June 29, 2014 - Trip Home

We left the campground at 7:00 AM. On our way, George saw a sign for a McDonald's as he had a hankering for a Sausage McGriddle. So of course we have a 42 foot motorhome plus a 3 foot tow bar, plus a 15 foot SUV. So George pulls into the McDonald's with this huge 60 foot vehicle. OMG! He stayed with the motorhome and I went into the restaurant to get he food. Before going in, I scouted out how we were going to get Big Betsy at of the place. Inside the restaurant, place was mobbed! They had one person cooking the food, one person filling the orders for the drive-thru, one person on the on cash register taking orders, one person filling orders for the inside orders, plus the manager who was working taking orders, and filling orders. There was easy, 20 people waiting for food including myself. Plus the new people pouring in to giver their orders. It took me 25 minutes to get my FAST food. Before we began to feast, we had to get out of this place. Fortunately I wasn't driving because I shut my eyes and hoped for the best. Whew! Made it out of there with no problems. I kept saying to myself, that McDonald's needs to have deliveries made via those huge tractor trailers. The only difference between us and the tractor trailers is we can't back up when towing the SUV. Upon an occasion over the course of our RV travels, we have, had to unhook the SUV so we could get out of a tricky situation. We stopped for fuel once in Ohio, as we didn't want to pay Pennsylvania prices. We bought it for $3.82 a gallon, as opposed to Pennsylvania at $4.50 a gallon. We tried stopping at a rest stop in Pennsylvania when we got on the Turnpike but they only back in spaces for RVs and Trucks, so we pushed further. At the next one we ended up parking for long enough for George to use the facilities in a non-parking zone as all of the RV and truck spaces were filled. I also took Abby out. We then headed home. We actually rolled into NJ around 3:30 PM, and physically got home in the house around 4:30. We didn't eat dinner until around 7 PM. I only brought enough food home that would fit into a small cooler. We had hotdogs and cucumber salad. It was good to be home.

June 28, 2014 - Granville, OH

We got up this morning, had our coffee and Chai. George took Abby out for a long walk. Then we went to the Granville Farmers Market & Craft Fair in the middle of town. It runs every Saturday from 8:30 AM to 12 noon. It reminded me of the one in South Jersey that we like to go to - the Collingswood Farmers Market. We thought this one had very reasonable pricing. A huge loaf of Foccacia bread was only $4. I make homemade foccacia bread myself, and for all of the love and work that goes into it, frankly I wouldn't want to have to sell it for only $4. We bought the loaf of foccacia, 3 cucumbers, chicken maple apple sausages, a small cherry pie, small apple pie, a scone for MIL, and some Christmas presents which I won't mention. From there we put the perishable items into a cooler. George suggested we walk down and look at the shops since we had time to kill before we went to a cruise on Buckeye Lake at 2 PM. As we walked down the street there were a lot of tables outside for various restaurants with people dining. We decided to have breakfast, and George told me to select one, so the one I chose happened to be Mexican cuisine, which I didn't realize when I chose it. George and I both selected an Egg Quesadilla which consisted of scrambled eggs, onions, bell peppers and cheddar cheese between a folded flour tortilla, served with sour cream, lettuce, quacamole and Pico de Gallo. After we paid the waitress, she offered us our iced tea in To-Go cups. The breakfast was fabulous! Until, I began writing this blog entry, I didn't even know the name of the restaurant. It is DayyNoche, and I highly recommend it, should you ever be in Granville, OH. After breakfast, we went back to the motorhome to place the perishables on ice and the rest of the things out of the hot car. As we were driving through the campground I noticed that there was a whole group of children on the ropes course and zip line that is part of the recreational activities. When we got back to the motorhome, George took Abby over to the zip line area to watch, while I stayed in the air conditioning, and prepared a new batch of cucumber salad. George leaves the trip planning solely up to me. He says he is just the driver, so with that said, I decided that we would skip the boat ride and go back to the Velvet Ice Cream store and get sundaes. As it turned out, It was a good thing we didn't go for the boat ride as a severe thunderstorm came through about 2:30 PM. We left at 1:30 PM to go get the ice cream. Since we are planning on heading home tomorrow, for three reasons. A lot of things close down for the week of the 4th, plus most campgrounds are booked solid that week. In addition there is a huge front coming through, with severe weather forecast to be really bad, and we really don't want to be in our RV when it hits. Before the rains came today, we decided to pack up the car with all of our clothing, both dirty and clean. Plus other things. So we will only need to get the food out, and we can do that on Monday. We will be leaving early tomorrow as we have at least an eight hour trip, probably more like 10 hours.

June 27, 2014 - Granville, OH

This morning, I set my alarm for 7:30 AM and when I got up George was out walking Abby. I had mission to my madness, as I wanted to get the sausage McGriddle at McDonald's and they stop making the breakfast items at 10:30 AM. I have only ever had 5 of them before this trip, and I can tell you exactly when and where. The very first time was out in Seattle, WA, the morning we went to Mt. Rainier National Park. And we have both enjoyed them 3 other times this trip. We had our coffee/chai and headed out to tour the Longaberger company in Frazeysburg, Ohio. On our way, we saw a giant Longaberger basket which actually was the corporate headquarters. Since we didn't see a McDonald's on our way, I found one close to our route, and my phone steared us to the location via over hill, over dale. George couldn't believe some of the roads we went on, and was positive that at the end, there wasn't going to be a McDonald's, but there was. Then we reprogrammed the phone to the Longaberger Homestead. We parked and went inside and they directed us to the manufacturing building where the tours took place. We arrived for the 10:30 tour. I have several "vintage" Longaberger baskets that I bought 25 years ago, and our everyday dinner ware is Longaberger vitrified china, which is extremely durable due to its high heat firing. It is microwave, oven, dishwasher and freezer safe, and although it is expensive, it is well worth it as it is difficult to break but not impossible. Over the 20 years of ownership, I have only had two things break. One was a baking dish and the other a dinner plate when dropped on to a quartz countertop. Of course my pattern was retired, so I can only get replacements from Ebay or Amazon. My dishes were made in the USA and have that baked into the bottom of each piece, however, I have heard that they have since outsourced the manufacturing of their pottery out of the country. The tour of their basket manufacturing was interesting as everything is handmade, which expains why their basket products are so expensive. Back in the 1990's at the height of their business they had two shifts of 1000 basket weavers working making baskets, and now a sign of the times, they are down to 75 basket weavers during their busy season, which begins in July in anticipation of the holidays. After the tour we went to a huge gift shop featuring all of their products. Everything except the Make A Basket, Tomboy Tools and Spices was 50% 0ff in price. We took photos in front of a giant round basket with jumbo apples inside and on the way to our next destination we stopped and took photos of their National Headquarters as it was sculpted to look like a basket. We then headed to what I thought was a tour of a bread manufacturer, but I had a bad address. Then we we went to Flint Ridge Memorial but opted not to go on the trail to it as it was heading down the mountain. We stopped at a farm stand and bought corn which we enjoyed with the final 6 leftover ribs. We also went to the pool, took Abby for a couple of walks and settled in for the night.

