Sept. 25th
Wow, another month is almost gone. Soon it will be time to leave Pine Harbor. We will probably put down a deposit for next year. It is a nice campground and we have made a few more friends here. We spent the weekend at Kevin's for granddaughter Kendall's 7th birthday. She is our youngest and quite a young lady already. Gymnastics is her favorite sport and she is quite accomplished and very flexible already. Our plans for the winter have been firmed up. We leave here on oct 14 and head to kevins again for a week, then onto Madison to meet up with Ed and Pat for the badger game on the 21st. From Madison we start the trek south to Gulf Shores in Alabama. We are staying at the state park for a month (cost $750 for a month). Also joining us are Beth and Todd Ehlenfeldt and John and Lori Tamas. I am so excited to see our new florida friends again. From Alabama we are headed to Brads in Crozet Va for the month of December to house/animal and grandchild sit. Very excited to do that for them. Brad and Mallory are headed to New Zealand for a month for their honeymoon. Then onto Belle Parc for Jan/Feb/Mar and first week of april.
We have had the camper repaired from all the damage we incurred in august. Looks good.
We had an incident with my car on the way home from kevins today. A dump truck bumped us while he was changing lanes and wrecked the fender and bumper on the drivers back side. So scary but again it could have been so much worse..we stayed straight on the road, when we could have been spun around and or rolled over into the ditch line. But yet again now something else to deal with.
Monday, September 25, 2017
Sunday, August 27, 2017
August 27th 2017
Wow, what a month! After leaving Carlsbad NM we headed to Albuquque and arrived there without incidence. Long drive on good highways with not much to see but desert and brush but pretty in its own way. We were supposed to stay at Leisure Mountain Rv park in ABQ but when we arrived the campground (again a PA campground) it was beyond awful so we canceled and went down the road to Hidden Valley Campground. It was also a PA campground and while not a great campground it was a 100% better than Leisure Mountain. It was $18 a night so quite reasonable. Brad and Mallory had a delay getting into Abq so did not arrive until sunday. We were invited to Mallory's parents home for supper sunday night and had a very enjoyable evening getting to know them and catching up with Brad, Mallory and Brett. The week went by quickly. We went to Old Town with Brad and family and then out for pizza on Monday. Tuesday we had Tom and Ginny Decoster and brads family up to the campground for supper. Beautiful evening sitting outside. Brad and I did some dance practicing also during the week. Thurs. we moved the camper to the house in ABQ that Eric rented and Eric and family arrived. Nice house but according to Mallory not the best of neighborhoods. Heather and I went for a walk anyway. There was also a party that a friend of Tom and Ginnys put on, which was delightful and what a view from their home. Friday Kevin and family arrived and we just hung out until the rehearsal at 3pm. Then on to another party at Tom and Ginny's. Another great time. Joel, Karen, Josh, Marisa, Mom, and Cindi arrived and we stopped at their rented home on our way back to our house. Saturday was wedding day. Rain was predicted but it turned out to be a beautiful sunny day and not too hot for a change. They wedding was beautiful and so much fun! The kids danced until they feet almost fell off. So much fun! Sunday we had everyone (tom and ginny too) over to our house for a cookout. Toms brother Randy and Debbie also made it to the wedding so we had a good time catching up with them. Monday most of us went up to the top of the Mountain Range (10368 feet) via a tram and some of us hiked further up. I could not make it. Man, that lack of oxygen affected me greatly. Tues. everyone packed up and left to various destinations.
We packed up the camper and headed out by 0730. 54.9 miles later tom noted that a piece of metal was flapping on the driver side of the camper so we pulled off at the next exit ramp to tack it down. We got out and looked at it and the entire tire/rim was GONE! At some point the tire flew off. We didn't know what to do we were so shocked. We never felt a thing. Eventually, we put the spare on and since 3 of the studs were shirred off and all of the lug nuts gone we took a lug nut from each remaining tire and screwed them on and limped to the travel center across the highway. Fortunately, there was a fix-it truck that was able to come to us and fix everything up and give us 2 new tires/rims and $600 we were on our way down the highway agai
old friends. class of 72. Denise badour, carla piehl, deb ellis and myself. we go back to 7th grade!
NM natural history museum.
