Tornado Sirens work

One thing we found out today is we can clearly hear the Tornado Siren's in our new house. Skies weren't looking too good when we were ready to call it a day so decided to stay put for awhile. Strong storms were showing on the radar just west of us. Shortly after the thunderstorm started one of the towns sirens went off. There is another one that's just a few blocks from us and I was wondering if one siren meant only half the town needed to take cover. Next question - which half are we? It must have been five minutes before the other siren went off. And no we didn't go to the basement, since we didn't have a radio here we weren't sure what part of the county it was really for and figured we could move fast if need be. I will admit this has been the first time in a long time that I didn't get nervous in a storm, maybe cause I wasn't sitting on wheels.

Several hours later:
The week has been busy going to Menard's every morning before starting projects at the house. At this point I think we own isles 2 &3 of the plumbing area. Larry has all the new plumbing run for the house. In between running the water lines he was fixing unscheduled projects such as the tub not draining and lots of time spent on getting the hot water heater. Today he worked on the electrical in the kitchen. Ok so your wondering what I've been doing. Besides being a gofer I got the floor in the hall taken up, mowed the yard again, took all the baseboard up in the kitchen, hall and bathroom. If I had a penny f. or every nail I pulled out I'd be able to give back one of the isle's in Menard's.

Update on storm this afternoon. South of us they had several houses damaged and many trees down. In our area we had 1.5 inches of rain in 15 minutes. Know wonder it looked like a lake running down our side walk. There's so much standing water in the fields. Afraid it will be awhile before farmers can get in the fields around here. Stock up on your food items because prices are really going to go up. So many States are way behind on their planting due to the flooding/rains and by the time things dry out it may be to late to plant.

Guess that's it for now. Till next time...........................................

Family Time

Not sure where the four days went. Seems like we just pulled into the brothers farm.

The weekend was a whirl wind of seeing family. One of the nice things about stopping at the farm for a few days is the nieces/nephews with all the rug rats (5 1/2 kids, Tina is due in July) come here. Bob & Diane (DB &SIL) are now staying over at the other farm while they wait for their great grand child to make her appearance. Candace is due any day now.

Friday night we went out to eat with Larry/Stint (DB & SIL on the farm) to a place called Swedes in Mulliken. This place has been there since I was little and owned by the same family members. If you've ever seen a small building along a side road that has "cafe" out front then you know what kind of place this is. The food is wonderful and at a price that would put these big restaurants to shame. The two Larry's each got the fish dinner, with potatoes, Stint got the lasagna and I got the shrimp. Everyone had the salad bar and drinks and the whole bill was $33.00.

Stopped at Dave/Dawns/Sydneys (where we park in the back yard) and got caught up with them. As usual their lives are busy. Not sure yet when we'll pull the rig down to their place. It's suppose to rain the next three days and things were just starting to dry out. This rig of ours doesn't go very far pulling it across grass.

Brandi & grand kids were over and I was able to sneak a couple of good hugs from Darrius. He starts baseball this weekend so I'm sure we'll be hitting those.

We've been down to the house and Larry's working on the plumbing. I'm happy to say the kitchen cupboards that have been sitting in the living room since last Nov are the ones that I visioned. Larry has the bathroom set so we at least have a potty and water in there. I'd help him when I could, but also got the flower beds cleaned out, mowed the yard yesterday (Larry did it Friday) and puttered around with unimportant things.

I went in to the Walk-In clinic today. The day after we left Mission (Sat) I broke out in Hives all over my legs and arms. When we got to S.D. Tuesday I tried to find a clinic there but I either had to make a appt or go to the one that is only open at night and that was 30 miles away. Don't think so. It was getting better but the itchiness was driving me up a wall. So this morning I went in and got some strong med's. Hopefully will sleep better tonight.

Guess that fills you in. Weather has been ok, had some storms the other night but not as bad as they predicted. In the 70's today but now their talking rain the next three days with temps in the low 60's.

A lot of the farmer's here are behind on getting the corn in. Larry B has his in but still has about 300 acres of soys to plant. Maybe the rain will go around us, lets hope.

Haven't Welcomed new readers recently so here's a few.
Dublin OH, Ravenna OH, Holt MI, Willmar MN, West Linn OR, St Paul MN, Kaina Nitra Slovakia (?) Ft Worth TX, Northampton, Northamptonshire United Kingdom, Phnom Penh Cambodia, Belleville IL, Lakeland FL, Dortmund Germany, Cannahon IL

I'm sure there's some I missed, only went back two pages. But welcome to all and please come back.