June 26, 2014 - Granville, OH

This morning George got up early and took Abby out for a long walk around the campground before I got up. Abby loves puddles, which she splashes around in. The area had a lot of rain before we arrived with many areas of the county of Licking being flooded. Abby jumped on the bed and nuzzled me with her puddle drenched, toweled off face. George always towels her off, which she hates, but I think he missed her chin. After we had our coffee and chai, We stopped by the dumpster to get rid of the trash. Then we headed out to see the Alligator Mound, which is located in a development and surrounded by half a million to 1 million dollar homes. Some of the driveways, would scare me to drive down in summer conditions let alone in ice and snow. Funny thing is the ultra steep grades of the driveways impressed me more than the houses. The Alligator Mound is situated in the middle of a loop, and is quite steep to climb. To say the least, it was a bit disappointing. And frankly, I don't even know how it was first discovered? The most exciting part of it, besides the driveways was the Ohio Historical Marker at the foot of it. After I climbed to the top, I could see slightly raised areas with no discernable shape. After we left, I looked it up, and and saw an aerial view which showed a faint raised area that resembled an animal, if you have a vivid imagination. From there we headed to the Newark Earthworks, which is another prehistoric site made up of geometric shapes consisting of circles, an octagon and numerous smaller shapes of which the original formation was 4 miles in size. Unfortunately a good bit of the original formation was not preserved as it was built upon, and another part of it has a golf course on it. Archaeologists now  believe that the formation was a place of spiratural ritual rather than the early thinking that it was some sort of fort. They have noticed that the circle and octagon centers line up perfectly with the rising of the moon. After dissecting one of the mounds, it was discovered that the ancients used three colors of dirt. Carbon dating, of some of the items found in one of mounds, shows that they are approximately 2000 years old. And in it's enormity, can only be seen from above. The shapes are all mathematical in nature. Unlike the Alligator Mound, the shapes are quite detailed and sharp protruding from the landscape. We walked around a small portion of the grounds reading the plaques. Afterward, we went to an toured the Velvet ice cream company, to see how they make their ice cream. We ate lunch in their cafe. I had a delicious taco salad in a tortia shell bowl and George had a pulled pork barbecued sandwich. Afterward we had ice cream too. From there we went to an RV dealer to see if they had a replacement hose, like the one we loss on the first day out of this trip. They did not. When we came back to the campground we took Abby for a nice long walk, and went down to the creek to see if she would go in since it was a glorified puddle but she was put off by the current and only got her front paws wet. In campgrounds, one thing you can count on is having a crowd gather around gawking at you when you have difficulty parking your rig. There are the outright nosey ones, the helpful ones with valuable advice, the helpful ones that have no idea what they are talking about, laughing ones and the ones who are shaking their heads at you predictament. We spent most of the evening glued to the dinette window watching a a guy, trying to park a toy hauler trailer into a site with a tree with low branches. He must have pulled in and out two dozen times. Normally all rigs are backed in as the hookups are at the back of the site. This guy was pulling in so he could have his outside living area the same way as his friend in the next site. Both trailers had big motorcycles in the back. While he was still trying to get his rig in, another trailer arrived and he too, was having difficulty getting his rig just right. George couldn't help himself, and as he hooked Abby up for a short walk to get a better look. He may have been able to fool the others but he didn't fool me. Finally, I think he determined he had a better view from the motorhome. Eventually everyone was settled and tucked in for the night.

June 25, 2014 - Granville, Ohio

Last night we discussed staying another night in North Bend in order to go back to the National Museum of the Air Force. I had originally wanted to go see the Serpent Mound, which is one of two animal effigies in Southern Ohio. The Serpent Mound is an ancient mound in the shape of a serpent which archaeologists believe is from prehistoric time. It is 1,348 ft long and it really can only be seen by the air. So then I noticed another such formation along our route that is called the Alligator Mound, also another prehistoric effigy, which is in the middle of a housing development. It is in the National Register of Historic Places. So on our was to Lazy River Campground, our next destination, George asked me, how far the National Museum of the Air Force was from our route, and it wasn't too faraway, so we went there first on the way, to finish the rest of what we missed on Monday. It took us about two hours to see the rest of the museum, and then we headed on our way. Stopped for diesel and arrived around 4:30 PM. As we were driving down Dry Creek Road, about 75' below on the right, I could look down the hill and see trailers and motorhomes parked in the woods. Then we saw a blue and white camping road sign, and there was a dirt drive way entering the road that we were on, at a severe angle, that we could not possibly turn on. It was also on a steep grade down too. So George kept driving, and then the road we were on dipped down a steep grade and at the bottom was a real Camp Ground sign and a wide paved driveway! Relief is! The campground looks nice! We will be here until Sunday. The campground has planned activities, is along a stream, has mature shade trees and wide open spaces for big rigs. We had a choice of 50 Amps or cable, so we chose 50 Amps. Plus we paid $15. for unlimited Wifi for a week, as it was cheaper then paying $5. a day. It allows access to their system for two devices, so George and I chose to use it with our iPads. For dinner we had leftovers. George took Abby for a walk after dinner while I stayed here planning what we would be seeing while we are in this location.

June 24, 2014 - North Bend, Ohio

This morning I set my alarm for 7:30 AM as we wanted plenty of time to do our morning rituals including coffee, chai, walking Abby, etc. We wanted to leave at 8:30-ish as the GPS told me the Aquarium was 28 minutes away from the campground. George was on the phone and when he got off he said to me are you ready. I looked around the coach and check to see if I had my keys, phone, phone charger, purse, camera and then announced I was ready to go when George was? George put his shoes on, grabbed his wallet, oxygen and car keys, and we left for the Aquarium. We drove a couple of miles and just turned on to I-75 West when I exclaimed, "I FORGOT THE TICKETS!!!" We were lucky as the next exit was only 3 miles away, so we were able to exit and get turned around and go back, get tickets and get to the Aquarium in time for our scheduled in time which was 10 AM. Now, the Penguin Encounter was schedules for 11:00 AM, and I asked about where we would go for that, and the ticket taker pointed to a spot near the gift shop, where we were to meet. He also told us we could go in and out as many times as we wanted as long as we showed our ticket. Since we arrived at 10, we went down the escalator to the beginning and walked and viewed the different fish from Africa, then we were just going into the next exhibit, when George looked at his watch and said we needed to go to the location near the gift shop for the Penguin Encounter. Only problem is, the only way out unless it was an emergency, was at the far end of the building, so we got a warp speed version of the aquarium. After asking various staff on the way, we finally found an elevator to the lobby floor and people had already begun to gather. Whew, we made it! Soon the penguin handlers came and told us to walk between blue painted lines while walking past the open shark tank. Told everyone, not to push anyone in the shart tank. We all received hand sanitizer so we didn't contaminate the birds, and then we all marched into a enclosed glass room. The birds were hanging out in a pen, and one of the handlers went in and rounded them up into a corner. Then the rest of us filed in and sat down on benches in a U shape. Then the handler allowed the penguins to wander freely. A photographer was on hand taking photos the whole time plus we too were taking photos. We got to pet one on the back. Their feathers are quite soft. They also perched a penguin on top of a rolling mock rock, which they took photos of us with. I ended up buying one of the photos. Afterward, George and I went back down to view the rest of the aquarium. We enjoyed it! The National Aquarium in Baltimore is more vertical, so this one appeared larger, but it may be an illusion. We felt that the aquarium brochure should have mentioned the shows available, but otherwise, the tanks were pristine and the descriptions were up high so people in the back and the front could read the information. It was around 1 PM when we left the aquarium, and we went to Brothers Tavern on the Levee. Unknown to me, George bought me a wonderful stone carved turtle hatching from an egg. We dined outside overlooking the Ohio River and downtown Cincinati. We then headed back to the motorhome and enjoyed QueenBea's http://www.recipezazz.com/recipe/chicken-caesar-skewers-1278

 in spaghetti sauce over spaghetti. It was planned, as storms were predicted, and no grilling was required, even though the recipe calls for them to be grilled on skewers. Between storms we were able to get ice cream at the stand down the road. 

June 23, 2014 - North Bend, Ohio

I think it has been since 2009, and two previous trips to this area that I have tried to see the Penquin Encounter at the Newport Aquarium in Newport, Kentucky. The first trip, we came out in August 2009, to visit our youngest daughter Kell while she was living in Ohio. Kell had stopped at the Newport Aquarium on her way from Louisiana to Cleveland, Ohio area. She so much enjoyed it, and felt I would too. So when we came out to visit her in '09, we also met up with one of my best friends, whom I hadn't seen in person since 11th grade when she moved to Texas with her family. George's Mom, George and myself toured Ohio and Indiana, and we were on the down swing and were camped outside of Cincinnati. As soon as I purchased the tickets for the Penguin Encounter, we received a phone call from an ill relative and rushed home cutting the trip short. The next time we traveled to Kentucky to a Good Sam RV Rally with our travel buddies, Laurie and Bob. After the rally, they went home and we went to a campground in northern Kentucky near the Newport Aquarium. Once again, I bought tickets for the Penguin Encounter. One needs to buy them in advance of the day going as they sell out fast. So between the time I bought them and the day the tickets were good for, we received another call from home, that another family member was ill. So off we went back home. So here we are again, in the area, staying at yet another campground and different from the last previous times. Last night, I tried buying tickets in advance for the Penguin Encounter as well as general admission tickets, however the website wasn't working, and would just keep sending me to the same page over and over again. Then I tried later and it only wanted me to buy a season pass or renew a season pass. So I aborted the mission. So this morning, I was finally able to get on and buy the tickets. Save a penny Benny, chose to print the tickets herself, as we do have a printer which my computer sees over the wireless connection. Ten times I tried to print those tickets, and ten times I failed. I was starting to think that I was going to have to go buy a flash-drive, and download the PDF on to it, and take it to Staples to have the tickets printed. I was lamenting by this time, that I hadn't paid the extra $2.00 per ticket to get them at Will Call. While trouble shooting my Mac and the printer, I suddenly remembered that when we hooked up the printer, we needed a WiFi connection, that we always would have, so we chose my phone's Hot Spot. So I looked at my connection, and it was on the WiFi for the campground. I then put my Hot Spot on and Whaa Laa! It began printing, only problem was, that I had ten jobs in the printer, so I began to madly delete them all but one! After that was finished, we headed out to the National Museum of the Air Force at an AFB in Dayton, OH. It is a huge place with 3 huge hangers full of planes. http://www.nationalmuseum.af.mil

This place is incredible and its Free. It was an hour away from our campground as, I had a choice of picking one close to the Penguins or close to the AFB, so I chose the Penguins. When we go sightseeing, we normally press the map on our SUV GPS and it records that location, so we can find our way back. However, today, we forgot to do that. And of course, both car chargers were in the motorhome. I had the address of the campground on my phone but with limited battery life left, and the GPS eats battery life like a piranha. I tried programming the GPS built into the SUV but the road wasn't in its data base. So, I set mine to the location and hoped it would hold out. George was tired so I drove back. Of course my phone quit half way back, so I then used George's phone. I had the map program on the SUV GPS on, it just didn't have any guidence marked on it. So when George's phone said to turn right on State Line Road, that is when I noticed, that the idiot SUV GPS had the road on the map, so why wasn't it showing up in the data base? Well, its because the road is in Indiana and the campground is in Ohio. We had BBQ chicken, leftover augratin potatoes, mushrooms and cucumber salad. The campground owners had recommended a local ice cream place just down the road. As we drove down to get some it began to pour rain, so we went back to the campsite without getting any.

