Elaine came to the campground for breakfast to day and we spent another couple of hours reminiscing. After packing up we drove from Odgen, IA to Marion, MN, near Rochester. We are spending the next couple of nights at a KOA campground. We have now driven a total of about 650 miles since Thursday morning.
The roads and AT&T cell service in Iowa SUCK!!!! Another day of very spotty cell service and roads so bumpy that they nearly shake your guts out. It was such a blessing when we crossed into Minnesota, it felt like we were riding on glass. I considered stopping and getting out and kissing the road surface.
It was warm today, 84 when we pulled into the campground. The pool is very close to our campsite. Kathy was in the pool before I was even close to getting unhooked and the exterior set up. I wasn't to far behind her. The water felt cold when we got in but it sure felt good.
We have cell service and WiFi at the campground, and we are paying for it, $48/night with tax.
Bought fuel twice today, both times in Iowa. Paid $3.06 one place and $3.00 another. All the fuel we have seen in Minnesota has been $3.15/gal.
Tomorrow we plan on some sightseeing in the area.
Saturday, August 11, 2018
Friday - Day 2
Today we drove from The Meadows Campground to Don Williams Park near Odgen, IA, about 160 miles. Roads and AT&T cell service suck in Iowa. Long stretches with no cell service. The roads are pothole free but they are so bumpy that we seriously considered taking a motion sickness table. The surface can be asphalt or concrete, it makes no difference. Every now and then it might be smooth for a mile or so then back to being bumpy. The road surface looks the same.
Bought fuel in Eddyville, IA, paid $3.02/gal.
Don Williams park is a wonderful park. It has a lake with a beach and a LOT of campsites. Only $18/night for water and a 30 amp electrical connection. After getting set up we drove over to Beaver, IA, about 15 miles away, and spent the afternoon and evening with Elaine (Senter) Anderson. It was great to get to renew an old friendship. We only lived in Iowa for three years, we moved away 37 years ago, yet the friendship remains strong. We stayed for a great supper with Elaine and her daughters and their families.
Thursday - Day 1
We left home a little after 10AM drove about 215 miles today. Roads were good. At 10:30 the temperature was 88, by 2:30 it had climbed to 94. Paid $2.76/gal for fuel at our first fillup, in MO.We had lunch at a Chinese restaurant along the way. It was to hot to eat in the travel trailer. The place had 17 lunch specials priced at $5.55 each. I had beef w/broccoli. It came with a double ice cream scoop of fried rice and an egg roll. Kathy has some type of seafood dish, white rice and an egg roll. Both were good. She couldn't eat all of hers but I managed to stuff myself and eat mine.
We stopped for the night at The Meadows Campground north of Bloomfield, IA. No cell service at the campground, nor WiFi. At $25/night for a full hookup (30 amp electrical, water & sewer) it is a good deal.
Parked at the campground.
The campground.
The pond was stocked and campers could go fishing.
While we were eating supper we looked out the window and saw Amish chopping corn for silage. I didn't go over to watch but was told that the fellow in the photo below is riding on a trailer that holds a gasoline powered engine. The engine has a PTO connection to the sileage chopper. Three horses abreast pulled this device.
This guy with the sileage chopper was waiting for this guy to come with the trailer. It was also pulled by three horses abreast. I was surprised at how fast they moved. Significantly faster than a normal person would walk. We watched them make several rounds, the last one at 7PM.
We got a good nights sleep.
We stopped for the night at The Meadows Campground north of Bloomfield, IA. No cell service at the campground, nor WiFi. At $25/night for a full hookup (30 amp electrical, water & sewer) it is a good deal.
Parked at the campground.
The campground.
While we were eating supper we looked out the window and saw Amish chopping corn for silage. I didn't go over to watch but was told that the fellow in the photo below is riding on a trailer that holds a gasoline powered engine. The engine has a PTO connection to the sileage chopper. Three horses abreast pulled this device.
We got a good nights sleep.