Josh and I at the top of the mountain
beautiful view on the way up the mountain in the tram
beautiful sunset for the wedding night
wedding pictures
josh, mom and cindi
karen, randy, deb and donna siverling
the happy couple
kendall, payton, wade and brett had a ball at the wedding
beautiful service led by friend scott
ginny and i before the wedding
brett and i
well, i guess 3 beautiful women
mom and i
grandpa and his girls
great gramma and kids
family picture but the bride was still hiding
grandma and her girls
me and my boys
aprill and kendall
the kids loved tom and ginny's pool
tom and brad
me and all my girls
tom, tom eric and brad hanging out at tom's place
headed home
n. We stopped for a quick lunch break a couple of hours later at a small pull out in a town that had almost nothing in it and then continued on down the road. A bit later we stopped for gas and when I did my walk around I discovered my bike was GONE! Are you frickin kidding me???? how much more can go wrong? We finally made it home on Friday, got an estimate ($1600) and 2 more new tires ($300) and parked the camper. I wanted to kiss the ground at Pine Harbor. So glad to be "home".
Saturday was my 45th class reunion and we had a blast! So good to catch up with old friends.
Then this week was medical stuff with mom. First an appt. to take her to. Then another appt. and after she had a near syncopal episode in the lobby she was admitted to the hospital for 2 days and had testing done and NOTHING was found out except her artery's are clear. Yikes what a month. Friday was Cindi's birthday and she and Hanna came up to Chippewa and we all spent the day together. It was a great day.
Wow, what a month! After leaving Carlsbad NM we headed to Albuquque and arrived there without incidence. Long drive on good highways with not much to see but desert and brush but pretty in its own way. We were supposed to stay at Leisure Mountain Rv park in ABQ but when we arrived the campground (again a PA campground) it was beyond awful so we canceled and went down the road to Hidden Valley Campground. It was also a PA campground and while not a great campground it was a 100% better than Leisure Mountain. It was $18 a night so quite reasonable. Brad and Mallory had a delay getting into Abq so did not arrive until sunday. We were invited to Mallory's parents home for supper sunday night and had a very enjoyable evening getting to know them and catching up with Brad, Mallory and Brett. The week went by quickly. We went to Old Town with Brad and family and then out for pizza on Monday. Tuesday we had Tom and Ginny Decoster and brads family up to the campground for supper. Beautiful evening sitting outside. Brad and I did some dance practicing also during the week. Thurs. we moved the camper to the house in ABQ that Eric rented and Eric and family arrived. Nice house but according to Mallory not the best of neighborhoods. Heather and I went for a walk anyway. There was also a party that a friend of Tom and Ginnys put on, which was delightful and what a view from their home. Friday Kevin and family arrived and we just hung out until the rehearsal at 3pm. Then on to another party at Tom and Ginny's. Another great time. Joel, Karen, Josh, Marisa, Mom, and Cindi arrived and we stopped at their rented home on our way back to our house. Saturday was wedding day. Rain was predicted but it turned out to be a beautiful sunny day and not too hot for a change. They wedding was beautiful and so much fun! The kids danced until they feet almost fell off. So much fun! Sunday we had everyone (tom and ginny too) over to our house for a cookout. Toms brother Randy and Debbie also made it to the wedding so we had a good time catching up with them. Monday most of us went up to the top of the Mountain Range (10368 feet) via a tram and some of us hiked further up. I could not make it. Man, that lack of oxygen affected me greatly. Tues. everyone packed up and left to various destinations.
We packed up the camper and headed out by 0730. 54.9 miles later tom noted that a piece of metal was flapping on the driver side of the camper so we pulled off at the next exit ramp to tack it down. We got out and looked at it and the entire tire/rim was GONE! At some point the tire flew off. We didn't know what to do we were so shocked. We never felt a thing. Eventually, we put the spare on and since 3 of the studs were shirred off and all of the lug nuts gone we took a lug nut from each remaining tire and screwed them on and limped to the travel center across the highway. Fortunately, there was a fix-it truck that was able to come to us and fix everything up and give us 2 new tires/rims and $600 we were on our way down the highway agai
old friends. class of 72. Denise badour, carla piehl, deb ellis and myself. we go back to 7th grade!
NM natural history museum.
Josh and I at the top of the mountain
beautiful view on the way up the mountain in the tram
beautiful sunset for the wedding night
wedding pictures
josh, mom and cindi
karen, randy, deb and donna siverling
the happy couple
kendall, payton, wade and brett had a ball at the wedding
beautiful service led by friend scott
ginny and i before the wedding
brett and i
well, i guess 3 beautiful women
mom and i
grandpa and his girls
great gramma and kids
family picture but the bride was still hiding
grandma and her girls
me and my boys
aprill and kendall
the kids loved tom and ginny's pool
tom and brad
me and all my girls
tom, tom eric and brad hanging out at tom's place
headed homeSaturday was my 45th class reunion and we had a blast! So good to catch up with old friends.