June 22, 2014 - North Bend, OH

Last night, I put a lot of the stuff we had out away to make it easier this morning to make the motorhome travel worthy. I asked George if he had a game plan to get out of the campground after our dramatic entrance. He said yes. Remember stay off the green. So off we went without a hitch, that is until we did stop on the main road out, and hitch the SUV up. On the way out of the main road, I had George stop so I could take a photo of the street sign, which is "It's A Road." Someone had a sense of humor when they named that road. From there we took State Road 127 South, and it is a road that really follows the contours of the land. It was like a rollercoaster. I ended up having to take a motion sickeness pill from it. It reminded me of a road that my Dad referred to as the "back way" to my grandparent's house. We also had to go on a detour, that actually lead us totally around. I have followed detours in NJ, where the signs disappeared, leaving you unsure as to which way to go. We were instructed to arrive before 3 PM as they leave early on Sundays. We arrived with no problems, well almost none, as the generator isn't working.We are now in North Bend, Ohio. Today was an R&R day after arrival, and then we did our laundry in the camp laundramat as opposed to using our "all in one" washer/dryer combo. It is small and the capacity is only two shirts and two shorts. We use it in a pinch. After we came back to the motorhome, we at dinner consisting of grilled steak, augratin potatoes and cucumber salad. The campground, Indian Springs is built partially around a lake. It has gravel and spacious pull throughs as well as back-ins with lake frontage. I like it as there are no large rocks, trees planted to close to the roads, poles, street signs and fences placed in spots that could damage our motorhome. Free WiFi. Good Sam discounted. It was built by a motorhome owner who knows that mishaps can happen easily when moving these huge vehicles.

June 21, 2014 - Celina

Today, I got up at 7:30 AM and George was just getting back from walking Abby. He was was drying Abby on the front seat and she wasn't cooperating. So when she esacaped his clutches and came to me she was very happy with cold wet feet. She was my best friend, but I know she was just soft soaping me as she wanted her morning meal of canned food. I was in the bedroom making the bed which is difficult with a dog helping. For the last three or so days we have been saying to each other that we need to go to the supermarket, but just haven't gotten there yet. But now George is out of shampoo, and Abby has chewed up his last Chapstick. George's Mom now believes in the Kaplan Curse. Prior to coming to live with us, she didn't believe it existed. Her vehicle was recalled and an appointment was set up with the dealer to have it fixed, however the problem that it was being recalled for happened while she was visiting friends in Philadelphia. To make a long story short, the dealer gave her a rental car free of charge for the three months that they took to fix her car. During that time, she went through two rentals. One died and the other got a flat tire. The third one stunk like cigarettes, but she rectified that with Lysol deodorant. So, while on our trip, she finally got her car back, only to find out from sitting all that time, that the brakes are making a weird noise. So today, we stopped at a US Post Office in order to mail a bill and to mail her my key to George's car. The postal worker suggested using a Priority Mail box which would be cheaper then buying a box and the mailing it, plus it would get there faster and is insured for $50. She pointed at the wall where the Priorty Mail boxes were flat, and I took one look at it and handed it to George to assemble. I filled out the  label while the postal worker was talking George through the assembly. Even with that, he was having difficulty and we all were laughing about the box. Finally the postal worker finished assembling it, added the key, asked if we want to put a note, and we said it was self-explanatory, and it was sealed, stamped and placed in the out bin. From there we went to the Armstrong Air & Space Museum in Wapakoneta, OH. On the way we passed a food market and said we would stop on the way back. The museum is built into a hill with a dome protruding from the top. It is mostly about the history of flight leading to the history of the space program in both the Russian and USA programs. Very interesting, and it has several similator type hands on machines from Student Level to Advanced Level flying, and landing a space shuttle. I can't view the screens of such things as it makes me ill. After we left there we went to the town of St. Mary to see a lock from the Erie and Miami Canal. I had no idea that there was a canal from Toledo to Cincinnati nor a canal that is called the Erie Ohio Canal. Of course when we went back to the campground, we didn't go back the same way so we didn't stop at the supermarket. After lunch, we had to make a special trip and did finally get there. Tonight we had steak and fresh Ohio sweet corn on the cob or at least George had it on the cob, as I cut mine off. Watched a DVD we bought for our collection. Tomorrow we leave for North Bend, OH which is in southern Ohio, close to Cincinnati at a Good Sam owned RV resort.

June 20, 2014 - Celina, Ohio

It must have rained during the night as there were puddles and the windshield was wet. I set my phone alarm for a 7 AM rise and shine. It was a switch, as I got up before George and made the coffee for me, and chai for him. I had to wake him as we needed to drive 48 minutes to Decatur, Indiana in order to make a 9 AM tour at the Fleetwood RV plant. Our idiot GPS system built into the SUV that we paid extra to get when we bought it back in 2005, was already outdated in 2006, and the vehicle manufacturer sold upgrades for $200. however, it was never as good as the portable GPS Garmin. It has a lot of unvertified roads and addresses. Say you want to go to 3208 Its A Road. The GPS will only direct you to that road and not to the actual address or worse yet, I have had it tell me that no such road exists. However, my Google Maps App has it in their data base, so I rely on that much more. When driving the motorhome, we have the Rand McNally GPS which is great as it knows we are in a 42' motorhome, so it doesn't route us in places we can't take that vehicle. Another feature we like on it, is it warns "Speed Warning" if the driver gets close to going over the limit. Sometimes though, the signs will say 50 mph and the data base will think it is 45 mph, but its rare. On the way over, the sky started getting dark and threatening. Looked at my radar and there was a big swatch of yellow, orange and green color in the direction we were headed. Drove through heavy rains and as we arrived at Fleetwood RV, it was just a light drizzle. We were the only ones who showed up for the tour, so we had a private tour. While we were there they had both a fire alert test and a tornado alert test. We were really impressed with the quality of the workmanship and materials used. The tour guide knew his stuff too and was able to answer all of George's questions. Since it was Friday and that is the day the plant does maintenance of the equipment. As a result we were able to get up close and personal with all of the stations except where the walls were actually made. That station was off limits to us as the requirement is for steel tipped shoes which neither of us were wearing. Being an artist, I was most impressed with the painting section. We were even allowed into the paint booth. The guide told us that looking at any of their coaches, the color in the design that is the narrowest on the graphic design is the first color painted on the motorhome. All of their Class A diesel pushers have the full body paint with clear coat. Depending on the price range, depends on how the color lines are sanded, and how many coats of clearcoat are applied. We also were able to see all of the coaches with masks or in layman's terms, a type of stenciling. We did get a little wet walking between buildings as the rain had began again. We also noticed that Fleetwood drives their vehicles from station to station beginning with the chassis, whereas the other plants we visited slid the vehicles from station to station. The guide told us the Fleetwood plant to build their motorhomes is 600,000 square feet, so that is why they drive the vehicle to each new work station. We were very impressed. I highly recommend this plant tour, and make sure you go on a Friday, as the tours on the rest of the work week need to stay behind a line hugging the plant walls. After this tour, we drove down to a Suisse settlement named Berne, Indiana. In Berne, the attraction was a cheese making tour, however, according to the folks there, the tours were shut down due to the health department. So we tasted samples in their store including sweet potato butter a similar consistency to apple butter, and various cheeses, and made some purchases including pumpkin pie sharp cheddar, two packets of country gravy mix, crackers and sweet potato butter. We at lunch at East of Chicago, and had delicious different types of pizza via a buffet. The place was crowed and they had, pan, thin, super thin, stuffed, sweet, as well as a full salad bar. The pieces were pie shaped pieces with the crust being about 2" wide, so we were able to try a plethora of pizza with different toppings and crusts. Buffet was really reasonable at $6.95 per person. After lunch, we decided to head back to the motorhome and on the way back, George had me drive as he was tired. So as we passed through downtown Celina, I turned into a park that had what looked like a swimming beach, although no one was swimming. Then we headed back, and Abby was happy to see us. I took her out and then we both took naps. We had ribs with mushrooms and onions. I wasn't very hungry and only ate one rib and a spoonful of mushrooms and onions. Tomorrow we are going to the Armstrong Air and Space Museum on Apollo Drive in Wapakoneta, Ohio.

