Thursday
Day 24
Putnam County Fairgrounds, Henry IL

We were up at about 6:45 am. Good Lord, I hope this doesn’t be come a habit! I can’t take it! Pancakes this morning. The last time we had pancakes at a rally the fella they hired had this huge, I mean huge flat griddle. It seemed to be about 30 feet long and attached to the sides, running along a rail type rigging, there was a funnel contraption that had four nozzles. As the guy moved the funnel along the sides of the griddle, he was piping out four pancakes at a time, perfectly round, perfectly spaced. By the time he hit the end of the griddle, it was time to run back to the beginning and start flipping. Out of the blue, he would yell, “Heads up!” and flip a pancake at some unsuspecting soul waiting in line. Amazing. This guy was perfection. What a great idea, and such a clever set up. The couple running the griddles this morning had a similar set up, only the griddles were only about 12 feet each, and there were two, a husband and wife team who were working like crazy. She was a wild gal, and was quite good at flipping a cake at someone standing in line. She had one heck of a flip and usually hit one of the helpers standing behind the folks waiting in line for food. I almost wet my pants when she yelled “Catch!” and the pancake landed on a volunteer worker’s head…who was bald. I wonder if it burnt his head! The pancakes were delicious and I devoured both of mine. I usually can eat only one, but they were very light and smallish so I cleaned my plate.

A word about last night’s entertainment. The Caterpillar Big Band played. They are employees, or relatives of employees of Caterpillar workers. Hmmm. I wonder. They were quite professional. And incredibly good. It was like Glenn Miller had been resurrected and was up there leading these guys. The singer was good also. They played mostly songs from the Big Band Era and I just loved it. So did everyone else!! They were well received and the appreciative audience gave them several standing ovations. I must say (and this is the skeptic in me I guess…) thinks that these guys are professional musicians and they have token jobs at the Cat plant. Any one of these folks could easily quit Cat and become a successful musician in any orchestra or band around. Just me. I am going to have to find out from someone who knows. The guy on alto sax was superb and the trumpet player who was one big fella was like Tommy Dorsey. I am not making this up!


Ok, back to today. As we were dining on Patty Cakes pancakes, a huge storm rolled in. The wind was blowing so hard the metal walls of the building we were in made a really loud rattling sound. Uh oh….I went back to the rig, my umbrella almost turning inside out in the strong winds. I guess that the display coaches will be closed up until the rain stops. I don’t think I’d want muddy shoes walking thru one of my honking new coaches if I was a dealer. I think the inside vender’s area will be jammed. Grandpa is sleeping on the couch as I write this, and Paulie is off to a FMCA Benefits seminar. We need to find out if grandpa has to join FMCA to have the benefits or he is considered part of our family (like a kid would be covered traveling with his parents). He is family, he travels with us in the rig, so I think he should be covered, but you can never be sure.

I wanted to go to a RV chemicals seminar, but think I’ll stay in and do dishes. I hate walking in thunderstorms. I always think I’ll be struck by a bolt of lightening. I haven’t been too nice lately. (Just kidding…I am always nice…!)

Well, there are 5 wifi’s available here, all privately owned by folks with internet satellite dishes and all code encrypted. Rats. If I find someone who owns one of them, I will offer to pay them for a bit of access so I can dump my blog. I would do that if someone asked me and I owned one!

Well, the dishes are calling me…and then I want to go to an Alaska seminar at 11. Maybe the rain will dissipate over the next couple of hours. It doesn’t seem to be letting up however, and the thunder is just booming. Believe it or not, my ears are just aching, but the fatigue hasn’t hit yet. I think the barometer was falling while I was trying to sleep. Had a very rough night, tossing and turning all night. Paul is a saint to put up with me. Ha ha ha, what choice does he have…its me or grandpa! And Pepi sleeps with grandpa. At least I don’t snort like a piggy when I sleep. Like Pepi! Well, not that I am aware of anyways!

Later,

Dee

P.S. I will download some pix later if I can link up. I don’t have too many, but I do have one of grandpa with a fish he caught in Geneseo…

Day 24 continued…

Paulie came back to the rig and by this time it had stopped raining. Amazing. One minute it’s pouring, the next minute the sun starts to peek through.

We looked at a few coaches on the way to the seminar on Alaska. I found a really nice Travel Supreme. Only $314,000. But it was a 2006, so I figure they will let it go at less than MSRP. I think I’ll offer 200 and see if they bite. LOL! Heck I can count all the pennies in my mason jar!

The Alaska seminar at 11 was almost full when we got there at 10:40. At 11:05 the presenters tried to start but people kept coming into the room. Each time, the presenters had to stop the presentation, turn the lights on (it was a slide show) and pass out materials including a raffle sheet. Again and again they were interrupted by latecomers. Grrrr. I hate these inconsiderate goofs. If the seminar starts at 11, they should BE there by 11. I swear…the entire presentation was ruined for me. I was getting madder by the minute. At 11:50 yes, ten minutes before the end, they still came in and interrupted. The gall. I wrote all over the comments sheet that once the seminar starts, especially one with visual stuff that the monitor should not allow any late comers ten minutes after it starts. Yeah, that’ll fly. At the end, they collected the raffle sheets. These damm nervy idiots were all pissy that they didn’t get one to fill out so they had a chance to win. The presenters, very, very nice folks, passed around some additional sheets and the entire room had to wait until they filled out their raffle sheets. Well, as fate would have it, one of the late ignoramus’ won. By now I am livid and had to actually bite my tongue so I wouldn’t say something evil and nasty. I am still pissed.

We went back to the rig and had some lunch. After lunch, grandpa went with us to look at coaches. We saw some nice ones…all way overpriced for our meager budget. Afterwards, we went to another seminar and grandpa went back to the rig. This seminar was about how to use simple things like Velcro and cord winders to make your rig more organized and to be less stressed. Stress and frustration go hand and hand with rv’ing. Maybe some of these ideas will help. I tease Paulie all the time that perhaps full-time on the road would be too stressful for him. Every time there is a little problem, he goes off. He used to be so laid back and calm. What ever happened to that Paulie? Well, Zack I guess, lol!

After the seminar we went back to the motorhome and picked up grandpa. We went into Henry to look for a place to eat. Paul and I had eaten four years ago at the bar and grill on the square, but we thought we’d try somewhere else. We wound up at Mother’s. Well, if ever there was a place that was small town, old and hokey, it was this place. We were the only customers for dinner and it was almost 5:30 p.m. I had the special…meatloaf, mashed potatoes and gravy and fugly green beans. The salad was served in a dessert bowl and grandpa ordered blue cheese dressing and the waitress arrived carrying a bottle of Kraft Blue Cheese. Honest. The meatloaf was tasty and the potatoes were really smashed taters…a nice surprise. Grandpa had a steak which he said was very good. Just as we were finishing up, a group of 8 came in, also from the FMCA rally. This poor waitress was just overwhelmed. Poor girl. We left her a nice tip, probably more than she had made all day. On the way home, we stopped at the dollar store for some dish soap and some other paper goods. Paulie walked next door and bought some more beer…my fav Killian’s Red. Such a nice guy, eh?

Well, I decided not to go see Dave and Daphne, the entertainment duo for the evening. We saw them in Albert Lea, and although Dave is a really great guitar picker, Daphne’s voice just grates on me. She sang Cabaret and it was like fingernails on a chalkboard to me. Icky. Paul and grandpa went and of course, grandpa was all ga ga over this Daphne chick, I know he does this stuff just to irritate me. It works.

While they gone, I finished up my printing for the chapter fair on Saturday. I am gonna be a dead woman walking by Saturday evening. Paulie and I man the chapter fair table
from 9 to one. Then at one, our Red Hatter’s tea goes until two. At 2:30 to four, I am monitoring my last seminar, a scrapbooking thing. Then at 5:30 we will have a get together here at our rig for the Cenois members here at the MAC rally. Horseydovers are on the menu. Everyone will bring something, and a chair and we can discuss the events over the week. We plan on leaving right after the entertainment. Some middle-aged babe and her four aces or some such act. Gosh, it must be hard to find good entertainment that is affordable for these rallies.

Well, it’s almost bedtime. Yanno, 7 a.m. is just to darn early for my psyche to deal with.

Later…

Dee

Wednesday,
Day four thousand six hundred and eleven…

OK, so I can’t remember…one of those senior moments I reckon….

We finally arrived at the Henry Putnam County fairgrounds. Wow. Motorhomes as far as the eye can see. Ok. Well, maybe they just fill the fairgrounds. Looks to be about 375 rigs here. I did see one 5th wheel. Must be a vendor…nothing but motorhomes allowed here for goodness sakes. With all these big dollar coaches, I bet the guy in the 5th wheel feels like a poor ol’ piker. I never cease to be amazed at the number of coaches that retail over $500,000.00 at these things. If I could afford a half a mil for a home, I sure as hell wouldn’t spend it on a tin can on wheels for goodness sakes. I’d buy a lakefront or ocean front villa on either Lake Como or near Sanibel Island. Well, maybe not Sanibel…they are more like 4 or 6 million…can’t afford the taxes on those puppies.

We had to wait almost two hours to get parked. One of the parking volunteers said that two out of three coaches were handicapped. They ran out of spots for us handicappers…we lucked out since we were placed in a plumb spot. We are in with the Midwest Frustrated Maestros, the group of folks that entertain us at breakfast each day. We are 200 feet from the display coaches and just about 600 feet from the arena where the entertainment will be each night. Paulie took our lawn chairs over all ready so we can get a good seat in the handicapped section. So many of our friends from Cenois are here, and have really important jobs to boot. Good to have friends in high places as they say lol!

We are planning on steak for dinner. I was starving so I made two brushettas for myself. Crisp bread topped with tomato and onion in spiced olive oil and then topped with mozzarella cheese. Oh they are soooooo good. I planned on bringing them to our Cenois club get together but now, I just might do something else. I hate to part with something so good. Selfish girl…yep that’s me!

Well, I am so hungry I could eat the proverbial horse. Where is Paulie for heaven’s sake? I’ve got to eat or have another low blood sugar problem. Last time it was 46. NOT good.

