Saturday July 30, 2011

No hurry to up and going today.  We decided to go as far as Shipshewana, IN today and go on to Charlotte Sunday afternoon.  We left Celina at about 9 and got to Shipshewana at about 12:30.

We went to a country store near town and bought a few things. We bought a cone each of peach custard to eat on the way.
The ice cream store is on the property of the RV Park and is very popular.  They have a gazebo and picnic tables.  It's popular with the Amish and has hitching racks for their horses.
There was a cache listed by the ice cream stand but I never found it.  I did find two others nearby.

Some are sedans

For supper we had the last of the left overs with a cucumber salad, Kevin had given us the cucumbers.  We also had the sweet corn we bought yesterday in Lima.
After supper Gerri and I walked down to the ice cream stand and looked for the cache that eluded me earlier.

Others are pony carts

It eluded both of us so we shared a banana split.
After some computer and TV time we called it a night.

Friday July 29, 2011

We didn't have to get up early today.  The plan was for John to finish the roof sealing early before it got hot.  After daylight we got some rain but it dried up before John did the roof.  Kevin started on the TV wiring later in the morning.
I went to a local Miracle Ear store to get a new tip for one of my hearing aids.
At about 11 we headed for Lima. We took a back way from directions that Kevin had given us.  Our missions in Lima were to get corn at a fresh vegetable stand and to have lunch at a Skyline chili.  Kevin's directions took us into Lima near the vegetable stand.  We bought two bakers dozen of corn ears.  The corn was for Kevin and we plan to keep the two odd ears for ourselves.  Skyline was across town near I-75.  We had lunch there, Glenna had a couple of Coney Dogs,  Gerri and I had two Coney Dogs and an order of 5 way chili each.  We now have some more leftovers.

An order of 5 way, chili, kidney beans, onions,
cheese and spaghetti 

I looked around for awhile for a cache at a nearby Cracker Barrel, no luck.  We took the interstate most of the way back to Celina.

I think all Skyline Restaurants look like this

The new day shade had been installed on the entry door, but the night shade was defective.  I decided to take it with us since MCD will probably be an exhibitor at the FMCA Convention in Madison.  Hopefully they can fix or replace it there.  If not, Kevin will have a new one shipped to me.  Kevin is taking his family to an amusement park near Cincinnati over the weekend and wanted to quit work early.  That didn't happen, he worked on our TV problem until almost five.  The verdict is that there is a broken coax somewhere and the LV RV Doctor probably didn't really mess things up.  We have DirecTV, off the air and cable at the main overhead TV in the front of the coach. DirecTV and Wii are on the middle TV, DirecTV on the bedroom TV and who knows what outside.  Since we aren't coming back this way this year, Kevin will finish the job by replacing the coax next year in Quartzsite.
I tried to find a cache nearby at a small lighthouse on the lake.  No luck again, I'm 0 for 2 today.
We plan to go to Shipshewanna tomorrow.  Maybe I will have better luck there.
I moved some things around and now have most of the concrete that are going to Las Vegas stowed in the coach basement.

Thursday July 28, 2011

We got up early, the coach was moved inside for sealing the roof.  Gary had already dropped off the valances.  John installed them and they look great.  Kevin and john both worked on the fans and got the two speeds both working.
While the work was being done, we into Decatur and had breakfast at Richards.  We then picked up my computer.  After a stop at the Adams Hospital lab to get my blood draw for an INR, we headed back to Celina.
Kevin hadn't figured our the problem with the wiring for the television.  He has asked for schematics from American Coach, but hadn't got them by quitting time.  After the coach was pulled out of the garage, I drove over to the fairgrounds and dumped the sewer tanks.  We located "Big Bob" at the fairgrounds and took a couple of pictures.

Big Bob and Little Frank

For supper Gerri and I picked up pizza at a place Kevin recommended, the Celina Wine Store.  An unlikely place for good pizza, but is was very good,
I tried to follow the instructions I had got from Dennis at the computer store but couldn't get it going right.  A big disappointment..
I have an appointment with an audiologist at ten in the morning and then plan to take the computer back to Decatur.

