It was a wonderful July 4th Holiday in Minneapolis! We spent the day with Ed & Cindy Walsh and their daughter, Amber. We met Cindy and Amber at their home and followed them to the city park in Eden Prairie. Ed’s job at Buffets Inc. is full of stress since the company declared bankruptcy. A new Operations Officer is working to bring the company back to solvency and Ed’s job as Chief Security Officer for the corporation offers him so unique challenges. His stress reliever is his part-time avocation as a Reserve Officer for the Eden Prairie Police Dept. He has been doing it long enough to be the Senior Reserve Officer and thoroughly enjoys the responsibilities that accompany that position. On July 4th he was on duty at the park managing the Department’s Mobile Emergency Command Center, a Freightliner truck chassis converted to an emergency operations center. Eden Prairie is an upper middle class community that has a comfortable tax base resulting in some amazing equipment for the emergency services of the City. We took our portable picnic table and cooked some burgers, drank a few cool libations, and enjoyed the entertainment in the park. I also had the opportunity to meet some of the Eden Prairie police officers “talk shop”. It was a wonderfully relaxing day shared with close friends. We finally had to get back to the RV park, so we left around 8:30 before the fireworks show. When we got back to the motor home, the Mystic Casino had their own fireworks show and it was a doozie! Nancy wasn’t too thrilled about all the bangs and explosions, but it was a spectacular show!

On Sunday morning we had to pack the coach and start west to Rapid City. We had enjoyed five of the best weather days that Minneapolis has experienced in years. Sunday morning started to look a little like normal - cool, humid, and a little mist falling. We started back with plans to avoid the interstate and enjoy the US and State highways. We drove over to Marshall and on across the state line to Brookings, SD. As we drove I checked the small towns for city parks and small campgrounds to send updates to my three camping directory sources. We arrived in Brookings about 3PM and settled in at the Sexauer City Park Tourist Campground. It had 30 sites in a nice, quiet, spacious, well-kept park with lots of trees. After cooking dinner we decided to drive in to town and look for the Dairy Queen for a Blizzard for dessert. The city is the home of South Dakota State University and reflects the college influence. It’s a pretty town with one of the most impressive flower garden parks in the Midwest. We were both feeling the humidity that is common for the eastern part of the state, so we headed back to the coach and prepared for bed after some TV time.

Monday we were up with more of the high humidity and mist and started west for our goal of Pierre, the state capitol. We left Brookings and drove through and checked Lake Preston, De Smet, Huron, Miller, Highmore, and finally arrived in Pierre about 2PM. All of these towns had city parks with camping grounds that are very reasonably priced and in beautiful locations. We settled in at the Griffin City Park and drove to the local Wal-Mart for some groceries. Griffin City Park is located right on the Missouri River and has a spectacular view of the moving water. We took the time to drive around the State Capitol Building, one of the most magnificent capitols in the country. The grounds are meticulously manicured and there are several memorials located on the grounds. There is also a South Dakota Cultural Heritage Museum built into the side of a hill on the north side of the grounds. We enjoyed our time in Pierre and would like to spend about three days wandering around at a future time. Looking back we were amazed at how green all the fields were. If there weren’t bales of hay, the grass had been cut and raked into windrows for the balers. This summer most of the farms will get at least two cutting of hay with all the moisture we’ve received.

The next morning we awoke to watch the TV news/weather reports that a large thunderstorm was moving through Rapid City. We could see to the west the clouds were pretty dark, but we pulled out anyway. As we got closer we could see the sun shining and the clouds were moving to the southeast. We got to Rapid City and drove straight to the barber shop. I was in need of a haircut so took care of that chore before we headed out to Hart Ranch. When we arrived I was pleased to see that the park was still in great shape and was still in need of mowing. During the time we were gone, there had been several showers and the grass was still green. We checked in, fueled the coach, and topped off the propane tank. Our trip to Minnesota cost us a little over $700 for fuel, but was a wonderful 9-day break! However, we were ready to get back to work and finish out the summer.