Later

Dee

Dear Readers...START HERE FOR UPDATES!!


Ok my friends...I am sitting in a comfortably overstuffed arm chair in the new Barnes and Nobels in Muskegon. I have popped two (yes, two) vicodin from Paulies old stash from his shoulder surgery, so I am not only PAIN free for a couple of hours, I am also in a pretty good mood, LOL!

I am going to post the last week's blog entries as this is the first opportunity to get wifi. I apologize but the folks in Henry IL didn't have a clue what wifi was so you can imagine my frustration. Sorry that you will have to go backwards, but actually there's not alot I can do. However I will post them individually with the day on them so it may make it easier. I sure hope everyone is enjoying this as much as I am enjoying practicing my writing skills. It has been suggested to me that I use this as a basis for a book on fulltiming in our RV...hmmm, such as what not to do? Or don't do this because...just ask me how I know....

well, off to cut and paste. Miss you all, but we are having a ball. Grandpa still wants that Alfa he fell in love with...I think he and Paulie are gonna call Pontiac RV and see if the deal they worked out is still good. Hey, whatever grandpa wants...he is having a great time and I am so very happy about that. Not to mention that he and I are tossing back a few cocktails and have never had more fun talking and listening to his stories. He is a real card. I think I am going to get out the video camera and start recording these sessions. I love looking at Daddy's videos. Makes me realize how truly wonderful his stories were and makes me miss him, but in a good way. I still see his twinkling blue eyes and that goofy grin he made when he knew he was joshing ya.
I will regret not getting grandpa Gene on tape.

hugs

dee

Henry Bound...

I forget what day it is. Paul pretty much got us ready to roll last night. The dishes this morning completely filled up the grey water tank. Wow, we were here a week and we didn't have to move the rig to dump. Kewl. Now I know we can dry camp, even with grandpa along!
I will be losing the wifi connection I paid dearly for this morning, so I am not sure when I am gonna be able to post on the blog again. They may have some freebie computers at the rally, but I am not counting on it. I will write off line and then post a couple of days at once. I know its a pia to read that way but it's the only way I will be able to keep ya'll entertained...hahahaha!

I am off to take a shower while Paulie does the ever so exciting job of dumping the tanks.

later,

dee

Day 22

Geneseo Campground

I skipped yesterday. Sorry. We really didn't do too much. Paulie and I crawled all over town to find two new house batteries for the coach. We have been told they have a three year lifespan, and ours are now four years old. Ooops. We couldn't find the kind we needed anywhere but the local automotive repair shop ordered two for us, they will be here this morning. I guess I just haven't got a clue why when we are plugged in to electric, the house batteries are also needed. Maybe 'cause it's a 30 amp connection and we need 50 amp? Hell if I know. Now ask me if I care?! We sat outside alot yesterday as the weather was just perfect. For dinner, Paulie made god-awful spaghetti. Normally he makes a great sauce with ground beef, jazzed up jar sauce with chunky tomatoes. I like to eat just the sauce, forget the stupid noodles.

We were up about normal, ninish. Paul and Grandpa went off to town to get the batteries. I decided to do some net surfing. I like to look at the rv for sale sites and see what great buys there are. No reason, just to see what's out there. I would like to get a three slide unit if we decide to do more traveling. But I am certainly happy with our current coach. The only problem we have traveling with grandpa is that the sofa bed is so long that the person sleeping on the front side of the coach can't use the bathroom...no room to walk around the bed. That would be the only change I would make.

Well, we will be packing up later today for our trip to Henry IL tomorrow. I need to attend a volunteer's meeting at 3:30. I have volunteered to help moderate seminars. I got lucky, I drew two Mexico seminars and the other one I can't remember what it is.

This has been a nice quiet week. The campground was full over the weekend, but our area which is only water and electric hookups is deserted. There are more in the w/e/sewer area. There are three or four motorhomes that came in together. They are a biking group and are taking advantage of the bike trail along the Hennipen canal which is about 500 yards away from the campground. Paul spoke to one of them yesterday and apparently they biked 50 miles east. Gee, 50 miles. Not in my lifetime!

I will try to post more later.

hugs

dee

Day 20

Geneseo Campground

Sunday morning...threatening skies. Again. Grrrr. We get up and out to the meeting room. Oh my. Wonderful fresh fruit salad, four kinds of coffee cake, biscuits, oj. What more could one ask for? After breakfast we had a nice sermon by our Chaplain, Hank Kerr. After a closing prayer, everyone was off getting their rigs ready to roll. We are staying until Wednesday, so we just sit around and visit. Bev Stear, Paul and I carry out the tubs to Harold's car. Noesy rosey here decides to open up one tub to see what's in it...wham...the lid slips and whacks off my salute finger fingernail...at the quick. Ouch. Crap. My beautiful nails, now ruined. Grrrrrr. I am not a happy camper.

We sit on the porch of the meeting room just visiting with Phyllis and Art Reinholtz, Bev and Harold Stear. Grandpa is in the rig reading the paper. We sit and watch the exodus of all the weekend campers. There seems to be a log jam at the sewer dump. After solving all of the world's problems, the Stears go off to get their rig ready to roll, and I head to our rig to do dishes. I read the paper, have 1/2 a sandwich and then the sleepies hit yet again. This time I only take a 2 hour nap. Must be my vitamins...that I keep forgetting to take. I promise myself, its back to the routine on Monday. I gotta keep up my protein intake and do vitamins...no questions, no excuses. As I sit here typing this, we are watching the end of the US open. I am routing for Mickelson, but he seems determined to blow this tourney. OH well, I am not a golf on TV fan...or a golf fan period. I think we will mosey outside, build a fire and have a nice cocktail. Sounds really good to me. The campground is quite empty now. A few more in the full hookups area, but our area is empty. The wagonmasters left the wood they had brought for the rally for us to use. How nice. I like to sit in front of a campfire. A nice relaxing Sunday. Its nice to visit with friends, especially our good friends from our motorhoming group...the Cenois Prairielanders.

Don't know what our plans are for Monday or Tuesday for that matter. There is a casino near here so perhaps we will visit there.

later,

dee

Day 19
Geneseo Campground, Geneseo IL

The alarm went off very early at 7 a.m. Paulie and I get up, make up the bed and then I am off to take a shower. Amazing. There are people up and about. I can't imagine having to do this everyday. Ugh. I make my way back to the rig and we all head over to the meeting room. The wagon masters have made a wonderful breakfest...three kinds of egg casserole and biscuits. I am not terribly fond of egg casseroles or omelets either so I took just a bitsy piece of casserole and a biscuit. After we finished eating, the campground owner arrived and gave us a nice talk about the history of the Hennepin Canal. It was very intersting and informative. After his talk, we held and "informal" meeting just to discuss a couple of outstanding club issues. After the meeting, I sat and talked with Linda Barcus for awhile. Afterwards, back at the rig, I was so tired I had to sleep. This is two days in a row for heaven's sake. I slept until 4:45 when Paul woke me up and said we were expected at five. Geesh. I took the eclair cake and watergate salad and went over to the meeting room. We had ham, lots of cheesey potatoes, and lots of goodies for dinner. My watergate salad was not set...I didn't add the marshmallows, remember?
After dinner we all gathered around the firepit just outside the meeting room and talked. About 9 the bugs started getting bad so we all said goodnight. Paul and I barely made it thru the 10 pm news and followed grandpa to bed.

What an exciting day. Hmmm...somethings not right here. Rain. Damm Rain.

later,

dee

Day 18...
Geneseo Campground, Geneseo IL

Gee, I lost a day. Literally...I lost a whole day. We got up late this morning...9 am. I made coffee, did up the sofa bed and made myself a protein. After signing on the wifi, I started to read my emails. Whoa. I can't read the screen. My ears are killing me, and I feel some vertigo coming on. My eyes aren't focusing at all. I finish my protein, shut down the laptop and lay down in the bedroom. I am immediately spinning so I get up and take a valium. Then, the next thing I remember is I have to go to the bathroom. I get up and stagger to the bathroom. I am also parched. I go into the living room and Paulie is sitting there working on the FedEx box of bills that Zack has sent. I get a bottle of water and stagger back to bed. At four pm, Paulie wakes me up. Geesh, I have lost all day...Friday went pffft! I get up, get dressed and try to do something with my bed head. Good thing we are amongst friends...I look like something that crawled from underneath a rock. Before we go to dinner with the gang, I make a list of stuff I need from the grocery store so I can bring something to the potluck tomorrow evening. We all meet at The Cellar restaurant. We were in a private room, and for the first time in a very long time, we had a waitress who really knew what the heck she was doing. There was an all you can eat fish fry...Paulie, grandpa, Elizabeth and Hank ordered that, and I ordered chicken. The food was good. Great salad and very tasty cinnamon buns. The food was served hot which is unusual when we are in such a large group.

Paul and I drop off grandpa who's tummy seemed to be acting up and then it's off to Jewel. We get back to the campground and I start to make Watergate salad (this one without mini marshmallows...bought them but forgot to add them to the dish) and eclair cake. I didn't want to buy the stuff to make the icing according to recipe so I just got a can of fudge frosting which I melted in the microwave and just poured on top of the cake, similar to the way I make the HoHo cake. Paul joined some of the folks outside and grandpa and I watched TV after I finished making my potluck stuff. Paul came home about ten, and grandpa went to bed. I thought I'd write a few lines before I hit the sack. It was a beautiful sunny day today, but I, like Rumplestilskin (sorry about the spelling...I can't remember how to spell some fairytale names, lol!) slept the day away. What a waste. I sure hope on judgement day, God doesn't ask me if I was productive all the days of my life...I think I'll be in a bit of trouble. Breakfast is at 8 which is in my not so humble opinion, all together too darn early for anything much less food, but I guess I am in the minority here...(we have some early risers in our group). I need to shower so that means I gotta get up at least by 7:15. Gosh, just the thought makes me tired. Oh well. I'll suffer through this too...hahaha...

hugs

dee

Day 18...
Geneseo Campground, Geneseo IL

Gee, I lost a day. Literally...I lost a whole day. We got up late this morning...9 am. I made coffee, did up the sofa bed and made myself a protein. After signing on the wifi, I started to read my emails. Whoa. I can't read the screen. My ears are killing me, and I feel some vertigo coming on. My eyes aren't focusing at all. I finish my protein, shut down the laptop and lay down in the bedroom. I am immediately spinning so I get up and take a valium. Then, the next thing I remember is I have to go to the bathroom. I get up and stagger to the bathroom. I am also parched. I go into the living room and Paulie is sitting there working on the FedEx box of bills that Zack has sent. I get a bottle of water and stagger back to bed. At four pm, Paulie wakes me up. Geesh, I have lost all day...Friday went pffft! I get up, get dressed and try to do something with my bed head. Good thing we are amongst friends...I look like something that crawled from underneath a rock. Before we go to dinner with the gang, I make a list of stuff I need from the grocery store so I can bring something to the potluck tomorrow night. We all meet at The Cellar restaurant. We were in a private room, and for the first time in a very long time, we had a waitress who really knew what the heck she was doing. There was an all you can eat fish fry...Paulie, grandpa, Elizabeth and Hank ordered that, and I ordered chicken. The food was good. Great salad and very tasty cinnamon buns. The food was served hot which is unusual when we are in such a large group.