Tuesday July 26 and Wednesday July, 27, 2011

Tuesday
Never knowing when it might be time to work on the coach we were up at 7:30.  Gerri says I made a mistake telling Kevin we could be in Celina through Saturday.
Not much was happening today.  Kevin and John installed the new Multi-state antenna for regular and HD TV off the air.  Kevin also determined that the surround sound DVD player wasn't working and I needed a new unit.
Gerri went to a local laundromat and did laundry.  She had trouble with the machines and some of the clothes didn't come out right.  This has been pretty common with commercial Laundromats.The washer dryer in the coach may be slow, but it is sure and the clothes come out clean.
Later we went to Walmart but I wasn't sure what unit to buy.  I wanted to stick with Samsung but Walmart didn' have a home theater system in that brand.
We tried out the Wii with a bowling  game and I beat both Glenna and Gerri.
Supper was Perch fillets.  After some TV and computer time we called it a night.

Wednesday
I talked to Kevin about the DVD player and he said any that I liked would do.  I went back to Walmart and bought a RCA unit that plays Blue Ray, DVD and CDs.  It doesn't have FM radio which we had never used anyway. 
At three Gerri and Glenna went to a local beauty shop and had their hair done.
Kevin got the DVD player installed and working.  Now he has to figure out the wiring to make the new TV antenna and park cable work with the whole system.
We went to the La Carreta for dinner.  Gerri and I shared a fajita dinner for two that had shrimp, beef, chicken and chorizo.  Glenna had a shrimp quesadilla ala carte.  The big surprise was that Glenna cleaned her plate and Gerri and I had left overs.
Same drill as other nights, some tv and computer time and then to bed.
Tomorrow we plan to go to Decatur to pick up the the concrete items Gerri ordered and to pickup my computer.  In the afternoon we plan to go to Lima for produce and Skyline chili.  No one in Decatur is selling corn yet, due to rain the crops didn't get in until after the start of June.
Gary the cabinet maker will be here tomorrow to start installing the valances.  Some of the LED ceiling lights and the correct shades for the entry door are still on order.  Hopefully I won't need to make a trip to Quartzsite or Palm Springs next year.
Gerri sent an e-mail to her cousin Bob Barnhart who is on a motorcycle trip with his wife, Joyce, around the four corners of the USA.  The last we heard he was en route to Maine from Florida.  Gerri asked for his itinerary since we will be wondering around the mid west until the third week of August.  If we can it would be great to hook up with them for a visit.
We also have altered our return trip plans to include a stop at Fun Valley in South Fork, CO to visit with our friend Alan Howeth.

Monday July 25, 2011

The motorhome on the left is about the same size as our 1974 Southwind

No rain this morning.  I gave Kevin the list of things I wanted done or checked. Kevin called the local man he uses for woodwork.  Gary came and measured for the valances to be installed to cover the rollers of the new blinds in the cabin area of the coach.  He also took a cabinet door to match the color.  He plans to have the valances ready for installation on Wednesday.
My next order of business was to make an appointment with Miracle Ear, turns out the audiologist won't be in the Celina office until Friday, so I made an appointment.
We the loaded up my computer and took it to a shop in Decatur, IN.  The tech says the worst case is that he might have to install a new hard drive and I would have to start over again with only Windows 7.  It will be a pain, but I was prepared for that by backing up all my data.
We had lunch at the West End Cafe, a great diner in downtown Decatur.  After that we stopped at the Craft Shop to see about replacing the concrete bench we bought Neva two years ago.  I knocked a big chip in it while geocaching on the dirt roads near Kathleen's old house.  It was in the back of the Jeep when I went airborne at a rise I didn't see in the road.  They didn't have any in stock and promised to see if their supplier has any ready and to call us later this week.  Gerri found a concrete toad she wanted for the back yard.  They will paint it and we will pick it up later in the week.

That's us on the right

John, Kevin's employee, first checked the front curbside slide that has been creeping out at the bottom during travel.  The problem may have been as simple at the brake not being fully engaged.  He then installed the driver and passenger side window shades.  There was some problem with the shades for the screen door and Kevin will try to get new ones shipped over night.
For supper I went and picked up Taco Bell.

Sunday July 24, 2011



Zoie liked to bark at and attack the balls on Glenna's walker, we took this one off for her to play with.



Having less than 200 miles to go to Celina, OH, we didn't hurry getting started.  Carl and Joyce came over and we said goodbyes.  Since arriving at Willow Bend I hadn't seen anyone from management so I left $50.00 with Carl hoping that would cover our stay. 