That was Tuesday - on Wednesday I was back working. We’ve been continuously busy keeping the grass under control and keeping park looking attractive to our customers. It’s easy to enjoy work with the crew I work with. We have a group of hard-working guys that share the desire to get projects done and in a timely manner. It’s a lot of fun to work with these guys and makes the time fly by!

This weekend I’ve been going in early to help with the trash collection - one of our guys had some surgery done and isn’t up to working yet. It makes for a long week, but that’s part of the responsibility. After the morning chores it’s been wonderful to sit our under the awning and try to stay awake. Our weekend weather has been superb with light breezes to keep the bugs down and temperatures in the mid- to high 80’s.

This afternoon I had a surprise visit from Steve Glasser, a retired SDPD Motor Officer that I partnered with years ago. He lives down the interstate from us in Black Hawk and rode his Harley over for a visit. It was a kick to see him again and get caught up on all the guys back in San Diego, since he just spent a couple of months there to take care of some family matters. We sat outside in the shade and enjoyed the afternoon.

We don’t have any plans to travel until just after Labor Day when we head for Oregon for the Monaco factory rally. Then we’ll work our way down the coast to San Diego for a couple of months until the first of the year.

It has been over two months since we arrived at Hart Ranch and I’ve managed to get way behind in our updates. I’ll try to catch up with a reasonable amount of typing and try to keep this update readable with a sensible length.

Work has been steady with our weird, rainy weather. This summer has been the wettest in over six years. Our average rainfall amounts have exceeded the normal averages and we are ahead of the seasonal totals by almost ten inches. All this rainfall has contributed to our job security in that we are mowing twice weekly and having a difficult time keeping up with the growing grass. Our weedeaters are kept busy making the park look like it’s manicured and cared for. We are still getting our afternoon showers with towering cumulus clouds and the occasional pea-sized hail, but then the skies clear and sitting outside under the awning brings a lot of pleasure to the residents. Our occupancy rate is down less than 5% and our cabins are full each weekend.

We have had the opportunity to see visiting RVers that we know come to the park. Rod & Jean Bahnson spent three weeks last April before they headed to Minnesota to work on a church building project for the summer. We saw Wade & Linda Meyers, the president of Monaco International, stop in for a three-day visit. They had planned to stay for a week but had to get on over to Wilmar, MN to prepare for the Monaco Pre-Rally in mid-July.

At our annual membership meeting I was asked to help in barbequing 100 chickens for the member meals. One other fellow and I started at 4:30 in the morning preparing the chickens and finished all of them by 11:00AM. It was a successful feed with lots of compliments for the cooking crew. Then a little over a week ago we cooked 140 hamburgers for the working staff at Hart Ranch. With all the grounds work, the cooking breaks were a lot of fun. It’s a bear to get reputation as the BBQ Chef of Hart Ranch!

We’ve stayed pretty close to the park with all the work, but we have managed to escape for a couple of weekend events. We drove to Lincoln for a June 21st wedding of one of my cousins. I’ve really reached out a long way on the branches of our family tree to meet these young cousins. We stayed with Nancy Obermeyer, a first cousin of my dad. All five kids in her family were there. The youngest sister is only a year younger than me, so it was almost the last of their generation still alive. Nancy had seven kids, and six of them were present for the wedding. She also has 15 grandkids and 13 were there. As you can see, it was a terrific reunion and chance to get to see some of my favorite relatives. We drove the 500 miles to Lincoln straight-thru in our Kia - that was a killer drive, especially when I usually target no more than 200 miles per day. The car ran great and performed better than expected. We saw a reduced number of RVs on the road and the trucks were generally going slower. In fact, I passed most of the trucks since they were only driving 65MPH on an interstate highway with a 75MPH speed limit!