Paul and I drop off grandpa who's tummy seemed to be acting up and then it's off to Jewel. We get back to the campground and I start to make Watergate salad (this one without mini marshmallows...bought them but forgot to add them to the dish) and eclair cake. I didn't want to buy the stuff to make the icing according to recipe so I just got a can of fudge frosting which I melted in the microwave and just poured on top of the cake, similar to the way I make the HoHo cake. Paul joined some of the folks outside and grandpa and I watched TV after I finished making my potluck stuff. Paul came home about ten, and grandpa went to bed. I thought I'd write a few lines before I hit the sack. It was a beautiful sunny day today, but I, like Rumplestilskin (sorry about the spelling...I can't remember how to spell some fairytale names, lol!) slept the day away. What a waste. I sure hope on judgement day, God doesn't ask me if I was productive all the days of my life...I think I'll be in a bit of trouble. Breakfast is at 8 which is in my not so humble opinion, all together too darn early for anything much less food, but I guess I am in the minority here...(we have some early risers in our group). I need to shower so that means I gotta get up at least by 7:15. Gosh, just the thought makes me tired. Oh well. I'll suffer through this too...hahaha...

hugs

dee

Day 17 continued...

We decided to go off to explore Geneseo after breakfest. I needed to find an adapter for my printer cable to change from a pin plug to a USB plug. We stop at Radio Shack. Paul had to rush back to the campground as he thinks he threw away the existing printer cable along with the trash. Dufus. I inquire at Radio Shack if there is such an adapter, and yes there is. Unfortunately, there was only one in stock and it was sold. I go down the street to a computer store and check with them. Nope. No dice. Paul comes back and we head to WalMart. I check to see if they have any of these adapters. Nope, no dice again. The price of the Radio Shack adapter is $35. I bought a new printer for $29. Of course, I had to buy a USB cable, which cost about $14. I lose money, but I now have a newer printer. I hate how fast technology changes everything so quickly. By the time you get the item home it's totally obsolete. I will try and return the ink cartridges that were with the printer...hopefully, I can recoup some money on those.

After spending mega bucks at WalMart, we go to a brand new Mexican restaurant that has opened on main street in town. It was quite busy, but we were seated fairly quickly. The food was very good. Very authentic flavor. I hate the over spicy garbage most places serve. As grandpa and I were leaving as Paulie paid the check, I missed the step outside the door and almost fell on my bum. How embarrassing. A young woman walking by the place almost had a stroke she was so freaked. I twisted my right knee (so what else is new!) and also once again threw out my right shoulder. I did manage to hand on to my doggie box. Geesh. Paulie would never have forgiven me if our leftovers had landed on the street.

Back at the campground, Paul goes off to plaly Mexican train with other club members, grandpa goes off fishing and I set up the new printer. Elizabeth Kerr comes over and we visit for awhile. Grandpa rushes into the rig swinging a huge catfish he had just caught in the canal. Elizabeth and I screech at the sight of this fat fugly catfish. He tells us how this fish pulled him into the canal after breaking his line. He is soaking wet so I guess the fish gave him a really good fight. He goes off to show off his prize fish to the group. I am starting to feel the incoming rain and dropping barometer. After Elizabeth leaves, I try to lay down and nap. My knee is hurting, my hip is also hurting and I am miserable. I can't seem to get comfortable so I get up and take a pain med. I plop into the recliner and read the Davenport paper.

Everyone was going into town for dinner, but since we had such a large late lunch we decide to skip dinner. Paul decides to go fishing, grandpa is napping while watching the news and I start nodding off in the recliner. Grandpa wakes up and we both eat the lunch leftovers along with a nice cold beer.

Not much on TV, and I am not going outside to get eaten by misquitoes. Paul goes to visit with the group, and I decide to find recipes for the potluck on the net. A very quiet evening for sure.

Well, its almost time to makeup the sofa bed. Paul is closing the windows as the humidity is getting oppressive. It is supposed to be 95 here tomorrow, and humid. Oh swell, my favorite kinda weather. Rain, humidity and heat.

Not sure what we are doing tomorrow. I need to get to the grocery store and get stuff to make for the potluck. I have decided to do some kind of jello thingy.

Well, off to bed.

hugs

dee

Day 16 continued...
Geneseo, IL

After working on setting up the satelitte dish all afternoon, Paulie finally threw in the towel. I had been able to access the dish network sight and downloaded the instructions on how to wire the thing. I tell Paul I will print them. Aha...I have a printer in the rig, am I prepared or what? I lug it down, plug it in and bring over my laptop. Crap. My new laptop doesn't have the correct printer connection...the new ones are all USB ports. This is grandma's old printer and it has the old pin type connectins. Crap again. I was also hoping to print the letter I had composed to the IRS to get this thing settled. I don't even know if there is a converter from a pin connection to a USB. And, will it be available in Geneseo IL? Maybe I should just bite the bullet and get a cheapy printer to keep here. I really don't want to do that, as I was hoping to get my old laptop fixed and then I can use that one (which will become Paulies laptop) to do any printing as needed.

About 5:15, Paulie who is now NOT in a very nice mood due to his frustrations over the dish satellite thing says he is going into town. OK. I have been waiting all freaking afternoon to go grocery shopping. We go off, grandpa stays behind with the furkids. Paulie is traveling at the speed of light down the highway. He tells me that we need to hurry because it will be late by the time we get dinner on the table. Ok. We ask a local for directions. We find the Jewel. A Jewel right here in Geneseo. And its a nicer one that what we have in Springpatch. Can you believe this? We rush thru the store, and cripes $66 dollars later we are off back to the campground. Paul and I put away the stuff and he starts to get dinner ready. He has cooked steamed shrimp (courtesey of the deep freeze back home), coleslaw and hawiian salad from the deli. I can tell he is pissy 'cause he put some of each on our plates and even put cocktail sauce on the plates. He is in full control/prickly mode when he does this. Dinner was ok...shrimp were a bit salty to me, but then since I limit my salt, everything tastes salty to me.

After dinner, Paulie decides to go take a shower. Gee, its been so long I don't remember when he showered! Ewwwww. He also takes the laundry. Such a good husband. Grandpa and I settle in to watch some TV special about the 100 films that make you "feel good".

The end of another day. I get the stuff to make up our sofa bed and grandpa goes to bed. After settling in, Paulie makes me get up and move the fan so he can "feel it". So I huff outta bed and put it on the table. It feels like we are in a wind tunnel. This ain't gonna work yanno. "Perfect", he says. OK...I grab blankets and cover myself head to toe. Paulie promptly falls asleep with the TV on. I poke him and tell him to shut the darn thing off. Another blissful night in the Meandering Ziaja's rig.

Day 17

We wake up to some partly cloudy skies. Weather looks threatening for the weekend. No problem, we have a shelter for not only our meeting, but if it rains, our potluck too.

Don't know what the plans are for today. I'll post more later.

hugs

dee

Day 14…

I think when I die I shall collect on all the good things I have done in my life. Perhaps no one will agree with me here, but this trip has earned me some big points with the old man in heaven if I have anything to say about it. I have graciously given up my shotgun seat in the rig for grandpa. Do you know what its like to sit in the back of the motorhome for 7, 8 hours at a time? It sucks. You can’t see anything. Nothing. Nada. Perhaps some trees flip by at 65 MPH but that’s about it. No panoramic view of the landscape, no highway signs to read, no hearing the radio. Of course, I have tried to knit. No success there…the sweater I brought to work on is Zack’s Christmas present and it has cables and moss pattern across the back and chest and there is no way I can do cables in this bumpy thing. I have tried to lay on the sofa. My feet hang over by at least 18 inches. Then, if I do settle myself on the couch, my head is right by the kitty litter thingy. Ugh. No cat poopies to smell but the litter smell (you know the perfumey stuff that they put on it….) makes me gag. I have tried to stick my nose under a lap robe to stop the smell, but that only makes me get a headache from the lack of oxygen. I have even tried to stick my fingers up my nose to block the smell. I have several nail jabs in my nose that now bleed… I can’t win it seems. I suppose I could tell grandpa that I’d like to sit up in front for a while, but I’d feel guilty. When we set out two weeks ago, I told grandpa sitting in the recliner was alright for me as it helped keep my legs up and my hip from hurting. So, I lied. I sure hope Paulie realizes the sacrifice I have made for him. Nah, the thought prolly never crossed his mind.

We left Duxbury about 9:45 this morning. Sunshine. How beautiful. Too bad we didn’t have better weather while visiting with the kids and Maureen. Maybe next time. We stopped about 2 pm to let fat Pepi take a tinkle and for me to fix some sandwiches for a late lunch. I found a Passport America park in Akron, NY which has a spot for tonight. It is just outside of Buffalo…and half off the fee will make this a cheapie stop. This is only the second time we have used PA but hopefully we will save some money from this point on.