Then this week was medical stuff with mom. First an appt. to take her to. Then another appt. and after she had a near syncopal episode in the lobby she was admitted to the hospital for 2 days and had testing done and NOTHING was found out except her artery's are clear. Yikes what a month. Friday was Cindi's birthday and she and Hanna came up to Chippewa and we all spent the day together. It was a great day.
Friday, August 4, 2017
Aug 4th 2017
It has been a busy week! Lots of miles put on and have seen a lot of the country we have never been to before. We stayed at a PA campground outside of Topeka one night and listened to the very loud circada's. Then we moved on to Dodge City Kanas. Tom wanted to see the town that one of his favorite shows Gunsmoke was based. We happened to get there during their Dodge City Days celebration and were pretty excited because we figured there would be lots to keep us busy. What a bust! Their 10 day celebration could have been condensed into 2 0r 3 and still had time to spare. Minong Summer days had a lot more going for it. The historic downtown appears to be dying. We stayed at the Gunsmoke Rv park which was nice. $36 a night with good sams discount, full hookups. we stayed 3 nights only because we knew that we were pretty far ahead of schedule. We left on tues morning the 1st and headed for New Mexico. We stayed in Logan NM at Arrowhead RV park. $20 with PA. A very rustic park at best, but the owner was nice. Park could use some considerable clean up but we did have full hookups. Between Dodge City and Logan we topped a hill and nearly rearended the cars in front of us due to an accident up the road. No warning from police at all just bang there it was! How tom kept the truck and camper on the road without overturning or crashing into the car ahead of us I will never know! It took my heart a long time to beat normally again After leaving Logan NM the roads were nice and wide with light traffic so I made the suggestion that I should drive for a while. I have not driven with the camper since the day we bought it so I had to relearn a few things. Just as I was starting to feel comfortable BANG. At first I thought the trailer fell off of the truck and when I checked the mirror I noted it was still behind us and then I thought BLOWOUT. I pulled over to the side of the road as quickly as possible and we could then smell the blownout tire. Of course, there was no cell service on hwy 70 so we had to change it ourselves. Fortunately, tom was very prepared and had everything we needed to get it done in under an hour. So off we continue to Carlsbad NM. We needed to stop at the closest Walmart which was in Roswell NM and get another tire. At the Walmart a nice gentleman was helping us and when the old tire was taken out of the truck he asked us to move the truck/camper and tom did so forgetting that the tailgate was down and the tailgate tore the shit out of the front basement door. Good lord. What next. upon leaving the Walmart with the new tire, we got turned wrong on a street and tom quickly corrected to get us on the right street, but I am sure we were close to causing an accident. Finally, we got to our campground in Carlsbad NM...I was so glad to get here. We stayed at Carlsbad RV park. $42 a night with good sams. Nice campground and happened to be next door to the only RV repair shop in Carlsbad. We had them come over and look at the damage caused by the blowout. they did the next day. The gentleman said that he thought we were ok to continue on with the trip and said he could tack down the loose parts. Which he did and didn't charge us anything!! While in Carlsbad we went the Carlsbad NP and did a cave tour which was amazing! We returned in the evening to watch the Bat Flight. 400,000 or so bats leave the cave nightly to go hunt insects. It was pretty awesome to see. Today we were going to go to Guadalupe NP, but it is so hot here we decided to go instead to the Sitting Bull Falls park. Pretty park with a nice waterfall out in the middle of the desert. One would not expect to find something like that out there. Tomorrow we are off to Albuquerque . Brad and Mallory along with Brett will be arriving also. We are going to stay for 5 nights at Leisure Rv park. Hopefully, brett will want to stay with us and we are going to do some sightseeing around ABQ and meet Mallory's parents.
It is a dry heat they say. Yeah right! Its HOT
Lincoln National Forest. Carlsbad NM
Entrance/exit where the bats leave nightly
Check off another park!
Carlsbad NP terrain over the caves
STUNNING formations inside the cave. And a cool 55 degrees inside. Blissful!
More park terrain
No snakes but I was watching out for them
Working out at the Arrowhead Rv park in Logan NM. All of it was broken!
Camp spot at Gunsmoke Rv park in Dodge city Kanas
Campground headquarters. Unique little campground
Tom and Matt Dillion at his statue unveiling in Dodge city Kanas.
Yep, tom is wanted alright!