We also saw the results of the tornado that ripped through Kearny, NE a couple of weeks ago. The devastation was unbelievable! We saw metal buildings that had their roofs torn from the structure. I-80 was closed for a couple of hours to re-string high tension power lines across the freeway. It was a scary sight to see all the rubble that was dropped by the tornado.

We are now in Oacoma, SD headed for St. Paul, MN and a gathering of Monaco friends. We will be gone from Hart Ranch for a total of 8 days and be back to work next Tuesday. It’s a welcome break and we are looking forward to all the socializing that will surely take place.

We have become regular attendees of the Rapid City’s First Presbyterian Church. They have a new minister, Rev. Bob Evans. He is recently retired from the US Navy and married to a retired US Army Command Master Sargeant, Gretchen. Both of them are full of energy and are giving the church a real shot in the arm. He has been out to Hart Ranch to visit with us and joined us at Shipwreck Lee’s for dinner. After three beers with me, he said he really needed to be able to sit down and relax at a tasty dinner. We’re enjoying his preaching method and his friendship. We explained that we were not ready to join the church as we have a church in San Diego that really feels like home to us. He is comfortable with that and knows that we will support him and the church while we’re in this area. We’re slowly becoming involved in some of the activities in the church, other than Sunday services. There is a walking group that meets every other Saturday and hikes to some of the more scenic points in the Black Hills. We hope to get involved with some of the other groups that meet during the week.

However, that being our goal, it may be difficult. My daily schedule involves up at 5AM. I’m in the shop by 6:15 to get things ready, and work until 3:30. When I get home I’m usually beat and look forward to a hot shower, a short nap, and “relaxant” or two, and bed by 9 at the latest. It’s a vigorous schedule that I love because we’re getting things done. Our Grounds team is a great group of guys that enjoy working and do an excellent job. They’re a joy to be around and rewarding to work with.

I guess that brings you all up to date. We’re enjoying our summer and really don’t want it to end. This part of the country treats us well and we hate the thought of leaving. But the snows and cold of winter will make it easy to return to the balmy weather of San Diego!!

Friday, May 2nd

We have had our first initiation to Midwest blizzard conditions! Last night we watched the weather forecast and expected to see some rain turning to snow later in the evening. When we went to bed, we were experiencing rain and lots of wind. As the hours passed into early Friday morning, the rain changed to snow and was being driven by 40-50 MPH winds. At 2AM I was awakened when the electricity went out. We had a series of outages for about 30 minutes until the power finally went out and stayed out. I decided not to worry about the loss of electricity and started the generator. I’ve been a pretty frugal person when it comes to burning propane for the furnace or diesel fuel for the generator. However, it was cold and I needed the power for my CPAP machine.

Nancy was really getting hinky about the wind rocking the coach. At gusts of 40-50 MPH, this coach rocks quite a bit. She was not relaxing and was walking between the head of the bed and somewhere close to me where she could push right in and feel secure. By 3AM I couldn’t see out any of the windows due to the horizontal snowfall we were experiencing. The snow was packing on the windows and beginning to stick to the ground. The wind was causing the snow to drift resulting in a pile of snow that was almost 3’ high outside the passenger’s side of the coach.

We managed to get some sleep the remainder of the night and I was up by 6AM. I went ahead and dressed in thermals and two sweat suits with a hooded jacket, knit cap, and thermal waterproof gloves. I walked over to the Maintenance shed to see what I could do to help. Our Maintenance Supervisor brought a cooler with a dozen eggs, two loaves of bread, syrup and some deer sausage. He designated me the cook and to start preparing some breakfast for the guys that were working. I scrounged up an electric skillet and hot plate and started cooking. We had a terrific breakfast of sausage and French toast. While the rest of the guys started out to attempt to plow the snow off the roads, I got KP duty and cleaned up the dishes and the “kitchen”. The wind continued to blow the snow and the plowing efforts were almost fruitless. I remained in the shop to pump propane for the folks that were running low. Many of the trailers don’t have generators and were running low on their propane tanks. We had two trucks going to sites where people needed propane. They would get the tanks, bring them to the shop, and I would fill them before they were returned to the owner with full tanks. With the hooded jackets and sweatshirt I could fight the wind-blown snow and stay reasonably comfortable while I pumped the propane. That was my job for the remainder of the day - until about 4PM. Since we weren’t able to get any of the trashcans emptied today, I’ll be working on Saturday to get the trash completed.