Not much to write about as I can’t SEE anything to write about. I am glad we got to see both girls graduate. That is important to a kid, and neither kid has an overabundance of relatives around. It was fun to share their excitement and this milestone for each of them. I was happy to see both of my sisters also. We don’t get to visit in person too much, mostly telephone calls are all that keeps us in touch.

I’ll try to write more after we get settled at the campground.

Hugs

Dee

Akron NY
Day 14 continued…

We are at Sleepy Hollow or some such thing campground. Mostly permanent trailers and 5th wheels. We pulled in about 6:15. Grandpa was still in the shotgun/navigator seat. I am giving directions from the recliner. I just KNOW this is not gonna work…! How do I know this? This has happened before…in Florida, in GA, in TN, in KY…been there done that. Trouble is, grandpa can’t see so therefore he won’t be able to spot the street signs. OK, not to say I told ya so….we totally miss the campground. By this time, I have a raging headache. Paul goes about three miles before he can turn around. I think that I am gonna tell Paul that grandpa does not get to sit shotgun/navigator when we are off the highway and looking for a campground after 9 or 10 long hours on the highway. We throw together a really bad dinner of overcooked steak, nasty corn (that’s what ya get when you buy unknown store brands of frozen corn, Paulie) and burnt pirogues. Ick. The only thing that tasted good was the gin and tonic. Since we had water hookups, grandpa and I took showers. Nice hot showers. We will try to get on the road about 9 a.m. tomorrow. We are just east of Buffalo so we don’t want to get caught up in the rush hour traffic. Until tomorrow.

Dee

Day 15…

I have this gut feeling, it’s gonna be one of those days. Grandpa thinks its 8 a.m. and yells for us to get up. It’s like 6 a.m. Paul yells, “Go back to bed old man it’s not time to get up yet!” Like now I can go back to sleep. I realize I am freezing. I am sharing two old quilts with Paulie and during the night put the down comforter that sheds feathers on me. I am still cold. So, Paul gets up and gets dressed, tells me he has a coupla things to do outside. He resets the alarm and off he goes. I am still freezing. I need coffee. I get up. *Sigh*. I hurt all over. First thing…turn on the damm heat. June 13th and we are putting on the heat in the rig. Go figure. I make up the sofa bed. I try the TV…no TV pops on. I think “hmmmm” and clean the coffee pot and make fresh. I plug in…I think “hmmmmm” no electric. I yell out the door at Paulie. There is a guy cutting limbs in a nearby tree. Paulie tells me that the guy had shut off the electric so he could cut limbs. Oh. Guess he didn’t want to be a French fry. So, even though we paid for electric, we fire up the genset. No problem. Coffee gets made. Grandpa comes outta the bedroom. I make some toast for us and we get the rig ready to roll. After stopping at the campground dump we are heading out. Well, I ask Paulie if he remembers how to get back to I90. Both he and grandpa chorus. “…sure…!” I stupidly believe them. It is déjà vu all over again. Paul misses the last turn and we have to go a couple of miles to turn around. How can someone’s sense of direction be lost overnight? I let it happen again. Grandpa is riding shotgun and doesn’t know where the hell to turn. The inmates have the keys.

To further make my day, I stupidly ask Paulie if he had put the black tank deodorizer in the tank. Yes, he replies but then adds we only have two tablets left. Uh oh, says I. You’d think I’d learn NOT to say such things. I got a 20 minute lecture that a) we will be in Henry before we need to dump again (whatever Paul….) and b) we can BUY more (whatever Paul….) and yada yada yada. I think he just likes the sound of his own voice for pete’s sake.

Can ya tell yet that I am not having a stellar day? What gave me away?
Perhaps its being in the damm recliner again. Or maybe I just got up cranky? Oh well. It’s now 10:40 a.m. and we have only been on the road for an hour. I think it’s gonna be a long day.

Later

Dee

Day 15 continued…

Grandpa strikes again…

Gee, twice in one day. I keep telling myself that we are setting ourselves up for disaster when he is playing navigator. We have wonderfully detailed directions from Yahoo. Problem is, he just doesn’t READ the damm things. The directions for example state…” merge on I90 to Brea Hwy and go .10 of a mile”…he will tell Paul…”merge onto Brea Hwy”…forgetting the freaking one tenth of a mile….I see the I480 sign fly past. We end up in the Cleveland Airport. Hmmm…ya think Paulie would TELL him to let me be navigator? Oh, nooooooo, I guess he doesn’t want to hurt his feelings. OK, sympathy boy, turn this sucker around 4 miles outta the way in some potholey parking lot. See if I care.

I get huffy and get my pillows. Fatty Pepi and I take a nap. So there. Deal with directions impaired grandpa.

Then….Paul says…”I want to keep moving…make sandwiches for us.” Excuse me? Do I LOOK like a waitress? Or a sure footed stewardess? Oh sure, my dearest life companion…I shall just jump right outta my recliner from which all I can see is the occasional side of a truck as we whiz past….and make you a delicious sandwich. OK, for those of you readers who have tried to do anything in a motorhome while it’s moving, let me explain to the uninitiated. Walking in a motorhome moving at 65 mph is like being in the rolling barrel at the carnival. If you have any balance, you just may be able to get to the bathroom without smacking your face into a wall or the slideout. Forget going potty. The toilet is enclosed in a closet that is about 3 by 4…pulling down your pants can be one hell of a challenge especially if the driver takes a curve too fast, decides to shift lanes quickly or hits the brake. Wall sandwiches are not uncommon and certainly not painless. Now, I am balance impaired anyways, so just getting outta the recliner is a real challenge. OK. Laugh at the mental picture here dear readers…it really is funny. Bobbing and weaving to the galley, I open the fridge. Immediately with the reflexes of a cat, I grab the mayo jar AND the mustard jar tumbling out from certain destruction if they hit the ceramic tile in the galley. I grab the bread and reach across the aisle to grab some paper plates. Paulie hits the jake brake and I wind up laying across the dinette. OK, no broken bones, just some dried baby’s breath up my nose from the table décor, cussing under my breath. OK, get bread on plates. Look up towards front of rig…oh no! Curve! Brace against stove. Smack my private area with a knob. Curse again, questioning Paul’s paternity. Slather bread with mayo. Another freaking curve, but Mario Andretti decides to change lanes ON the curve. Now I utter some words I don’t think anyone has heard before. I slap the meat on the bread. OK…smash the top breads on the sandwiches so they don’t fall apart in Mario’s hands as he eats while he drives. I leave my entire hand print. Then I stagger up to the driver and shotgun seats. I thrust the sandwich at grandpa. “Oh, thanks so much”. Right. I have to hit Mario on the shoulder to take his stupid sandwich. Grandpa makes some crack about not knowing I was a stewardess. I mutter something under my breath about how they are gonna pay and plant my bum in the recliner. I eat about ¼ of a sandwich and promptly get the meat stuck in my tummy. Up and into the bathroom to barf. Ugh. Try and barf in a moving motorhome. I clean up (!) and go lay down again. OK, that’s lunch!

Paul decides we should try for Joliet. No way Mario. I say, how about South Bend? There are several campgrounds and there is also a Elks Lodge with dinner and a pool! OK we decide the Lodge at South Bend it is. We get off the highway and go thru downtown SB. Nice, really nice. We can only see tops of buildings of Notre Dame. We miss the left turn as the sign says only Rte 20 not Bus Rte 20. Drats, we turn around and get back on track. We park the rig and go have some dinner. First a nice cocktail, then another, THEN dinner. Grandpa and I have stuffed trout. Ick, they serve it with SKIN on….! Paul gets chicken. After dinner I have an amaretto with my coffee. I want to forget today, yanno? We zigzag back to the rig, watch a bit of TV and settle in for the night.

Day 16.

We are up and out by 9. Stop at McDonalds to have some breakfast and dump the computer. Well, this is the only McDonalds in South Bend without wifi. Figures. I know how to pick ‘em. We are back on I80/I90 and on our way. Hit a bit of a log jam at the Illinois border, so what else is new? We have about 140 miles to go. I am getting sleepy…must be naptime!

Later….hugs, Dee
Day 16 continued….

Well, we made it….over 1200 miles in two and a half days! We are in Geneseo IL at the Geneseo Campground. Very nice place. The restrooms/shower rooms are the cleanest I have ever seen in a campground. I took a shower immediately. I just cannot stand being unbathed for more than a day or so. Ugh. After having a sandwich, we will probably go into town to get some groceries. I have signed up for Perisomething wifi here at the campground. Pricey but this way I can link up here in the rig. No more finding a McDonalds that has or doesn’t have access…of course now that I have paid the ransom(!) I find out that there is free wifi all over town. *Sigh*. Oh well, I can go on 24/7 until we leave. Hope you enjoy this chapter of my continuing saga. Please don’t think I am picking on Paulie and grandpa…however bear in mind that I have not been blessed with patience nor do I suffer fools gladly, no matter what you might have been lead to believe!

Hugs,

Dee

Well, with the sun came an incredibly beautiful day. After breakfest at Friendly's we took a ride to the beach. I have some pictures added here. We came home and sat in the yard soaking up the warmth of the sun's rays. We just visited for most of the day. We went to pick up Philip from work and picked up some brats. We had a great supper of potato salad, brats, hotdogs and chips. What a difference a day makes. Too bad we didn't have this weather for most of our trip. Oh well...enjoy the pictures.

hugs

dee

PS...some reason is preventing me from uploading the pix where I want them...sorry...I added one of the graduate and brother Philip.

Sunday....well, as we arose from restless night's sleep...we discover... the SUN! Yes, it really is the sun shining over Duxbury. We get up quickly so we don't miss this unusual occurrence. Wow, it is beautiful. After watching the morning news, we realize that it is only temporary. Clouds and rain are moving back into the area this afternoon. *Sigh*. Oh well, we'll be pushing off from here tomorrow, hopefully going back to normal midwestern SUNSHINE. Well, we can only hope.