It has been a busy week! Lots of miles put on and have seen a lot of the country we have never been to before. We stayed at a PA campground outside of Topeka one night and listened to the very loud circada's. Then we moved on to Dodge City Kanas. Tom wanted to see the town that one of his favorite shows Gunsmoke was based. We happened to get there during their Dodge City Days celebration and were pretty excited because we figured there would be lots to keep us busy. What a bust! Their 10 day celebration could have been condensed into 2 0r 3 and still had time to spare. Minong Summer days had a lot more going for it. The historic downtown appears to be dying. We stayed at the Gunsmoke Rv park which was nice. $36 a night with good sams discount, full hookups. we stayed 3 nights only because we knew that we were pretty far ahead of schedule. We left on tues morning the 1st and headed for New Mexico. We stayed in Logan NM at Arrowhead RV park. $20 with PA. A very rustic park at best, but the owner was nice. Park could use some considerable clean up but we did have full hookups. Between Dodge City and Logan we topped a hill and nearly rearended the cars in front of us due to an accident up the road. No warning from police at all just bang there it was! How tom kept the truck and camper on the road without overturning or crashing into the car ahead of us I will never know! It took my heart a long time to beat normally again After leaving Logan NM the roads were nice and wide with light traffic so I made the suggestion that I should drive for a while. I have not driven with the camper since the day we bought it so I had to relearn a few things. Just as I was starting to feel comfortable BANG. At first I thought the trailer fell off of the truck and when I checked the mirror I noted it was still behind us and then I thought BLOWOUT. I pulled over to the side of the road as quickly as possible and we could then smell the blownout tire. Of course, there was no cell service on hwy 70 so we had to change it ourselves. Fortunately, tom was very prepared and had everything we needed to get it done in under an hour. So off we continue to Carlsbad NM. We needed to stop at the closest Walmart which was in Roswell NM and get another tire. At the Walmart a nice gentleman was helping us and when the old tire was taken out of the truck he asked us to move the truck/camper and tom did so forgetting that the tailgate was down and the tailgate tore the shit out of the front basement door. Good lord. What next. upon leaving the Walmart with the new tire, we got turned wrong on a street and tom quickly corrected to get us on the right street, but I am sure we were close to causing an accident. Finally, we got to our campground in Carlsbad NM...I was so glad to get here. We stayed at Carlsbad RV park. $42 a night with good sams. Nice campground and happened to be next door to the only RV repair shop in Carlsbad. We had them come over and look at the damage caused by the blowout. they did the next day. The gentleman said that he thought we were ok to continue on with the trip and said he could tack down the loose parts. Which he did and didn't charge us anything!! While in Carlsbad we went the Carlsbad NP and did a cave tour which was amazing! We returned in the evening to watch the Bat Flight. 400,000 or so bats leave the cave nightly to go hunt insects. It was pretty awesome to see. Today we were going to go to Guadalupe NP, but it is so hot here we decided to go instead to the Sitting Bull Falls park. Pretty park with a nice waterfall out in the middle of the desert. One would not expect to find something like that out there. Tomorrow we are off to Albuquerque . Brad and Mallory along with Brett will be arriving also. We are going to stay for 5 nights at Leisure Rv park. Hopefully, brett will want to stay with us and we are going to do some sightseeing around ABQ and meet Mallory's parents.
It is a dry heat they say. Yeah right! Its HOT
Lincoln National Forest. Carlsbad NM
Entrance/exit where the bats leave nightly
Check off another park!
Carlsbad NP terrain over the caves
STUNNING formations inside the cave. And a cool 55 degrees inside. Blissful!
More park terrain
No snakes but I was watching out for them
Working out at the Arrowhead Rv park in Logan NM. All of it was broken! 
Camp spot at Gunsmoke Rv park in Dodge city Kanas
Campground headquarters. Unique little campground
Tom and Matt Dillion at his statue unveiling in Dodge city Kanas.
Yep, tom is wanted alright!Friday, July 28, 2017
July 28 2017
we started our journey to New Mexico yesterday for brad and mallorys wedding on aug 12.. Last night we stayed in Oakwood RV park Clear Lake Iowa last night. Found a nice spot off the highway for $35 a night they did not take Good Sams or Passport America, however the sites were probably the biggest we have ever stayed at. paved pads, grass and LEVEL. all a bonus. tonight we are at Grantsville Kanas near Topeka KS. Topeka Hilltop campground . Cost $16 with PA. Small sites, but it does have a pool. Very much off the beaten path. Today, I decided that it would be a good idea to leave the back window open to keep the air flowing in the camper. Well, not such a good idea...now I have a camper full of dust..damn! I spent 2 days cleaning prior to leaving Chippewa. . Tomorrow, we are off to Dodge City, staying at a Blue RV park.. they are having Dodge City days while we are there, should be fun.