Wednesday, August 8, 2018
Departure Delayed a Little
We aren't leaving until tomorrow, Thursday the 9th. The adult son (49 years old) of a friend of Kathy's died earlier this week, cancer. Kathy has been helping her some and she asked Kathy to sing a the funeral today (Wed).
Because I am a champion procrastinator I still have a lot of stuff that needs to be moved to the TT (travel trailer).
We got 0.55" of rain yesterday, PTL! Some drizzle in the AM and then a nice shower in the PM.
The morning drizzle was enough to wet the asphalt section of our driveway, the part that is a steep hill. I took the TT for a test drive and probably burned 5,000 mile off the back tires on my truck, spinning them to dry out the asphalt so that I could get up the driveway. Made it to within 40' of the top of the steep part of the driveway before the tires lost traction. Pulled the TT about 9 miles to California, MO, and back. All went well.
Bought a back up camera to help when hitching up a trailer. It is wireless and portable. I fabricated a mount on the ladder on the back of the TT in hopes that I could use it to check traffic as we drove down the road. With just my truck mirrors I can't see anything behind the trailer. The camera worked fine sitting still but for some reason my phone, the screen for the camera, loses the WiFi signal when traveling down the highway. I have an idea of how I can raise the camera mount location to near the top of the TT. Hopefully, without the TT blocking the signal, I will be able to see behind the TT.
Better get carrying stuff.
Because I am a champion procrastinator I still have a lot of stuff that needs to be moved to the TT (travel trailer).
We got 0.55" of rain yesterday, PTL! Some drizzle in the AM and then a nice shower in the PM.
The morning drizzle was enough to wet the asphalt section of our driveway, the part that is a steep hill. I took the TT for a test drive and probably burned 5,000 mile off the back tires on my truck, spinning them to dry out the asphalt so that I could get up the driveway. Made it to within 40' of the top of the steep part of the driveway before the tires lost traction. Pulled the TT about 9 miles to California, MO, and back. All went well.
Bought a back up camera to help when hitching up a trailer. It is wireless and portable. I fabricated a mount on the ladder on the back of the TT in hopes that I could use it to check traffic as we drove down the road. With just my truck mirrors I can't see anything behind the trailer. The camera worked fine sitting still but for some reason my phone, the screen for the camera, loses the WiFi signal when traveling down the highway. I have an idea of how I can raise the camera mount location to near the top of the TT. Hopefully, without the TT blocking the signal, I will be able to see behind the TT.
Better get carrying stuff.
Sunday, July 29, 2018
Blog Back Active
It has been quite a while since I posted. Seems like we have been busy, but doing nothing very interesting.
Lydia went to Dance School for several days and was in a dance recital July 20th.
The recital was ballet and tap. This is the tap segment. Lydia is in the back row, 2nd from the end.
Freshwater JC, the church I have attended for a little over a year, does an annual "Labor For Your Neighbor" (L4YN) project. This year we helped River Oaks Christian Academy get their new (new to them) building ready for classes this fall. They had outgrown their old facility. We budgeted $25,000 for the project. On Sunday, July 22nd, around 100 of us met at their building and worked a minimum of 3 hours. Many hours of planning and work occurred prior to that Sunday morning. The largest crew painted a LOT of the interior of the facility (some of them worked from 8AM-5PM with only a short lunch break), another crew installed shelving, another one installed playground equipment. My crew repainted old lockers, built an painted bases for the lockers, and installed the lockers.
The lockers were 12"x18"x48". There were 4 or 5 lockers in each of the 9 sections. They were purple. Kenny Shaw and I moved them to his shop and he painted them green, one of the school colors. Then we moved them back so they were ready to install Sunday morning.
The finished product.
Lockers before.
I built and painted the bases at my house.
I did have help building the bases. Lydia and Nolan, our great-grandchildren.