The graduation ceremony was very nice. I think the DHS orchestra is the best high school ensemble I have had the pleasure of hearing. It was held in a beautiful theatre/auditorium. We were unfortunately in the rafters so we couldn't even find Taylor in the sea of white and green robes. The speeches from the kids were just awful. I guess being outsiders we just didn't "get it". Only Duxbury insiders got the points. We let out a nice loud yell for Tay as she was called to get her diploma. The huge crowd was terrible to navigate as we tried to make our way to the door. By this time, my ears were unbearable and I just needed to get away from the very large mass of people. We finally found Tay and got outta Dodge. We took some nice pictures at the house and then Maureen and the kids went to a party down the block. Paul and I headed back to the rig and I went right to bed. I tell ya, this rain crap is making me crazy. I am determined to find a place that has little rain and certainly no barometer craziness.

I got up about 6:30 and we decided to get a pizza. Just as we sat down to eat, Maureen and Philip got home. I shared my meatball sandwich with Mo, and Philip didn't want anything. After dinner, Mo and I went over to the house and just talked and watched TV.

It was a nice quiet day. We are planning to go out to breakfast this morning as Taylor's "party".

Well, we are now off into the sunshine to have breakfast. I will post more later.

hugs

Dennise

Duxbury MA, scene of flooding and animals pairing up....

Well, its now day um, gee what day is it? With all this rain I have lost track. Oh well, its really not that important. Today is Saturday, graduation day for Tay. Maureen came home from work on Thursday not feeling well. We did convince her to go with us to Friendly's for dinner. We even talked her into a chocolate shake. Only shakes are not called that here, they are called fuzzies or fribbies or some other goofy name. We had a nice time. Back at the house, we talked Maureen into a grandpa deluxe gin and tonic. We all went to bed happy.

Friday was pretty much a blah day...rain continues to pound New England and many towns are experiencing flooding and local rivers are cresting. We did manage to get to the Quincy IRS office to get some help on this tax notice thing that Zack received. Actually the man (really geeky kinda fella who mans the office by himself) was quite helpful. He told us how to notify the TX service center that the taxes had been paid on the distribution on our 04 taxes, not Zack's. After leaving the IRS we picked up Philip from school then headed to my favorite clam chowder place, the Milepost, for a late lunch. The chowder was as wonderful as I remembered it. Paul and I split the Duxbury Seafood plate, grandpa had liver and onions (ewww!) and Mo had fish and chips. The food is wonderful. I am sure its just frozen stuff like most places, but the scallops just melted in your mouth. Quite good I must confess.

Since we had a late lunch, we skipped doing dinner. I visited with Maureen and Philip in the house and grandpa and Paulie stayed and watched TV in the rig. We all shuffled off to bed about 11:30. The weather guy on the local news was not encouraging. Not at all. Rain. What can I say?

I'll post more about the graduation later today.

hugs
dee

This picture was taken at the party after the graduation gig.

From left to right....me, with my new two-toned blondie look, Dominique, Paul, Jordan, Jan and the graduate, Courtny

Duxbury, MA

This morning on the Today show, our ol' friend Al, you know Roker, said that the storm coming in to the New England area was a real yankee nor'easter. Surely he jests. Nor'easter my butt, we were in the middle of a freakn' hurrican that hit landfall. If this had been two months earlier we'd have been buried in 6 feet of snow. No way would I live in this place. Buffeted by winds that moved the rig from lane to lane on its own, we tooled along the CT coast then into MA. Driving cold rain. Noah, where are you when we need you? We stopped for lunch late, about 2 p.m. in a town called Sharon or something similar. We didn't find a place to eat but we did find the TajMahal (sorry no spell check for foreign landmarks) of supermarkets. Big Y. Amazing place. Two times the size of Super WalMart, I am not kidding. They had a baby grand piano in the cafe area. No, really. Paul and I split a sub sandwich that made Subway look like a hotpocket. Loaded with meat and cheese, pimento, pickles, red and green peppers, lettuce, tomatoes and all the good stuff like oil and vinegar, mayo and mustard. OH. So good. Grandpa had Boston Baked Bean Chili. And he wonders why he farts every other step he takes. Between that and the gin....just kidding. We get back on the road and the rain is still coming down in torrents. We get to I93 and head toward Duxbury. We have no problems with the mapquest directions until we get to the last one...we don't know where number one starts. A local pulls up and says "who ya tryin' to find, I know all the folks here....". I mention Demmert. The guy gives us a stupid look. I say...they're renters. Oh he says and points to the house just across the street. I call the house and Philip answers. I tell him to look out his front window. He does and starts laughing. Paulie manages to get us into the driveway. Philip and I visit for most of the afternoon and Paul and grandpa get the rig settled. One of Maureen's friends had brought an entire turkey dinner with all the trimmings including apple pie for dessert! We warmed it up and had a nice dinner when Taylor, the graduate got home from work. We watched some tv after dinner and talked with Philip. At ten we decide to get ready for bed. Philip has to go to school tomorrow, but Taylor is done. She too is very excited about graduation. Oh, in case you might be wondering, where is my sister Maureen? Well, she had some scheduled meetings tonight in Boston. Due to the weather, some of the trains are not running or tracks are flooded(or something like that) so she gets to stay in a downtown hotel! We won't get to see her until tomorrow. The rain is still coming down and I will see the TV weather a bit later. Not sure what we can do in the rain tomorrow. We'll see tomorrow.

Until tomorrow....

dee

Day three continued…

After Jan and the graduate left, Grandpa got up and then lay down on the couch and promptly fell asleep again. I watched a bit of TV (the only station we can get is NBC and they have the worst soaps I have ever seen…the acting is really bad…I didn’t know what was going on so I just watched in amazement at the fugly actresses and really tacky and trashy wardrobes. Now I know why I watch all the ABC soaps. For all of you NBC soap fans, tough…they really stink, so there)

Paul busied himself cleaning the air ducts and filters and then vacuuming the floor vents. Grandpa woke up and said he felt better. We decided to go to Cumberland so I could upload my blog and get some groceries. Paul called Damon and spoke to one of their service folks to find out how to get the wipers fixed. The Damon rep promised that the regional Damon guy would call and give us some information on where we can get the parts or get it repaired outright. We piled into the car and then drove around the campground to find out where the beaches and the fishing docks were.
We stopped at a local RV/Truck/Bus repair place off I68 and they told us to bring in the rig tomorrow morning. Meantime, the Damon guy called back and told us there weren’t any local dealers in this part of Maryland. We were ok with that as we felt we had found some seemingly knowledgeable repair guys. We then drove to McDonalds and since we hadn’t had any lunch and it was now almost two, we decided to have a bite to eat there. Even though I hate fast food, I didn’t really want to search for another place to eat. I was able to connect to SBC Freedom after about ten tries…so aggravating. I love wifi, but it can be really a pain in the tush to get logged on. After uploading my blog, we decided not to go all the way to WalMart as it was raining again, and just go to the local market, Martins. I really like Martins…it is like a Schnucks and has a wide variety of stuff. Paul went to the service counter and got a discount card, while I had a field day looking at all the food stuff that I have never seen before. I now have at least 20 discount shopping cards in my wallet from all of the places we have shopped while on the road over the years. Then I wonder why my purse weighs a ton. Paul does all the grocery shopping. He says I buy too much stuff we’d never eat. Yeah, right. Actually, I have a difficult time in grocery stores as the fluorescent lights combined with the high vertical shelving and long aisles make me spin. I have actually scared the hell out of lots of people in grocery stores. I am so wicked. My favorite Meniere’s trick is to have a drop attack. These actually have a medical name…Episodes of Tumarkin. No, I am not making this up! It is as if someone comes up from behind you and pushes you down. It is very freaky and very dangerous if you hit something. I can usually get right up…ok so I have to work at getting up with my bad knees but there is no vertigo or spins and so I don’t barf. So far I have only broken ribs and had some serious sprains. Plus I have as I stated earlier, I give a lot of folks a scare.

After we shopped, we headed back to the campground and unloaded the groceries. Paul called the Rocky Gap Lodge to find out how much the fishing licenses cost and where they could be purchased. He and grandpa headed out to buy the licenses and I decided to lie down. My bad hip was giving me grief and I had a headache from the stupid rainy weather. My ears were doing chimes in both ears so it was time to take a break. Pepi and Snickers decided to join me in the bedroom….Pepi snuggled between my feet and Snickers plopped her fat butt on my stomach. I couldn’t nap as my hip was nagging me to death so I decided to just get up. About then Paul and grandpa got back from the license dealies and I decided to go to the beach area and dock to watch them fish. I grabbed my trusty can of insect repellent and bottle of water and we were off on a fishing adventure.

We settled on the dock, Paul at one end and grandpa on the other. I sat in a camp chair and read USA Today and bird watched. Since I have no clue to the particular species here (or any where for that matter…) I spotted what I think was an Oriole. He sat on the driver’s side mirror on the car and excitedly pecked at the bird he saw reflected. He jabbered at it several times and then flapping his wings, he began to peck again. I do enjoy watching birds, they are fascinating. Suddenly, the sound of thunder came rolling in over the water. No lightening. I am not an outdoorsy person and truly believe I will get struck by lightening before I can win the lottery so I scurried back to the car. After a short time it stopped and I ventured back out to the dock. Poor choice. As soon as I settled into the chair, it started to rain again. Undeterred to enjoy watching the men in my life feed worms to the clever little fishies, I go back to the car and get my golf umbrella, the one that covers a small village. Once again, I get settled and back reading the paper. Now, Mother Nature plays one of her wicked scare the humans trick and a flash of lightning and the downpour begins anew. I grab my water, my trustyy insect repellent, the umbrella the paper and I am in the car before you can say chicken. So much for fresh bass cooked over an open fire for dinner. Paul and Grandpa load up the car and its back to the rig. It is completely dry at the campsite.

Paul warms up some ribs for me and grandpa for dinner while he finishes off the chicken sandwich he didn’t finish at lunch. All of a sudden, the storm arrives. Pepi pulls his usual scared sh*tless routine, diving under the couch pillows while Snickers calmly gives herself a bath. With the sound of rain upon the roof we all settle in to pass the evening watching TV with terrible reception. Ah, camping. What an adventure.

Later.