 

June 19, 2014 - Celina, Ohio

Last night we had severe storms all night. I played Fishing Dog at midnight, which is what I call standing on the steps in my barefeet in my PJs and the dog on a long retractable leash goes out and does her business. She "swims" around so to speak and I am able to retract her when she finishes. I have played Fishing Dog with all of our dogs. They know the routine too. I got up at 8:30 AM and by the time we packed everything up for travel including hooking up the SUV, it was around 10. We drove through the campground and at the front office there was a motorhome with a car attached on a car dolly blocking the way out. After sitting behind it for 15 minutes George got impatient and decided to go between them and a car that was parked. I got out and checked to see if there was enough room. The driver came out and was telling me to wait a moment, that they would be moving soon. I told them just to stay put as George was already squeezing through and I needed them to move like a hole in the head. When he got through, I climbed in and removed Abby from my seat and sat down. Abby jumped into my lap and we were on our way! Yay! As we were driving down the lane to get out we came upon a jeep going the other direction. Futher down the road as we came upon the rail road tracks to our dismay the track repair crew had the road closed. And it was definitely closed as the tracks were removed and so was the wood between them, that allow vehicles to drive over the tracks. I climbed out and went to talk to some guys standing watching the crew work. They told me that the foreman gave them an estimate of 3PM for completion. We all were griping that no one was informed, when the foreman pointed out this bedraggled cardboard sign with a notice written on it. Well, soon the campground owner arrived to find out no one could get in or out, and it was the only access route. Several homes were also affected by the closure. Everyone was wondering what would happen in an emergency? An insurance adjuster who had to go to Chicago, and then to Wisconsin for hail/tornado damage couldn't leave either. The foreman told him 45 minutes, but neither one of us believed it. I stood out for a while talking to the guys and then went in the motorhome to call my Mom and Dad, letting them know what was going on. I also texted daughters, MIL Fran and friend Laurie with photos. I took a mess of photos with my Rebel also. George took my place chatting with the guys and when he came in for lunch he predicted that they would be finished by 1 PM, and he was right. We finally were able to be on our way at 1:15 after one of the workman moved his truck. The trip from Yorkville, IL without stopping for diesel, breaks or traffic would take 4 hours and 46 minutes. Well, I called the campground to double check as to when the office closed, and it closed at 8. We arrived at the camground with 15 minutes to spare. We checked in, paid and proceeded to go park in our spot. They only had back in spots. So we unhooked the SUV and I got out to direct George into the spot. There was no one in the spot across the street from us, so George pulled in to that spot expecting just to back right into the spot we were assigned. Well, as his back tires hit the grass, and he bagan to back up, that was when the sinking began. Then he tried to go forward, and was able to go a little bit, however, the wallowing in the mud began. George told me to see if the office person had left yet, and to see if someone could help us. As I drove to the front, I stopped at the stop sign and looked both ways. A trailer was blocking my view of the road from the right, so I moved up slowly to make the turn. Suddenly two little kids flew in front of me on bikes with their parents just behind them. I screeched to a halt! Lost 10 years off my life! Thankfully I am use to campgrounds and kids on bikes. Many years ago when daughter Kell was about 7-ish, we were at Cape Island Campground in Cape May, NJ. Kell was one of those kids on a bike that ran into the back of a car. Scared the lady to death! Fortunately no one was hurt, and there was no damage to the car. And we gave Kell the riot act, that she had to be careful, and not to go racing around the campground in the soft sand, which prevented her from stopping in time. So when I arrived at the office, the door was locked, and I knocked as I could see the person in there. Then I tried calling on the phone, hiwever, she came an unlocked the door to find out what was wrong? I told her what happended so she was able to get the owners to help. They met me back at the campsite, and surveyed the problem. One of them got their backhoe and after a lot of pulling, and spinning backhoe tires, which finally were able to get a perch on the road, they were able to pull the motorhome out of the mud. Of course the road was damaged from the spinning backhoe tires, but the owner wasn't upset or worried as he said they had just gotten 5" 0f rain and he spent the last couple of days pulling motorhomes and trailers out of the mud. So it was about 9 PM by the time we went to a local dive for dinner. Both George and I laughed at the fact that our travel buddies would never go to a place like that. Another thing that our travel buddies would find amusing is the campground only has 30 amps. Kozy Campground is a huge campground with mostly seasonal sites. It is nestled next to Grand Lake, which the locals dub as the other Great Lake. It is a big lake. A portion of the campground has lagoons behind the sites, which summer residents have their boats behind their houses. The campground also has a marina although we have only seen it via their map. Tomorrow we are headed to Fleetwood RV for another motorhome factory tour. And to Berne, Indiana to a Suisse area with cheese making and woodworking.

June 18, 2014 - Yorkville, IL

More severe storms passed by North of us during the night. I couldn't believe the size of all of these storms just training continously across the same areas. At a location we were at last week, received quarter sized hail, which after seeing the baseball sized hail on the News in Pennsylvania isn't as impressive, unless it is bombarding you on the head that is. I'm sure it could still do some damage. We decided to buy two Trolly, Signature Tours via double decker bus or trolley. Either type of transportation ran every 12 minutes and the deal was you could get on and off all day, or stay on and listen to the tour guide After writing my blog entry last night, I decided to see if I could find an app to check the prices of parking garages in Chicago, as we paid $28. the first day and $39. the second. So I found one charging $22. near the tour route so we didn't have to walk far as it was predicted to be hot and humid. As we drove in we decided not to do the Willis Tower Sky Deck Ledge as the tops of the building were obscured by clouds. I plotted our GPS to the parking garage and on the way we stopped at a UPS store to mail a bill I have been carrying around since we first left, for South Jersey Gas. Needless to say its probably late?

As were leaving the parking garage we both noticed a Weber Grill store across the street, which we want to see what they had when we came back. We also had the problem when you go in one side of a building and come out another side, and have to figure out which way to walk. George got out his phone and looked at an app he has that is for walking in cities. From looking at that I figured out which way we needed to go. We were already somewhat familiar with the area as we had been in the same area yesterday to pick up the gangster tour and I knew the Trolly Tour company picked peeps up at the same location. We turned our voucher in that I had paid for online, and received  tickets printed out that resembled a receipt on flimsy receipt paper. Since I had my little purse, a water bottle, my camera and keys which I was fumbling with, George placed the ticket receipt in his wallet for easy access. The first tour vehicle to come was a double decker bus, which we sat on the top near the front as there were two seats together. The tour guide was very enthusiastic and friendly. He was pointing out the sights. The sky in one direction started to get blacker and blacker. So the guide handed out ponchos to those on top of the bus. I decided to put mine on right away as I looked at my radar on my phone and heavy rains were headed our way and fast. The tour rule is that nobody can go down stairs unless the double decker bus is at one of their official stops, and frankly I wouldn't want to even try going down the spiral staircase when the thing is in motion. So with that said, when it started to rain, it began with big drops here and there. George immediately openned his poncho and figured out how to get in it. And then it began to VAVOOM! George asked for another poncho which we used on our laps. There is a movie called, "The River Runs Through it", and that is how I would describe the valley between Mt. George and Mt. Debby. Ice cold rain, causing flash flooding between us, plus the floor was a raging torrent sloshing back and forth and side to side as the bus moved. I had my feet up and out, under the seats in front of us. I was more interested in protecting my camera and phone. At the next stop practically everyone went down to the lower section of the bus. We stayed topside until I heard thunder and then at the next stop, we went down. Since the bus was air conditioned, we were cold. Eventually we got off at the Navy Pier. I knew I wanted to get a Chicago sweatshirt, and figured I might be able to get one there, and I did. George doesn't know it but I bought him a hat for his collection too. We lad lunch and tried one of Chicago's Itlaian beef sandwiches which reminded me of a cross between a Philly Steak sandwich and a French Dip with sauteed green peppers. George thought the sandwich needed horseradish mayo for more flavor. I liked it as is. We also bought a mini deep dish pizza which was inferior to the other pizza we have had in this area. When we went to get on another double decker bus, that is when we found out that the tickets for the tour were in a pretty miserable state. We were allowed on, but we didn't want to test our luck and try to use them again. So when we arrived once again at the Rock and Roll McDonalds, we decided to go back to the campground. After getting to the parking garage, that is when we found out that the app was wrong, as the parking cost us $36. George drove us back and we had left over pot roast for dinner. Abby was glad to see us, and I took her for a walk. After dinner the severe thunderstorms rolled in with heavy rains and winds. George said we could go out for ice cream but I opted to stay in as I was already cold and wet today and I was finally dry. Tomorrow we leave the Chicago suburbs for Celina, Ohio which will be our new base camp.