Around Aug 8th we are plan on hooking up our travel trailer and heading north. Our plan is to go up through Iowa, to visit a friend from when we lived there, then on up through Minnesota, Wisconsin Michigan's Upper Peninsula, down across the Mackinaw Bridge and maybe spend time visiting Greenfield Village in Dearborn before stopping at Mom's for a couple of days. After than the plan is to head down to NW Ohio for Kendahl's wedding on Sept 1st before heading back to Missouri.
Once we get on the road I will try and be reasonably regular about posting updates.
Lydia went to Dance School for several days and was in a dance recital July 20th.
The recital was ballet and tap. This is the tap segment. Lydia is in the back row, 2nd from the end.
Freshwater JC, the church I have attended for a little over a year, does an annual "Labor For Your Neighbor" (L4YN) project. This year we helped River Oaks Christian Academy get their new (new to them) building ready for classes this fall. They had outgrown their old facility. We budgeted $25,000 for the project. On Sunday, July 22nd, around 100 of us met at their building and worked a minimum of 3 hours. Many hours of planning and work occurred prior to that Sunday morning. The largest crew painted a LOT of the interior of the facility (some of them worked from 8AM-5PM with only a short lunch break), another crew installed shelving, another one installed playground equipment. My crew repainted old lockers, built an painted bases for the lockers, and installed the lockers.
The lockers were 12"x18"x48". There were 4 or 5 lockers in each of the 9 sections. They were purple. Kenny Shaw and I moved them to his shop and he painted them green, one of the school colors. Then we moved them back so they were ready to install Sunday morning.
The finished product.
Around Aug 8th we are plan on hooking up our travel trailer and heading north. Our plan is to go up through Iowa, to visit a friend from when we lived there, then on up through Minnesota, Wisconsin Michigan's Upper Peninsula, down across the Mackinaw Bridge and maybe spend time visiting Greenfield Village in Dearborn before stopping at Mom's for a couple of days. After than the plan is to head down to NW Ohio for Kendahl's wedding on Sept 1st before heading back to Missouri.
Once we get on the road I will try and be reasonably regular about posting updates.
Thursday, February 1, 2018
Lydia Working Out
I dug our old Wii out of the corner and got it fired up. Lydia was exercising on it. Notice the handkerchief sweat band.
Nolan has a pretty good arm for a 2 year old.
All is well here. Kathy and I are both still fighting sinus problems and/or head colds. The good news is we don't have the flu. We are both out and around as needed.
My truck developed a very slight water leak. A friend from our small group owns a repair shop and does work on diesels. I discussed it with him and he said it was likely that it was the water pump leaking. He said replacing the water pump is a LOT of work and he had a backlog of promised work right now. I took it over to the Chevy dealer in California, MO and it is the water pump. Supposed to get it back tomorrow. 7 hours labor to change the water pump. Have to expect some issues with a 13 year old vehicle. I still well satisfied with it.
Last night (Tuesday night) was our Life Group (small group) meeting. Kathy had a headache that she stayed home. I went and enjoyed a time of fellowship with all the young folks. Kathy and I are the oldest, then there is a guy in his 60's and a lady in her late 50's. Nobody else is even in their 40's. A couple of week ago there were 14 adults and 17 children. The children, and one of their Dads, go downstairs while the adults have a fellowship/study time and then there are snacks for all.
This morning was our Wednesday Men's Fellowship breakfast meeting. 7 guys made it this morning. Last week we had 10, the most ever. We had a decent breakfast and a great study/discussion/time. After I got home I cut up the rest of log from a dead oak tree I felled last week, and split most of it. Maybe half a pickup load. Probably Friday I will take if over to a young family from church. He has to go out of town to work frequently and she also works. They have 3 kids (or maybe 4 with the new one). They heat with wood when they have wood. I took them a couple of pickup loads a few weeks ago but they are probably running low again, and Bryan is in Arkansas both this week and next. I've got enough wood cut to last us through the rest of the heating season. I need to start cutting some for next winter. Praise God that I am healthy enough to cut wood.
God is good. May He bless you and yours.
All is well here. Kathy and I are both still fighting sinus problems and/or head colds. The good news is we don't have the flu. We are both out and around as needed.