Dee

Day Four

After listening to the rain fall all night, morning came all too early for me. Paul had set his alarm for 7 so he could get up and go shower at the shower house. I got up after he left, made up the sofa bed, made coffee and then a warm protein and sat down to watch the Today show for a couple of minutes. Grandpa got up and then Paulie came back from showering and took little fat Pepi for his morning constitutional. I got dressed and did up the few dishes we had in the sink. Time to clean up and secure everything for the trip to the repair shop to fix the windshield wipers. Grandpa and I went in the car and Paul followed in the rig. We got to the repair shop right at nine as scheduled. We piled into the car and off we went in search of breakfast. Paul mentioned McDonalds which I quickly shot down as a really, really bad idea. I wanted my eggs and bacon and dammit, I was gonna have ‘em! We found a place called Penny’s Diner which was just outside the mall. The boys ordered Farmers Omelets and I got two over easy with bacon. When the waitress arrived with the platters, we all started to laugh. All three of us could have feasted on just one of the omelets! They were HUGE and came with toast and hash browns. The Farmers omelet had bacon, sausage, ham, green peppers, onions and mushrooms all topped with cheddar cheese. It would feed Paul for two days. We dug in and enjoyed the good food. As I was about to take a sip of coffee, two flys that seemed to be doing some sort of mating dance around my head, swirled in the air and plunk! Right smack into my perfectly good cup of coffee. Well, killing two insects with one cup of joe was good, even the waitress was impressed. We finished up and headed towards WalMart for grandpa’s prescription…which he “forgot” to fill when we were home. Paul had spent the better part of an hour calling Walgreens back home, AARP and the program druggist getting it all taken care of.

I wanted to get a headset for my laptop so I could practice my Spanish learning tapes without disturbing anyone. I found those, got some face cream and some sleeping pills and the boys found some “swim/shower” shoes
for the shower house. Of course, the reason for our trip to Walmart was to get the prescription, but due to some snafau with Grandpa’s insurance the prescription was on hold. After WalMart we picked up the motorhome and headed back to the campground. We set up camp for the second time in record time. It was nice that we had cleaned the rig before we left this morning and had a nice clean house to come home to.

Later that day, WalMart called to let us know the prescription mess had been straightened out at long last. We all piled back into the car and off to WalMart we went. After picking up the prescription, and leaving the store, Paul noticed that grandpa had his new tennies on…with the PRICETAG still on the shoes! It’s a good thing we didn’t get nabbed for shoplifting! No one would believe that we had purchased the shoes earlier in the day. Grandpa would have been off to the pokie for that!

We stopped at the Cumberland Elks Lodge for some wings and hamburgers. We watched the “league” shuffleboard challenge (!) for awhile…not MY idea of a fun Friday night to be sure, but, heck I not in charge, yanno! After dinner we walked around the downtown area for a while. There is a seasonal Cumberland After Five celebration every Friday night throughout the summer. Various types of entertainment and bands perform, and the local restaurants serve alfresco to diners. Even though the weather was threatening, there were a lot of folks enjoying the evening. Paul bought me a sugar-free mocha from The Daily Grind. After out little stroll we headed back to camp, and by the time we had arrived, the rain had come back with a vengeance. Jan was supposed to attend Josh’s graduation party after the ceremony, and then stop by to visit afterwards. Grandpa turned in about 9 p.m. At 10:00 we hadn’t heard from her, so Paul and I were just about to pull out the sofa bed out where headlights flashed into our campsite. Jan apologized for not calling and we talked for about an hour. We made plans for her to drive over in the morning to pick me up. We would have some breakfast, and get our pedicures.

After she left, Paul and I settled in for the night to the comforting sound of rain on the rig’s roof.

Day Five…Saturday

The sound of my cell phone woke us up at 7 a.m. Paul reached for the phone which was on the side table above his head. He reached just a bit too far and promptly fell out of bed. It was Jan, asking US what time it was! She thought she was late…Paul assured her that she wasn’t late and that she had said she’d pick me up at 9:30. Paul told me he was ok and we both fell back asleep. I awoke about 9:00 and got up with all intentions of going to the shower-house. I had purchased some hair stuff that I wanted to do but thought better of it knowing what the shower house was like. I decided to just put some clothes on, pack some more clothes to change into after I shower over at the house and get ready. Jan showed up about 9:40 and off we went. We went to a local place for coffee. I ordered a waffle and she ordered an English muffin. My waffle was awful. How can you screw up a freaking waffle? Easy…blacken the edges and let it get soggy. Serve with two small margarine packages and crappy syrup and there you have a nasty tasting waffle. After a nice long visit and a couple of coffee refills, we were on our way to the toe palace for our pedicures. Of course, it’s now about 11 a.m. and the gal tells us our appointments are for 2 and 3. Ooops. Jan strikes again. She obviously had changed the appointments when she had gotten the day off. However, since she had made these appointments, her day off was taken away and she must have thought she had changed them. So we head for the mall where there is another nail place. We get there and do some window shopping at BonTon’s. What a nice store. They had a 50 to 60% off sale so there were some nice bargains available. I don’t need anything since I had just replenished my summer wardrobe at Wally world the other day!

I asked her if there was a good hair salon in the mall as I wanted to have my hair trimmed in the neck area. Before I knew it, I was in a salon chair, my hair was being colored and cut. Since the front part of my hair is grey, most colors in the blonde range won’t cover the greys. I would have to go dark, and then have it streaked in order to color up the grey. I decided to just do the blonde as Paulie is always bugging me to “go blonde”. Well, I now have two toned hair in two really blonde shades. Hmmm. As they say…”it’ll grow out…”. Good. I can’t wait. The stylist did show me how to better use some hair “glue” to really maximize the style I was now the proud owner of. It’s very similar to what I always wear, just fuller. After picking out shampoo, conditioner, and styling products I was done. Jan insisted on “treating” me. She wanted to tell me how much she appreciated my help when she needed me last year. I told her that’s what sisters are for…to be there for each other. She wanted to do something special to thank me. It was very nice. From the hair salon, we went to the nail spa and I had a pedicure and a manicure. I am sporting some pretty good looking nails if I say so myself. All the protein and vitamins I take! By the time my nails were dry, Jan was running late for work so we rushed off so she could get changed. I had a quick half a peanut butter sandwich on Weight Watchers bread and a WW lemon twinkie type thing. Jan went off to work and I watched General Hospital on soapnet until Courtny came home from work. She had plans for a picnic but was happy to take me back to camp. Back at the campground, Paul was gone exploring and grandpa was sleeping. I sat with fatty Pepi and Snickers. I tried to nap, but my hip was bothering me. That’s what I get for chasing Jan all day! When grandpa got up when Paul got home, I slipped into the bedroom and promptly fell asleep. Paul woke me about 7 when he had dinner ready. We had a really nasty steak, overdone sweet potatoes and some really good salad! I am now sitting here trying to stay awake enough to write this!

Tomorrow we think we will go to Jan’s and have a BBQ. That’s the plan.

Later,

Dee

Day Six…

Another rainy crappy day…this time the air is much cooler. We all get up around 9 or so. I make coffee and Paulie makes grandpa some breakfast. After my coffee I am just feeling terrible. Grandpa asks me if I am ok…he tells me that my eyes are going in different directions. I decide to go lay down in the bedroom. Paul and Grandpa go off to fish again. I sleep. And I sleep…all day. Jan did call and ask how the boat ride was, and I tell her that I was so dizzy this morning all I have done is sleep. She tells us to come to her house for dinner around four. OK, I agree and then it’s right back to sleep. Paul and grandpa return, fishless once again. I tell them we need to be at Jan’s about 4 p.m. Paul says, well, its four now. Ooops. I get dressed, they wash up and we head over to Jan’s house. It is still rainy and very cool. We sit out on the back patio for a while. Jan and Jordan are making mashed potatoes, corn on the cob, fresh fruit and steak. Paul and I bring veggies to roast. I show Jordan how to slice the veggies then I season them with olive oil and salt and pepper. Paul grills the steaks and soon we are chowing down some excellent fool. After dinner we just sit around on the patio until it is too cool to stay outside. We all sit in the living room and Courtny sets up the DVD. We all sit around and watch The Wedding Crashers. Paul and I have already seen it but it still is very funny. After the movie, Jan serves fresh fruit and Weight Watchers Key Lime pie. After our late dessert we pack up and head back to the rig. Grandpa goes to bed and Paul and I watch the news. About 11 we head to bed ourselves.

Day Seven…

I can’t believe we’ve been gone a week. Too bad the weather has been so dismal and wet. It has really put a damper on our get together with Jan and the girls. Alex has been sick since Friday, and Jan had to work on two of her four days off. Well, tonight is the graduation and then we shove off for Boston tomorrow morning. I wish we could have had better weather and been able to cook out here at the campground with the girls. Oh well, maybe next time. After we had breakfast and coffee this morning, I went and took a shower. My hair was making me crazy so it was time to wash it, color or no color. I have decided I am going to get a rinse to cover this blonde. I guess I will have to go dark to cover the grey. It’s a pain to be old I guess. I had gotten a call from Jan this a.m. and said she’d call me when she got back from picking up Alex from school and picking up the cake. That was at 9:30 and its now 11 and I haven’t heard anything yet. I am hungry since I didn’t eat any breakfast. I think I will make a sandwich. Paul and grandpa left about ten minutes to try one more time to fish. Hmmmm. They must be using the wrong bait or they are not very good fisherman.

Later.

Dee

I made a wonderful ½ sandwich of swiss, honey ham, tomato on white with mayo. I could eat this sandwich til the cows come home. Jan called and is on her way to pick me up. Need to run some errands for the graduation gig tonight.

We head into town and get the van washed, pick up the cake, order ballons and then run into the market. I get Court some flowers and the strawberries grandpa loved from dinner at Jan’s on Sunday. I also bought some new salad dressing since I don’t care for ranch all the time. $27 later, we go back to Jan’s house. I attempt to help her put up a shelf and mirror. I totally screw up the entire thing and leave two huge gaping holes in the wall. I thought we were using toggle bolts but these were screw-in type I had thought I had used before however, I was wrong. Gosh I hate goofing up something so easy. I will have to make it up to her somehow.

