Incomplete

I bet you were wondering when I was going to update this blog. So was I! I am getting lazy I guess. Since being back at Fountainebleau we have been busy catching up with friends.
So now I will start from the beginning. Some of it is fuzzy but I will try to sweep the fuzzy out.
We left home on December 2 at 8:30a.m.. Believe it or not we were up before 10. We headed south on I39/51. We decided to take a different route, so , once into IL., we made a left turn and headed toward IN.. The sun was shinning, traffic was good, we were warm and things were going great. We pulled into the 1st rest area in In.so we could make something to eat and it all fell apart. Not literally. As we slowed we noticed the coach would surge. It keep doing this. We tried speeding up the idle but it would not stop. Mel went out to the rest area and talked to a trucker who told him about a CAT (our engine ) place in Indianapolis. We called John and had him go on the internet and get a phone number. Mel called and talked to them. They would send a tow truck if we needed it. We had to call our road service first to see if they would pay for it. Called them, and no, they only pay to tow to the closest repair facility. They gave Mel some numbers for places that were closer. One did not do repairs and the other was closing for the day. Mel decided to see if we would start and if the problem was still there. It started and was running perfect. He called Indianapolis back and got directions. We headed out for the 75 miles to Indianapolis. The problem came back and it was running really, and I mean really, bad by the time we got there.They had us pull in to the back of the building. It was about 10 p.m. by then. We went to get something to eat. At about 1a.m. they hooked the coach up to the computer. Nothing! They had pull it into the building so they could do more diagnostic stuff. Time moves very slow and so do repair men. Around 5 a.m. they "think" they have the problem but can not put parts in until the lead guy comes in at 6:30 a.m.. Mean while, we are in this waiting room, an ugly waiting room, and no sleep. At 6:30 the lead come in along with a new crew. Something about a fuel valve and something else. It takes until 9:30 a.m.to get everything done, and we still have not had any sleep. We pay the bill. Dang, labor is expensive! Most of the bill. We head out and drive about 30 miles. Pull into a Flying J travel center, park and fall into bed.We awoke about 4 p.m.. We ate something, watched Survivor and went back to bed. In the morning we headed south again. We are purring like a kitten.

Can you believe I wrote this about a week ago. We have been here for almost 2 weeks and I am having a hard time finding the time to write. Almost daily someone from last year pulls in and then it is a group get together and which means we are all going out to dinner. We are eating out way to often. The seafood here is awfully good.
We plan to leave here Monday and head west. We just might make Arizona. I do not know when we will have WIFI again. When I do I will try to finish telling you about our trip so far.
Sorry!

6 Weeks and counting down!

I checked out the calendar today... in about 6 weeks we will be heading south for the winter. I always get excited about leaving, but then come February, I am ready to go home. I miss my kids.
I have started to get some things ready to pack. I don't like the packing in the cold. Most items can not go in till the day before we leave. I am trying to figure out how to take my sewing machine along and fabric. I got a rolling travel case for the sewing machine but I don't know where I can store it in the coach. Hmmmm!
Our fall has been cold. This has been an awful cold October. (14 degrees below normal) Another weird thing about it is that the leaves turn brown and then stay on the trees. What's that all about?
I got a good start on Christmas shopping done. We have Christmas at Thanksgiving with the family. I am still waiting for a list from our oldest son.
Yesterday was our 30th anniversary. WOW! Where oh where did that time go? And did we have fun?
No other boring news here.
Take care

Festival

This week end Wausau will host it's 45th annual Festival of the Arts. At Marathon Park we have Art in Park. I think they said over 200 vendors for this event. Crafts that include woodworking, pottery, jewelry and anything else you can imagine. Downtown we have Festival of the Arts. Artist sell their wares. Over 100 artists. A bit more pricey than the park, but still fun. We have also Birds in Art at the Woodson Art Museum. It will be a fun and full week end.
Come join us! So much to see, do and eat!