As I’m typing this, the sun is beginning to set and some of the snow has melted on the surrounding hills and in the streets of our park. The temperature is supposed to get down to 22 degrees tonight with winds continuing in 30-40 MPH range. We are comfortable, warm, and secure in our coach. Nancy is amazed by the snow and we are glad this event will last only one day. The weather gurus are forecasting temperatures of 46 on Saturday and 59 on Sunday. This weather system will move on east and we’ll anticipate some great temperatures next week causing us to mow the watered grass.

A phone call from Vicki & Don Leith was a real shocker today. She phoned to tell us their brand, new house had been destroyed by the tornadoes that ripped through Arkansas. They lost the new house and their car, but the motor home survived with minor damage to one of the mirrors. They, however, survived without a scratch! The house is just a thing - their lives are much more important. We were saddened to hear their news and will think of them as they are going to have to start over again rebuilding their dream house.

Yes, South Dakota is a unique experience! We are having a ball and learning how lucky you SoCal folks are…

Saturday, April 26th

It’s almost 6PM as I sit here writing this latest edition - I’m thinking about all you Southern Californians basking in your 80 degree weather. As I look out the window of our motor home, I’m watching the snow come down almost horizontally and beginning to stick to the ground. It’s a beautiful ending to a rather cool week, but we’ll all be glad when we have warm weather again. I tried to get a photo of the phenomenon but I couldn’t get a good picture. The snow is finally letting up as it has only been dropping the big white flakes for about twenty minutes. Our outside temperature is about 35 degrees and it’s warm and comfortable in the coach. If any of you have followed the national weather, you will remember the storm front that passed through the eastern side of the state last night and left up to 8” of snow in Mitchell and Huron. We had only some wind and light rain with that system, but it has been windy, cold, and definitely NOT an outside day today!

We have been here for a little over a week now. We had one day with the temperature up in the 60’s, but the remainder of the days have been cool and windy. That is the nature of spring in South Dakota. If you don’t like the weather, just wait for a few minutes and it will change. The wind has been blowing every day with speeds of anywhere from 20-35 miles per hour. It really rocks the coach when the breezes get brisk and makes the temperature feel 20 degrees lower. Amazingly our little electric heater does a great job of keeping the inside of the coach comfortable. At night we sleep under a couple of blankets and a warm down comforter. That doesn’t even consider the little warm body that radiates a lot of heat when she crashes between us on the bed.

In spite of the weather we have been doing a lot of work outside. We even mowed the grass earlier this week and will probably have to get the mowers running again on Monday. Our Maintenance crew is only six of us so far. There are supposed to be three more fellows arrive before the fifteenth of May. We could probably get along fine with the guys we have since our workload isn’t all that great yet. Plus, we have some new equipment that will ease the workload a great deal.

We had originally planned to purchase another new lawn mower - a Hustler zero degree radius turn mower with a Kawasaki engine and a five foot cut. We have two of those that have been purchased in the last two years. Instead of getting a new one, Kevin, the Maintenance Supervisor, purchased a used John Deere diesel-engine gang mower with an 11’ cut. It does an incredible job of cutting grass and throwing the clippings out the rear of the deck. It is a little more difficult to steer and keep a straight line. I prefer to cut grass and keep a meticulous straight line so the lawn looks manicured. It’s very difficult to keep the lines straight with this new mower. In the front of the Lodge where the first sight of the park is absorbed by our visitors I always want the lawn to be detailed and perfect in it’s cut pattern. I know, it’s a little anal of me to be that way, but that is the way it looks the best. Last year Gary Smoot and I shared that goal of mowing the grass so it was perfect in its design. I’m trying to continue that effort this year. It will probably require me to use the Hustler mower on that front section and possibly on the grounds behind the Lodge. However I’ll use the John Deere on the back portions of the Center Court to speed up the cutting process. Two of us mowed the whole park in 2 days last week so the Deere really is an effective tool.