June 17, 2014 - Yorkville, IL

Early this morning around 12:30 AM, I looked at the radar for the Chicago area and just to the west about 200 miles I estimate, was a giant mass of red, orange and yellow depicting nasty storms headed our way. After seeing that, I checked to see what county Yorkville was in. Then I went back to see what alerts were up. The weather app I was looking at showed a couple red cone shapes which are how it shows circulation or possible tornadoes. They also had tornado warnings when selected. Kendall County was listed along with numerous other counties for Severe Thunderstorm and Tornado Watch Alerts. I slept fitfully, waking up every 15 minutes or so through the night to look at my phone for the update as to where the storms were. I also set my phone to alert me for tornado warnings. Thankfully it never went off. The storms skirted our area and went northeast. I slept to 9 AM as we didn't have to race out as our Untouchables Gangster tour was scheduled for 1 PM. After yesterday, I decided to leave at 10, figuring we could get lunch first before the tour, plus we had to find parking. The tour was to begin at the Rock and Roll McDonalds on Clark St. In Chicago. We found parking about two blocks away and had delicious flatbread pizzas at Lyfe Kitchen. I had a Margarita style and George had a mushroom, goat cheese with pomegrant drizzle. Both were so good! Then we proceeded up Clark Street and when we arrived at our destination, we decided to go into the McDonalds which is two stories with an up and down escalator in the middle. We went upstairs as George was curious since a sign said there was a gift shop. The gift shop sold hats and shirts. There were also decadent desserts and beverages upstairs for sale. We ended up getting .49 cent ice cream cones. I also noticed a Hard Rock Cafe across the street. When we went down to Nashville, TN a couple of years ago with our travel buddies Laurie and Bob, Bob bought a Hard Rock Cafe t-shirt with Nashville on it. So I texted Laurie to see if they wanted me to buy one with Chicago on it. They did, so we went and picked one out after our tour. Funny thing is I was expecting a school bus to pick us up, but it turned out to be an air conditioned Class C motorvan which holds approximately 20 people. The tour is fun and the gangsters who drive and narrate are standup comics. So we all were laughing a lot. I did learn a lot from the tour. One of the gangsters from that era was named Greasy Thumbs Guzik, which I really didn't know where that name came from, as my Mom and Dad always referred to my Sister by that name. She would get her beverage glass messy as a child, hence the nickname. When we got back to the the parking garage it cost $39. Yesterday, the cost to park was $28. Back in 1985-ish, my Sister took us to a free exhibit in NYC and parking cost us $48. So in reality, these are bargain rates. Tomorrow, I booked a Trolly/Double Decker Hop On/Hop Off tour. We need to get up early, so we can take the tour while it is still somewhat cool outside and before the storms show up in the afternoon. We also stopped at the campground office to let them know we were expecting a package and to our surprise, it had arrived. Last week, George ordered the parts to fix the cable that connects the brake assist on the SUV to the motorhome. And after they were delivered to our house in NJ, George's Mom shipped them to us by Priorty Mail. While in the camp store I bought two popsicles. Abby was glad to see us. Tonight we had leftover pot-roast and leftover potatoes. We are currently under a severe thunderstorm watch. 

June 16, 2014 - Yorkville, Il

I forgot to mention that last night when we arrived at the campground Hide-A-Way Lakes, the WiFi wasn't working either. The campground is huge with green grass, mature shade trees and reasonably priced at $35.00 a night for full hookups. The sites are spacious, big rig friendly and it sits on the Fox River. 

My only real disappointment with the place is no Wifi, and they won't have it fixed for a month or more. However, we have 4 bars on our smart phone service, so it is possible to get on, but not for a long time as it uses up our data plan. I write this blog off line with a word processing app for iPad. I had made reservations for the Chicago Architectural Foundation's River tour on the Chicago River via the vessel The First Lady for an 11:00 AM tour for today. According to the map app I have the directions from the campground to the parking garage near the boat dock on Upper Wacker Drive is 54 miles and should take 68 minutes. So we left two hours ahead of time, however, we ran into line work with lane closures. And as the minutes ticked by, I was sure we were not going to make it to the boat in time. As far as that was concerned we weren't the last couple but the second to last to board the boat. It was a beautiful boat with a sun deck for viewing the buildings from, however it was hot on the observation deck. I could have gone down into the salon which was air conditioned but the view was incredible from the deck. I did go to the head (marine vocabulary for bathroom) and to the salon and bought ice cold water for George and I. I was thankful for the many bridges as they blocked out the sun for a minute or two as we passed underneathe. On the news in the Chicago area there has been all this hubbub about Trump placing his name on the side of his building facing the river. Frankly, I don't know why there is such an uproar about it. After taking the cruise tour, I noticed that there are several other buildings with names on them as well. I could see it if his building was the only one, but its not. After the tour we had the task of getting back up 4 flights of stairs to street level. Going down was the easy part, going up, not so much. After getting up, we went to Houlihans for lunch and to use their facilities. We both selected a flat bread for lunch which came with a salad. The salad was huge but delicious. George ordered a multi mushroom one and I selected a Magarita version. Afterward, we tried to decide if we should walk down to the Willis Tower or not? I ended up making the executive decision to go back to the motorhome as even though it was 2:30 PM, we had at least an hour ride home, plus Abby probably had to go out. So after leaving the restaurant we walked through a concourse type of walk way with shops and such. Since we had walked through this very space the opposite way coming, and were in a big rush, I had no idea where to go? George remembered bits and pieces of the way, so he actually was the one who steered us back to the entrance to the parking garage. For the first 10 minutes the GPS whom I refer to as Ms. DX had no idea where we were? I think the buildings mess up the functionality. On the way back, we stopped and got the SUV washed. Even on a nice day, it gets grime on it from being towed. Then we had to stop at a UPS store to get some papers notarized and then shipped. When we arrived back at the motorhome, Abby was extremely happy to see us! I took her for a walk and when I returned George was hunting for some decent TV. The few stations we get here are shows from our childhood. I remembered we had our DVD movies with us. So we watched Bandits with Bruce Willis and Billy Bob Thorton, and now we are watching Hunt For Red October with Sean Connery and one of the Baldwin brothers. We missed having Laurie and Bob tour with us, but unlike myself who can work from the road creating my graphic designs, they own a compressed gas business and must get back to business.

June15, 2014 - Yorkville, IL

Today, I slept in until 8. While George was sleeping in the wee AM hours, I rolled up the carpet, mopped the tile floor, put most of the interior stuff away in preparation for travel. After getting up, having coffee and chai latte, the mass exodus from the fairgrounds had begun. It took us an additional 20 minutes to put away the remainder of the stuff. Laurie invited us over to their motorhome for breakfast. She served pork sausage and scrambled eggs, although I only had two links of sausage since I don't like plain eggs. George had both. We then said our goodbyes to Laurie and Bob. Afterward, I drove our SUV around to the back of our motorhome. I scouted out the best way to leave and then told George and Bob how to get out. I also pointed to George as to where to move it to. After he left, I picked up the boards that we had under the jacks and put them in the back of the SUV, and then drove it to the area that we had selected to hook the car up to the motorhome. Then we had to find our way out as there were no exit signs, but that turned out to be easier then we thought. Our first motorhome back in 1990, was a 27' Travel Master Class C with a van front with living space over the cab. I drove that one with no problems and even took it down to Ancora, NJ to the NJ Inspection Station. George did most of the driving though on trips. So when we went to look at Class A motorhomes which are the kind that look like a bus with the big windshield, we saw a 32' Coachman Class A and what sold it for me was that it had two couches, and in my mind, that meant the kids would not be arguing that one had a couch and the other didn't. Bill Cosby in one of his routines says, "Parents aren't interested in justice, they are only interested in Quiet!" That is so true. So with that said, we bought that Motorhome. Now, I went to drive it somewhere, and took the mirror right off the passenger side in our driveway with a tree. And that was the last time I drove that motorhome. In 2000, we bought a 35' Winnebago Class A Adventurer and I drove that occassionally on Interstates when we had a lot of miles to drive and George needed a rest. Wasn't my favorite thing to do, but I did it anyway. So in 2008, George decided he wanted a diesel pusher and we then traded the Winnebago for a 2009 Monaco Knight 42' motorhome and I have never driven that one until today. George was driving on this parkway type of road and pulled over on to a wide shoulderto use the rest room. I told him that I wanted to try driving. When I drove the Winnebago, I had rules of conditions I wouldn't drive: no foul weather, no construction, no toll boothes, no bridges and no city driving. So in my mind, I still had those conditions, however today I drove in construction with cattle chutes, traffic with idiots, in windy conditions at 26 mph with 40 mph gusts, but I drew the line on going through a toll booth as they make me nervous even when George drives. My guess is the toll both designers never drove through them in motorhome. I have admit though, Illinois did have a wider then normal toll booth in the extreme right lane, plus it had express tolls. When we arrived at Hide-A-Way Lakes campground in Yorkville, IL, due to the high winds, one section was without power and water as a tree limb came down and took out a wire that stopped the pump from working. We had been a hankering for Gino's East Chicago deep dish pizza which we had the first time back in 2007. So since there was no power or water we went tonight and it was just as tasty as we remembered.