We were ready to leave at about 10 AM.  The road was narrow with trees on the other side, so I had Gerri stand by the tree to guide me as close as possible.  The plan was to pull up to the trees, cut the wheel and back up a little, then go forward out of the park.

It doesn't look too bad, but I couldn't move.

As Burns said in 1785, " The best-laid schemes o' mice an' men Gang aft agley, An' lea'e us nought but grief an' pain, For promis'd joy!"  As I turned the wheel and started backward, I felt the right rear skip and drop.  I was stuck fast with the right rear tires rim deep in the mud.

We spent the next two hours or so trying to lift the wheels enough to fill in the hole under the tires.  Carl and Joyce helped us as did two neighbors Jeff and Walt, Gerri carried several buckets of gravel from a nearby pile.  Jeff had a Bobcat with a front end loader, when we were able to lift the coach enough to get gravel under the tires he filled it in.  The problem with lifting the right rear duals was that the jack on that corner kept sinking into the mud..  Joyce put wood under the jack and that too was pushed into the mud.  We managed to get some gravel under the tire, we hooked the Jeep ball hitch to the one on the coach.  Carl pulled with the Jeep in four wheel drive and I backed the coach with the right amount of power to not spin the tires and we pulled the coach backward about 10' and out of the hole.  With the help of Jeff and the front end loader we filled the hole and covered it wit 2x8's.  I turned the front wheels enough to avoid the trees and accelerated forward over the mud hole without hesitating.  WE WERE FREE!

After thanking everyone for the help and saying goodbyes again, I hooked up the Jeep and away went about 12:40.

We went to a Sam's Club in Sandusky for fuel and stopped at a Walgreen's store in Fremont, OH to pick up my new prescription for Warfarin.

After that we made a bee line for Celina.  Shortly after getting on I-75 we started to hit stretches of heavy rain accompanied with lightning and thunder.  The rain continued all the way to Celina arriving at abot 4:30 PM  The parking spots we were used to were taken so I called Kevin, he came over and fix us up with electrical hookup.  There are other units here and Kevin has moved his operation across the parking lot, a much larger facility.  The truck repair facility behind his old shop has closed down so it should be much quieter.

It rained heavily again while we had supper.  Supper was the left over ribs and rib-eye steak from our meal at the Lonestar in Charleston.

Saturday July 23, 2011



There was rain and thunder most of the night.  At 7:00 I was through sleeping.  I payed a little attention to some of the lightning and counted seconds until the thunder.  Most of it was 3-10 seconds apart. I read that the sound of thunder travels a mile in about 5 seconds.  That formula means this lightning was close by.



Lily pads in a pond



The storm abated at 10 and we stayed with our plan to go to the Marblehead Lighthouse, tour around the area and have lunch at the Moose Lodge in Port Clinton.



Marblehead Lighthouse



At the lighthouse we learned lot about Lake Erie, and took pictures.  Even after the rain it was hot and humid. 



We stoped at Cheeshaven and had samples of cheese.  Besides cheese they have a complete Deli.  Glenna found some chocolate.



After driving around the shoreline we stoped in Port Clinton for a late lunch at the Moose Lodge.  I had Walleye and Glenna and Gerri had Perch.  Lake Erie is known for both, it is the largest Walleye fishery in the world.  Both Perch and Walleye are mild white fish.  Perch are small so there were several fillets on each order.  We now have more leftovers. 



Carl, Glenna, Joyce and Frank



A stop at Sam's club for supplies and diesel for Carl's truck finished the afternoon.  Back at Willow Bend we set 7:30 as time for more LRC.  Another storm front came through and we had quite a bit more rain.Carl was the big winner tonight.







No that's not Sharlee, it's Zoie, Carl and Joyce's dog



 We haven't seen anyone from management at the RV Park so we left money with Carl to pay for our two night stay.