Courtny is really excited about graduation. We get to the gym at 6:10 and it’s already standing room only for the ceremony that starts at 7 p.m. Climbing up to the top of the bleachers almost does me in. My knees don’t work and the hip is hurting enough to make me cry. I feel like a 100 year old cripple as folks reach out and help me up. Paul is late. He was packing up the outside stuff and discovered carpenter ants had begun to consume the firewood we had from the inside out. He needed to de-ant everything before packing it away in the basement storage. We don’t need carpenter ants gnawing on our rig now do we? He arrives at the graduation and there is absolutely no room for him to get up to where we are. After a really hoaky beginning the graduation ceremony got better. Then the choir sang a terrible rendition of Bridge Over Troubled Water. Jeesh the seniors who sang the solos were so very off key! Then came the interminable awards (which should have been done at a separate ceremony in my not so humble opinion….) and scholarship presentations. Good golly, they went on forever. Then, finally the awarding of the diplomas. Courtny was in the third to the last row so it took a while. After Court got her diploma I had to get out of there. I was hurting so badly I took some of my hoarded pain pills. I had to go to the bathroom which was down two flights of stairs. Geesh I can’t wait to get this damm hip taken care of. Paul and I got in the car and booked. We stopped at Taco Bell as both Paul and I were starving. We arrived back at Jan’s house and then proceeded to the Ullery’s house where the graduates will gather to have some cake. We stayed about an hour then made our goodbyes. It is always hard to say goodbye to my sister. This time I didn’t cry. I miss her a lot and wish she lived closer. Maybe when she is able she will move closer.

Paulie and I crashed as soon as we got back. We got up about 8 or so. By the time we had packed up and dumped it was ten before we got on the road.
I developed a nasty headache as we hit the highway. Must be incoming rain. We saw some beautiful scenery. Certainly is more scenic than central Illinois by a long shot. We drove through the mountains of Maryland and Pennsylvania. We continued north through PA and on to New Jersey. After NJ we sailed into Ct. After a lot of hours on the highway we decided to find a campground. We had stopped at a McDonalds about 6 to have some dinner…well, it you call fast food dinner. I had a hot dog and the boys had chicken sandwiches. Eh. I would have preferred some authentic Italian lasagna or pizza but beggars can’t be choosers while traveling. We pulled into Riverdale Farm Campground about 7 pm. There is a trout stream just below the campground and grandpa is chomping at the bit. We could easily stay here another night so he could get some fish. I don’t think Maureen and the kids would mind as they are in school and work when we would arrive. Hmmm…I’ll call tomorrow and feel them out.

We have city water, cable tv and 50 amps. Heaven on a RV pad, LOL!

Well, I am going to finish the gin and tonic grandpa made for me…more tomorrow.

Later

Dee

Day Eight….

Noah and the flood…

It has rained everyday since we started out. I am sick to death of rain. It is supposed to rain every day until Sunday. *Sigh*. Nothing I can do about it however this trip so far has been all wet. Literally. I have no pictures to speak of from Cumberland and Rocky Gap because it rained the entire time we were there. We stayed at a beautiful park in New Haven Ct and I have no pictures because it rained again. And again, and again.

We finally got to watch some TV as the park has cable. I would have much rather been outside enjoying the scenery and the view, but because of the rain, we were once again stuck inside the rig. We had an ok night, actually grandpa and I slept ok as he makes one hell of a gin and tonic. We finally decided to move along about 11 am. No use staying here in the rain, so I didn’t even call Maureen to see if us being a day late would be ok. By the time we got unhooked, attached the car and got moving it was almost 11:30. We are in no rush. We only have about 180 miles to Maureen’s house so we should be there by the time the kids are home from school. What fun. Rain.

Later.

dee

Day one continued…

Paul and Grandpa got back from the bank bearing gifts…Hardies chicken sandwiches. Paul and I split one and Grandpa ate only a half and saved his for later in day. He says traveling makes him hungry. Either I was starving or the food from Hardies has improved greatly. While they were off being financial wizards, I continued to make trip after trip to the rig with arms overloaded with stuff. I sure hope we haven’t overloaded this puppy…our CCC(cargo carrying capacity) is somewhere around 4000 pounds if I remember correctly from perusing the owners manual once. I really don’t think I am capable of carrying 4000 pounds of stuff, but one never knows! I am getting good at finding small out of the way spots to store stuff. The only problem I can foresee is that I won’t remember where everything is…

Grandpa is riding shotgun. This is ok. There is no need to even follow directions at this point. We are heading east across Indiana and then over into Ohio all the while on I74. But, once we get to Indy, I will take over and guide our hapless driver (!) onto the correct roads to get through the city. I am not sure how long we will travel today. I had originally hoped for Zanesville, but that was before we knew we would not be able to leave first thing this morning. We pulled out of the driveway exactly at noon.

Snickers is yowling something terrible. She should be used to this by now. She’s a seasoned traveling cat for pity’s sake. I think she just wants attention. Pepi the obese taco dog (I can’t spell his breed name) continues to mew and scratch the chair until I pick him up. I enjoy having him in my lap…in the winter so he helps keep me warm. Now, its 95 in the shade and this little heater of a dog just makes me all sweaty. Ick.

I am thinking of going into the bedroom. Naptime strikes on the road too yanno. It’s almost three and that is usually the time my brain decides it has comprehended just a bit more than it should and I get a headache, a bit dizzy and incredibly tired.

I will write more later, when there is something to talk about!

dennise

Day One continued…

We decided to stop for fuel and dinner around Dayton, Ohio. We found diesel at Meijers for $2.79 per gallon which was almost ten cents less than gasoline. Imagine. Me thinking almost three dollars a gallon is a bargain. My how the oil industry has brainwashed us! I recall thinking the same thoughts when gas went up to around two dollars a gallon…a $1.67 was a steal! We are such suckers. We should go burn a few post offices in civil disobedience just like Thomas Jefferson counseled us to do when we don’t agree with government actions or in this cast government inaction. Well, I am just kidding of course…but jeesh, where is this all going to end? OK, I promised no politics and I shall shut my bleeding heart liberal self off. I am on a road trip…no room for distractions, right?

We had a nice dinner at the Big Boy, north of I70. I had really good and crispy whitefish, Paul had the salad/soup/fruit bar and Grandpa had his usual spaghetti. Paul provided us with delicious fresh pineapple and very tasty watermelon. I could LIVE on fresh summer fruits. Too bad, they have so much fructose. Can’t do too uch of that, I go into diabetic coma if I eat too much.

We decided to stop at the Elks Dayton Lodge #58 to spend the night. We have all the Elks traveling books which provide information for RV’ers where the local lodges post any accommodations available for traveling Elks. Dayton was in the newest book so we made a side trip off I70 to the Lodge. We drove into a nicely paved lot and pulled around to the back section. We parked and then went in to the lodge. We met quite a few nice folks there and had a few drinks. Some lodges charge a “donation” but Dayton lets fellow Elks stay for free. By the time we had made a voluntary donation for the lodge’s favorite charity and had a few more rounds, it would up costing us about 20 bucks. I don’t have a problem with that, we had a great time. The local Elks were all very friendly and helpful.

We all staggered back to the rig (I should not say staggered, we were NOT loaded, just feeling good but I couldn’t think of a better word.) After Pepi the fatty went out, we all piled into our respective beds. I make Grandpa take the bedroom and Paul and I sleep on the fold out couch with a nice comfortable air mattress on top. Quite comfortable. I am not too enamored with the idea of Pepi the fatty on the air mattress with his sharp little fat toenails. So, Grandpa gets the bedroom and Paul has to use a potty can. Once the bed is out, he cannot get to the bathroom. Better him than me…men are built to pee into a can in my opinion.

Day Two….off to Columbus

We awoke about 7 a.m. local time. That’s SIX a.m. my time in case you wondered. I couldn’t open my eyes but the guys were up so I had no choice. I made coffee with tap water. EEEwwww. I never use tap water in beverages of any kind but we didn’t have bottled water. We do have a purifier on the faucet, but it still tastes nasty funky to me. I was surprised that it tasted ok. Paul and Grandpa had a donut, I had protein. We pulled out about 9 am. We are back on I70 speeding towards Columbus. I figure we have about 300+ miles to go so it will be early afternoon when we pull into Rocky Gap State Park. We will be about 10 minutes from Jan’s place. I called her at work since NO ONE called to return my messages from the last three days. I really hate those rotten snotty girls for not giving her the message or at least call me back. Don’t think I am gonna keep my trap shut when I see the three witches of the east. Their inconsiderate and rude behavior will certainly be dealt with. And they wonder why they don’t get birthday presents or hand knit gifts…they can’t be that stupid or can they?

Well. I guess I will log back on when I have something interesting to report.
I70 is about as exciting as I55. If we weren’t on a schedule, we’d take red roads and really see the country. Next time, we can mosey and take our time.

Hugs

Dennise

Day Two…somewhere in eastern Ohio near Wheeling WV

Since the boys had huge doughnuts for breakfast and I had a protein shake, they are tooling right along showing no signs of hunger. I, on the other hand, am sitting here drooling at the thought of some nice over easy eggs and some bacon. I pipe up that I am hungry. “But its only 10:30”, says my lifemate. Grandpa makes some remark about having just had breakfast. No, I reminded them both, YOU guys had breakfast, I didn’t. Besides foolish old men, it’s eastern time and it’s 11:30. Pfft. So we decide to get off when we see a McDonalds sign and a family restaurant place. I am thinking eggs, toast and bacon, ummm. No way is there a place for us to park. Paul turns into some side road which is a dead end and we have to crawl up on the grass in front of a grammar school. It’s a tricky turn and all of a sudden a warning beeper goes off on the supplemental toad brake boxy thing. We manage to get turned around and we head for an empty lot behind the BP gas station. Paul informs us that a wire had come loose from the tow bar. After fixing this, we get back on I70, heading for a place where we could park this little rig and toad. We see that there are a ton of places at the next several exits so we get off again. We lucked out and there is a mall with tons of fast food joints. We decide after much heated back and forth discussion that we will partake of Taco Bell. I am outnumbered again. I keep my muttering to myself realizing that the mouthwatering thoughts of nice hot breakfast goodies have fled . Tacos for brunch are not in my top ten. Oh well, I guess I can pick my battles. Across the way here is a UPS store, so I can go in there and connect to the net. I will upload there.