June 14, 2014 - Last night in Goshen, IN

Today is the last full day of the FMCA Great lakes Area Glamarama Rally. This morning I got up at 6:30 AM to take Abby out and then to brown a chuck roast for a slowcooker recipe which I need to post online. Then we all headed down to the pancake breakfast for all of the rally participants. They had one of those super duper pancake maker machines that automates uniform pancakes in size, shape and thickness. It also pours 4 rows of pancakes at a time, and travels along the length of the griddle which is about 8' in length. The cooks stand along the griddle and takes care of about 40 or more pancakes. And once the cakes have been flipped and have cooked on both sides, then some of cooks will put on a show and flip the pancakes up in the air and have the person with the plate catch them. We actually saw this same type of machine at another Area FMCA chapter rally. We have also seen smaller ones at campgrounds that have pancake breakfasts for large crowds. We decided to duck out of the rally activities and go sightseeing. George drove as he will actually stop for breaks or for lunch. When Bob drives, he and Laurie can't make any decisions as to where to go or what to do. So after we decide we want to go to lunch, then he will drive by 10 places without stopping. 99.9% of the time I get to plan the activites and places that we go to see. Laurie and Bob call me the Tour Guide. I like doing it so its not a problem at all. Laurie actually suggested to tour Notre Dame University and Bob came up with the National New York Central Train Museum, which I was amazed by. I had planned to take them today to two vehicle museums and hour away. Bob was told by a gentleman at the pancake breakfast about the very museum I had planned to take them too, and had already checked out the website and retrieved the address and GPS cordinates. So I will give Bob half credit for coming up with the Auburn Cord Duesenberg Automobile Museum in Auburn, IN which is located in the old Auburn factory showroom. Now if you are a car buff like Bob, you will love this museum and the adjacent National Auto and Truck Museum. I particularly love the toy and minature collection in the National Auto and Truck Museum. When I was a child, I was considered a Tom Boy as I loved toy trucks, cars as well as full sized cars. During the 1960's -'70's, I knew every car name and could identify them from their fronts or backs. Of course that was when the vehicle models all had names. At some point the model names changed to a combination of capital letters and or a combo of numbers and capital letters. Afterward, we ended up coming back to the Rally and the motorhome smelled heavenly. Probably drove Abby nuts all day as the pot roast cooked all day in the crockpot. Bob and Laurie came to dinner and then they went to the evening entertainment. George and I stayed in and watched classic CSI and 48 Hours. Tomorrow some 500 motorcoaches need to leave the fairgounds by 12 noon. Should be interesting to say the least.

June 13, 2014 - Elkhart Fairgrounds - Day 4

This morning at 7:30 AM, after our morning routine, George, Laurie and Bob headed down for coffee, tea and glazed donuts at the main building. I intially thought I'd skip that morning meal as the first seminar I was interested in attending wasn't until 10:30 AM. However, I decided to go anyway, so when I pulled up on my scooter they were all surprised to see me. I decided to have green tea instead of the so called coffee in styrofoam cups. Styrofoam cups are one of my lease favorite vessels for drinking any beverage from, but especially coffee. I also do not like to drink from certain plastics, as both the plastics and the styrofoam changes the taste of the beverage. Glass is the best, then stainless steel, which is what my to-go mug is lined with. With that said, I mustered through the morning meal with green tea in a styrofoam cup. Laurie went to a class on how to program and use your microwave/convection oven. The speaker, actually was cooking food and Laurie was dismayed that the speaker cross contaminated the food she was preparing by not washing her hands between touching proteins. I ended up going to a seminar with George on LED lighting. If I haven't mentioned it before, the Elkhart 4-H fairgrounds is surrounded by freight train tracks. The trains have been on an every 30 minute schedule 24/7. Its funny how, one gets use to the noise and for the most part, we only hear the noise occassionally. Our motorhome is I'm guessing about 400 feet away from the tracks. The typical trains going by are automobile carriers double stacked with about 52 train-cars. Now, the trains must always blow their air horns, but lately, I haven't heard them except once or twice today. Tomorrow is our last day here and then on Sunday we will part company with Laurie and Bob. They are planning on visiting One of Laurie's friends from high school up in North Branch, MI. And we are headed off to Yorkville, IL which is about an hour away from downtown Chicago. Tomorrow, I want to call and make reservations for the Chicago River Architectural Tour and the Gangster Tour. Tomorrow, I'll set up the slow cooker with pot roast, and the four of us will head out for some more factory tours or such. 

June 12, 2014 - Elkhart Fairgrounds - Goshen, IN - Day 3

Got up bright and early for me...7:30 AM. I know most everyone gets up early, but how many stay up to 2:00 AM on a normal basis? I normally get up at 8:45 AM, however I have to set my alarm for that to happen. Since I don't have a huge commute in the AM I can sleep in. 15 minutes to get dressed, teeth brushed, face washed, hair combed, and glasses on. My first stop after performing the before mentioned ritual, is the coffee maker. At home we have a deluxe Kuerig that works nice and easy, however in the motorhome we have what I consider a baby brother of the Kuerig. 9 times out of 10, I do something wrong in setting up baby brother. Mostly that consists of overfilling the reservoir, and when that happens baby brother leaks all over everything on the counter near by. Baby brother also blinks the blue "feed me" light which begins the process of over filling. It always takes us several days into our trip to figure out what is wrong with baby brother. I think I am getting the hang of it until our next trip. I got up early as Laurie and I signed up for an Oragami photo album craft class, plus I wanted my coffee before hand. Of course while drinking my coffee, Laurie and Bob had flagged down a schuttle and tapped on our door to see if we were ready. Of course we weren't. So we ran around trying to get everything when I thought why am I racing around, when we are going to ride our scooters anyway. Grabbed our credentials, maps, seminar booklets, locked the door, had to reopen door as George didn't have his motorhome keys and hopped on scooters to go down to dining hall for nasty coffee and yummy glazed donuts. After we finished the guys went to a seminar on Spartan Chassis, and Laurie and I went to the craft class. I am a bit challenged when it comes to Oragami, and just as expected, I had some difficulty with the folding, however I did prevail and I actually ended up making a second one too. After printing out photos when I get home, every triangle will have a different photo on it. The finished project with the photos glued in is pretty cool. Check back for photos as it takes a day or so for the import to take place from my phone. Today I had consistant problems with the extreme tension on the locks for the scooters. So since I couldn't get the darn thing unlocked inorder to use it, and I didn't want to leave it unlocked, I picked up the whole thing and put it in the SUV. Laurie and I went to an interesting seminar on Velcro. Did you know that most velcro glue stops holding in heat above 120 degress F? Did you know that there is a high heat Velcro which holds up to 220 degrees F? A closed up motorhome is 95 degree F outside temps can reach 185 degrees F inside. Thats why when we travel with our dog in the summer months we always have the generator running with the A/C on. We all ate dinner at another Rally buffet which consisted of a pig roast as well as grilled chicken as the main entrees. After dinner we went to a seminar by the RV Doctor. Another very informative seminar. 

June 11, 2014 - Elkhart Fairgrounds, Goshen Indiana Day 2

This morning I had wanted to get up early so I could sign up for the some of the craft classes that I wanted to take. George didn't realize this and let me sleep. Of course Laurie tried calling me several times, however I couldn't hear my phone as it was out in the main cabin and I was in the bedroom with George's oxygen concentrator filling one of his bottles, plus a freight train was chugging by as well. To say the lease I was a bit annoyed. On the other hand George thought he was doing me a favor by letting me sleep in. Of course I was use to the FMCA rally in Perry, GA. At that rally, if you don't get to the sign-ups at 8 when it opens, they sell out. Tomorrow the main events begin. Today we went to the Studebaker Museum which was very nice and begins chronologically from wagons to the last car made in 1964. Then we went to KFC for lunch, and headed to the National New York Central Train Museum. It was very difficult to get there as many of the streets were closed due to track repair, plus the tracks that weren't being repaired had lots of freight trains. The trains are so long that there are signs requesting that drivers turn their engines off when waiting for the train to pass by. 