Friday July 22, 2011

I got up at 7 and started getting things ready to travel.  I went as slow as I could and was ready to go at 9:30.  We pulled up to Carl and Joyce's and they were ready to go at about 10 as planned.
It was a really hard drive 59.8 miles, 50 of it was on a toll road which cost us $7.00.  We were parked and set up by 11:45.  At first it seemed cooler here, but I was dripping by the time things were set up and connected.  Willow Bend RV Resort is on Sandusky Bay.  It is nicer than the park in North Ridgeville.  Full 50 amp service, sewer and city water that has no sulphur smell.  I will fill our fresh water tank before leaving here because we will only have electric in Celina.
There are way too many trees to get satellite TV and we found out we aren't getting anything off the air with the antenna,  I will try the park cable as soon as I cool off.  I cooled off and hooked up the park cable, we still get no picture.  I tried the DVD, nothing there either.  It is looking like the idea to get a DVR on the DirecTV was a bad idea.  Apparently the RV Doctor didn't know what they were doing.  When we get to Celina, I will see if Kevin can straighten it out.
We had pork stew leftovers as open face sandwiches.  We had planned to look around the area while Carl and Joyce visit friends with a pool.  All of us were foiled when thunder storms came up.  It rained for about 15 minutes in sheets, then slowed to a nice rain.   Due to the rain Carl and Joyce came back from the pool early, only to find some leaks in their roof.  There were branches hanging down over the front of their site and must have punched some holes in the rubber roof.  After the rain stopped Carl went on the roof and used a hair dryer to dry off the roof and apply patches.
Yesterday I had a blood draw to check my coumadin level, today Dr. Wirtz's nurse called and instructed me to make a dosage change.  I told her where we were and she found a Walgreen to call the new prescription to.  Carl and I went looking for the Walgreen.  Turns out Areni had called the prescription into a store in Marblehead, MA not Ohio.  I called a Walgreen in Fremont, about 25 miles south, and will pick up the medicine on Sunday on the way to Celina, OH.
We had leftovers again for supper, Glenna and Gerri had the rest of the fish and chips from last night, I had some ribs from the Lonestar and some rice Gerri had fixed.


Christmas in July, Marblehead, Ohio



After supper we went to friends of Carl and Joyce's at a nearby development.  We played LRC until about 9:30 and came back to Willow Bend.  I think we were the winners tonight.

This month the Old Time radio channel I listen to has been having Christmas in July, playing Christmas episodes of many shows from the 40s and 50s.  When we arrived at Willow Bend there were decorations up around the park.  It's Christmas in July here too.  It must be a coastal Ohio thing, two years ago we attended a rally on Lake Erie near Toledo.  That RV park also had Christmas decorations up in July.

As I was finishing this Blog I heard thunder and the rain started before I got it posted.  I hope Carl's patches hold.



Thursday July 21, 2011

I got up at 6:45 and met Carl to go to breakfast with some of his old friends.  I had biscuits and gravy, the first since Shawnee, OK.
At 10:30 I headed for the Quest Diagnostics in Middleburg Heights, about 7 miles away.  On the way back to the coach I DNF'ed a cache and found two others before the batteries went dead on my Geomate Jr.  Turns out I had no AAA's in the Jeep. 

I wanted to clean the rear of the coach today, but the shade had gone and it was way too hot in the sun.  Maybe when we get to the RV Park in Marblehead, it's further north and on Lake Erie.  Hopefully it will be cooler.

The dinner party at Fat Head's

Carl and Joyce plan to pick us up at 5:30 to go out for supper.  We went to a restaurant named Fat Heads.  Gerri had a Twisted Brisket sandwich.  It was on a bun about 7" across.  Glenna had fish and chips and I had a bowl of french onion soup, only with a different name, and a plate called Parma Karma.  Three types of sausage , fried onions and three pierogues.  Glenna had a little of my soup and and half of one of the pierogues, she said her chips were over done.  I had a quarter of Gerri's sandwich and she had a little of each of my sausages.

Carl and Joyce Wolf

After getting back from supper, we played LRC until ten.  Carl was the winner again.  The Wolfs are getting back the laundry money we won from them six years ago. 

I drained the sewers earlier and I had planned to hook up the Jeep and unhook the water tonight so I would only have to reel in the shore power cord, bring in the slides and retract the jacks before leaving tomorrow.  When we stepped outside to say good night to Carl and Joyce, it was like stepping into a sauna.  I'll do those things in the morning and will only have to cool off once. 

We are only traveling about 60 miles tomorrow, another easy day.

Wednesday July 20, 2011



The RR tracks are just beyond the bushes at the end of the road



Another hot humid day.  I cleaned up the Jeep while it was still shady.  Even in the shade I was drenched in sweat by the time I finished.  After cooling off, I went geocaching for a little while.  I got two nearby caches

At about 3 PM I emptied the outside refrigerator and mopped the water out of it.  With the humidity during the past few weeks there was a lot of water and it had begun to smell stale.