Update: We decided to not stay at the Blue Rv Park as the reviews on that park were some of the worst I have ever read! Going to Gunsmoke Rv park instead and paying a lot more.
we are in Iowa is this the field of dreams?
our spot at Oakwood campground in clear lake iowa. Huge!
Tom thinks he is Superman! He is in the phone booth trying to change!!!
we started our journey to New Mexico yesterday for brad and mallorys wedding on aug 12.. Last night we stayed in Oakwood RV park Clear Lake Iowa last night. Found a nice spot off the highway for $35 a night they did not take Good Sams or Passport America, however the sites were probably the biggest we have ever stayed at. paved pads, grass and LEVEL. all a bonus. tonight we are at Grantsville Kanas near Topeka KS. Topeka Hilltop campground . Cost $16 with PA. Small sites, but it does have a pool. Very much off the beaten path. Today, I decided that it would be a good idea to leave the back window open to keep the air flowing in the camper. Well, not such a good idea...now I have a camper full of dust..damn! I spent 2 days cleaning prior to leaving Chippewa. . Tomorrow, we are off to Dodge City, staying at a Blue RV park.. they are having Dodge City days while we are there, should be fun.
Update: We decided to not stay at the Blue Rv Park as the reviews on that park were some of the worst I have ever read! Going to Gunsmoke Rv park instead and paying a lot more.
m
we are in Iowa is this the field of dreams?
our spot at Oakwood campground in clear lake iowa. Huge!
Tom thinks he is Superman! He is in the phone booth trying to change!!! Sunday, July 16, 2017
July 16th 2017
Another week flown by. Had a great time last weekend with friends Val and Ken. I introduced them to kayaking and they loved it. Now Deb and Doug Ellis are camped here for the week. They stay here every year during Chippewa fair. I washed the outside of the camper this week and it shines now! Karen, Joel and I did some painting at moms house this week and tom mowed the lawn so her place is looking good. time to list it! I need to get going and buy a dress for Brads wedding so that is the plan for this week. We plan to leave with the camper towards Alburquque on the 28th.
Another week flown by. Had a great time last weekend with friends Val and Ken. I introduced them to kayaking and they loved it. Now Deb and Doug Ellis are camped here for the week. They stay here every year during Chippewa fair. I washed the outside of the camper this week and it shines now! Karen, Joel and I did some painting at moms house this week and tom mowed the lawn so her place is looking good. time to list it! I need to get going and buy a dress for Brads wedding so that is the plan for this week. We plan to leave with the camper towards Alburquque on the 28th.
Friday, July 7, 2017
Saturday, July 1, 2017
July 1 2017
Still parked at Pine Harbor campground. Slowly becoming better acquainted with the other seasonal campers. many are only here occasionally on weekends. Tom was dx'd with Lyme disease on June 21st after falling ill the previous sunday. Fevers, nausea/ vomiting, dizziness, bad headache. He essentially didn't move off of the couch for 7 days. Doxy was started and he started feeling better after about 3 days. We had to cancel our plans to go visit John and Laurie in Canada, he was just feeling too tired to make the drive. Friends Deb and Doug Ellis are coming to this campground for 2 weeks in July and also Val and Ken Benton are coming next weekend for 2 nights. Yeah! We are planning on going to Kevins on Monday for a few days. we had our moving sale last weekend and it was pretty successful. We got rid of most everything we didn't want to save and made some money on our stuff. We now have a small unit
Still parked at Pine Harbor campground. Slowly becoming better acquainted with the other seasonal campers. many are only here occasionally on weekends. Tom was dx'd with Lyme disease on June 21st after falling ill the previous sunday. Fevers, nausea/ vomiting, dizziness, bad headache. He essentially didn't move off of the couch for 7 days. Doxy was started and he started feeling better after about 3 days. We had to cancel our plans to go visit John and Laurie in Canada, he was just feeling too tired to make the drive. Friends Deb and Doug Ellis are coming to this campground for 2 weeks in July and also Val and Ken Benton are coming next weekend for 2 nights. Yeah! We are planning on going to Kevins on Monday for a few days. we had our moving sale last weekend and it was pretty successful. We got rid of most everything we didn't want to save and made some money on our stuff. We now have a small unit
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