I have been wearing blue jeans all week due to the cool weather. I even threw on some thermal bottoms last week and a watch cap to keep my ears from getting too cold. Sweatshirts are the dress of the day with these cool temps. And, of course, gloves are a necessity to keep your fingers thawed. We’ve formed up 12 concrete pads for our trash cans, picked up several truck loads of pine cones and blown-down branches, mowed the whole grounds, and even cleaned up a new room which will be our wood shop. We’ve gotten a lot accomplished in the cold weather and we’re all looking forward to the warming trend that will start on Sunday. On Thursday of next week we’ll be getting another cold front coming from the Pacific Northwest and could get more rain. We need all the wet weather we could get, but it slows down our progress on the outside jobs.

The park is beginning to fill as the summer regulars are beginning to arrive. Many of the seasonal workers have arrived and we are seeing many of the sites begin to be occupied. There are several of the folks that were here last year that won’t be returning - some of those we won’t miss. Others are going to be missed a lot!

Oh, well, treasure your warm weather - we still have the potential for some more rain and even snow. Dottie and I will be thinking of all of you. She is managing to stay busy around the coach and doing some of her projects that she’s had on the back burner. Nancy still gets nervous when the wind blows and starts the coach to rocking, but she seems to enjoy having somebody at home all the time.

As I said, if you don’t like the weather, just wait a few minutes. It’s almost 6:30 and the sun is shining and melting the snow flakes that had settled on the green grass. What a beautiful sight!!!

Saturday, April 19th

We drove to Cody, NE on Monday afternoon. When we arrived we found their city park and RV sites. There were three electric boxes with 50-amp hookups. However, the water wasn’t turned on yet. The town of Cody is very small - however, it has a bar and grill. We thought about staying there for the night, but I decided to move on the Gordon, NE. Gordon was listed in my references as having a city park with hookups and was only another 50 miles of driving. We pressed on and couldn’t find the listed park. So, we ended up paying for a full hookup site in a local RV park. It was a good decision as I was able to wash the coach and the car to get the worst of the previous day’s rain and road crud cleaned off. We also had 50-amp electric and Dottie was able to wash a couple of loads of clothes.

Gordon is a quaint little town that has problems with revenue-raising and the expenses necessary to keep a regional center going. It has a hospital that has difficulty keeping a doctor on the staff. Most of the residents are retired farmers who have moved in to town and are reaching the age of medical problems. I heard a radio talk program about the challenges faced by the hospital board in retaining a good general practice doctor.

We spent the night and departed on Tuesday morning about 9AM. We drove to Chadron and the local Super Wal-Mart. There were a few things we needed so we stopped and spent some time shopping. When we continued our drive north on SD-79, we were fighting a wind the remainder of the way. We got Hart Ranch by 12:30 and checked in. It was good to be back and the park looked great for this early in the season.

We’ve seen lots of folks we know and have gotten the word on the new manager. She seems to have made quite an impression with all the supervisors by her management techniques. The Board of Directors will have some challenges in front of them if they want to retain their supervisory staff. I haven’t met her yet, but it sounds like she’ll either have some changing and adjusting to do or we’ll have a new manager in the near future.

I started working on Thursday and am anxious to get going. We have a new lawn mower to use that should cut down our mowing time. Instead of a 5’-cut zero-degree-turn mower, this is a John Deere gang mower with three blade housings and drives like a tractor. It is in excellent shape and should be a big help in the mowing task.