The trip

In my last blog I said I would not bore you with details of our summer. I got a comment from Ron and Barbara that I we traveled and I should write about it. OK!
Towards the end of August we ventured up to the north woods of Minnesota. The camp hosts from Fountainebleau live in Gilbert,MN. They had visited us in July and invited us up to see them. We traveled so we would go through Ladysmith, so we could also stop and see Roger and Delores. We also met them at Fountainebleau last winter and then we saw them again at Potter's Creek in Texas. We stopped but they were not home. We did leave a note for them. Since we are rolling in the dough (haha) we decided this trip we would stay at the high class campgrounds. (Walmart) We made it to Rice Lake, found the Walmart, parked for the night. Another man was also parked there. He was in his 80's, traveling with his dog. His wife does not want to travel, so he goes by himself.
In the morning we headed north on Hwy 53 to our next stop... Walmart, Superior,WI.. We arrived quite early in the afternoon. Mel went and asked if it was alright to park for the night, as we always do. We explored the town by car. Also drove into Duluth and did some exploring. We had found a farmer's market so we picked up some vegetables and headed back to the coach. After dinner we rented a movie,Grand Torino, from the Redbox in the Walmart. Good movie. In the morning we got fuel, propane, and dumped our tanks and hit the road. As we driving and about to turn back on to Hwy 2 Mel mentioned that the coach in front of us was really leaning to the right. As that coach turned onto hwy 2 it hit me.. that was Ron and Barbara form the blog I read...."The Road Less Traveled"! WOW! We got into the left lane as they were about to turn right we passed them,and sure enough it was them. I waved but I don't know if they saw it. Onward we went to Gilbert,MN.. This was our longest day of driving,almost 2 hours. Can we do it? We arrived in time for lunch. We stayed at LeRoy and Jess's house for 4 days and had a wonderful time. They took us all over and showed the mining in the area. They both worked at the mines. Jess only a few years but if I remember right LeRoy worked the mines until his retirement. Everyplace we went they were known. Even 50 miles form there house! Jess took us to see her friend, Ila's, flower gardens. Beautiful. They were so beautiful that I forgot to take pictures. Ila gave me some seeds pods form some of her poppies. Thank you Ila. Ila and her husband,Charles, also met us for a fish fry on Friday night. I know one thing for sure... people up in northern Minnesota sure do eat a lot. If they aren't drinking coffee, they are eating. We have never seen nor eaten so much in our whole lives. In fact when we left on Saturday, we did not eat until that night. The day we left them we drove all the way to Ladysmith. Whew! That was a long one. We took a different route back and discovered thrift shops that we stopped at. We spent the night at the Pamida storein Ladysmith. We did not know they had a Walmart. In the morning we stopped back to see Roger and Delores. They were home! Delores just had a knee replacement done. OUCH! She is doing well. We visited for over an hour then headed back home. We probably would of stayed out on the road longer but On Friday I got a call that my uncle had passed out and was in the hospital. He passed out at the car wash. When I went to get his car and keys the lady said he just fell backwards. He cracked his head pretty good. Had stitches. He has a history of heart failure and that is what happened. On Tuesday he had a pacemaker/defibrillator put in. On Wednesday he had to go back in because a wire came lose. He agreed to go to a rehab for a few weeks before going home. I am so thankful for that.
Ok, that was our trip and the excitement that followed. Boring, eh?

Time Flies

It has been a long time since I blogged. I am not going to recap our summer. It would just be boring stuff about a whole bunch of nothing.
Today is Labor Day...already. This summer has just flown by. Today is a quiet day. Mel is working on a project in the coach. I did some laundry. John usually comes over every Monday night for dinner. Since it is Labor Day he came for lunch with Sara. I made Italian sausage's, an Italian pasta salad and baked beans. It was so good. I made a compound butter with oregano and thyme. I spread that on the buns and toasted them on the grill. I also had sauteed' onions, green and yellow peppers with mushrooms to put on them. Everything was so good. We had a nice lunch and a short visit. Off they went to do some shopping.
I don't know what I will do for the rest of the day. I do need to get some new plants into the ground, finish going through boxes in the basement for a garage sale in 2 weeks. All that sounds like to much work. I think I will just do a whole bunch of nothing.

Ask your doctor if medical advice from a television commerical is right for you!

4th of July

We had a wonderful 4th and we hope you did also.

We were invited up to a friends home on Lake Nokomis in Tomahawk, Wisconsin. We had not seen there new home yet so this was exciting. They have a lovely home. The weather was perfect. Shortly after we arrived 2 other couples came. After introductions the pontoon was loaded with coolers and food and away we went.

Our hosts: Jeff and Patty

We cruised our way around the lake and about half way we docked on a sandy shore and pulled out all the goodies that were brought along. We had enough hord de orves for 20 people! We ate well. The usual cheese, crackers, sausage, ham roll ups and we also had shrimp. Lots of shrimp. Everything was so good. After we packed the food away, we were off again to finish our trip around the lake. We were on the lake for almost 5 hours. We did run into some loonies though.
















Our day was finished off sitting out on the deck waiting for the sun to set and then watching the fireworks.















It was very relaxing day and a good time was had by all.

Test of a rose

I trying to add a picture I took and yet add text. this is a test.

I think this may work...finally. Thanks Dee, you are my hero of the day!