last year, is now the Park Manager and has done some great things with personnel attitude. It really shows in the positive outlook shown by the employees that are already there.

I was a bit apprehensive about working this summer since we probably won’t be there for the whole summer. Our plans are to go to Bowling Green, OH in July for the big FMCA Convention followed by a possible HfH Build in Wauseon, OH. The park is expecting me to once again handle the care and grooming of the Center Court, and I’m anxiously looking forward to start working on Wednesday. I plan to go to the Tuesday morning Rushmore Rotary meeting and then get moved down to the park and settled in for the summer. It’s good to be back “home” and see a lot of old friends from Hart Ranch!