The park is still fairly empty but looks great. I am anticipating a fun-filled summer and getting a lot of projects accomplished much like last year. Our Maintenance Staff is shaping up to be a good one again this year and there is a lot of talent that will be available. We still aren’t out of the woods for potentially rough weather, but so far it has been wonderfully warm. We’re home for the summer!!

Monday, April 14th

We left Nancy’s house and Milford on Thursday afternoon and started our drive of about 90 miles to Genoa, NE and cousin Ike Anderson’s place. Before we left Ike phoned and suggested we meet him in York, NE for lunch with him, sister Harriet and Dave Maser. They live in Sutton and we hadn’t seen them since last August at the family reunion in Lincoln. We met Ike at the Super Wally and he drove us to a small Chinese restaurant nearby.

The drive from Milford was rainy as a new frontal system was approaching from the west and threatened rain and possible snow flurries that evening. I drove I-80 at my usual slow pace and let the speeders go on by. By the time we arrived in York, the coach had been exposed to plenty of water from the trucks and cars passing us. We pulled in to the Super Wally lot and waited for Ike. The rain increased in intensity as we drove further west . Our lunch was almost two hours with all the visiting we did. It was a pleasant surprise to see Harriet and get some time with her.

We finally finished our visits and Ike drove us back to the coach. He went on ahead and we followed at our slower pace. Before we arrived in Genoa, Ike phoned to tell us that the park in Genoa looked OK for parking and that we would be the only occupants. We arrived about ten minutes later and got our parking routine handled. Ike had driven on home but returned shortly and assisted me in getting hooked up. Once we were settled in, we started visiting and watched the rain transform to huge snowflakes. The outside temperature was still warm enough that the snow didn’t stick, but it made for a pretty picture. We stayed at the coach that night to rest and watch some TV. We had only a 20amp electrical hookup which limited us on what appliances we could use. Our TV was working great on Lincoln channels with the antenna, so we were comfortable for the evening.

Friday morning we awoke to frost on the ground without snow. The wind was blowing and continued throughout the day. It continued to rain with reports of snow just a few miles north of us. I was able to dig out some of our warm clothes that were packed away in a storage bay. The London Fog jacket I’d gotten form cousin Paul Anderson was put to good use in the 28-degree temperature. We spent some time with Ike and Dorothy at their new house in Genoa. We had seen the house last August, but they weren’t moved in yet. They left the farm and moved in to town. The house actually gave me my first yearnings for a fixed location. It gives them plenty of room for entertaining and being close to the activities that Ike is involved in. It is beautifully furnished and each of them are very happy with the move. We enjoyed dinner at one of Genoa‘s two restaurants. I found that I was able to connect to a local wi-fi near Ike’s house, so I was able to download email and get some catching up done.

Saturday Ike and I had breakfast at the Great Plains Café, and then went to his house to tackle a project in his garage. We installed some bracing and shelving in his back garage shed for some overhead storage. It was a project that took most of the day as we were on ladders for the majority of the work. We had a great time and accomplished a very satisfying task. The girls went down to Grand Island to see Ike’s daughter. Dinner that night was after church services at another bar/restaurant in town. Genoa has about four bars and a couple of restaurants. It is a typical small town where everybody knows everybody else. It’s always fun to see some of the regulars that we have gotten to recognize from past visits.

Sunday morning we slept in and Ike visited us about 10:00am. He invited us to breakfast at the Great Plains with Dorothy, so we rushed our cleanup and joined them at their house. After breakfast, we went to the coach, secured it for traveling, and drove over to their house again. I was able to get online and download mail for the last time before we said our farewells and struck out for O’Neill, NE for the night. The weather was turning warm and beautiful. We had a slight headwind and observed the increasing signs of heavier snowfall as we drove about 65 miles north of Genoa. We arrived in O’Neill about three hours later and parked in the Carney Park, a city park south of town with 50amp electric. After our early dinner, we drove back to ton in the car for a blizzard at the Dairy Queen. I took my laptop on the chance I might find an open wi-fi. The owner of the DQ saw me as I discovered a signal in the DQ and explained that many of the businesses purchased laptops for all the juniors and seniors in the local high school. Several of the businesses have established a wi-fi connection in their stores for the use of the kids.