This museum was interesting as it had a lot of miniature trains in every gauge track. They also had a beautiful minature train set up with lots of detail. In addition they have also have two full size engines, a steam and a diesel, plus several different box cars and dining cars that need to be restored. Plus we learned what signs that said, "Do Not Hump!" means? In a rail yard with maybe 40 deadend tracks in a fan shape pattern and those tracks all converge into one main track that goes over a hump. Train cars are stored on specific tracks in the fan to wait to be picked up to go to their desination. An engine will push the various cars up the hump and allow gravity to pull them down the other side and the train yard controller is able to slow the cars or just let them roll until they stop. "Do Not Hump!" are labels placed on train cars that have a fragile load and can't handle the Hump storage method. We came back early to let Abby out and relax some before we went to the dinner that we bought tickets for. Of course while I was relaxing, George, Laurie and Bob went over to look at the new coaches on display. I knew I had to  get down before 5 to building A, so I went to take my scooter, but I couldn't get it to move. So I ended up taking a schuttle instead. So when I arrived, George wanted to know why I didn't come on the scooter? So I told him it was dead. So he told me it couldn't be. Then proceeded to remind me about the switch. I told him I used the switch like he said. So at some point, I told him, I couldn't find the locks we bought. That was when I found out why the scooter wouldn't work., as He exclaimed, "Deb, I put the lock on the back wheel!!!" Of course, during the whole dinner I was thinking I had killed the scooter. So I left after dinner and went back to find out? The lock indeed was wrapped around the wheel! I was able to move some of the numbers on the combination but two of the rows appeared jammed. Laurie came to find out why I left, and she couldn't move the lock either. So after Laurie and I went back to where the guys were, I told George about the lock. He decided to go back and the rest of us went back too. When we arrived back George and Bob were able to get it untangled and it appeared that there was no damage. After a bit Bob decided he wanted to get a hair cut, so we all went so we could get DQ too. While Bob was getting his hair cut we all went over to the local dollar store. I like to occassionally brouse through them. As we were checking out it began to VAVOOM with torrents of heavy rain and wind. George got saturated when Laurie inadverntly had the doors locked and I got drenched as the water was pouring like a waterfall off the roof of the store. Laurie picked me up, and then we picked Bob up and he too was drenched. There was instant flooding everywhere. When we got back to our Motorhome there was a lake about 5" deep to get in the door. I figured Abby was going to have to swim to go out., but the water seeped into the ground fairly fast. Now I'm watching Silver Streak with Gene Wilder. Love that movie!

June 10 - Goshen, Indiana

This morning we left Elkhart, IN for Goshen, IN which by way the crow flies isn't very far. Originally Laurie and I had texted each other that we would wait for them to get done with their coach report. But then George said it was pointless for them to drive over where we were and then drive back to Goshen again, plus we were in the handicapped section, so we couldn't be next to them anyway. Then they texted me that they didn't have their paper work, so after I texted them the address, phone number and GPS Lat./Long. George called Bob and He said that Laurie found the paper work. Before we left for our trip I received an email from FMCA (Family Motor Coach Assoc.), that the railroad tracks on the direct route to the fairgrounds for the Glamarama Rally were being repaired so they had the road closed. The sent a link to alternate directions. George printed out the map but only half of it. I vaguely remembered it being bigger and it was. Thank goodness for smart-phones. Of course it wasn't to scale and we saw lost Motorhomes trying figure out the cryptic directions. The funny thing is we were closer and left before Laurie and Bob. When we drove up to where the motorhomes were waitng to be parked, there was Laurie and Bob. So George asked the parking attendants if we could move from the handicapped section to the general lot to be next to Laurie and Bob. I actually didn't know if we were allowed to as I was driving our SUV until they actually parked us. The Elkhart County Fairgrounds are really nice as they have 50 amp service, water and sewer. After we got settled and leveled we headed out to go to the Studebaker Museum in South Bend, IN. We stopped for lunch and then proceeded on our way. As webwere driving the SUV was making a thumpa thumpa noise when we slowed down. I had thought before we left for the trip that there was something wrong with a tire that George had fixed about a month or so ago. The place plugged it and what we found out today, is they didn't do a very good job. Apparently when a tire is properly plugged they plug all of the layers and when they did ours, they didn't get all of the layers and air leaked inside, between the layers which caused them to delaminate. As a result we had to get two new tires. The Goodyear tire place we stopped at diagnosed the problem, and installed the new tires and balanced them while we waited. In the facility they had two macaws in a cage with an open door so they could fly around the showroom. We never did go to the Studebaker Museum as they closed at 5. So instead we took another motorhome manufacturer tour. This one was Thor in Wakarusa, IN. Another informative explanation on how motorhomes are built, and how their quality control and designs in their opinion are superior to they other manufacturers. On the way back we stopped for groceries  with a lot of problems as three GPS navigation apps were all going a different way to the same location. Finally got back to the Motorhomes and had hotdogs and French fries on the grill. Then we walked around looking at the new motorhomes for sale.

June 9, 2014 - Elkhart, Indiana - Day 3

On our last full day in Elkhart, Indiana, George took Abby for a 40 minute walk around the campground before I got up, at 7 AM. We had coffee and chai in our Keurig. Then we left at 8 AM to drive over to Jayco's Entegra Coach division located in Middlebury, IN in order to go on a factory tour with our travel buddies Laurie and Bob. Laurie and Bob had prearranged for a private tour and it was fascinating to say the least. At the end we were also able to go into three different 2015 models that were being checked out for any imperfections. This tour was worth doing if you love motorhomes. Both Bob and George were like kids in a candy store. Afterward, we headed over to Newmar another manufacturer of motorhomes located in Nappanee, IN, for another factory tour. However we arrived early for the 1 PM tour and ended up going into an Amish Restaurant adjacent to the Newmar plant. The food was pretty tasty. Afterward, we walked through a mall of sorts, not quite any mall that we are use to in NJ. It was a mall that consisted of stalls that had a range in goods from crafts, Amish crafts, flea market items, candles, jams & jellies, and antiques. Laurie saw two candy dishes that she liked but was rushed out by Bob before she could make a decision as to whether or not to buy them. We needed to get over to Building 9 at the Newmar plant before 1 PM. This tour had about 12 people in it. The tour guide gave everyone headsets to listen to her so she wouldn't have to shout above the noise of the manufacturing. I enjoyed the Newmar tour more, but personally liked the coaches better at Entegra Coach. Both manufactures' tours are free. After the tours we stopped back at our motorhome to take Abby out. Then we headed to Shipshewana, IN to Yoder's Cheese & Meats where they had samples of cheeses, as well as a general store which was a gift shop. Went back to Laurie and Bob's motorcoach and had lasagna. It was another great day with good friends!

June 8, 2014 - Elkhart, Indiana, Day 2

Today I got up around 9:30 AM, however George got up at 7 and took Abby for a walk. George texted our travel buddies Laurie and Bob, asking them if they had gone shopping yet to get any food for their motorhome. They had not, so he asked them if they wanted to go out for breakfast, and they did. So since they are staying in the next town over, they came to us. Bob asked George if George wanted Bob to drive and George said yes. Bob thought that George answered way to fast. We all piled into their CRV and drove to Bob Evans for breakfast. Then we went to the RV/MH Hall of Fame to see vintage motorhomes and travel travelers. George and I had been there before, several years ago when it first openned. The only difference between visits was that the museum had four brand new RVs and a really nice modular home. However, it was fun to look at the displays with our friends and see their reactions to the exhibits. From there we went up to this RV supply house in White Pigeon, MI called Bontragers Surplus. The place was very crowded and the parking lot was a free-for-all. The place consisted of a hodge podge of barn like buildings that contained every possible part or fixture for fixing and or restoring an RV. It was really an incredible place. One of the barn like buildings brought back plesant memories of my Grandfather's barn due to the musty odor. From there Laurie wanted to go to Notre Dame University to see the gold dome. I programmed my phone to take us there via Google Maps, which I find is a very reliable navigation app. We arrived at the front gate and after asking directions inside we were able to get to the dome. Took some photos of the architecture featuring the dome. We realized that the statue on top was facing in the other direction so Laurie went to the other side. She texted me that she was in the church and it was amazing. So after a bit, George, Bob and I walked around the building and entered the church there and it was amazing. It had Gothic arches and architectural inside and out. Everything was painted in beautiful biblical paintings reminicent of the Sistine Chapel. It has incredibly elaborate stained glass windows, tapestries and gold leaf throughout. From there we went back to our motorhome and had  QueenBea's  http://www.recipezazz.com/recipe/steamed-and-grilled-ribs-9912 .  I pre-cooked them ahead of time and then George grilled them with our favorite BBQ sauce. They were delicious! We also had left over cucumber salad, Mexican dirty rice with black beans, escalloped potatoes and salad. We all chatted and then they left for their motorhome. We had a wonderful day!