My truck developed a very slight water leak. A friend from our small group owns a repair shop and does work on diesels. I discussed it with him and he said it was likely that it was the water pump leaking. He said replacing the water pump is a LOT of work and he had a backlog of promised work right now. I took it over to the Chevy dealer in California, MO and it is the water pump. Supposed to get it back tomorrow. 7 hours labor to change the water pump. Have to expect some issues with a 13 year old vehicle. I still well satisfied with it.
Last night (Tuesday night) was our Life Group (small group) meeting. Kathy had a headache that she stayed home. I went and enjoyed a time of fellowship with all the young folks. Kathy and I are the oldest, then there is a guy in his 60's and a lady in her late 50's. Nobody else is even in their 40's. A couple of week ago there were 14 adults and 17 children. The children, and one of their Dads, go downstairs while the adults have a fellowship/study time and then there are snacks for all.
This morning was our Wednesday Men's Fellowship breakfast meeting. 7 guys made it this morning. Last week we had 10, the most ever. We had a decent breakfast and a great study/discussion/time. After I got home I cut up the rest of log from a dead oak tree I felled last week, and split most of it. Maybe half a pickup load. Probably Friday I will take if over to a young family from church. He has to go out of town to work frequently and she also works. They have 3 kids (or maybe 4 with the new one). They heat with wood when they have wood. I took them a couple of pickup loads a few weeks ago but they are probably running low again, and Bryan is in Arkansas both this week and next. I've got enough wood cut to last us through the rest of the heating season. I need to start cutting some for next winter. Praise God that I am healthy enough to cut wood.
God is good. May He bless you and yours.
Monday, January 15, 2018
Winter in Centertown
I've been cutting wood every couple of days, even though I have close to enough cut to last us the rest of the winter. My 4WD Kubota make getting wood out of the woods relatively easy. (Thanks Tom for finding it for me.) When it is cold (highs around freezing & lows in single digits), like it is right now, we burn this much wood in 3 days, if it is good oak like this.
Hardy boiler firing away last week, before the snow.
We got about a half inch of snow Saturday night. Kathy made it up our driveway OK Sunday, in her AWD van. I did some slipping and sliding getting out with my 2WD pickup. Her trip back down the driveway to the house was quite exciting. The front brakes on her van grab first and you go sledding.The driveway is steep and there is a curve at the bottom of the hill. You can't just coast down the hill.
Last night (Sunday night) we got 1.5-2" more snow. I wouldn't even bother starting my truck. I know it won't make it up the driveway.
When I went out about 1PM to put wood in the Hardy it was easy to tell where the buried lines are that carry hot water from the Hardy to coil in our furnace ductwork.
Tomorrow mornings wind chill is forecast to be minus 14, that should be exciting. We both have routing doctors appointments in the morning so we have to get out in the cold.
It isn't supposed to get above freezing until Thursday so I don't plan on doing much outside until then. It's good to be retired and not have to get out.
Lydia stayed overnight last night. Hadly, the neighbor girl at the top of our driveway, just came down. I'll take both of them home in about an hour and stuff the Hardy full when I get home. At these temperatures it will keep the house heated for at least 15 hours.
God is good, may He bless you and yours.
Last night (Sunday night) we got 1.5-2" more snow. I wouldn't even bother starting my truck. I know it won't make it up the driveway.
When I went out about 1PM to put wood in the Hardy it was easy to tell where the buried lines are that carry hot water from the Hardy to coil in our furnace ductwork.
Tomorrow mornings wind chill is forecast to be minus 14, that should be exciting. We both have routing doctors appointments in the morning so we have to get out in the cold.
It isn't supposed to get above freezing until Thursday so I don't plan on doing much outside until then. It's good to be retired and not have to get out.
Lydia stayed overnight last night. Hadly, the neighbor girl at the top of our driveway, just came down. I'll take both of them home in about an hour and stuff the Hardy full when I get home. At these temperatures it will keep the house heated for at least 15 hours.
God is good, may He bless you and yours.
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