The drive up to O’Neill and west on US-20 to Valentine was a pleasurable trip. We see all the snow on the ground and on the side of the highway, but nothing on the roadway itself. The roads are in excellent shape and dry. But the surrounding farmland still has patches and snowdrifts very visible. I had heard that there was 3-5” of snow that had fallen and I believe it was at least that much. It makes the drive through the Nebraska Sand Hills a real experience and gives a different look to the landscape. We stopped in Valentine at the McDonald’s to sample their dollar menu for lunch on Monday and discovered an open wi-fi signal. So, this latest edition will be sent out using their internet connection. I really appreciate these free wi-fi connections!!

Our travel schedule has us in Cody, NE Monday night and Hart Ranch on Tuesday. Cody is a short 150-mile drive to the west on US-20, and another 150 miles to Rapid City on Tuesday. Our weather forecasts call for some excellent weather the next few days with temperatures in the mid-70’s. We are proud to be able to bring the good weather with us - yeah, right! The next Travelogue will be from Hart Ranch outside of Rapid City. We’ll finally be home!!!!

Thursday, April 10th

The Wichita cousins really outdid themselves with their hospitality and warmth. We had a wonderful dinner of hamburgers cooked out on the grill at cousin Mary’s house. Her 33-year-old son, Justin, did the honors of cooking and brought a salad he’d made. He prides himself on his cooking talent and truly does an excellent job! We all had dinner and made plans for breakfast the following morning. When we arose the next morning, we drove downtown to the Hyatt Hotel and met Jim & Linda for a fantastic breakfast buffet. The hotel is located on the Arkansas River where the City of Wichita is actively redeveloping and creating a pedestrian-friendly environment and a tourist attraction. We enjoyed breakfast as we watched the river activities and the early morning joggers/walkers take advantage of the concrete sidewalks along the riverbank.

Once breakfast was done and we had said our goodbyes, we drove back to the coach, packed up, and headed north for Hebron, NE. Along the way we stopped in Salina, KS at the last Flying J for a while and topped off the fuel tank. We were in and out of light showers for the duration of the drive in to Nebraska. Once again, when we crossed the state line, I had this unusual feeling of being home again. We drove on to Hebron, home of the largest porch swing, and to the Riverside City Park. The park has about 16 large, level, grassy RV sites with 30-amp electric and water. I picked a site where I could get satellite reception and decided to pull straight in. The ground was just a bit soft from the rains they’ve received and I was concerned that our 18-ton coach might sink into the ground. We got parked and set up to enjoy a quiet evening meal. The next day we found that the Phillips 66/Runza/Subway store on US-81 had an open wi-fi. I was able to connect and get my emails retrieved and some sent out. The weather forecasters were talking of rain that evening, so we decided to move out of the site and onto the hard-packed ground of the driveway. I could still reach the electric and water hookups so we prepared for a night of wind and rain. The rains didn’t start until the next morning as we were ready to pull out. The park has a dump station so we drained the holding tanks for our week in Milford.

It was only an 81-mile drive to Milford and cousin, Nancy Obermeyer’s acreage. She was working but we pulled in to the driveway and got the coach hooked up to electric and water. When Nancy got home about 2:30, she wanted to go to Lincoln and the Super Wally, Sam’s Club, and PetSmart. We got the errands handled and stopped at Misty’s for dinner. Misty’s is a small microbrewery and pub that makes their own beers. They are known for their prime rib so we decided to sample their specialty. Their beer sampler was outstanding and the prime rib was so tender it could be cut with a fork. Lincoln is a college town, home of the University of Nebraska. The college influence is prevalent in the downtown district where most of the older buildings are being renovated to an upscale dining and shopping area. Misty’s is located in one of those older buildings and has a unique atmosphere with outstanding service by the college wait staff.