In the late afternoon the shade came on the front of the coach and in spite of the heat I cleaned the front of the coach.  The front catches a lot of bugs and takes a long time to clean, especially the part above the windshield.

By the time I finished the front of the coach, Gerri had supper ready.  We had leftovers from the La Careta in Charleston, thanks to Lottie we had a lot of chicken fajita meat and vegetables to add to my leftover combo fajitas.

After supper I took a shower.  This RV Park is on a well.  I didn't notice the taste when I had three glasses of water with supper, but the sulpher smell while I was showering made my eyes water. 



At about 7:30 our friends, Carl and Joyce came over and we played a dice game called (CLR, Center, left, right) until about 10 o'clock.  Carl went away the winner.  Joyce had vowed to win back her laundry money she lost to us a few years ago.  Before leaving Carl invited me to go to breakfast with him and some old friends, so I plan to get up by 7 in the morning.

Before going to bed I got online and made an appointment at a nearby Quest to have my blood drawn for an INR, that monitors my Warfarin level. We also had a call from our grandson, 4 year old Brandon, who wanted to call us on Skype as he wanted to talk to us all by himself.  His little 2 year old sister, Vanessa, was at her other grandma's house for the night.  We talked to him for several minutes before he told us goodbye as he wanted to call his Uncle Larry...he is quite savvy on the computer. Skype is wonderful for viewing and talking to the grandkids and our children.





Looking east from the clubhouse



From the club house looking back toward the main part of the park



I took a few pictures around the park, it's pretty rough.  It's an old mobile home park and there are a lot of full time residents.  It's like a lot of RV Parks we have stayed at.  It has a lot of potential but there is no money for the upgrading it needs. 



That is I-80 where you see the trucks, it doesn't look as clpse as it is, the trucks can be heard all night



Monday July 18 and Tuesday July 19, 2011

Monday
We didn't do much in the morning.  When we went into town, Gerri went to Sam's Club to shop, Ed, Glenna and I went by our old house in Blackhawk Hollow.  This is the house where I was born and raised.  After my Grandmother died several years ago  my Mother sold the house and the house next door along with the four lots they sat on.  The buyers paid off the loan about three years ago.  About two years later a tree up rooted and fell on the house.  The picture shows some of the damages,  since then both houses have been condemned but not torn down yet.  The original house was two rooms and open underneath.  Sometime before I was born the open part was made into a half basement and closed in.  The kitchen was moved downstairs, leaving both rooms upstairs as bedrooms and the downstairs a kitchen and living room.  When I was growing up there was a covered porch both upstairs and down.  When we got indoor plumbing, around 1955, the downstairs porch was closed in as a bathroom and washroom.  Until then we carried culinary water from a spring at the head of the hollow about a quarter mile away.  Rain or shine we carried water.  Water for washing and bathing was rain water caught in barrels under gutters from the roof.  The room at the back was added later as a bedroom for Ed and me.  The covered porch shown in the pictures was added long afer we left.  Ed had the house remodled inside and a bath added upstairs.  The house was rented for awhile before my Mother sold it.

After visiting the old home place we went to Campbell's hollow to take pictures of the Midway School where my Mother attended middle school.

The "D" must have fallen off

When she went to school there her family lived in a coal company town named Putney about 12 miles away, She rode a train to school.  We tried to drive to Putney via Campbell Creek Drive, but after about eleven miles the road was impassable.  Even with Ed's Rav4 we didn't feel comfortable going further, if we had been in two vehicles we would have gone on.

We got back to town late and everyone was hungry.  We decided on dinner at the Lonestar Steak House.  We had plenty to eat and had more than enough leftovers for another meal.  Add that to the leftovers from the Mexican Restaurant, we have at least two meals on hand.
We got back to Rippling Waters just before dark.  Since we are leaving tomorrow I took down the flags and hitched up the Jeep.  I went inside to cool off intending to disconnect everything except the power.  But a serious rain storm came with a lot of lightening and thunder,  The storm lasted until about midnight.  I took a shower and went to bed.

Tuesday
We got up at 7 AM and were ready to travel by 9:10.  The plan for today was to drive about 220 miles to meet our friends, Carl and Joyce Wolf in North Ridgeville, OH  just a little west of Cleveland.