Till next time....................................

Final Day of traveling to Michigan

No we aren't quite home yet but within a hour we will pull into the brothers farm. When we got to the turn off for tonight's stay it wasn't even noon yet so we made the decision to keep on going. We will finish up our last travel day with 475 miles, not the best but really wanted to get through the Chicago area.

I80 around Chicago was a pain. But than we new it would be. There was construction near Peru IN that had us backed up for miles. I away's want Larry to slow down but not 10mph for miles. Finally got out of there and into Michigan. When we got near Benton Harbor it was a mess. Three lanes of traffic needing to go down to one and idiots that just had to go right up to the end which of couse messes the rest of us up. It took close to 45 minutes to go five miles. Oh to have that 10mph speed back.

Than when we got to Battle Creek we had this weird looking stuff coming down on us. And it was coming in sheets. We were pretty sure it was this thing called rain but since we haven't seen any of that since last Nov. we just aren't sure.

So this wraps up our trip home. We left Mission Tx six days ago and have traveled 1990 miles.
Time now to see the families and do some Major GrandKids spoiling.

Till next time....................................

Day 6 SD to IA & Drivers Licenses

We were up early, well more our normal time but early for some. The License Bureau opened at 8:30 and we wanted to be one of the first ones there. But before leaving we wanted the rig all ready so all we had to do was hook the car up.

Got to the place a good half hour early but than we're good at that. The line started waiting at the door and heaven forbid they would open early. We had all the right paperwork and of course the dreaded picture taken. Than the eye test - the only other thing I was nervous about. I haven't been wearing my glasses when I drive because they just felt too strong and I could see better without them. But I wasn't sure about these tiny letters they want you to read. But got them all and for the first time in ** years my drivers license doesn't have "corrective lenses" on it. So we were done and out the door before 9:00. Back to the trailer and were on the road before 10:00. Other than some construction it was a good travel day.

We are parked at Kellogg RV Park. A good over night spot even tho it's pricey. $27 and it has nothing here but hook ups. One of the best things about this place is it's close to where our good friends Larry and LaVila Lawrence are. So they came over to see us shortly after we got in. If you check out the RV webiste you'll see they lay claim to the best hamburgers around. So we had to give them a try and the burgers were pretty good. Oh and just a heads up to friends of Larry Lawrence, if he offers to buy dinner make sure he actually has cash on him.
It was great seeing both of them even for just a short visit.

Guess that's it for today. Till next time..................................

Day 4 & 5 Kansas to South Dakota

Day 4
I wasn't able to get on line to do this last night so updated it now. Very slow signal. Left South Haven around 8:30 and stopped at the first Service Plaza on the Kansas Turn Pike. Nice surprise of $3.75. With a head wind the last couple of days we took on 119 gallons. Once we left there it was a nice easy drive around Wichita and up to Emporia KS where we got off the Turn Pike. It was a nice road but not sure it was $34.00 in toll charges. We pulled in to Rock Port RV Park in Rock Port Missouri. It was a nice park, use to be a KOA and the new owners are super nice. We pretty much had the place to ourselves but again for RV friends if your in the area it's a nice easy off/on from I29. A little pricey $30 but that seems to be the norm unless you can get a Passport America park.

Day 5
We left the park around 8:00 and pulled into the Truck Stop before getting back on the Highway. Diesel here was $3.83 but we decided to top it off so we're good for the rest of the trip. This was a really short day of 180 miles so we pulled in to the KOA Camp here in Sioux City SD just after noon.

When I call to make reservations I go into great detail of what we have, how big it is and what I need. But more times than not I get this "boy you are big, um not sure if you will fit". This is not what we like to hear when your sitting inside their driveway blocking any other vehicles from being able to come in. As it turned out we are in a site that we're filling bumper to bumper with the truck/trailer and the car is on the side. It's a nice KOA park, expensive at $37 a night but they all are. Since this is the only park that has a South Dakota mailing address in the area we didn't have much of a choice.

One of the new requirements for getting your drivers license is having to prove who you are, who you ever thought to be and who you might want to be. I guess most States are doing this but because we are full time RV'ers and don't have a sticks and bricks home here we have even more. Women get the short end of these new rules if you've been divorced and remarried. The only thing saving me from having to show all the legal papers of prior names of over 30 years ago is having the pass port. Plus we have to print out a form on the States Website and sign that saying we are full timers and plan to come back to S.D. I'm hoping everything goes good tomorrow. Oh and not only do we practically have to sign every thing in blood but we have to bring a receipt from either a campground or hotel with both our names on it to show that we spent at least one night in the good old State of SD. Good grief!!!!