Notre Dome University

June 7, 2014 - Elkhart, Indiana

We left Van Buren, Ohio at around 11:00 AM today mainly because we only had a short distance to travel, and check-in times are typically around 1:00 PM. Since we were fairly close by Interstate, we decided to take the scenic tour cross country via state and county roads which took us a little over 3 hours. We saw some interesting things. Numerous houses had ponds that had the pond banks paved with river rocks about 4 feet wide completely surrounding the water. The really odd thing was the color of the water in these ponds, as every one of them was a teal color like the water down in the Florida Keys. Now the streams and rivers were all muddy brown color, so that is why these ponds stuck out as being odd. It was almost as if they were lined with something in the teal color like with swimming pools. Another odd thing is every town no matter how big or small (cross roads size) had a dollar store, and many of them were in the middle of no where. I called ahead for reservations but I didn't need to secure them with a deposit which was odd unto itself. When we arrived at Elkhart Campground, it is a lovely campground and well maintained. The sites are mostly full hook-up pull thru style. The office staff is very pleasant and polite as well. Our travel buddies purchased a new motorhome during the March FMCA Rally in Perry, GA. It had to be built and to make a long story short, it needed some major repairs which the dealer decided to send it back to the manufacturer to be fixed. So they drove out in their tow car to pick up their motorhome from the manufacturer direct here in Indiana. They are currently staying at the manufacturer's plant with three other motorhome owners who are in the same predicament. They will be coming to our RV for dinner tomorrow night after we take them sightseeing. They left their dogs at home so they aren't tethered to their motorhome like we are. Abby our whackadoo cavapoo needs to be walked occassionally. Tonight's dinner wasn't very exciting, hot dogs and French fries cooked on the grill. At the FMCA rally in Perry, GA I bought a silicon matt thingy for grilling on and it worked perfectly for cooking the fries. Tonight and tomorrow, heavy rains are predicted but fortunately for us the severe weather is going South. Just for curiousity sake, I plugged Mt. Juliet, TN into my phone into Weatherbug to see what the weather predictions were. I should have prefixed this with, back in January of 2013 while traveling with George and his Mom, we were awakened at 1:00 AM by a TORNADO WARNING! And we had to seek shelter at the local Wal-Mart. It was scary, exciting but not fun! Tonight Mt. Juliet is again under a tornado watch and severe thunderstorm special statements. I'm hoping no tornadoes touch down tonight or tomorrow.

June 6, 2014 - Van Buren, Ohio

We got up and began packing up to make the motorhome travel worthy, which means counters need to be cleared, the rug needs to be rolled and stored on the back of the couch. Coffee maker get placed in the sink along with the drain board and dish detergent. The Jacks need to be raised, the front passenger chair needs to be turned around to face forward, George's various appliances get placed on the bed. If we have layed out the exterior carpet that needs to be folded. The slides need to be pulled in. The water hose needs to be disconnected as well as the sewer. Actually that is completed in the opposite order as George uses the hose to wash the sewer equipment off. Fortunately we had our old sewer hose. The awning needs to be rolled in and the antenna needs to be cranked down. Also inside the stove covers need to be put down on the stove. The chairs at our dinet need to be turned so they are laying flat. And our poratble ice maker needs to be placed on the back of one of the dinet chairs. All of the computers need to be put away as well. Another important thing is to unplug it from the elctric and roll up the power cord. The site last night was a back-in site with full hookups. So after George pulls the motorhome out of the site, he parks it on a level straight area where we can hook up the car. I drive it and line it up with the hitch and George hooks the tow bar to the car. After he is done he signals to me to gently drive in reverse until I hear the tow bar go clunk. Then I take the gear shifter and run it through all of the gears ending up in neutral. I then sit and wait for a few minutes and then turn off the car while it is in neutral. Normally I would go get the brake apparatus that connects from the brake pedal to a rod under the drivers seat, and push the emergency brake in the stop position and insert the cable that connects the brake apparatus to the electrical system of the motorhome so the brake on the motorhome when applied helps stop the tow car as well, and then release the emergency brake again. Well currently the electrical cable going from the motorhome to the tow vehicle is busted. We have tried several places looking for parts to fix it, but with not much luck. Tonight we had QueenBea's chicken meatballs www.recipezazz.com/recipe/chicken-caesar-skewers-1278 with spaghetti sauce on whole grain pasta with Andi of Longmeadow Farm's http://www.food.com/recipe/simply-simple-cucumber-slices-in-vinegar-dressing-longmeadow-393106. So yummy! We had a lovely relaxing drive from Altoona, PA to Van Buren, Ohio. We did find out once we were here that the Contruction Equipment Muesum is only open on weekdays from 1-5 PM. LOL!

June 5, 2014 - Altoona, PA - Day 2

During the wee hours, it poured rain, however the radar showed that the violent weather went south and north of us. In our hay day we would have been up at 6 AM and out of the motorhome by 8 at the latest and at the first tourist stop when it openned. George would be the one cracking the whip so to speak to keeps us on task. But those days have gone by way of the dodo bird. Of course the children are grown and going on their own adventures. So with that said, I got up around 8 AM and after taking the dog for a walk, making and packing a picnic lunch, having chai and coffee, we didn't get out much before 10. This day is of historical significance for our family, as Altoona has been a planned stop on many a trip that just hasn't happened due to one reason or another until now. Today we went to the famous Altoona Horseshoe Curve which is an incredible feat of engineering in the days before heavy construction machinery. The curve is a perfect U shaped train track on the Pennsylvania Rail Road. Another plus to visiting this is we got to ride in a funicular up the mountain to where the tracks were. While we were there a large freight train came and it was awesome to see it wrapped around the whole curve. We also paid for the Altoona Train Musum which was mostly about life & death of the workers from Engineers to Mechanics while working for the rail road. It has a few full sized trains but we have been to several others that have had numerous actual trains. While in the area we also went to see the Alleghany Portage Railroad National Park. It was interesting to learn about how they created a rail system using counter weights to haul canal boats over the Alleghany mountains. Of course, even though I found it interesting, I fell asleep during the short film in the visitor center. Back at the motorhome we had another grilled rib eye steak, leftover augratin potatoes, salad and an ice cream cone.

June 4, 2014 - Altoona, PA

We (George, Abby the WhackaDoo, and myself) are embarking on another RV motorhome trip and this one is starting out like normal. George didn't sleep well last night due to shoulder pain. So we ened up not leaving the house until around 9 AM. Stopped at Wawa in down town Sicklerville for two 44 ounce fountain drinks for the drive. Then we headed over to the Cross Keys Biz Park where we keep our RV Big Betsy, but the road was closed for an unknown reason. After getting permission to pass by the officer whom had closed the road, we proceeded down to the biz park. We packed up the stuff we had brought with us in a sort of haste type kaos with plans to reorganize it when we arrived out our destination. When we went to hook up the car George discovered that the cable that operates the towing brake system had a busted end. So we made a detour down to Camping World in Suedesboro, NJ only to drive all the way down there to find out they didn't have the replacement part. So then we drove by way of the Blue Route only to get caught up in a major traffic jam due to lane closures it pushed our ETA back even further. As we were driving on the turnpike we heard a loud noise that sounded like gravel being kicked up under the frame of our motorhome. There was no place to pull over due to the concrete cattle shutes that they often line road lanes being repaired. So we kept driving and the noise stopped. When we arrived at our GPS coordinates for the Wright's Orchard Campground we wound up driving right past it. This happened mainly because we didn't recognize it as a campground, even though the sign was large. The frontage had a self storage business as well as a do-it-yourself doggie bathing center. As we kept driving, I called the campground to say we were lost and they directed us back to the location. The campground is reasonably priced, private and very well maintained. There is no recreational facilities, but it is a great place stay to visit the Altoona area. We needed some additional help to get the sewer lid off. So with that said, George discovered what the strange noise had been out on the road. Apparently a brand new $90. sewer hose for connecting our tank up with the sewer inlet in the ground had worked its way out through a hole in the compartment floor. The hole is there so one can hook up their sewer without opening their compartment door. So as luck would have it, its gone. At dinner we enjoyed a lovely rib eye steak and augratin potatoes, and in our travels when we were lost, we spied an ice cream parlour which we went to for dessert. Had hot fudge sundaes with vanilla ice cream.