A rest stop in Ohio along I-77



We had an easy drive with a little rain and a lot of road construction on I-77.  We turned off I-77 onto US-250 and then north on Ohio SR83 to North Ridgeville.  We got to the RV Park at 1:30 PM.  Carl met us at the entrance, we got setup and visited while cooling off after the work.  The humidity is high and it's a little over 90.

Carl and Joyce had invited us over for dinner at 6:30.  After dinner we watched a DVD of Terry Fador.  Home again just before dark.

Sunday July 17, 2011

I got up and went to church services at the church in Pocatalico,  Gerri was really tired and stayed home.  She hadn't felt comfortable with the services last week.  During the worship service a presentation was made to a member of the congregation and the rest of the congregation applauded.  Today they did the same.  I'm not sure if there is a biblical basis for or against this practice, but in our experience these kinds of things are done outside the worship service.  The worship service is a time to glorify God not individuals.
Back at the coach we decided not to do any visiting today.  I called Wilma Wisnewski and cancelled the tentative plan to visit her and Bennie, Bennie is Ted's (my step-father) only remaining brother.  I also called ed and Lottie to tell them we wouldn't be in.  Gerri wanted to catch up on washing before we head to Ohio on Tuesday.
Gerri did laundry most of the day.  I puttered around the coach.  The only thing of any importance I did was check the tire pressure and top them off as needed.  Since it looked like it might rain the past several days, I have talked myself out of cleaning the outside of the coach.
Tomorrow will be a busy day.  We still need to go to Sam's Club and still want to go by our old house in Blackhawk Hollow.  I also saw a campground on my map that is half the distance to Charleston than Rippling Waters.  I didn't find a web site and the map didn't give a phone number, so I might try to make time to go to Elkview and check it out.

Saturday July 16, 2011



Panels at Blenko Glass

After I got up I walked all around the park.  There are only about twenty sites that seem to be for short term use.  The section we are in has two pull through sites with full hook ups and the other sites are occupied by seasonal renters whose trailers are left on site all year round.  Across the road where  we use to park seems to be used by longer term residents.  There is a loop with nine pull through sites for overnighters that have water and electric only, there is a dump station at the exit.  There is an area in a hollow behind the office with fifteen full hook up sites and two with electric and water only, four or five of the sites look like they are short term occupants.  In the meadow between the road and the pool they have added ten tent sites, only one has been occupied since we have been here.  East of the main part of the park is another group of permanently parked trailers.  Except in one heavily treed area the units are mostly well maintained.  Even with the considerable number of permanent units this is a beautiful park and it is the closest RV Park to Charleston..

Gerri did several loads of wash before we headed to Charleston for the Charleston High School 50’s Picnic at the Elks Lodge on Greenbriar Street.  Lottie had planned to go a bridal shower before the picnic, so Gerri dropped me off at the Elk’s Lodge and took Glenna on to Ed’s house.  It turns out Lottie didn’t go to the shower, they arrived at the Elk’s Lodge at about 4 PM.  Class pictures were taken starting at 4:30.  Gerri stayed at Ed’s and fixed supper for Glenna and got to the “picnic” at about 5:30,

We sat with other classmates and visited before and after dinner.  The class of 19 59 was represented by about 15 people, that is of a class of 400+ graduates. Some other classes were better represented, the classes of ’51 and ’56 had their reunions in conjunction with the picnic.

It was a good evening and we left about 9 o’clock, picked up Glenna and went back to Rippling Waters.  The next big event will be an all class reunion in August 2013,

Friday July 15, 2011

In front of the visitor's center

Today we drove to Milton, WV to visit a glass factory, Milton is about 30 miles west of Charleston, it is the home of Blenko Glass.  Blenko an old company and one of the few glass makers remaining in West Virginia.  Even though they are still open they have filed Chapter 11 Bankruptcy in an attempt to survive.  Many glass factories were established in West Virginia in the late 1800's, the main attractions were the quality and quantity of the sand and the availability of cheap natural gas to fire the furnaces.  Now, like many companies, they can't compete with the Chinese.  Glenna and Gerri bought some small knick-knacks and Gerri went to the observation area for awhile, the craftsmen were demonstrating vase making.