So guess that brings you up to date. We'll be at the court house tomorrow before 8:30 and get in and out. Hope to be on the road by 10:00.

Till next time..................................

Day 3 Thackerville OK to South Haven KS

We took our time this morning getting on the road. A short day of 250 miles so we pulled out of the casino park around 9AM. We pulled in to Oasis RV Park around 1:30. For our RV friends - its a good over nighter. Right off I35 exit 4, turn left and you'll see the park. Nothing fancy but great WiFi (free). We have no cell service tho (Verizon). Lots are gravel but nice and long. $20 for 50amp using Pass Port America card.

Temperature was a unbelievable 47 degrees. At least the sun was out but even I thought about warmth if we turned south instead of north. So long pants and sweat shirts were pulled out of the back of the closet.

The tire monitoring system (Pressure Pro) was not liking these cold temp's any better than we were. Tires are set for temp's in the 90's not 40's. But it didn't take long and the beeps quit. It did warm up but we had wind out of the north and that sucked the old fuel tank. Tomorrow we will stop at the first Service Center when we get on the Toll Road.

We've seen diesel from $4.00 to $3.85 and friends have said this Service Center is usually the cheapest around. Hope so, Larry checked it tonight and looks like we'll be putting in over 100 gallon again.

That's it for today. Till next time....................................

San Antonio to Thackerville OK

This will be a short update of our travels today. We pulled out of the park right at 8am and headed north on 37 towards the 410 by-pass around San Antonio. For some reason there was more traffic than I thought there would be that early on a Saturday but we did move right along. Larry kept the speed at 59 most of the day which is within "my" comfort zone.

Heading into Austin the traffic picked up even more and pretty soon we were just barely moving. We thought there was a accident ahead of us but we found out that wasn't it. When we are heading south in the fall I always try to check to see if there's any football games in the towns we travel. Who'd of thought I would have to check for stupid baseball games. Once we were pass the exit for the stadium it cleared right up. At least this time we didn't have any panic stops like the last two times.

Traveling thru Fort Worth wasn't bad. I like this route better than the one going around Dallas but can't do anything about that when we take the eastern route home.

Weather was good, sunny skies, but a bit of a head wind. Larry had to adjust the temperature on the air as it was getting chilly.

So after 348 miles we arrived at Winstar Casino RV Park. in Thackerville OK. For those of you traveling this route (especially with big trucks) this is the place to stop. Pull thru sites are at least 90ft long, all sites are easy in and out with huge wide streets. And if you tell them you want a players club card they give you the first night free, otherwise it's $21.

That's it for today. Till next time.............................

Left Retama & Heading north

First want to thank Donna & Grant Zinnecker for having us over for dinner on our last night at Retama. Perfect way to end a season with our good neighbors. But it's not the last we'll see of them as they are heading towards Michigan this summer and we'll be sure to get together.

During happy hour last night with Zinnecker's and Dale/Mark Bruss we actually had some dark nasty clouds come our way. The weather channel showed some strong storms going over us but we sure didn't get anything. I think there was 4 drops of rain on the window, granted they were big drops but still .............. I think the last time we had rain was last fall. But the six of us sat inside Donna/Grants coach house and enjoy our last HH together. Bruss's will also be coming to Michigan this summer and we'll see them in July.

OK, so this morning Larry was up at his usual on godly hour but I refused to follow. I was awake but just turned the news on and watched TV in bed. Did you know that Dr Oz comes on at 6am, or at least it does here. I like watching him, has a lot of sensible information. Anyway I finally went down stairs (my kids roll their eyes everytime I mention going up or down stairs in our trailer) and got on the computer.

Long story short I was able to keep Larry from going out and hooking the truck up until a little after 8am. We got the car hooked up and were pulling out of the front gate by 9am. Going up 281 is one of the better roads we travel. We wish every road was like that, it's a divided highway but very little traffic and large shoulders if we need to pull off. Actually this road is going to be a part of 69 that's suppose to go from southern Texas to Michigan. They are working on it so there was some construction but nothing that really slowed us down.

By 1:30 we were pulling into Braunig RV Park that we always stay at going and coming this way. The people here are really nice and they have a 100ft long pull thru. I always call a couple days before and ask for my spot. Today they had a Friday night dinner of fried chicken, baked beans, potato salad, drinks and desert for $5.00 each. Sure can't be that price and the food was really good. We sat with a couple Gary & Barb Gerber (I think) who spent the winter in AZ and are heading to Canton Ohio. Because of the flooding east of here they are taking a northerly route. Told them we are stopping in the casino in Thackerville OK tomorrow night so we might just see them there.