Later.

dee


Day two saga continues…

Well, I found the only UPS store in the entire nation that doesn’t have wifi through SBC. Jeesh. I trudged across that immense hot parking lot for nothing. After getting back into the rig, we headed off to Maryland. It seemed as if it was taking forever to get there. It always seems longer going for some reason. We are having a bit of fun right now as I write this. We headed strait into a monster thunder and lightening storm. Just as we got to the top of a mountain, Paulie remembered he had left the sun roof and front windows open in the toad. So. We pull over and he jumps out to close windows. The rain is plastering us and just when things are testy enough, the windshield wipers decide to stop. Oh joy, coming down a mountain in a torrential rain storm and no wipers. As Rv’ers say, “what an adventure.” Poor Grandpa…if his beard wasn’t totally white when we started out, it certainly is now. Pepi the fatty was so freaked out he crawled underneath the cushions on the sofa. We are now about 10 miles from Rocky Gap so I will probably post more later.

dee

Day two continued…Rocky Gap State Park, Cumberland, Maryland

After what seemed an eternity, we finally cruised past Cumberland, the Queen City, and made our way to Rocky Gap. We had some ‘splaining to do to the camp head-honcho type person. It seems that yours truly made the reservation for June 1, not today May 31. Oh my. Paul is just a bit on the cranky side. I straightened everything out, our site was available and we were checked in and off to find Ash loop, site #23. This is certainly not the type campground we are used to. Each site is very private and large. You cannot see neighbors on either side or in front. Quite primitive except for the 30 amp power source, thank goodness. We set up the rig and putzed around for a bit. Jan called and we made arrangements to meet for dinner. She immediately called back…dead car battery. I told Paul I would drive since I was familiar with the area so we piled into the car and headed back to Cumberland. We picked up Jan and Jordan (the middle one of the three witches of the east) and headed for Carmichaels for hot wings. Had a nice meal and then headed back to Jan’s place. We visited on the front porch for a while, but then fatigue set in for us and we headed back to camp.

We stopped at a local market for some cream for morning coffee, some bottled water and some breakfast muffins. We got back to camp and took a spin around the park, well what we could see at 9 p.m. at night. Rocky Gap has a beautiful lodge which houses three restaurants and a conference center. They have tons of kid activities and rent canoes, kayaks and stuff. Paul and Grandpa want to check out the lake for fishing and find out how much licenses cost. My goodness, it’s dark in this here place! Did I ever tell you that people with Meniere’s Disease can’t walk in the dark? Or on uneven terrain? And that this combination of uneven terrain and pitch dark can cause a person suffering from this malady to experience utter panic and freak out? I stumble several times, finally smacking right into the rig and get this LOOK from my better half. Just once, just once, I would like to trade places with my smug partner. Betcha he wouldn’t have that attitude long. After Paul unloaded the car, we settled into the rig. I try the TV clicker to catch the news. Hmmmm…TV won’t go on. I try the manual button on the front of the TV. Nothing. Deader than a doornail. This just makes Paulie’s day, let me tell ya. Sigh. Well, we are all going to bed to get a good night’s sleep. Maybe it will be a better day tomorrow.

Hugs

dee

Day three….Rocky Gap State Park

Well, the sun was shining this morning at seven. I decided to sleep a bit longer, but I think Paul was up and out of the rig by 8. He came back about 9:15 after hiking around to get his bearings. He also found the shower house, which is in the center of our loop so all sites can use it. He spoke to the folks in the campsite across from us. They have a beautiful Alpine diesel coach with a mid-door. The gentlemen said that there was quite a storm last night while we were out. Rain, lightening and lots of thunder. I did notice that the pavements were wet when we arrived back at the rig, and the windshield was wet and most of the bug carcasses where washed away. I woke up when Paul got back from his morning explorations. We talked for a while and then we got up and made up the bed. Grandpa was still sleeping so we let him be. I made some coffee. Paul got out the TV manual and determined that the on button was stuck. (I determined that last night, but I wasn’t about to tell him I already told him that!) He pulled the plug out from the receptacle and waited the two minutes suggested. He plugged the thing back in and viola! We had TV. We only have one station, but heck, gotta find out what is going on in the world!

Jan and Courtny got here while I was in the shower house. I had walked over there from the path just outside the rig. Almost took a tumble when I caught my big foot on a vine and it wouldn’t let go. I wonder how long I would have laid there on the path before someone found me if I had fallen? Anyways, when I got to the shower house, both showers were in use. I decided just sit on the john for a while. Jan and Courtny came in and thinking I was in one of the showers, Jan reached in and said “Can I wash your back little girl?” The woman was probably startled, said, “sure” and when Jan heard the voice apologized immediately. The other lady said “hey I don’t know you but you can wash my back too!” It was very funny.

We walked back to the rig and had some coffee and muffins for breakfast. Grandpa is not feeling well and after a short walk he went back to bed.

Jan and Courtny said goodbye and went home. Jan has to work tonight, 3 to 11. Then she is off until Tuesday, which is most likely the day we will take off for Duxbury, MA.

Paul and I will probably go up to Cumberland to the WalMart for some groceries. I think Grandpa will stay here as he said he is having bathroom issues.

I will post more later. Hopefully I can dump this at the McDonalds when we get into town.

Hugs

dee

Tuesday Morning

We got up about 7:45 and got into departure mode. Of course, there were three more cartons to get out to the rig overflowing with stuff we certainly cannot live without. I thought I'd take a break and have a cup of tea and update the blog. I need to shower and dress. I didn't sleep well last night. One, it was too hot and humid since we decided not to cool of the house for only a day or so and two, I kept remembering things I needed to do. I am looking forward to the day that I don't have to load and unload stuff and I can keep it in the rig. Ah, well. My hip and knees are complaining quite loudly and I find myself groaning with each step. I hate to say this but I am looking forward to getting this bad hip replaced just so I can walk without pain. I favor the bad right hip which throws my gait out of wack and results in continuous knee pain.

I'll post more when we get out on the road. Paul and Grandpa are at the bank and will be back before noon and then it's "On the road again..."

dennise

Memorial Day 2006

Well, folks say that the road to hell is paved with good intentions. In my previous post (a week ago, for heaven's sake) I promised to post every day until our departure for places east. Foolish reader. You actually take me at my word?

Its about 9 pm and my tushie is a draggin'. I have been loading up the rig for our 6 week road trip out to the east coast, back to the midwest for some motorhome rallies and then up to the Muskegon Michigan Elks Lodge campground on the eastern shores of Lake Michigan. We had a great visit with my sister Kathy who came down from the Chicago area. She helped Mom plant a new perrenial garden in her backyard. Paul cooked the ribs Mom supplied and we dined like true American piggies. Of course, both Mom and I think people are starving so we cook for an army. We packed up the leftovers to feast upon as we meander down the road on Tuesday.

We will head out late tomorrow morning as Grandpa has some banking stuff to deal with, and then we will try to make tracks to at least eastern Ohio by Tuesday night. We'll probably boondock for the night off the highway (think WalMart). We have reservations at Rocky Gap State Park about 10 minutes outside of Cumberland Md for Wednesday. We will visit with Jan for about 6 days or so and then off to Bean town.

I am begining to have second thoughts about leaving my house in the hands of my son. Nagging little doubts. Will he remember to stay in the bathroom to make sure the toilet flushed properly? (Our toilets have plastic innards and sometimes the freaking lever catches and the toilet just runs and runs). Will he remember to turn the water off after he waters my tomatoes and flowers I spent blood, sweat, tears and lots of money on? Will he turn off the stove after he makes some ugly Zack concoction for dinner? Will he remember to take out the trash before the neighborhood mice decide that the Ziaja's are hosting an open house and an open invitation to move in? Terrible thoughts keep running thru my tired little brain. Well, the only thing that consoles me is that one, the furkids will be with us so they won't starve or die of thirst and two, I have homeowners insurance. I keep telling myself that he is almost 21 years old, and should be responsible by now. My mothers intuition is telling me otherwise. I just have to trust him. Oh. My. God. 'Nuff said.

Well, I have about ten million things to get accomplished before I can take a shower and hit the bed. I will try to update this whenever I can get a wifi connection. Hopefully, most of the McDonald's across the country should have SBC wifi which I subscribe to so I can get online more often.

hugs

dennise

In the words of Frank Barone, "holy crap", its been months since I have updated this blog. Some writer I am for cripes sake.

It's Monday morning and I am sitting in my trusty blue recliner. I am recovering from our first rally for the Cenois prairielanders. Paul and I, and Gay and Bud Leezer were hosts. We went to New Salem Campground adjacent to Lincoln's New Salem Historical Village in Petersburg. Nice place, very woodsy and large spots. We brought the rig out early Wednesday so we could get near the pavallion for the group. Upon leaving, I was starting down the stairs of the motorhome, and my shoe caught the top step's carpet and down the stairwell I went. Slammed into the door which thankfully was shut, or I would have landed out on the pavement. I am lucky I didn't break my tush. Jammed my right shoulder AGAIN and pulled a muscle in my neck. By Thursday I couldn't move my head. Sigh. It just never ends.

We had a great weekend and it was great to see everyone and catch up on what had happened since we all met last December. We had a breakfast potluck and feasted on yummy casseroles, fruit and coffecakes. We normally do the potluck on Saturday evening, but we decided to do a traditional All American BBQ with hotdogs, hamburgers and all the goodies that go along with it. It was followed up with a beautifully decorated Anniversary cake that we had specially made for the Cenois Prairielanders. It was decorated in red, white and blue and had a wonderful motorhome across the top of the cake. It was delicious. (I had a very very small slice and only had the diabetic shakes for about 45 minutes later that night, LOL!)

We are getting the rig ready for our trip east to Cumberland Maryland and Boston, Mass.

I promise to update daily with our preparations and tales of adventure.

hugs,

dennise