Making a vase

When we left the Blenko factory, I checked the GPSR for nearby RV Parks.  We really like Rippling Waters and it is a beautiful place, but the 25 mile drive into Charleston gets tiring. There are several in Huntington and further west along I-64.  The GPSR showed a RV Park/campground in Charleston called the New River Campground.  I called the number and asked if they could handle 42 foot motorhomes, the answer was yes.  We drove to the address on Campbell Creek Drive Which is only a few miles from cousin Eddie's house.  We found the address but no campground or RV Park,

Mistakes?

I tried calling again but service was bad and then I got a recording to leave a message.  When we got to a computer at Ed's, I looked up the New River Campground.  It turns out that the campground is on the New River in Gauley Bridge, WV, 40-50 miles from Charleston.  It seems the question I should have asked on my first phone call was,"Where are you located?"  It turns out that the address on Campbell's Creek is the Paralyzed Veterans office.  They own the park and that is the address that takes reservations, not the address of the park itself.  The Gremlin, err Garman, strikes again.  This isn't the first time the GPSR led us to the wrong place.  Trust them at your own peril.  We have encountered several RV parks whose website warns not to follow the GPSR and give driving instructions of their own.
Our plans for the evening were to attend a dinner at the Elk's Lodge with other classmates.  This dinner was an optional prelude the the Charleston High School '50's Picnic.  There were only about 30 people in attendance, the picnic itself should have about 200. 
Ed and Lottie had taken Glenna to dinner.  After our dinner we picked her up and returned to Rippling Waters.
Gerri has more pictures posted on her Face Book page,

Wednesday July 13 and Thursday July 14, 2011

Wednesday

I finally gave up on my computer and decided to restore it to factory settings.  I got the program disks I needed from home in the mail that Dana sent from home.  I had backed up my pictures and other files.   I started the recovery program and there was a built in backup program so I started that.  It was still running when we left for Charleston.  Gerri had cooked a pork roast with vegetables.  Lottie cooked corn on the cob and dinner rolls.  We had a great supper.

We saw a couple of deer on the rad back to Rippling waters.

The back up cycle had ended on my computer, so I started the recovery process.  Apparently the problem wasn’t with software.  The computer crashed several times duing the process.  When it did run  properly I tried to install Norton 360.  It locked up the same as it had been doing for the last couple of weeks.

Thursday

I kept beating my self up with trying o get the computer going, I finally gave up.

Looking south toward the motorhome from the Chapel

The Chapel from the office area

I walked around the lake and took pictures of the campground from different places with my Nikon.  The Nikon hasn't seen much use since Gerri got her Cannon G11 for Christmas.  I noticed right away that the humidity was low and it was very pleasant with the temperature in the upper70's.  Some of the pictures are with this Blog, as always Gerri will post more on her Face Book Page.

Lottie had made an appointment for Glenna to have her done at 3 PM, so we went into towns about 1.  Before taking Glenna to the hairdresser, I dropped off my Power Tank at Air Gas to be filled with CO2.  I use the Co2 tank when the coach tires need topped off.  Air Gas is on the west end of Charleston and Glenna’s appointment was in Rand a few miles east of Charleston.  I had expected to pickup the CO2 tank tomorrow, but the called before Glenna’s hair was done.  After she was done we went back to the west end.

For supper we decided on La Careta, a Mexican Restaurant in Kanawha City.  Good food and plenty of leftovers. 

A quick stop at Lowes to buy a replacement for a water “Y” for the coach and it was back to Rippling Waters for the evening.

I was a good change to have low humidity, it was comfortable all day,

These must be the swans that White Swan Lake is named for

Tuesday July 12, 2011

Deer and Ducks in The RV Park

My computer is getting worse, I had to reboot three times today while in the safe mode.  The mail from home with disks that I need still haven’t come in the mail from home.

Coal barges coming down the Kanawha River

This afternoon we drove in to visit Ed and Lottie and then took Glenna to Benny and Wilma Wisnewski’s home in Dunbar for a visit. 

Going downstream on the Kanawha, Through Charleston, WV

We left her there while we went shopping at the Capital Market for some West Virginia made items.  The Capital Market has several vendors of fresh vegetables, a meat market and arts and crafts, almost anything you want.