Guess that's it for the first day on the road. Weather is good. Pretty warm when we left Retama this morning but not too bad here. The humidity has gone down and that's the biggest problem.

Till next time.....................................

Getting ready to hit the road

I'm thinking this will a short blog. The week has been busy as we're getting ready to pull out on Friday but nothing too exciting. I have the route pretty much figured out on my Streets and Trips mapping. We'll be taking our time and having some short days of driving, at least they are short for us. I think the longest day is 340 miles.

South Dakota doesn't have Secretary of State office like Michigan where you can go get your plates and drivers license renewals five days a week. Each town has either one or two times a month that they open up and usually those are in the basement of the court houses. So we had to plan our trip when offices are opened. The earliest one is next Wed. which happens to be the same location we went five years ago. We'll be staying in Sioux City SD but that office isn't opened that week so we'll drive over to Elk Pointe which is about 10-15 miles.

I've been watching the weather forecast for our route and it looks like things will be clear for the entire trip. Glad we weren't on the road this week, they have storms from one end of our route to the other.

We took the truck out yesterday and filled that up. OUCH!!!! One hundred and thirty three gallons at $4.00 a gallon. And they said the fuel prices are down, ya right. Course now that we have paid top dollar it probably will go down. And to think we get to fill up once more before we get back to Michigan.

Have one last appointment tomorrow morning with my hair dresser than a quick trip to Walmart for a few last minute things. I usually don't worry about grocery items as we normally stay 1-2 nights at a Walmart but this trip we won't. So guess I need to plan some meals.

Guess that's it. A Big Welcome goes out to:
Tigerton WI, Wonder Lake ILL, San Francisco CA, Higley AZ, Mishawaka IN, Lancaster SC, Arlington Heights, IL, St Paul MN, Dover DE, Mumbai Maharashtra India, The Dalles OR, Puyallup WA, Fresno CA

Next blog we'll be on the road, till next time.............................

Another kitchen idea - A Sundog -

What a perfect weather week (until yesterday). Low humidity, temperatures in the 80's and a slight breeze to be comfortable. We decided the weather could stay like that year round.

So what kind of week did you all have? National News is showing all the flooding and cool temperatures north of us. I'm so glad we aren't taking our normal route home this year. Actually even if we'd planned on it we probably wouldn't go that way. We read forums on several RV sites and there has been many posts from people traveling along I40, 55, 57 than up thru IL. Detours off the major highways on to two lane roads. Not a good thing with a rig like ours.

Tuesday
We made a trip to Lowes as Larry wanted to get - don't no what it's called - something to do with the irrigation system if our control quits this summer and he wants to lawn guys to put a electric in instead of battery. Course while he does that I always head over to the house dept. Much more interesting than the electrical/plumbing/tool isles. But I do need to quit doing that as I always find something I like and than change my mind on the kitchen remodeling. Which drives Larry up the wall. Anyway I found some tile I like for the back splash and I'm kind of leaning towards that and this other tile for the counter top.

Here's a picture

On the left is the tile counter top and on right is the back splash
The two squares in the center are samples of cork flooring
Here's another picture of just the two

As I keep saying "all subject to change" until I quit going to Lowes & Home Depot. Oh and I haven't even begun to shop at the local Mernards store in Lansing. For those that have never been in a Mernards store it's a combination of Lowes & Home Depot - awesome store.

Before going to Lowes we stopped at the Hardware Store to get the rest of the door/drawer handles for the kitchen cabinets. As I wrote about earlier this place has a huge selection of kitchen/bath hardware (& lights) for a fraction of the cost. The handles we picked out are sold at Lowes for $10.99 each and we paid half that amount.

On to Wednesday

We had a unbelievable site around noon that day. It's called a SunDog which is a rainbow
halo around the sun.
Can you see the rainbow colors around the edge.










Here's another one. If you want to read the
local news about it click here. I think my
pictures turned out better. Especially
since all I could do is aim and shoot the
camera and hope for the best.





Thursday
I went out to breakfast with a few of the ladies from here to a place we haven't been. It was a cute little Mexican (what else) place that two women own. I can't remember the name of it but it's just a couple of miles from here.

After I got home Larry wanted to go over to the Verizon store. He'd received a email from them for a free upgrade for the 4G air card. Glad we didn't buy one last fall for $100. After wards we went over to the mall and did a short walk about than stopped at the food court for lunch.