Friday afternoon we went to a track meet in Malcomb, NE, about 15 miles from Milford. Austin, Nancy’s grandson, was running and accomplished a couple of meet records in the sprints. After the meet we drove home talking about the steaks I’d cook outside on the BBQ. As we drove by Shari’s Bar & Grill in Milford, we saw the sign out front advertising their fish special. Well, it didn’t take long to decide to stop and partake of the fried fish for $7.50/person. It was a tasty dinner in a quaint, quiet, neighborhood atmosphere. Shari’s is an old bar that the new owners are trying to convert to a neighborhood grill. The food was tasty, the price was right, and the ambience was small town friendly.

Saturday we did some chores around the house and waited for Nancy to get off work. We needed to go back to Lincoln and Sam’s Club to check on a couple of items. Austin, his girlfriend Megan, Nancy, Dottie and I drove in and stopped at Lazlo’s, another Lincoln microbrew pub, for dinner. Lazlo’s is affiliated with The Empyrean Brewing Co., a regional microbrewery that distributes their beers in the Midwest. Lazlo’s is located in the Haymarket District of Lincoln, near the old train depot. It is much like Misty’s - the old buildings are amazing with the original brick fascias, updated ceiling fans for cooling, and brick streets. We all stuffed ourselves on the wonderful food. I had the beer sampler platter that gave me 3-oz. samples of all eight beers from Empyrean Brewing Co. It was a great way to taste their variety of beers. For dessert we walked to a homemade ice cream store for some scrumptious ice cream flavors. The ice cream is made daily and was absolutely wonderful.

Sunday morning we drove in to Lincoln again to attend church at the Westminster Presbyterian Church, the church where we were members 50 years ago. I didn’t recognize anybody in the church but enjoyed the chance to see the grand old sanctuary that I remember as a child. After church we drove to SE Lincoln to check out Lazlo’s South. Dottie and I split a sandwich and had a couple of their ales. We also did some shopping at the Loew’s and Menard’s looking for a pressure tank for the coach water system. When we got home, Austin came over and we washed three cars and the motor home. Nancy got home from work and cooked a pork loin for supper. After supper we all loaded into her car and drove about 35 miles to Hickman.

Nancy has wanted a St. Bernard puppy and found some advertised in the Sunday paper. She picked out a cute little female and became the proud owner of white/tan/brown St. Bernard she calls Sophie. It is a 7-week old pup that is cute as can be. I’ve reminded Nancy that she now has a baby to care for and she has a challenge before her. The pup did great the first night and seems to be adjusting well to her new home. Her paws are HUGE but she’s a beautiful little dog - for the time being. It’s fun watching this little girl, but persistence and patience are a necessity with this new dog. She has her own bed and likes retiring to the safety of her pad. Austin will be a big help in the training and monitoring of her.

Monday Nancy finally had the first of two days off. We gathered her three dogs, loaded them into the car, and drove to Seward to the vet’s office. All three dogs needed some attention, some inoculations, and a good check-up. Nancy has another house dog, a Scottie, and an outside dog, a Black Lab. Now she’ll have a second dog to keep her company in the house and have to go through the house-breaking routine. Ugh!!

Nancy is also looking seriously at a new car. She has been checking out the Jeep Patriot. The local dealer is really helping her get the things that she wants and needs, so we made a visit this afternoon. She’ll order the car with a special color and I’m trying to give her some guidance in what options she might need. We’re going to get a GPS off the internet so she can also use it in her other car. We got the Garmin GPS ordered and it arrived on Thursday afternoon after we left Milford.