We went back to Ed and Lottie’s to plan dinner.  We decided on spaghetti at Gino’s Pizza.  We invited Benny and Wilma, but Benny was not feeling well.  He has had a heart attack and has been diagnosed with an inoperable aortic aneurism.  The doctors are keeping his blood pressure as low as possible to prevent an embolism.

Lottie treated us to supper, we all had spaghetti.  After supper we returned to the RV park, Ed and Lottie had several errands to run.

July 11, 2011

Rippling Waters Chapel Just before Sunset

I woke up this morning when an air conditioner unit came on.  It was cold, I lay there for awhile deciding whether to get up and turn it off.  When I did decide to turn it off I felt cold and pulled the sheet and then a blanket up, eventually I had the comforter over me too.  At about 11 Gerri felt my forehead and I had a fever.  I basically slept until about 1:30 and the fever broke.  By about 2:30 I was feeling fine.

We cancelled our plans to go into Charleston and stayed here all day.  Later in the afternoon Gerri cut my hair, she used a higher setting since I have decided to see how it looks longer.



By supper time the wind had come up, lightning and thunder started and was followed by heavy rain.  That turned off TV reception.



Sean Playing WoW, Milana Watching



Sean called during his therapy session.  He was really excited that he had been able to leave the facility to visit with his mom and sisters.  That visit was the first time he had been able to get on the computer and play World of Warcraft.  He told me all about two new characters he is playing.  Hopefully he will keep his level up and be able to visit us at the RV Park when we are there in late August.

Before The Rain

After supper and the rain we watched some TV and put in a little computer time.

At about midnight the lightning, thunder and heavy rain started again.



June 10th, 2011



Chapel at Rippling Waters



We got up and went to Church in Pocatalico, a Church we had been to a couple of other times.  After Church we had sandwiches and headed into Charleston to visit cousins Eddie and Lottie.  We visited all afternoon and about 6 we went to the Cracker Barrel for super.  This was our first CB on this trip. We were back at Rippling Water before dark and just hung out until bedtime.

Chapel at Rippling Waters

I did call Alan Howeth and talk to him for a little while.  We met Alan and Joan two years ago in Charlotte, MI, saw them again in Decatur, IN and then again in Oklahoma City.  I follow his blog.  Alan and Joan had been in South Fork, CO at the Fun Valley RV Park for a month or so.  Last week they went rafting on the Rio Grande.  The raft hit a rock and capsized, Joan was killed.  On June 20th they had celebrated their 42nd anniversary.  Alan is now back in Oklahoma City with their children and services will be held later this week.  We are so sadden by Joan's death.  She and Alan visited us last summer in Great Falls, MT while Glenna was in rehab for her broken hip.

Saturday July 9, 2011

You can see odd things at caches in Kentucky

I got up at about 8 AM.  We only had 310 miles to go today so we didn’t hurry.  There was a nearby cache, so I walked to the area.  I had put the coordinates in my GPSR, but it wouldn’t calculate the distance.  I found the cache and discovered a travel bug and signed the log.

We left the park about 10 AM.  We stopped in Winchester, KY for groceries and fuel.  Somewhere in Kentucky the time zone changed to Eastern.  Our arrival time was now estimated to be 6 PM. 

We arrived at Rippling waters and were set up by 5:30, in site 10 next to the lake.

Rippling Waters Chapel

The lake now has three water spouts, I guess to keep it aerated.  There seem to be more swans and ducks than two years ago.  It is still a beautiful place.

Friday July 8, 2011

Since we stayed at Maumelle Park an extra day we skipped my planned stop at Cherokee Landing in Tennessee.  That meant we had to drive 450 miles to Cave City, KY.

We got up at 6 AM and were on the road by 7:30.  I had to stop for fuel not long after.  I figured our fuel consumption for the first time on this trip, 9.9 mpg.

We had a rain storm near Nashville, TN and again near Cave City, KY.  During a stop after Nashville I noticed some water on the front of the slide behind my seat.  When I braked at the off ramp in Cave City, I was drenched on the right shoulder with water from the top of the slide.  Add that to some electrical problems and my computer only running in the Safe Mode.

The rain stopped as we arrived at the Singing Hills RV Park and Campground.  We were assigned space 41, a pull through.  We were parked and set up by 4:45.  We had no plans to go anywhere so I didn’t unhook the Jeep.  This is a nice park with a friendly helpful manager.  I took a couple of pictures including one of the sun going behind the trees.