Friday
Pretty much a lazy day. Ended up turning my air conditioner back on with the return of the humidity and heat.

So that's about it. Oh if you didn't see it on the last post I received a comment from a couple named Bob and Vicky. Their home town of Willmar MN. was mentioned on the post. It's really neat to hear from people who belong with the town that's listed on the blog. So if anyone would like to leave a comment on who you are that would be great. I'm sure my readers would be interested. Oh FYI all comments left go to my email and I have to OK it. So if you just want to introduce yourself and not have the comment on the blog just let me know.

Till next time.........................................

A REAL Cold front - Good-bye to Bevingtons

What a difference one day makes. For the last month we've been having temp's in the 90's & 100's with a cold front (lowered to high 80's) once in awhile. For the last two days we've pretty much stayed inside with heat index's well over 100 and humidity in the 60-70% range. So when they talked about another cold front moving through this morning I didn't get too excited. Well about 9:00 the wind shifted out of the N/W and the temperature started dropping. It's currently 64 degrees which is about 40 degrees colder than yesterday. Needless to say the shorts went back in the drawer and long pants were brought out. Larry's still a die hard and refuses to go with the big boy pants but with low's tonight in the mid 50's he might change his mind tomorrow. The first thing I did was open windows and the door to let some fresh air in here after being closed up with the air conditioner on the last month. The second thing I did was close the windows back up but at least left the door open - way to cold.

Wednesday
This seemed to be our ice cream day. David/Linda Cypcar had to take their trailer in for some work before they leave at the end of the month for up north. When they got back we jumped in the car and headed over to DQ for a lunch of a Blizzard. Can't ask for more. Than that night Baskin Robbins was having a 31 cent scoop so we couldn't pass that up and went over with Donna/Grant Zinneckerg's.

Thursday
This was suppose to be the coolest day of the week so we decided to make a quick trip down to Mexico with the Zinneckerg's. I always like going down there but than I always ask myself why. It's pretty much the same things in the stores/booths and this time of year the street vendors have closed. I picked up some vanilla and that was the big purchase for the day. We stopped at a awning place to pick up new awnings that Donna/Grant ordered for the trailer. Than over to Gonzales for one of those huge hamburgs. Larry and I always split one and I still wasn't able to finish my half.

Friday
Got a call early that morning from the guy that washed/waxed the trailer. He wanted to come that day instead of next week to do the other trailer which was fine with us. Again they did a good job on cleaning it plus we had him put this roof guard on since it's down here year round.

Happy hour was at Dave/Sue McCarrons under their just completed Pergula on their patio.
Even tho it was quiet warm that day it was nice sitting under this and enjoying being outside.

This was also our "see you later" time with Bill/Kathie Bevington who were leaving early the next day. They are working their way up to IN for a rally there before going home to Windsor Ontario to see the family. Safe travels to you and hopefully we can meet up this summer.

Saturday
Not much happening that day. I was on the computer in the afternoon working out our route to South Dakota and trying to find campgrounds we would fit in. Sometimes this can be a challenge as we don't like having to unhook everything for one night so need a nice long pull thru. With the help of our friends Doug/Jutta Franks that drove a lot of this route last fall I have several suggestions.

Sunday
No happy hour today as this would have been Quinns night and they are up in KS. Normally we sit outside around 4pm and if someone wants a happy hour they come over. But it was just too darn hot to sit outside. So Zinneckerg's suggested a trip to Excalibur's for dinner. Sounded good to us, wanted to get my bake potato with all the fixings one more time. Plus the frozen margarita wasn't bad either.

Monday
As I mentioned above the cold front came and is suppose to be with us a couple of days. Larry pulled the batteries out of the truck and checked those. He's pretty much got everything in the truck/trailer he want's to take home as far as tools etc for doing the house. I have a few things to finish inside than we'll be ready to go. When we leave depends a lot on what the weather does but looking at around the 13th or 14th. Received our mail for the last time today from SD. I only order this once a month and this envelope cost me $3.81. Only because there was a flier from this truck place that Larry ordered something from. We normally get 3-4 pieces a mail a month. How many people can say that.

So guess that's it for now. A big Welcome to new hits this pass week goes out too:

Annona TX, Washington DC, Mountain WI, Allen Park MI, Nashville TN, Tecumseh MI, Federal Way WA, Morrison CO, Rochester MI, Antioch CA, Bay Shore NY, Merelbeke Belgium, St Paul MN, Canmore Canada, Willmar MN.

Till next time.......................................